Patriots Report Card: Week 6 at Buffalo

Anyone who wanted to see the Patriots back up their enormous effort against the Bengals last week with a similar output vs. the Buffalo Bills got their wish on Sunday. The Pats blew the doors off again, leaving Western New York with a 37-22 victory and sole possession of first place in the AFC East.

It wasn’t all sunshine and puppies, thanks to the brutal, season-ending injuries suffered by Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley, two integral parts of the operation. But Tom Brady completing 27-of-37 passes for 361 yards and four TDs with no picks (joining Indianapolis’s Andrew Luck as the only QB this year to pass for over 350 yards and four scores with zero INTs) goes a long way toward turning any frowns upside down. Reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated, and the defense, clearly over its no-show against the Chiefs two weeks ago, hardly missed a beat even after Mayo’s second quarter departure.

Everything isn’t awesome. The Pats can blame the injuries for that. But there’s plenty of reasons to be pleased and with the hapless Jets due to arrive in Foxborough in just two days, the good vibes feel destined to keep flowing. So with that, let’s get into this week’s report card, vintage taking the top off the defense style.

OVERALL GRADE: B+

OFFENSE – Tom and Gronk. Gronk and Tom. It’s catchy, isn’t it? Like … it could be a sitcom or reality show title. How great would it be to see Gronk with his feet up playing Call of Duty with a bunch of empty chip bags and Chinese food cartons lying around his Back Bay condo – which he shares with Tom – and boom, Gisele walks in and the live studio audience goes wild? Tremendous television.

Anyway, it’s no secret that Brady is better and the offense is far more dynamic when Gronk is healthy. After showing signs of going Full Gronk last week, he did it on Sunday. No. 87 pulled in seven catches for 94 yards, had a ridiculous TD catch (and equally outstanding celebration) called back and survived the wind being knocked out of him and some damage to his Robo-arm brace. The entire aerial attack opens up when Gronk does his thing without hindrance. The biggest reason Brady was able to complete passes to 10 different receivers in this game was because Gronk opened up so much room from boundary to boundary for all of them to operate. No one can cover Gronk when he’s at or near 100 percent.

Gronk’s two most important catches came on the Pats’ final scoring drive. The first was a quick, eight-yard out with the offense pinned back at its own 7-yard line following the Bills making it a one-score game. Then, on 3rd and 16 from their own 29, he sat down underneath an arc of defenders to haul in a 17-yard strike from Brady, which led to the 56-yard TD pass to Brandon LaFell that salted away the game two plays later.

The performance of the offensive line, especially following a sketchy first half, was huge, with even Jordan Devey acquitting himself well after Dan Connolly left with a concussion. The Pats racked up 297 yards in the second half, with Brady completing 15-of-17 passes for 274 yards and three of his four TDs. Brady being kept clean and upright is as crucial as Gronk’s health and productivity and when he’s got as much time as he had throughout the second half, he’s the same surgical technician he’s always been. Just ask the Bills’ front four which, except for a few nice plays by Jerry Hughes (at the expense of the perplexing Nate Solder), was very quiet.

LaFell, Julian Edelman (nine grabs, 91 yards), multiple tight end sets, Brian Tyms making like Randy Moss and superior play up front. Those pieces all clicked for the Pats, who overcame another litany of penalties and a stagnant ground game to up their point total to 80 in their last two games. And everything started with and revolved around Tom and Gronk, America’s No. 1 comedy/drama/reality show/buddy duo/QB-tight end combo. GRADE: A-

DEFENSE – As thin as the linebacking corps was even before Mayo went down, if the Pats get efforts like this one from their defensive line, it will go a long way toward mitigating that issue. The Bills weren’t a very good running team coming in, but Vince Wilfork and friends, notably the house-like Casey Walker, played a particularly stingy game in holding them to a paltry three yards per attempt, with no downturn after Mayo left.

Chandler Jones, back at full strength, whipped through Bills’ rookie right tackle Seantrel Henderson late in the second quarter to strip sack QB Kyle Orton, then completed the trifecta by recovering the fumble, which led to a field goal. It remains to be seen how the Pats adjust to Mayo’s absence but Jones, who even stood up in the A gap a yard or so behind the line of scrimmage in this game, proved again that he’s best served coming off the edge.

Rob Ninkovich was the Pats’ defensive MVP. Three sacks, three hurries, four hits of Orton and four tackles for a loss will usually earn a player that honor. Ninkovich moved into the team lead in both sacks and QB hits in putting up his most dynamic, productive game of the season.

Jamie Collins, who started the Bills’ turnover brigade with an impressive interception in the second quarter on which he adjusted his coverage assignment at the snap, directed the linebackers well in Mayo and Dont’a Hightower’s absence. He will likely wear the green dot at least until Hightower returns. Deontae Skinner looked OK in some extended playing time, with one big sack of Orton on a delayed blitz that resulted in the Buffalo QB freezing as though he was about to be hit by a bus. But the Pats will still need to bring in some reinforcements, which they began to look into on Monday.

Any downgrades to the D derive from the coverage which, with the exception of Darrelle Revis’s predictable lockdown of Bills’ rookie Sammy Watkins, wasn’t very good. For starters, the Pats’ inability to cover pass catching tight ends is now almost old enough to start junior high, as Scott Chandler demonstrated. Chandler had 13 catches for 137 yards coming in then put up a tidy six for 105, five of those grabs going for first downs. One of these years, the Pats may decide to bring in a linebacker or safety that has some basic cover skills. Nobody since Tedy Bruschi has fit that bill in a Patriots uniform, so the possibility feels pretty bleak.

And opposite Revis, someone needs to step up. Logan Ryan was banished at halftime of the Kansas City game and Alfonzo Dennard, singed again in this game, has done nothing to show he’s much better. Even if Brandon Browner really can’t pick up the Pats’ scheme, he’d have to be incapable of tying his shoes to not be an upgrade.

These shortcomings didn’t matter too much though. Ninkovich, Jones, Wilfork and Revis all made sure of a high grade. And while the loss of Mayo hurts a great deal, there is more than enough talent and ability on this defense to succeed. GRADE: B

COACHING/SPECIAL TEAMS/INTANGIBLES – A highlight through five weeks, the special teams looked shoddy on Sunday. There were penalties, bad snaps, missed field goals (due one of those bad snaps), poor situational punting and long kick returns allowed. Not terribly alarming and none of it wound up coming back to bite them. Stephen Gostkowski still drilled three more field goals, Ryan Allen is still a fine punter and Matthew Slater, Brandon Bolden and Chris White are still terrific kick coverage guys. This was most likely a blip on the radar for that unit.

As for Belichick and staff, it was another strong week that pushed any further bad memories of the Monday night massacre in Kansas City deeper into the recesses of the memory banks. The Patriots were ready to play, came out aggressive, weathered the injuries very well (Connolly’s in particular – the O-line looked like it took two steps back after he went down then looked better than it has all season in the second half) and showed a certain amount of character that can’t be denied no matter who the opponent was (even an opponent as patently dumb as the Bills). The Pats played an attacking style on both sides of the ball, taking advantage of the Bills’ weak spots, specifically their offensive line and secondary. Brady noted the aggressive approach with relish after the game and why wouldn’t he be pumped about it? This was exactly the way the Pats want to play on offense and when he’s got the time and the healthy superstar tight end, they can. It’s really that simple.

The #Patriots had 8 pass plays of 20+ yards through four games, and have matched that number in the past two games.

— Erik Frenz (@ErikFrenz) October 13, 2014

Moving forward, the Pats of course will have their work cut out to replace both Mayo and Ridley. But, as was the case when they were flailing after the season’s first four games, they have the perfect coach to get the next men up ready to both contribute and be productive. The Patriots’ prowess in dealing with attrition has been on display all year, especially on Sunday. They’re going to be just fine. GRADES: SPECIAL TEAMS: C, COACHING: A-