Without knowledge of Tom Brady’s knee injury Sunday, one might conclude the Patriots’ quarterback suffered a precipitous decline over the past week prior to New England’s 22-17 win over the New York Jets.
Brady occasionally threw wide and far of his targets, especially early in the matchup. Brady began the game just 1-0f-5 for 9 yards before pulling it together to go 29-of-45 with a game-winning drive and fourth-quarterback comeback to close out the Week 12 win.
Here are this week’s takeaways after charting the Patriots’ pass rush, coverage, offensive line and passing accuracy.
PASS RUSH
Chris Long: sack, two hurries (three pressures)
Kyle Van Noy: three hurries (three pressures)
Rob Ninkovich: two hurries (two pressures)
Malcom Brown: QB hit
Jabaal Sheard: hurry
Alan Branch: hurry
Shea McClellin: hurry
— It certainly wasn’t the Patriots’ greatest game from a pass rush perspective. That partially was by design based on how many defenders the Patriots rushed.
— Long had the lone sack, and Brown had the lone QB hit.
— Van Noy continued to bring pressure on limited pass-rush snaps. He only rushed the passer four times, according to Pro Football Focus.
PASS COVERAGE
Malcolm Butler: 6-6, 106 yards, two TDs
Patrick Chung: 4-4, 44 yards
Eric Rowe: 2-5, 32 yards, PBU
Logan Ryan: 4-6, 30 yards, two PBUs
Devin McCourty: 2-3, 23 yards
Shea McClellin: 1-1, 15 yards
Kyle Van Noy: 1-3, 9 yards
Jabaal Sheard: 1-1, 3 yards
— Butler, allowing two touchdowns, had his roughest game of the season. He had tough matchups against big wideouts like Brandon Marshall and Quincy Enunwa.
— Ryan played well in the slot, allowing just 5 yards per attempt. Rowe played well opposite Butler outside, allowing just 6.4 yards per attempt. Rowe could have been flagged for pass interference once.
— Van Noy also probably should have been charged for pass interference on an incomplete pass to running back C.J. Spiller.
— Chung hasn’t been quite as good in man coverage this season, though the Patriots’ defensive backs haven’t been allowed to play as physical.
PASS PROTECTION
Marcus Cannon: seven hurries (seven pressures)
Nate Solder: QB hit, four hurries (five pressures)
Joe Thuney: QB hit, three hurries (four pressures)
Shaq Mason: two hurries (two pressures)
Martellus Bennett: hurry
David Andrews: hurry
— The Jets have a daunting front four featuring Sheldon Richardson, Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson. Mason and Andrews held up well in pass protection.
— Despite the pressure, Patriots blockers only allowed two QB hits and no sacks. Two more QB hits came on broken screen passes.
— Brady was 7-of-19 for 61 yards while pressured.
TOM BRADY’S ACCURACY
1. Wide to James White
2. Under pressure
3. Wide to James Develin
4. Overthrown to Rob Gronkowski
5. Overthrown to LeGarrette Blount
6. Gronkowski’s arm held down on target
7. Wide to Edelman
8. Under pressure
9. Underthrown to White
10. Broken up to Mitchell
11. Under pressure
12. Behind Dion Lewis
13. Wide to White
14. Under pressure
15. Overthrow to Hogan
16. Broken up to White
17. Overthrown to Mitchell
18. Drop by Bennett
19. Thrown out of bounds to Lewis
20. Drop by Edelman
— Brady, nursing an injured knee, was more inaccurate than usual, especially early in the game. He played much better as the game progressed.
— Brady was inaccurate on 13 of his incompletions while four were thrown while under pressure, two were dropped and one was a non-pass interference call.
— Brady was 3-of-8 for 66 yards on deep passes, which are thrown over 16 yards through the air. He hit Edelman once and Hogan twice. The more Brady throws his deep ball, the less accurate it becomes.
