New England Patriots Game Grades: High Marks All Around

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

Passing Offense: A+

Was there anything negative to note from this group on Sunday? After a little review, there were a few things that could be fixed, but overall, this was a masterpiece from Tom Brady and company. Receivers were torching the Denver secondary, Brady was just ridiculous with his accuracy and poise in the pocket, and the offensive line held up nicely against one of the best pass rushing defenses in the entire league.

The Pats racked up 332 total passing yards on their way to a 43-point outing, and were led by another awesome performance from one Rob Gronkowski. But we also saw a bounce back game from Julian Edelman, who in my mind was the MVP of that game. He got the Patriots going with his early touchdown catch and punt return, and it was all over from there. Tom Brady dropped back 54 times and was only sacked once, which is a testament to how far this offensive line has come. Yes, the interior struggled a bit, but Brady was able to maneuver his way through the traffic, and still found a way to make positive plays.

Also: THAT GRONKOWSKI CATCH!!!!

Rushing Offense: C+

This was the one area where the Patriots really struggled, as they averaged a mere 2.6 yards a carry on their way to 66 yards on the ground for the game. Denver made sure to stop the running game early, which wasn’t much of a surprise, as without Stevan Ridley the Pats haven’t been able to get much of a running game going. Combine that with the best run defense in the league, and the results probably weren’t going to be great for New England.

Pass Defense: A+++++++

438 yards, two touchdowns, 7.7 yards per attempt, and only one sack.

Those were the statistics this Pats’ pass defense gave up on Sunday. So why do they get such a high grade? Because they shut down the best offense in the league despite those pretty gaudy final numbers. When it really mattered, New England’s physical secondary beat up on those “elite” Denver wideouts, and their pass rush (minus Chandler Jones) made life tough on Peyton in the pocket.

New England acquired Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner specifically for defending an offense like this, and the results were glorious. The Pats through off the timing of Manning’s receivers, punished whoever came over the middle, and confused the Broncos’ signal caller with excellent linebacker schemes up front.

The most impressive stat of the game: Manning was 3-15 on third and fourth down.

Rush Defense: A+

Coming into this game, we all thought the Broncos would have success running the ball because the Pats would only have six men in the box (like 2013), and with Jerod Mayo and Chandler Jones out, New England would have trouble containing Ronnie Hillman.

Well they certainly proved us wrong.

The Broncos gained only 44 yards rushing for the game, averaging 2.5 yards a carry. Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower were awesome in coming up to make stops, but it was Vince Wilfork that stole the show. He consistently pushed the line of scrimmage back, forcing the running back to go backwards, he took on blocks to free up his teammates, and he opened up the hole for Akeem Ayers to make that huge fourth down sack. Big day for Wilfork.

Special Teams: A+

Julian Edelman’s 84-yard punt return was the play of the matchup, as that was the play that really made this game a blowout. Stephen Gostkowski also booted three field goals through the uprights, including one clutch 40+ yarder into the wind.