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Week 4: Defense Outstanding In Shutout Effort
Offense made plays and Special Teams also were fantastic in win.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor was very impressive on the opening drive finding the open receivers and spreading the field. He finally won a game when he threw more than 30 passes. He finished 27 of 39 for 246 yards and a 94.6 QB rating. He was accurate throwing on the run and mixed in 28 yards on five carries.
Grade A: He played quarterback today and won the game.
Running Backs:
LeSean McCoy got himself wide open for the receiving touchdown on the opening series. He had maybe the best 70 yard rushing game I have seen in a while. He was duking and making people miss all game long. He added 38 yards on six receptions and the game's only touchdown.
Mike Gillislee was more active in this game and had six carries for 30 yards and a 13 yard reception.
Jerome Felton had a nine yard catch followed by a two yard run to get a first down.
Grade B+: The offense ran through this unit.
Receivers:
Robert Woods had his best game of the year easily with a game high seven catches for 89 yards.
Marquise Goodwin had just one 12 yard catch for a first down.
Walter Powell had four catches for 22 yards including a big first down in the fourth quarter.
Charles Clay had five catches for 47 yards and was open on several other occasions.
Nick O'Leary had two catches for 20 yards including a nice leaping grab.
Grade A-: Nice game from an undermanned unit.
Offensive Line:
Eric Wood was called for a holding penalty on the opening drive by the Bills.
Richie Incognito was called for a stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that short circuited the Bills second drive. They looked to be driving for a possible touchdown and the penalty made them settle for a field goal. He was called for a holding penalty late in the first half and then one in the fourth quarter when they were trying to run the clock down.
Michael Ola was signed this week in case he had to see time at left tackle with Glenn still banged up and Cyrus Kouandjio out. He had to go in at right tackle in the fourth quarter when Jordan Mills was shaken up for a play. He was solid in pass protection on that play.
Cordy Glenn was called for a holding penalty in the fourth quarter.
Grade C: Played undisciplined but did a solid job for the most part. Did give up two sacks and averaged just over four yards on the ground.
Defensive Line:
Kyle Williams was quiet with three assists.
Corbin Bryant had just two assists.
Leger Douzable had a big hit on Brissett to force an incompletion in the fourth quarter.
Grade B: Held the line of scrimmage to help get the shutout.
Linebackers:
Jerry Hughes wasn't fooled by a fake handoff and sacked Brissett for a 14 yard loss that ended any thoughts of a last minute scoring drive before the half.
Preston Brown recovered a fumble forced by Zach Brown that kept the Patriots off the board in the 2nd quarter. Had a pressure of Brissett to force an incompletion. He had seven tackles.
Zach Brown actually chased down Julian Edelman keeping him out of the end zone on first play of the game that was negated by a penalty. He then had three open field tackles on the next series to force a three and out. He then dropped Blount for a three yard loss in the 2nd quarter. He was beaten by Bennett for a 58 yard pickup. He got extra yards when he broke his tackle. He made it up for it a few plays later when he hit Brissett hard forcing his second fumble of the game. He knocked Blount down for a loss on a screen pass in the third quarter. He wrapped up his monster game with a fourth quarter sack. He had a game high 18 tackles in all including three for losses and two quarterback hits.
Lorenzo Alexander had four tackles and a sack including a hard hit on Brissett.
Grade A+: Great day from this unit.
Secondary:
Stephon Gilmore was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a punt return for blocking out of bounds. He was solid in coverage throughout as they rarely threw at him.
Ronald Darby was pretty good in coverage coming back from his hamstring injury. He was beaten by Julian Edelman for a 15 yard gainer when Brissett had time to throw.
Nickell Robey-Coleman had two tackles, one for a loss.
Aaron Williams had a beautiful pass breakup in the end zone on a deep throw to Amendola. He had perfect coverage on the play. He then broke up a sideline bomb to Chris Hogan in the fourth quarter.
Corey Graham was in on two tackles.
Grade B: Didn't let the rookie beat them.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt punted well with four kicks in all for a 39.8 yard net and 40.8 gross average.
Dan Carpenter hit a 34 yard field goal thanks to a fantastic hold by Schmidt after the snap was off. He added field goals of 43 and 44 yards while he hit the post on a 47 yarder.
Brandon Tate had 18 yards on three punt returns and didn't return the only kickoff of the game by the Pats.
Coverage Units were fantastic allowing just four yards on four punt returns and two kickoff returns for 30 total yards that gave the Pats drive starts at their 9 and 14 on the only returns on the first two kickoffs.
Grade A: They did their part in the win.
Coaching:
Rex Ryan made an interesting decision to decline a 3rd and 21 offsides penalty and take the 13 yard gain to make the field goal a chip shot. He didn't want to risk a negative play taking them out of field goal range. Good call challenging a fourth quarter spot that he won and got the first down.
Anthony Lynn got the offense to move especially Taylor who was throwing over the middle a lot out of a moving pocket.
Dennis Thurman called a great game getting the goose egg on the road.
Grade A+: A dominating win in New England? We will take it.
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Patriots Game Preview
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