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About 48 hours ago (give or take), the New England Patriots skated to a road win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football, remaining in the land of the unbeaten. Now that we have a sample size of five games to analyze, here are five telling facts about the Patriots as we look ahead to the Week 7 showdown with the New York Jets.
5. Chandler Jones has been a very productive pass rusher
After a 2.5-sack performance against the Colts, Jones has to be considered one of the best defensive ends of the 2015 season thus far. His 5.5 sacks overall are tied for the second-most in the league.
The man Jones is tied with right now is Julius Peppers, who has played one more game than Jones (as a result of the Patriots’ Week 4 bye). Similarly, the current sacks leader, Carlos Dunlap, has played in six games and only has one more sack than Jones.
The other three sacks Jones has registered all came in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills when the Syracuse product absolutely plowed through the Buffalo offensive line. It appears that when the fourth-year pro and Bob’s Discount Furniture sponsor gets a sniff of the quarterback, he sees red.
Expect Jones to contend for the NFL sacks title for the duration of the season.
Next: 4. Jamie Collins arguably best LB in NFL so far
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4. Jamie Collins has arguably been the best overall LB in the NFL
It’s not unreasonable to say that Collins has been the best linebacker in the league thus far. He is the only defensive player with over 20 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
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It also isn’t unreasonable to say that Collins is coming off a 2014 season in which he was a top-four inside linebacker. Pro Football Focus placed Collins on the All-PFF second team at inside linebacker, meaning that there were only two players better than him at that position last year (Luke Kuechly and teammate Dont’a Hightower made first team).
Back to this season, Collins has probably been the most integral cog in the Patriots’ defense, leading the unit in total tackles (37), tackles for losses (3) and of course forced fumbles (3).
As if all that wasn’t enough, Collins displayed his jaw-dropping athletic ability when he leapt over the Colts’ line and blocked the extra point on that garbage-time touchdown, which really put an exclamation mark on the Pats’ win.
Jamie Collins is kind of athletic. #NEvsIND http://t.co/zWr9HkITLf
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 19, 2015
Unreal. That play leads one to believe that the Patriots could start blocking a bunch of field goals heading forward if opposing teams don’t account for a vaulting Collins
Next: 3. Malcolm Butler has been racking up pass deflections
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3. Malcolm Butler has been getting his hands on the ball
With Tarell Brown now on the injured reserve, Butler is pretty much the only cornerback on the roster that Patriots fans can feel confident about these days. When you look at his stats, you will see that Butler has in fact been playing at a very high level.
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Butler is tied for ninth in the league with seven passes defended, and six of the eight players ranking ahead of him in that category have played one more game than the Super Bowl XLIX hero.
Cornerbacks sitting next to Butler with seven passes defended include Aqib Talib and Brent Grimes, two of the top cover men in the NFL.
Passes defended is a tricky stat because you could be the worst corner in the world, get targeted a bunch every game and get lucky by knocking a few away as a result of all those opportunities. But it’s not like quarterbacks are taking Butler for an inexperienced, weak No. 1 corner; he has certainly gained respect throughout the league.
If Butler were to get hurt, the Patriots would be royally screwed at cornerback.
Next: 2. Rob Gronkowski ranks 4th with 18.5 yards/catch
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2. Gronk is picking up almost 19 yards every time he catches the ball
Among qualified players, Gronk boasts the fourth-best yards per reception average in the NFL right now. Only Torrey Smith (23.1), James Jones (20.2) and Malcom Floyd (19.4) are averaging more receiving yards every time they catch the ball.
Of course, Gronkowski is a very different breed of player than those speedsters. Weighing-in at 265 pounds, Gronk could easily switch-out the No. 87 for a No. 57 jersey and play linebacker. It’s quite telling that deep-threat wideouts like Travis Benjamin and Allen Robinson have fewer yards per catch than Gronk. The next-closest tight end in this statistical category is Greg Olsen, who ranks 14 slots below Gronkowski with 15.6 yards per catch.
When he caught that pass down the middle and turned it into a touchdown on Sunday night, Gronkowski became the first tight end to reach the 60-touchdown mark in just 70 games. Gronk became only the fifth tight end to reach that milestone, joining some select company: Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Shannon Sharpe and Jerry Smith.
Without a doubt, Gronk has his sights set on Gonzalez’s 111-touchdown record.
Next: 1. Pats are owning third downs, getting first downs in general
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1. Patriots are moving the chains often, especially on third down
The Patriots are far and away the best third-down offense in the NFL. They are the only offense with a third-down conversion rate over 50 percent (50.9 percent, to be exact). The wealth of dependable weapons at Tom Brady’s disposal has been the driving force behind this efficiency on the most important down of them all.
What’s also very interesting is the Patriots have been tasked with a third down just 57 times in five games, the second-fewest in the league. While that can be attributed in part to the fact the Pats have played one less game than most teams, it’s telling that they haven’t been in third-down situations very often. That indicates the offense is rolling on first- and second-down.
On most third-downs, Brady’s primary option is Julian Edelman, simply because Edelman could get open in a food court. Edelman has 23 first-down receptions on the season. And of course there’s Gronk, who is often open as a result of Edelman drawing so much attention; 19 of Gronkowski’s 23 receptions have translated into first downs. Danny Amendola has also been effective picking up first downs, as 12 of his 17 catches have moved the chains.