New England Patriots vs New York Jets: 5 Biggest Takeaways
By Hal Bent
-
Secondary was Special:
The New England pass defense, so porous earlier in the season, has continued to lock down their opponents. The secondary held the duo of Bryce Petty and Ryan Fitzpatrick to just eight completions on 24 pass attempts and intercepted three passes (all statistics from Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted).
Of those eight completions, per Doug Kyed at NESN.com the secondary allowed just three of them. Eric Rowe, Devin McCourty,Patrick Chung, Logan Ryan, Jonathan Jones, Jordan Richards, Cyrus Jones, and Malcolm Butler combined for all three interceptions, two pass breakups, and allowed just three for 16 passing attempts for just 28 yards.
It is hard to believe this is same secondary which was carved up by Seattle for 324 yards just six weeks ago. Yes, the Jets, 49ers, and Rams are bad offenses, but the secondary has been beating bad teams and shutting them down. They also shut down the Broncos and only let the Ravens pile up yards when the defensive scheme backed off into a soft zone. For the season, the Patriots rank 14th in passing yards allowed but are 7th in passing yards allowed per attempt.
Finally, the three interceptions jumped off the stat sheet as the secondary started making plays. Through 10 games, the Patriots’ defense had created just nine turnovers (seven in two games and six games without a single one). In their last five games the team has 12 turnovers created.
The ability to make plays and create additional scoring chances for the offense in the playoffs is invaluable. The secondary has been stepping up at just the right time for New England.