What a disappointing effort by the Patriots Sunday. While it is hard to find silver linings in a shutout beatdown at home by a division rival, I chose to look at the fact the Pats managed to go 3-1 without the greatest quarterback of all time. And hey, special teams played pretty well yesterday, save for a few small plays, so lets get into it.
First, I’d like to give a nod to the tremendous work Matthew Slater and Jonathan Jones have done as gunners on the punt team thus far in the season. The pair shone in a game lacking much of anything positive, continuing their trend of incredibly strong play. While we all know just how good the five-time Pro Bowler Slater is, it is also important to recognize the undrafted rookie Jones, who has yet to receive any snaps at corner, but has had a standout start to his career on special teams. Slater and Jones both beat their men down the field on the first punt, with Slater making an excellent tackle for no gain off Ryan Allen’s 47-yard punt.
In addition, twice Allen’s punts resulted in fair catches by Tate, and both times Tate had Slater and Jones converging on him, allowing no room to run. Tate returned Allen’s third punt for 10 yards, with Slater bringing him down, but Jones was illegally knocked out of bounds on the play, resulting in a 10 yard penalty on Stephen Gilmore that set Buffalo back to its own 10 yard line. The duo has been incredible thus far, consistently beating opponents on the way down the field and not allowing positive returns off punts.
Also deserving praise is the punt Ryan Allen had to end the first half. The Bills forced the Pats to punt from their own endzone with eight seconds left in the half, hoping for a fair catch that would allow them a chance at a long field goal or a Hail Mary attempt as time expired. However, Allen expertly placed his punt right by the sideline, hitting in bounds and rolling inside the BUF 40 yard line, not allowing Brandon Tate to fair catch it. Tate didn’t make the best effort to receive the punt, but Allen was able to hang the punt long enough that even if he had been able to get under it, the clock would have already expired.
These sorts of little plays are huge in the grand scheme of things, and while it did not really have a huge impact on the overall game, in tight games against elite opponents later in the season and into the playoffs, they can prove to be the difference between a win and a lose.
Unfortunately, when the Pats did something good yesterday, it seemed like a sequence of negative plays immediately followed it. A great example of this was the false start by Brandon King on the punt following Allen’s great punt to end the half. These are the types of plays that appear to have minimal impact on a game, but can be game-changing against good opponents in which every yard counts.
This five-yard penalty had importance because the flag was thrown before the play, but Allen still able to get his punt off, hitting it inside the BUF 10 yard line. However, because of the penalty, the punt did not count, so Allen was forced to re-kick. The second time, Allen hit more of a line drive that ended up being returned to the BUF 30, and the Bills converted the favorable field position into a field goal that effectively iced the game.
The difference between forcing the Bills inside their own 10 and allowing them to start on their own 30 can have a huge impact, and the Patriots must insure that stupid plays like this do not occur on a regular basis if they wish to be successful.
However, King was not the only Patriot who had a bad moment on special teams this week. Cyrus Jones struggled again, this time returning kicks. Due to his struggles fielding punts last week, he was removed from punt return duty, but was still tasked with returning kicks (as he has the entire season thus far). Jones showed his lack of experience again, this time deciding to return two kicks that he should have just taken a knee on, giving the Pats the ball on the 25. On both returns, Jones hesitated, then brought the ball out, the first time being tackled at the NE 9, and the second time pinned at the NE 14.
I harped on this a lot last week, but giving your rookie quarterback good field position is crucial, especially early on in the game, yet on the first two possessions, Jones’s poor decisions forced Brissett and the Pats offense to start inside their own 15. I understand that Belichick and Joe Judge want to get Jones more experience on punt and kick returns, but the rookie has been shaky (at best) thus far, and I would be very cautious using him as the season progresses, until he proves he can play at the level required.
