The prevailing question hovering over the stretch run of the Patriots’ regular season asks whether their offense can do enough.
Enough to move the ball consistently, enough to score points when it matters, enough to help sustain another Super Bowl run.
Three weeks out from the playoffs, Sunday’s blowout of the Bengals offered a big, fat … maybe.
The Pats’ running game took long-awaited strides, racking up a season-high 175 yards. Sony Michel ran hard and decisively, even generating a few gains out of nothing. Rex Burkhead looked perfectly healthy for the first time in months, and James White did damage as both a rusher and receiver.
Not to mention the offensive line, which flashed its old 2018 form.
Part of the Patriots’ success no doubt stemmed from lackluster competition. Cincinnati’s front is as leaky as it is overaggressive, a fact the Pats took advantage of. This context does not nullify what the Patriots accomplished, but it can underscore some of their concerns.
Namely, Tom Brady’s passing attack.
Brady threw for a season-low 128 yards, and his receivers totaled six catches, two fewer than Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson managed playing defense. Brady was generally protected well and still missed. His top receivers were hobbled, yet well enough to play and win.
But enough to beat the Bengals is a far cry from what will be enough to beat the Ravens, Chiefs, Texans or Bills in the postseason. So what’s to make of the Pats’ win that clinched a playoff spot yet may have felt a tad unfulfilling?
Here are the position-by-position grades from the Pats’ latest win:
QUARTERBACKS: C
The last time Brady completed fewer than 54 percent of his passes for fewer than 130 yards in a game was almost 10 years ago to the day.
Before then, it happened only three times; two miserable losses at Miami and a 2003 home triumph over the Giants. In those seasons, Brady played a supporting role to a dominant defense. Sound familiar?
On Sunday, he depressed his numbers by overthowing Mohamed Sanu several times, firing too low for Sony Michel on a pressure-free, play-action throw in the red zone and uncharacteristically missing Edelman twice. There’s no question Brady’s help is poor and hurting, but the holes in Cincinnati’s defense offered him a chance to rejuvenate his deadening passing attack. He couldn’t capitalize.
And now Brady’s failed to complete 56 percent of his passes for the fifth straight game. The last time that happened?
Never.
RUNNING BACKS: B-plus
Finally, some signs of the backfield the Patriots have been waiting for.
Michel at last demonstrated some creativity, shaking loose for a couple yards on plays that appeared ready for their last rites. He maximized his yardage on well-blocked runs by falling forward and/or speeding through tacklers. His late fumble was a downer, but Michel’s 89 rushing yards spoke loudest as his second-highest total of the season.
Burkhead’s 33-yard touchdown marked a new season-long rush for the Pats. White’s three catches tied for the team lead.
WIDE RECEIVERS: C-minus
N’Keal Harry has quietly insisted in recent weeks he’s finding his groove. More plays like Sunday’s score should make his point much louder.
In the third quarter, Harry re-routed along the back line of the end zone to provide Brady a throwing window for his second touchdown. It was a significant step for the rookie, who also took a pair of end arounds. Harry’s increased usage was a sign his raw talent has finally won out with the staff, after weeks of Jakobi Meyers eating ahead of him.
Julian Edelman fought through multiple injuries to play. It may have been best to sit him. Edelman yielded only nine yards out of five targets, and his false start penalty wiped out Harry’s long first-half catch down the sideline.
While a victim of multiple overthrows, Sanu had another fourth-down pass go through his hands, a fumble negated by Cincinnati penalties and was a net negative on a game-high eight targets. He caught just two passes. Phillip Dorsett and Jakobi Meyers didn’t see a target in 16 combined snaps.
TIGHT ENDS: D-plus
At this stage of the season, anything the Pats can get from this group should be considered gravy.
There was no gravy to be found Sunday.
Amid a few solid run blocks, Matt LaCosse surrendered three quarterback hits in four snaps of pass blocking, plus a run stuff. He caught three passes for 22 yards. Ho-hum.
Ben Watson was invisible in more limited action than expected. He played 52 percent of the offense’s snaps, his second-lowest chunk of the season.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B-plus
In a welcome sign for the future of the Patriots’ pass protection, Isaiah Wynn posted his first clean sheet since returning off injured reserve. Center Ted Karras was also spotless.
Shaq Mason returned to top form at right guard, paving the way for several long runs. He was punishing as a run blocker and surrendered just one hurry. Same with Joe Thuney, who helped spring White on his 23-yard, opening-drive touchdown catch. If Mason maintains Sunday’s level of performance, the interior of the Pats’ line should be cooking with gas.
This was their best run-blocking performance of the season.
Only Marcus Cannon proved to be a lowlight, with three allowed pressures, including a sack. Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap held Cannon on the first sack Brady, which appeared at first glance to be the right tackle’s fault.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B-minus
The biggest Patriot made the biggest play, and that was that Sunday.
Danny Shelton explained post-game his fourth-down stuff of Joe Mixon by saying he could tell the nearest Bengals guard was coming to block him, which enabled the 330-pounder to evade him at the line and crash the backfield. Before then, Mixon had run wild on the Pats’ front. Shelton and Lawrence Guy were solid in the middle and improved throughout.
Deatrich Wise earned a clean, hard hit on Andy Dalton. Adam Butler also contributed on a few decent pass rushes and saw extended time, with the coaching staff turning to more three-defensive tackle looks as the game wore on. John Simon was a rare sure-handed tackler.
LINEBACKERS: B-minus
Ja’Whaun Bentley’s run defense highlighted a quiet afternoon for the Boogeymen, who combined for just a handful of hurries and QB hits.
Bentley, on the other hand, was loud in his assaults on the line of scrimmage. He contributed to both of the run stuffs that turned the game midway through the second quarter. He tied Wise with a team-high seven tackles by game’s end.
Kyle Van Noy and Dont’a Hightower each got pieces of Dalton, and Van Noy hurried him a few times. Missed tackles brought this group’s grade down, as well as a lack of consistent pressure. Most of the missed tackles belonged to linebackers, who allowed Mixon to rush for 136 yards against them, the most by an opposing player this season.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: A
What more can be said about Stephon Gilmore?
The All-Pro cornerback single-handedly put the Pats back in the win column with his pair of third-quarter picks. The latter, a pick-six, essentially sealed the win. He allowed only two catches to Tyler Boyd, the Bengals’ No. 1 wideout who bizarrely claimed post-game he won most of their head-to-head matchups.
No one has done that against Gilmore in a year and a half.
Opposite Gilmore, J.C. Jackson grabbed two interceptions of his own. Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon played a heady, safe game as the team’s deep safeties. Not the best outing for Patrick Chung, who hung in the box for most the game.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-minus
Were it not for Shelton’s fourth-down stop, Matthew Slater’s strip on a punt return late in the second quarter would have been recognized as the game’s turning point. It set up a go-ahead field goal, despite the offense’s best efforts to go backwards. Justin Bethel, the Patriots’ newest special teams ace, recovered it.
Slater and Bethel have become as formidable a coverage duo as there is in the NFL. Rookie punter Jake Bailey crushed all of his punts, netting an average of 48.2 yards. He also booted one kickoff out of bounds.
Neither team’s kick return units played a real factor.
COACHING: B-plus
The Bengals landed the first two punches Sunday, scoring twice in the first quarter behind a run-first, bully-ball mentality.
The Pats landed all the rest.
Even though it took time to slow the bleeding up front, the Patriots got a handle on Cincy’s offensive game plan early. They deployed 3-4 personnel on their second drive and remained patient, willing to wait out the inevitable turnovers as opposed to blitzing reactively. Dalton fired all four of his picks in the second half.
The Bengals also never hit the Pats for a long pass off play-action, their planned payoff for such a run-heavy start.
Offensively, credit offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for scripting a game-opening score for the third straight week. He continues to mix and match personnel and concepts and gave Harry needed run after two offensive snaps against Kansas City.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
CB Stephon Gilmore The next Defensive Player of the Year. Book it.
CB J.C. Jackson Two picks and a pass deflection. Jackson’s profile is rising.
OG Shaq Mason This was the top-flight guard the Pats signed to a $50 million extension two summers ago. Terrific game.
BACK OF THE PACK
TE Matt LaCosse By himself, LaCosse allowed three QB hits and a run stuff. Most of the Patriots’ offensive linemen haven’t even done that.
LB Jamie Collins Collins missed a team-worst three tackles and set a few soft edges in the running game. He’s come back down to Earth since a sizzling September.
WR Mohamed Sanu Were it not for his physical condition worsening by the week, Julian Edelman would’ve landed here. Instead, it’s his fellow receiver who caught two of eight targets and had a fumble negated by Bengals penalties.
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December 17, 2019 at 06:15PM
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Patriots Report Card: Stephon Gilmore, running game earn top marks from Bengals win - Boston Herald
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