by ANDY GRESH, WPRO
A battle between 2 great Quarterbacks Sunday night turned into the best team winning by a healthy margin. Green Bay is beat up, but so is every other team in the NFL including the Patriots. We’re getting to the point in the season where you have the players you have, and the coaches figure out a way to win with those players. A skill Bill Belichick has mastered.
QUARTERBACK—B+
There were times where TB12 had no where to throw the ball because Green Bay used some of the same pre-snap bluffs and techniques that the Pats did against Aaron Rodgers. The difference is, the Pats offense is more diverse because of Brady. He’s a maestro running the offense at a higher tempo, he sells well during the trick plays, and he didn’t flinch in the face of pressure.
RUNNING BACKS (plus Patterson)—A
Cordarrelle Patterson isn’t a full flegded running back, but his presence makes a difference. He runs high, but runs very hard which makes him a dangerous outside runner. He’s not afraid to run to contact which surprises me. Drake had a nice pick up in pass protection, and James White is steady as she goes. White needs to stay healthy for the Pats to run the offense efficiently.
WIDE RECEIVERS—B
Teams are onto Edelman over the middle on critical down and distances, which spotlights why Gronk’s presence is so important to all facets of the passing game. This was Josh Gordon’s best game. Every time there is no inside help when he’s covered one on one, the Pats hammer the slant route with Gordon and he’s learning when to settle down in zone coverage and on trick plays.
DWAYNE ALLEN—A
Blcoked very well, played 93% of the offensive snaps, and had a nice catch that turned into some yards. Well done.
OFFENSIVE LINE—A-
The sacks move this grade down a notch. I thought these guys played their tails off. The left side gave up a sack on a delayed blitz, and Ted Karras missed a block on for the other sack. This unit takes great pride in running the ball around the goal line which is a championship trait. Did anyone see Clay Matthews do anything Sunday night??
DEFENSIVE LINE—A-
The use of pass rushing personnel was in full effect. Lots of Flowers, Butler, Wise, and Davis early. Then as Green Bay was effective in running the ball, guys like Malcolm Brown and Danny Shelton were mixed in and usually never together, this way you had athletes who could chase Rodgers when necessary. Green Bay can’t beat anyone by predominately running the ball and the Pats played into that. The pass rush was disruptive all night long, Rodgers made a lot of plays moving around in the pocket.
LINEBACKERS—B
Kyle Van Noy played 91% of the snaps in a variety of roles and was steady in all of them. Looks like the rest Don’ta Hightower got last week paid off as he was active around the line of scrimmage and didn’t look hampered by injury. Elandon Roberts played about 25% of the snaps and had minimal impact, but few if any mistakes.
DEFENSIVE BACKS—A-
Look at the scores and big plays given up. The Adams touchdown, Rodgers was forced from the pocket and made a great play. The Graham touchdown, Duron Harmon takes one step the wrong direction and the ball is over him with good coverage by Chung on Graham. And Valdes-Scantling won on one route where the Pats took a chance by blitzing. Scantling’s other 2 catches were great individual plays. Jon Jones and J.C. Jackson had good efforts. 17 points to Aaron Rodgers is a job well done.
SPECIAL TEAMS—A
On 6 kickoffs, Stephen Gostkowski boomed 4 touchbacks, and did a nice job getting some hang time as the Pats allowed no big kickoff returns. Ryan Allen’s 3 punts resulted in 2 being downed inside the 20, and his 49.7 yard average was also his net average. The Pats clearly won the battle of field position.
3 Things to Watch
1) I do NOT expect Patterson to be getting 10 plus carries as a running back in the playoffs. (Glad I said playoffs last week)
2) I wouldn’t be surprised if Gronk has another week off. And lots of institutional knowledge about Gronk in that Tennessee organization. I’d stay away.
3) I have a funny feeling that Malcolm Butler is going to get picked on by Brady this week. Belichick knows what a player can’t handle and I’m sure the notebook is thick relative to Butler.
