tonyto36 Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 UP: 1. Tom Brady What Brady is doing is historic, but he's been so consistently good it's easy to forget. Sunday night was another masterpiece from Brady against a regressed, but still good Broncos defense. Once again the Patriots catered to the matchup, which also often overlooks how they have the QB to handle that kind of versatility. Nine different Patriots caught footballs from Brady, with none being over 4 catches until garbage time. Three different receivers caught TDs - White, Allen and Burkhead. Not exactly the fantasy football super star names you'd expect. While the OL did provide him better protection than the past, he was still under pressure for most of the game and bailed the team out with his quick decision making and lateral movement in the pocket. Brady ended with a pristine 25/34, 266 yards, 3 TD 0 INT stat line which isn't even reflective of how good he was. He made an offense that relied on Dwayne Allen and Phillip Dorsett calibre guys look dominant against a good defense. 2. Joe Judge Often overlooked is the STs unit which destroyed the Broncos Sunday. Because of the special teams, the game got out of hand quickly and didn't truly allow the Broncos to get a good footing and make it a game. KR for a TD, muffed punt recover, great coverage units, blocked punt, just about everything that could go right for the STs did go right. Gostkowski didn't even miss! Playing behind against the Broncos pass rushers is a terrible situation and getting those points and short fields from STs helped a lot towards preventing any sort of unfavorable scenario. 3. Rex Burkhead Passing TD, blocked punt, and a team high 36 snaps for running backs, passing Lewis at 21. Burkhead flashed what the Patriots were hoping to get - a legitimate runner like Lewis/Gillisslee, who can also split out wide and play slot receiver like White. Versatility was on full display. While the end running numbers weren't particularly great, he was also put into some situations that don't really fit his strengths because of Gillisslee's absence (short yardage). He had a couple decent chunk runs and showed a pretty good ability of falling forward after contact. HM: Lewis, Amendola, McCourty, Harmon, Devellin, Solder, Waddle, Thuney, Mason, T. FLowers DOWN: 1. Alan Branch Even with Brown out, he's playing less than 50% of snaps and being outsnapped by the likes of A. Butler (and Guy). When he was in he was ineffective pushing the pocket as a pass rusher and got washed out on pull runs far too much for a guy of his size. I don't know if he got paid and decided to mail it in or it's age catching up, but he's been a lot worse this year after a great 2016 season. I'd be surprised to see him on the team next year. 2. Malcolm Butler I don't think he was as bad as some seemed to think, but he was still on the down list. A handful of plays where he had great coverage and simply got beaten by a better throw and catch. It happens sometimes. However there were also a couple plays thrown in where he got juked out of his shoes by Sanders. For any other #1/2 CB in the NFL it's a decent day, but by Butler's standards it's definitely a step back from last year's dominance. Butler's play has regressed this year, but also so has the pass rush. 3. James White Hardly a horrific game in that he made a bunch of negative plays, but he's seemingly been completely beaten out by Lewis/Burkhead as runners and Burkhead appears to be creeping towards taking his snaps as pass catcher. White played only 11 snaps, good for 15.7 percent of plays, far below Burkhead/Lewis. There was one noteable play where he just whiffed on the blitz pickup and cost the Patriots a chance to score a TD. Brady had no chance on that play and had to just eat the ball. HM: Jean Francois, Jones, A. Butler, Guy Random Notes: -Wise just missed HM status for up. -Gilmore just missed HM status for down. -As you'd expect from a 41-16 victory, not a ton of terrible play, even by the people in the down list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2_1 Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Solder up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iothar Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Big time game from Waddle. Felt bad for White on the block. Very athletic safety in on a blitz gives him the O-lay maneuver. Must be hard going from LB/DL speed to someone faster unless you think about it. I think White is the most reliable back for hands though. Made a great catch early in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyto36 Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 9 minutes ago, iothar said: Big time game from Waddle. Felt bad for White on the block. Very athletic safety in on a blitz gives him the O-lay maneuver. Must be hard going from LB/DL speed to someone faster unless you think about it. I think White is the most reliable back for hands though. Made a great catch early in the game. Always thought Waddle was a decent backup, but even accounting for help, he's been surprisingly solid this year when called into duty. It was a hard matchup, but he's gotta at least get a chip on the guy. He just completely airballed it. 13 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said: Solder up Was good to see him back at what we'd expect from him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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