New England Patriots Game Grades: Defense Picks Up Offense

Here are this week’s New England Patriots game grades:

Passing Offense: B

Tom Brady‘s aerial attack really struggled in the third quarter, but a strong finish to the game managed to salvage this passing grade. Brady completed 28 of his 44 passes, for 317 yards, two touchdowns, and one bad pick at the end of the first half. Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman led the way once again on the receiving end, combining for 16 receptions, 228 yards, and two touchdowns.

Gronk was the usual walking mismatch that he is, while Edelman provided the play of the game, making a nice catch over the middle, then breaking a few tackles on his way to the game winning 69-yard score. The offensive line was the primary reason this unit struggled, as while they only gave up one sack, Brady was under pressure all game long, particularly in the first half, where Nate Solder just go dominated out on the edge. Aside from major injuries, the only thing stopping the Pats from getting back to the Super Bowl is bad play from the group protecting Brady.

Hopefully they can fix this going forward.

Rushing Offense: C

3.1 yards per carry is never going to cut it, especially against a defense that was just teeing off at Tom Brady all game long. The Patriots crammed the ball down San Diego’s throat on their opening possession, but they were ineffective after that. Most of the blame has to be given to the offensive line, as it felt like every time they tried to get LeGarrette Blount going, he was immediately dropped in the backfield. The Pats ran eight offensive plays that went for negative plays, which was a season high.

Pass Defense: A+

I have nothing bad to say about how New England’s pass defense performed on Sunday night. Darrelle Revis completely erased Keenan Allen from the game, the safeties held Antonio Gates in check, and while Malcolm Floyd made a few nice plays, Brandon Browner was always there with tight coverage (aside from the touchdown).

However we knew the secondary would hold up their end of the bargain on defense. It was the pass rush that we were all worried about, and thanks to Jamie Collins, a pass rush was provided. Collins himself came up with two sacks of Phillip Rivers, and his pressure up the middle freed up Rob Ninkovich for another one. Collins’ ability to get pressure right in front of the quarterback will be key for the Pats going forward, as that is the number one way to slowing down an elite quarterback.

Run Defense: A

The Pats struggled a bit in this department early, but came back stout in the second half. For the game, San Diego racked up 53 yards on 17 carries (3.1 yards per carry), with 57 of those coming in the first. Yup, the Patriots’ defense held the Chargers’ running game to minus four yards on five carries in the second half. The big bodies of Vince Wilfork and Alan Branch were dominant in the middle, and the return of Sealver Siliga definitely helped them on the ground.

New England’s run defense was once considered a major weakness, and while they will be tested in two weeks against the Jets, I think this group is more than capable of handling any rushing attack in the conference.

Special-Teams: A

Brandon Bolden‘s blocked punt in the second quarter was arguably the play of the game for two major reasons. First, it got the Pats in excellent field position, which set up their first touchdown of the contest, and it also knocked out San Diego’s punter. This allowed the Patriots to win the field-position battle from that moment forward.