The New England Patriots came within minutes of a sixth Super Bowl title last season despite having one of, if not the worst pass rushes in the NFL. I suppose that’s both an insult and a compliment. However, best not to tempt fate — and Louie Benjamin’s break down of their offseason work on the pass rush for Pro Football Focus signals that the Pats have made some positive changes.

PFF’s assessment of the Patriots 2017 pass rush was not kind, as they earned the worst grade of all 32 teams in the league. Benjamin pointed out that their issues getting to the quarterback and making plays were “never more glaring than in the Super Bowl versus the Eagles, where Nick Foles was under pressure just 30 percent of his dropbacks and none of those pressures converted into sacks.”

Ugh. The truth hurts.

However Trey Flowers did still manage to make a name for himself — and it wasn’t just relative to the rest of his teammates. Flowers finished the season tied for the most QB hits (18) and earned PFF’s 16th-best pass-rushing grade among all qualifying edge defenders. Benjamin pointed out the Deatrich Wise was impressive too — his 37 total pressures tying Myles Garrett and Derek Barnett for the most among all rookie 4-3 defensive ends.

So what did the Patriots do to ensure that Flowers and Wise don’t get swallowed up on another subpar defensive line? Well, while Benjamin isn’t expecting much from Danny Shelton, he believes the addition of Adrian Clayborn could bear some fruit, noting that he finished 2017 with the 14th-best pass-rushing grade of all edge defender and a 10.9 pass-rush productivity rate that ranked 11th of 4-3 defensive ends.

He also believes that 2017 rookie Derek Rivers has the potential to improve this season and is counting on the return of Dont’a Hightower to kick start the unit as whole. In the end, it’s really all about the veterans holding up their end of the bargain and the younger guys stepping up and improving on last season.

Click here to read Louie Benjamin’s full assessment of the Patriots pass rush.