We’re about 48 hours past the Pats getting back into W column and boy does it feel good. Defense balled out, offense was effective enough, but all in all it felt like the Pats did just enough to get back on track. My thoughts below.
Defense
This defense is absurd. The Pats currently have two of the best corners in the league on the roster. Everyone now knows Stephon Gilmore, candidate for defensive player of the year, and arguably the top corner in the league. He took home two interceptions, including a pick six on the day. He currently boasts a QB rating of 32 against him when receivers he is covering are targeted. This weekend he covered Tyler Boyd, who I pointed out in my game preview is putting together a pretty nice season. Gilmore held him to two catches for 24 yards, but somehow Boyd still thought he won most of their one on one match-ups. Hats off to you for the confidence, Tyler…I guess. Gilmore is currently tied for the league high in interceptions, with six.
His counterpart, J.C. Jackson, is probably a name that most fans of the NFL in general don’t know off the top of their head. J.C. is an undrafted DB out of the University of Maryland. He put together a really good rookie season last year and has only stepped it up from there. He currently touts a QB rating of 28 when receivers he is covering are targeted. Jackson also had two interceptions to add to his season total of 5. It’s pretty rare to find undrafted studs like J.C. The fact that he’s playing DB, one of the toughest individual positions in the sport in my opinion, makes it even more impressive.
It’s no wonder why Zac Taylor said he thought his receivers got “bullied” by the Patriots DB’s. The whole secondary was jumping routes and hitting hard all day long. It was awesome to watch, but even more funny to hear Taylor say that. A first year head coach (also the youngest head coach in the league) probably doesn’t need to be beating down his players at the end of a year like this. Oh well though.. Bengals gonna Bengal.
Special Teams
The special teams group has balled out all season and this game was no different. Jake Bailey added to his stellar rookie season, consistently pinning the Bengals in unfavorable field position. Nate Ebner almost blocked another kick, and the duo of Matthew Slater and Justin Bethel is any special teams coaches’ dream. Since the addition of Bethel, the Pats have not given up a punt return of more than ten yards. That’s truly remarkable when you consider the rate at which the Pats are punting – currently 3rd in the league with 5.4 per game.
Matthew Slater caused a fumble on a punt which turned out to be a big turning point in the game. It was caused by some lucky timing by Slater’s right arm/hand, and a Bengals blocker ever so slightly pushing Slater into the punt returner, which negated a possible penalty for punt interference. The Bengals were furious that nothing was called, and the team really seemed defeated after it happened. Who recovered it you ask? None other than Justin Bethel.
Offense
If you just look at the stats you’d probably think the offense had another lackluster performance. Brady only had 129 yards, Michel had 89 (one of his higher totals for the year), but as a whole, the Pats had 175+ yards on the ground, and the passing game showed a good bit of improvement.
The one big bright spot in the offense was the usage of N’Keal Harry. The rookie only had two catches for 15 yards, but made an awesome diving catch in the back of the end zone, and showed unreal athleticism making a diving over the shoulder catch that was negated due to a penalty. While Harry may not have put up eye popping numbers, it was encouraging to see him out there for a majority of the snaps, and his confidence seemed to be at a high point during this game. I’m looking for him to emerge as a real number two threat down the stretch, he could be really big for this team.
I mentioned one of the keys to this game being the offensive line. The big guys certainly had a better outing than the Chiefs game, but there’s still room for improvement. Marcus Cannon got beat several times by Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard, who both sacked Brady and hit him multiple times. Isaiah Wynn and Joe Thuney led the way and showed off their versatility. Much like my hope for Harry, I still think this group can be way better than they have showed so far.
On the negative side, Mohamed Sanu continues to disappoint. He dropped a pivotal pass on third down, and only caught two passes for 13 yards in total. Phillip Dorsett played nine snaps, as his position as a go to option in this offense seems to be over. Edelman and Brady showed some rare miscommunication as a few passes either missed Edelman or hit off his fingers. I’m sure we’ll never know the extent of his injuries this season, but it’s pretty obvious that Jules is hurting.
On to Buffalo
Buffalo comes to Foxborough this Saturday for the second of three games that will be played on Saturday. It’s a short week for both teams, but I don’t expect that to negatively effect anybody on either side as both realize that this is a pretty big game for both teams.
The Pats need to win this game to retain the 2nd spot in the AFC, if they lose they risk dropping behind the Chiefs, who have the head to head advantage. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl still goes through Baltimore.
For Buffalo, it’d be huge for their confidence going into the playoffs, and further solidify the great season they’re having so far. They’re coming off a huge win in Pittsburgh, Josh Allen is playing well, the defense is the strength of their team, and they’re without a doubt hyped up to go into New England and get a shot at dethroning the Pats.
I’m expecting a dog fight in Gillette. The Bills are going to come out swinging, they’re going to be hyped up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pats down early. But it’s going to come down to who can execute when it matters, who wins in the trenches, and who can get open consistently. This will probably be a low scoring defensive battle – wouldn’t want it any other way in December.
Go Pats
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