Patriots’ Failure To Generate Pressure Among Takeaways From Loss To Packers

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the few players in the NFL who lives up to all of the hype and praise he receives.

Rodgers put on a display Sunday against a very difficult New England Patriots secondary that actually played fairly well despite letting up some gaudy stats. Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns in the Packers’ 26-21 win.

Check out how the Patriots fared in defending Rodgers in this week’s takeaways:

AARON RODGERS STAYS AWAY FROM BRANDON BROWNER
-Cornerback Brandon Browner was targeted just three times by Rodgers, allowing one catch while in zone coverage for five yards. He made a risky dive to break up a pass intended for wideout Jordy Nelson that paid off.

-Cornerback Darrelle Revis had just one major slip-up, when he lost track of Nelson on a slant route that went for a 45-yard touchdown. Otherwise, Revis was incredible.

-Rodgers picked on cornerback Logan Ryan while he was in the game. Safety Patrick Chung had his worst performance of the season in coverage.

Check out this week’s pass-coverage charting stats:
Logan Ryan: four catches on eight targets for 97 yards
Rob Ninkovich: 2-2, 61 yards
Patrick Chung: 4-4, 55 yards, TD
Darrelle Revis: 2-7, 53 yards, three pass breakups
Kyle Arrington: 5-6, 45 yards
Alfonzo Dennard: 2-2, 29 yards
Brandon Browner: 1-3, 5 yards, one pass breakup
Jonathan Casillas: 1-1, 3 yards
Akeem Ayers: 0-1
Jamie Collins: 0-1

Check out the Patriots’ pass-coverage charting stats for the season:
Revis: 30-68, 445 yards, one TD, two INTs, 11 pass breakups
Ryan: 25-42, 385 yards, 2 TDs, two INTs, five pass breakups
Browner: 18-35, 303 yards, one TD, one INT, four pass breakups
Arrington: 20-38, 240 yards, one TD, two pass breakups
Dennard: 16-23, 221 yards, two TDs
Chung: 15-30, 179 yards, three TDs, four pass breakups
Collins: 17-34, 170 yards, one interception, one TD, one pass breakup
Dont’a Hightower: 22-32, 166 yards, two pass breakups
Malcolm Butler: 10-19, 145 yards, one TD, one pass breakup
Jerod Mayo: 12-16, 127 yards, one TD
Ninkovich: 811, 114 yards, one INT
Devin McCourty: 8-15, 110 yards, two TDs, 2 INTs, two pass breakups
Tavon Wilson: 5-8, 88 yards, two pass breakups
Deontae Skinner: 5-5, 72 yards
Dominique Easley: 2-3, 25 yards, one interception
Chandler Jones: 2-3, 23 yards, two pass breakups
Nate Ebner: 2-4, 9 yards
Ayers: 1-3, 6 yards
Casillas: 3-4, 2 yards, one TD
Duron Harmon: 0-2
Chris White: 0-1
Vince Wilfork: one interception
Alan Branch: pass breakup

PATRIOTS MISSED CHANDLER JONES
-The Patriots weren’t able to generate much pressure against Rodgers, who had over 11 seconds to get rid of the football on one play. Injured pass rusher Chandler Jones could have been the difference.

-Akeem Ayers continues to primarily play edge rusher. He had a sack called back because of a Browner penalty.

-Linebacker Dont’a Hightower’s breakout season continued.

Check out this week’s pass-rush charting stats:
Chris Jones: one sack, one QB hit, one hurry
Jamie Collins: one sack, two hurries
Akeem Ayers: three hurries
Rob Ninkovich: three hurries
Dont’a Hightower: one sack, one hurry
Tavon Wilson: one QB hit
Vince Wilfork: one hurry

Check out the Patriots’ season-long pass-rush charting stats:
Ninkovich: six sacks, 11 QB hits, 28 hurries, 44 pressures
Hightower: 4.5 sacks, nine QB hits, 24 hurries, 40 pressures
Chandler Jones: 4.5 sacks, eight QB hits, 15 hurries, 28 pressures
Ayers: three sacks, QB hit, 16 hurries, 19 pressures
Wilfork: .5 sack, two QB hits, 12 hurries, 15 pressures
Collins: one sack, four QB hits, nine hurries, 14 pressures
Chris Jones: 2.5 sacks, three QB hits, seven hurries, 11 pressures
Easley: .5 sack, one QB hit, six hurries, eight pressures
Jerod Mayo: one sack, one QB hit, four hurries, six pressures
Patrick Chung: two QB hits, two hurries, four pressures
Joe Vellano: one sack, two hurries, three pressures
Casey Walker: one sack, two hurries, three pressures
Zach Moore: .5 sack, two hurries, three pressures
Tavon Wilson: one QB hit, two hurries, three pressures
Deontae Skinner: one sack, one hurry, two pressures
Logan Ryan: one QB hit, one hurry, two pressures
Branch: one QB hit, one hurry, two pressures
Kyle Arrington: one sack, one pressure
Sealver Siliga: one QB hit, one pressure
McCourty: one QB hit, one pressure
Casillas: one QB hit, one pressure
Alfonzo Dennard: one hurry, one pressure

TOM BRADY’S OFFENSIVE LINE FALTERS
Brady threw 13 incompletions Sunday against the Packers, and four can be blamed on the Patriots’ offensive line. Brady was hit while he was throwing twice, and he had to rush two other throws.

The Packers’ defense forced four incompletions with three pass breakups and stellar coverage on tight end Rob Gronkowski on a deep attempt.

Brady had miscommunication with receiver Danny Amendola and Gronkowski on two incompletions, and running back Shane Vereen dropped a pass on a wheel route.

Brady threw too low to Gronk on one incompletion and too deep to wideout Aaron Dobson on another.

Brady was just 2 for 7 on deep attempts. Overall, it was a very solid effort from Brady.