Patriots Player Power Rankings: Malcolm Butler shuts down Sammy Watkins
COMMENTARY
If only the Patriots had a third cornerback.
Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan shut down receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods in the Patriots’ 20-13 win over the Bills. But Tyrod Taylor took advantage of a mismatch that favored the Bills: Chris Hogan vs. Pat Chung. The safety had to fill in at cornerbck, and couldn’t stick to Hogan, who caught six of his seven targets for 95 yards. Hogan’s catches kept this game interesting.
Tom Brady was tasked with solving Rex Ryan’s masterfully planned pass rush, which gave the offensive line fits. What’s worse. the Patriots offensive unit has — in consecutive weeks — lost three of its best players. Brady’s conservative play was just enough to carry the Patriots past the Bills.
Here are this week’s Patriots Player Power Rankings.
1. Danny Amendola — The receiver continues to make clutch catches on third downs, and finished with nine receptions for 117 yards. Now with his potential knee injury, it’s just a matter of how long it will be until he does it again.
2. Tom Brady — It used to be that pressuring Brady was the answer to beating him. But Rex Ryan’s defense pressured Brady on 50 percent of his dropbacks. Now what?
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3. Malcolm Butler — Sammy Watkins is a fantastic receiver, as exhibited by his jaw-dropping one-handed catch Monday night. But other than that, Butler held Watkins to three catches for 39 yards. Butler’s on an… archipelago.
4. Logan Ryan — Typically, when a cornerback leads the team in tackles for a game, it’s a bad sign. But Ryan allowed only one catch for four yards on five targets, according to NESN.com. His nine tackles were a testament to his excellent run defense.
5. Devin McCourty— The Patriots captain traversed a huge stretch of field to break up a deep pass in the endzone to LeSean McCoy at the end of the second quarter. The Bills were forced to kick, and missed — which means McCourty saved the Patriots seven points (in a seven-point game).
6. James White — That’s the sound of everyone scrambling to their phones to make White their top pick-up on the fantasy waiver wire. The change-of-pace back had a pair of touchdowns.
7. Bill Belichick — Belichick to the roaring Gillette crowd: “Shut the F— up’’
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8. Rob Ninkovich — The defensive end finished with 1.5 sacks. But perhaps most important was Ninkovich’s tackle on Hogan on the Bills’ second-to-last drive. Ninkovich ripped the wideout backwards, holding him to a five-yard gain on a 2nd-and-6. Chung held Karlos Williams on a 3rd-and-1, and the Bills punted.
9. Jerod Mayo — Did the linebacker gain a step? The 29-year-old linebacker looked like his former self, stuffing runs and maintaining solid coverage.
10a. Brandon King — King punched the ball out of Leodis McKelvin’s grasp on a punt return, and the Patriots recovered. But in frustrating game for both teams, the play provided some comedic relief for fans.
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10b. Rex Ryan — Speaking of comedic relief. Rex, please, never stop being Rex.
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9 times Tom Brady has silenced Rex Ryan
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