3 Up, 3 Down from Sunday's Loss
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| AP Photo/ Tom Uhlman |
Here's a look at who played well and who struggled in yesterday's 13-6 loss the Bengals. It will be no surprise to see the "Up" list full of defenders while the "Down" list is populated by pretty much the entire offense.
Up:
Devin McCourty
McCourty was part of a secondary that did a very solid job on superstar receiver AJ Green (who only notched 5 catches for 61 yards) and generally succeeded in limiting big plays down the field. He was also part of a secondary that did a great job of limiting yards after the catch with some excellent, fundamental tackling. McCourty also made a potential game changing play in the fourth quarter, lining up a perfect, helmet-on-the-ball hit to force a fumble from Gio Benard. The play gave Tom Brady the ball back on the Bengals 44 yard line only down a touchdown with 3:26 left and all three timeouts; a situation that more often than not ends well for New England. Unfortunately it was not to be, as the offense promptly went three and out, but McCourty deserves credit for continuing his strong play this year.
Jerod Mayo/Brandon Spikes
It was clear that the loss of Vince Wilfork would force the linebackers to step up their play to plug any leaks in the team's run defense. Rookie defensive tackles Joe Velano and Chris Jones struggled to hold their ground up front, but Mayo and Spikes both had phenomenal days flying around and making plays. Both ended up credited with 7 tackles, with Mayo recovering Devin McCourty's big forced fumble and Spikes coming up with a red zone interception of Andy Dalton. These numbers still don't seem to do justice to how dominant these two were, as their sure tackling was huge in the Patriots limiting Cincinnati to a paltry 13 points despite the absence of Wilfork (and later Tommy Kelly) up front.
Aqib Talib
It speaks to how well Aqib Talib has been playing that his performance yesterday was actually a step back from the week before. No matter how much help he got from the safeties, you can't say enough about holding a player of AJ Green's caliber to 5 catches and 61 yards. Performances like that give your team a chance to win games, and players like Green absolutely killed the Patriots with ease less than a year ago. It's painful to imagine where this team would be without Talib, who has turned out to best cornerback the Patriots have had since Ty Law.
Down:
Brandon Bolden/ LeGarrette Blount
A quick glimpse at the box score doesn't look bad for Bolden, who got 64 total yards on 5 carries and 6 catches, but the back had two costly drops which really hurt the offense. One of them had the potential to turn into a touchdown, as the otherwise perfectly executed play had a convoy of blockers up the field and lots of running room for Bolden. Unfortunately, Bolden had the ball clang right off his hands. It's worth noting that Bolden is toughing it out and playing on an injured knee that had him limping around the locker room on Thursday, but once you're out there, you have to perform better than that.
The one thing Bolden did do well is not turn the ball over. That's more than can be said for LeGarrette Blount, who was having a solid if unspectacular day running the ball until a second quarter fumble landed him a seat on the bench. Blount only played eight snaps after that fumble and will have to prove himself next week, as ball security was an issue with him in Tampa.
With Leon Washington banged up, Stevan Ridley out with a knee injury and Shane Vereen on short-term IR, these two were the Patriots only options in the running game. While both made plays at times, neither could avoid the kind of costly mistakes that held the offense back all game.
Nate Solder/ Logan Mankins
You could put the entire offensive line up here, but I've decided to single out Solder and Mankins because they are the guys expected to step up and win battles against top flight competition. Solder was largely responsible for two early sacks that helped set the tone and make Brady uncomfortable for the rest of the day, while Mankins was consistently beaten by the dominant Geno Atkins, who proved why he might be the best defensive tackle not named JJ Watt in the game.
Unfortunately, the fears I wrote about in my Week 5 Scouting Report came true, as the offensive line's struggles against the Bengals front essentially crippled the Patriots offense. Tom Brady was sacked 4 times and never had enough time to get comfortable in the pocket and get into a rhythm. On a day when the Patriots running backs each made too many mistakes to be trusted, this was fatal for the offense, which put up it's lowest points total since getting shut out in 2006 by Miami.
Tom Brady
Ok, to be fair it was far from ideal conditions for Tom Brady. His line failed to protect him, the run was abandoned after a costly fumble, and his receivers dropped 6 passes (3 by the returning Danny Amendola, 2 by Bolden and 1 by Julian Edelman). However, number 12 was far from his usual perfect self on Sunday, as the Bengals perfectly executed the "Beat Brady" blueprint of mixing up coverages and getting consistent pressure. Considering the circumstances, Brady wasn't terrible, but he missed a few throws that he normally completes in his sleep. His final statline of 18-38, 197 yards, no touchdowns and a pick (thrown in desperation time on the game's last possession) reflected this, as Brady's streak of consecutive game's with a touchdown pass was snapped at 52. Unfortunately, a touchdown pass yesterday would have given Brady a chance to tie the record next week against the record-holder (Drew Brees, with 54 straight games). Maybe that's what Tommy Kelly was so sad about. Ok, probably not.
