6 Reasons why the Patriots won in Week 15
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
In Week 15, the New England Patriots cruised by the Tennessee Titans by a score of 33-14. The victory marked the team’s second in a row, furthering the distance from that uncharacteristic two-game losing streak.
With the win, the Patriots are firmly in the driver’s seat of the AFC and control their own destiny. If the Pats win next week in New York, they will find themselves owners of the all-important No. 1 seed in the conference, giving them home field advantage. By beating the Titans on Sunday, the Patriots locked up a much-needed first round bye to nurse all those injuries.
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It’s only, Monday, however, so we’re going to focus on Week 15. Monday is perhaps the only day that Sunday’s results stay relevant before the attention turns to the next slate of games.
Read on for six reasons why the Patriots emerged victorious in Week 15.
Next: 6. Balanced play calling
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
6. Balanced play calling
The way the Patriots are going to win games in January is through an even keel approach on offense. It’s not good when Tom Brady throws the ball 57 times in one game, it’s just not. As evidenced by the balanced play calling against the Titans, the Patriots’ offense is pretty close to unstoppable when the ground game has success.
Joey Iosefa was a major story in Week 15, rattling off 51 yards on 14 carries. He’s as close to a LeGarrette Blount type of power back as the Patriots have on their roster, and that much was clear when he lowered the shoulder on Coty Sensabaugh yesterday:
In addition to Iosefa’s surprise performance, the Patriots enjoyed solid running out of Brandon Bolden (10 carries, 36 yards). If the Patriots can continue to have success on the ground between those two guys, they will be just fine. Running backs are as replaceable in the New England offense as light bulbs.
The threat of the run allowed Brady to enjoy space in the pocket when he stepped back to throw. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns, thanks in part to the balanced play calling and efficient ball carrying.
Next: 5. LaFell’s hands
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
5. Brandon LaFell’s hands
Finally, LaFell put forth a performance absent of any drops. He snagged all four catchable passes thrown his way and turned those touches into 88 yards receiving, tops on the team. LaFell also ripped off the longest offensive play of the day, a 31-yard catch and run off a drag route which powered the Patriots’ opening touchdown drive.
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Hopefully, LaFell has put his butterfingered days of 2015 fully behind him. Regardless of the health of Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, the Patriots need to have a trustworthy target in LaFell. Honestly, he’s pretty dangerous with the ball after the catch; Brady has before likened him to a running back when he gets into open space. The trouble is LaFell’s inconsistent catching, but we didn’t see that on Sunday.
Any and all headaches that LaFell causes on the perimeter only benefits the focal point of the Patriots’ passing attack, Rob Gronkowski. Sure enough, thanks to LaFell’s drive-sustaining play on that opening drive, Gronk caught a touchdown pass from five yards out. Bam.
Next: 4. More good play from White
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
4. Ascendance of James White
Once again, White did his best Dion Lewis impression as a pass catcher out of the backfield and the Patriots were a better team because of it. White tallied 71 yards on seven receptions, including a 30-yard touchdown off a screen pass. He displayed nifty footwork while patiently allowing for his blocking to develop. And it’s clear that Brady is growing to trust the sophomore pro’s hands out of the backfield.
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In that past three games, White has touched the ball 25 times for 236 yards and three scores. He is little-used as traditional running back, because he’s undersized at just 205 pounds, but he proves his worth as a pass catcher, and that’s one of the reasons why the Patriots prevailed in Week 15.
The backfield trio of Iosefa, Bolden and White may look entirely different from the one-two punch of Blount and Lewis at the beginning of the season, but it hardly matters. The Patriots make do with the talent that is healthy and well-versed in the offensive schemes, and White’s growing stardom is the latest example of that.
Next: 3. Front seven ferocity
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3. Front seven ferocity
Once again, the Patriots’ front seven showed up ready to play. The unit allowed just 59 yards on the ground, surrendering just 2.8 yards per rush. When the Titans dropped back to pass, they didn’t have any upgrade in that arena, as the Patriots registered five sacks of Zach Mettenberger and Marcus Mariota.
Chandler Jones set a career high for sacks in a season (12.5) by recording a pair of quarterback takedowns in week 15. The fourth-year pro also forced a fumble which resulted in an Akiem Hicks recovery and touchdown, just like he did in his rookie debut against the Titans in the 2012 season opener.
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Jamie Collins, Jabaal Sheard and Hicks also each recorded a sack. Although he didn’t wrap up Mettenberger or Mariota himself, Rob Ninkovich had himself a day generating pressure, as proven by his quarterback hit on the stat sheet.
Considering the amount of high draft stock splattered throughout the entire defense, you would expect the group to be playing at such a high level. It’s gotten to the point where it’s just as fun to watch the front seven suffocate quarterbacks and force three and outs as it is to see Brady step back to pass.
Next: 2. Hat trick of forced turnovers
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2. Hat trick of forced turnovers
We’ve already talked about Hicks’ scoop and score, but we haven’t touched on the two other turnovers the Patriots’ defense forced. Turnovers win games, and the Patriots took the ball away from the Titans a total of three times on Sunday.
Malcolm Butler was finally rewarded for his excellent work in pass coverage when Mettenberger lobbed a ball his way thinking it could get over the 5-foot-10 cornerback for a touchdown, but Butler had other ideas. Butler pulled off a leaping, twisting maneuver to locate the ball and come down with both feet in bounds. Nobody in the league deserved an interception as much as Butler in Week 15, so it was good to see that happen.
In garbage time, Collins made a cat-quick reaction after a tipped pass, snagging the interception and returning it an impressive 51 yards the other way. Watching Collins in open space makes one wonder about the possibility of Josh McDaniels incorporating him into an offensive package of some sort. Food for thought…
Next: 1. Success defending third downs
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1. Success defending third downs
In my Thursday bold predictions article, I projected that the Patriots wouldn’t allow more than 33 percent success on third downs in this game. Not to toot my own horn, but I got that one right—the Patriots allowed the Titans to move the sticks on just three of their 12 attempts, good for a success rate of 25 percent.
Save for Delanie Walker’s 57-yard touchdown catch and scamper through the meat of the secondary, the Patriots defense played disciplined throughout the game, and that was especially clear on third down. The Titans actually had the ball longer than the Patriots (30:23 compared to 29:37), so it’s impressive that the Patriots allowed only three first downs on third down the entire game.
So there you have it. The Patriots won big in Week 15 as a result of balanced play calling on offense, LaFell securing catches, White’s continued success as a pass catcher, solid front seven play, turnovers forced and excellent third down defense.
Next: Week 16 AFC Power Rankings: Chiefs rise to No. 2
Now, the attention turns to the Week 16 showdown with the Jets, essentially the Patriots’ last meaningful game of the regular season as long as they take care of business.