It was a Jamie Collins type of game Sunday in the New England Patriots’ 43-0 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Collins has always been a playmaker for the Patriots, and his Week 2 performance was one of his better games in either stint of his career in New England. Collins finished with a sack, two interceptions and a return for a touchdown. He also led the Patriots in five tackles.
Collins was far from the only defensive standout in the Patriots’ shutout victory. Here are our other takeaways based on Pro Football Focus‘ metrics.
PASS RUSH
DT Adam Butler: two sacks, hurry
DT Danny Shelton: sack, QB hit, hurry
OLB Kyle Van Noy: QB hit, two hurries
OLB Chase Winovich: two sacks
DE Michael Bennett: sack, QB hit
OLB Jamie Collins: sack
OLB John Simon: sack
OLB Shilique Calhoun: QB hit
FS Duron Harmon: QB hit
SS Patrick Chung: hurry
— Linebackers Dont’a Hightower Elandon Roberts and Ja’Whaun Bentley, defensive linemen Byron Cowart and Lawrence Guy and safety Terrence Brooks had pass-rush snaps but no pressures.
— Shelton led the Patriots in pass-rush productivity with the three pressures on just 11 pass-rush snaps. Shelton also got to the quarterback fastest on this sack.
— The Patriots were relentless getting after QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen. It was one of the better overall Patriots pass-rushing performances in recent years especially when it comes to finishing with sacks.
PASS COVERAGE
LB Elandon Roberts: three catches on three targets for 45 yards
CB Jonathan Jones: 2-4, 20 yards, PBU
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley: 3-3, 20 yards
CB Jason McCourty: 2-4, 19 yards
CB Stephon Gilmore: 1-5, 17 yards, INT, two PBUs
CB JC Jackson: 1-6, 14 yards
FS Devin McCourty: 1-3, 13 yards, INT
SS Patrick Chung: 1-1, 11 yards
FS Duron Harmon: 1-1, 10 yards
LB Dont’a Hightower: 1-2, 6 yards
LB Jamie Collins: 1-2, 6 yards, two INTs
SS Terrence Brooks: 1-1, 5 yards
— Everyone covered really well all game for the Patriots. Jones, Gilmore and Collins were standouts among this group. Gilmore, like Collins, had a pick-six. It was the first touchdown of his NFL career.
— One of Gilmore’s breakups led to McCourty’s interception. Gilmore had one of his better games with the Patriots.
— Dolphins receivers dropped five passes in the game. That certainly helps coverage stats.
RUN DEFENSE
DT Adam Butler: four stops
LB Jamie Collins: three stops
LB Elandon Roberts: two stops
CB Jason McCourty: two stops
CB Jonathan Jones: two stops
SS Patrick Chung: two stops
DE Michael Bennett: stop
LB Dont’a Hightower: stop
CB Stephon Gilmore: stop
DT Lawrence Guy: stop
OLB John Simon: stop
OLB Chase Winovich: stop
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley: stop
SS Terrence Brooks: stop
CB JC Jackson: stop
— The Patriots let up just 42 yards on 15 carries, and 6 of those yards came on one carry by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
— Chung had a tackle for loss on a negative carry by Kenyan Drake.
— Collins also had a tackle for loss on a 4-yard loss by wide receiver Jakeem Grant.
PASSING ATTACK
— Tom Brady went 2-of-4 for 52 yards with one touchdown on deep passes.
— There were no drops, throwaways, batted passes, spikes or time when Brady was hit as he threw among his incompletions.
— Brady was 2-of-4 for 24 yards with two sacks while under pressure.
— Brady took 2.37 seconds to throw.
RECEIVING
— Patriots receivers didn’t drop any passes.
— Antonio Brown caught one of two deep passes for 20 yards with a touchdown. Josh Gordon didn’t catch one deep target. Running back Rex Burkhead caught one 32-yard deep pass.
— Brown caught 2-of-3 targets out of the slot for 38 yards with a touchdown.
PASS PROTECTION
LT/RT Marshall Newhouse: sack, three hurries
RT Korey Cunningham: two hurries
LG Joe Thuney: sack
— PFF didn’t chart Ted Karras, Shaq Mason, Isaiah Wynn, Matt LaCosse, James Develin, Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel, Ryan Izzo or James White with any pressures.
— Newhouse had a tough assignment. He joined the Patriots this week and started at right tackle. Then he switched to left tackle early in the game when Isaiah Wynn went out with a foot injury. If Wynn misses more time, we wonder if the Patriots will try Cunningham at left tackle. He has more upside.
RUSHING ATTACK
Rex Burkhead: 3 yards after contact per carry, one forced missed tackle
Sony Michel: 2.24 yards after contact per carry, two forced missed tackles
James White: 1.67 yards after contact per carry
James Develin: .5 yards after contact per carry
— Michel was significantly better than he was in Week 1. He carried the ball 22 times for 85 yards with a touchdown but lost a fumble. Michel only managed 14 yards on 15 carries in Week 1.
— Burkhead only touched the ball seven times, but he picked up 68 total yards. He’s had a good start to the season.
— Brady also picked up a touchdown run.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, go to ProFootballFocus.com.
