I didn’t quite enjoy this New England Patriots win one as much as I wanted to (highlights here). It looked like it was about to be a blowout until the Pats let the Bills back into the game, and their fans who had left early begging to get back into the stadium (only to see them lose finally). The fourth-down stop and then the strip that quickly gave the Bills some hope made us all clench after thinking it was already in the bag.
The offense was then forced to put a long drive together and then the defense sealed the game with an interception – a theme in four of the last five games going back to the AFCDG vs. the Ravens. The defense has certainly been clutch in that time.
Offensively the Pats put up over 500 yards and allowed minimum pressure on Tom Brady. They threw it almost 60 times and largely ignored the run, but that’s just smart football.
Defensively, they forced Tyrod Taylor to be a pocket quarterback and he couldn’t complete a non-checkdown pass when the game was in question. The Pats gave up some long runs, but showed some improvement from last week as they continue to get back into real football shape and used to tackling again.
It wasn’t all perfect and there are certainly things to work on, but generally the Patriots showed a lot of potential on both sides of the ball.
Here are the Posits:
Protection – First, a hand for the oft-rotating offensive line who allowed just two sacks and five QBs on 59 dropbacks. Most impressive were the interior rookies who really did a great job all things considered. There were some brain farts like Solder’s missed cut block that led to the strip of Brady, but compared to last year the protection has been good.
The potential loss of Sebastian Vollmer, who left the game with a hand/finger injury, is surmountable with Marcus Cannon whose best fit is at right tackle.
The offense is awesome because Gronk and Edelman consistently make big plays. Now with Dion Lewis making some big ones too it really rounds things out. Add in LaFell and this is a pick-your-poison type sitch.
Jamie Collins – Collins was kind of blah last week, but he was on fire against the BIlls with 2.5 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and 3 QB hits. The way the Patriots are sending their front LB/DEs after the quarterback is a lot of fun and there’s no question Collins is now the best all-around linebacker on the team.
Pats defense allowed three TDs on three red zone trips, a number outside of the norm for them. They were 4-for-13 on third down, a stellar number, and again outside the norm, but this one in a good way.
Fouth down will be an area of focus going forward as they failed on both attempts and failed to steop the Bills’ only fourth-down attempt.
Dion Lewis – Yeah he fumbled for the second game in the row and Ridley would be in the doghouse if he had done that, but Lewis is so explosive and dynamic you can understand why the coaches are letting him work through the ball security issues, especially after two days off. Through two games he sure is making the decision to let Shane Vereen walk look like a good one. How was an electric playmaker like him out of the league last year?
Aaron Dobson had 7 catches on 8 targets for 87 yards for his first significant contribution since 2013 vs. the Steelers. This is just the kind of game Dobson needed to get something going and he should’ve earned some trust from Brady today. I still wish he could catch the ball on the run and pick up extra yards, but he made some tough catches in this one so I’ll take it.
Disciplined defense – Let’s not get too excited about shutting down a run-first offense after we grabbed the lead, but we saw the many options Belichick has on defense in terms of who he sends, drops or rotates in or out. Collins and Hightower are still the straws stirring the drink as Mayo gets eased back in. But there are a ton of good pieces up front that can play whatever style they need to.
In beating a dead horse news, Dominique Easley would really tie the defense together. I think they’ll give him through the bye to get healthy.
Chandler Jones gets some criticism for his run defense and that is something to focus on in the re-watch, but against the pass he had the perfect combination of pass rushing without overplaying Taylor. He had 3 sacks, 4 QB hits and 3 tackles-for-loss. Collins might be the team’s best blitzer but Chandler is their best pass rusher and he could be in line for a monster season (extend him asap).
What a catch by Danny Amendola! That guy isn’t a huge part of the offense but he finds ways to come through to help win games. They pay him more than they probably would like to but he’s hand a big hand in some clutch wins – Browns in 2013, Jets in 2014, Ravens/Seahawks in SB run. I’ll take him on my team any game.
Rufus Johnson got snaps as an interior rusher and though he didn’t make any splash plays it will be interesting to see how he did compared to Grissom, who played the role last week. Flowers will probably get his chance vs. the Jags.
Each week it’s becoming clearer that Malcolm Butler has the confidence and swagger of a starter and will not hesitate to get in opponent’s faces. After staying quiet as a rookie, Butler is showing some personality out there and it’s much needed for a secondary that had a lot of Pats fans worried heading into this season. Butler had one interception and almost had a second, one that just evaded his hands and went for a touchdown. Even when he’s beaten it’s not by much. Butler is for real
The one scary part of the defense has to be the target on Bradley Fletcher’s back for deep throws. Tarrell Brown has been good, but Fletcher scares me more than Arrington ever did.
While it made me cringe to see the Bills get back within five points, in the long term it’s a good thing that both the offense and defense had to make plays to win a game on the road. That’s great experience that will help down the road.
All-22 review coming up Tuesday afternoon.
