“I think it was kind of directed at, towards me and Deion [Branch] a little bit,“ Welker said today on WEEI’s Mut and Merloni show. "We were giving him a hard time that his knee was down and we didn’t know what he was doing on the bench over there. He better get his butt up and get back out on the field because his knee was down and so he’s like, ‘what are you talking about, I was in.’ So I think they caught him at a perfect moment where we were just kind of just jawing back and forth and things like that.”
Notes on PFF’s Patriots grades: Week 4 Bills
I love when PFF’s grades come out early! Here are some notables on their scores.
Best Offensive Grade: Daniel Fells (4.5)
Best Defensive Grade: Brandon Spikes (5.1 – highest defensive grade of the year)
Worst Offensive Grade: Deion Branch (-1.3)
Worst Defensive Grade: Steve Gregory/Kyle Love (-1.2)
Spikes’ season has been as extremely up and down as one could get. He was the worst rated defender in week one, 2nd best in week two, worst in week three, and now best in week four.
McCourty was the second best rated defender and he’s starting to look like a pro bowl cornerback again. He was targeted 6 times and only gave up two catches, as well as picking off two.
Kyle Love had a tough game as we expected him to. He’s not at his best trying to get upfield, and he was helpless against the Bills quick passing attack.
Vince Wilfork’s numbers show you how you can’t read too much into these numbers. He played a monster game but scored just a -0.7.
Solid 1.3 for Jermaine Cunningham, we knew his interior rush would be hugely important. He wasn’t dominant but he made some noise with a QB hit, a hurry and a stop.
Steve Gregory has been unspectacular, not that any of us expected him to be spectacular, but his performance against the Bills has us starting to wonder if Tavon Wilson will get more of a shot in the base defense now.
Ninkovich was the third ranked defender and was a 1.4 in run defense which given his spot is huge. He had 5 stops too.
Fells is a surprise to take the best score honor, but he was dominant in run blocking scoring a 4.1. Gronk scored a 4.6 in run blocking.
Sebastian Vollmer is putting together quite a nice season so far, he’s had high scores for the last three games. He’s their best offensive lineman so far. Now if he can just stay healthy.
Donald Thomas and Ryan Wendell both had -1.5 in pass protection. Along with Branch’s overall these were the only red grades for the offense.
The running game recorded a staggering 9.2 score running off tackle left. That’s where Fells and Gronk did most of their blocking damage. The ran well between the LG and C as well.
As expected Buffalo did most of their passing damage in the middle of the field, especially short.
Don’t look now, Tom Brady was 2-3 for 66 yards and a TD down the right side plus 20-yards.
See all our PFF Notes here.
After losing two straight games, Belichick donned his trademark gray hoodie (this one designed by new NFL outfitter Nike) with cut sleeves in Sunday’s game. Belichick wouldn’t confirm if that was a game-time decision, but after being on the inactive list for losses against the Cardinals and Ravens, the hoodie was back.
New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
What do you guys think of the new hoodie. This might surprise some people but I’m just kinda “meh” about it. Though I’m sure the more BB wears it the more I’ll like it. Always works that way.
Chandler Jones blows up a 3rd and 2. What a great play by the rookie, especially to help get the Pats off to a good start.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/chandler-jones-blows-up-a-3rd-and-2-what-a-great/
Patriots – What we learned Sunday: With season in doubt, defense didn’t rest – WEEI | Christopher Price
Some love for Ninkovich…
On a day when there were several defensive standouts for New England, Ninkovich was among the best. He finished with seven tackles (four solo), as well as his first sack of the season and a forced fumble. He was at his best in a terrific back-to-back sequence late in the third quarter. With the Bills in a first-and-10 at their own 42, he collapsed a rushing lane and brought Fred Jackson down two yards behind the line of scrimmage. He followed that up with a sack – a pure speed job where he beat his man off the edge and brought down Fitzpatrick from behind. “I hold myself accountable for the previous couple of games [and] I didn’t feel like I was active enough in just changing things up on the offense,” Ninkovich said when asked about his work this year. “I was able to go out there and change up my rush styles and change up my inside-outside moves, what I was going to do previously coming into this game. Just get back to more energetic and just getting after the ball. That was my mentality coming into this game.”
Spikes is a beast. No, let me put it this way – Spikes is a monster. Offensive players are going to watch film of him and opposing RBs are going to be looking to find him before every snap because they’re not going to want any of that.
I almost see him as a combination of Ted Johnson and Rodney Harrison. He brings the intensity of Rodney Harrison. He’ll talk trash in your face, knock you on the ground and let you know about. But he brings the wood like Ted Johnson. That’s a dangerous combination.
