Winners and Losers of New England Patriots' Week 5 Performance
As has been the case most of the season, the New England Patriots endured an ugly game Thursday night. It may have taken three missed field goals from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but at least the Patriots were able to pull out a win.
We haven't seen the Patriots truly challenged in the AFC East in quite some time, but a loss in Week 5 would have dropped New England to last place in the division. In case you weren't aware, the Patriots are now tied for first with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets at 3-2.
The Jets are the next team on the slate for New England. While this looked like a pushover game when the schedule was released, the road game Sunday suddenly becomes an important and challenging one.
Fortunately, the Patriots have a long week to prepare. This should give the team the time it needs to build on the things it did right in Week 5 and address the things that didn't go so well. With this in mind, let's take a look at the big winners and losers from New England's most recent win.
Winner: Mike Gillislee
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The Patriots have struggled to get their ground game going this season, despite committing to the run. Consistency has been hard to come by. Mike Gillislee was expected to lead the rushing attack but has struggled with consistency himself. That changed a bit Thursday.
Coming into Week 5, Gillislee was averaging just 3.4 yards per carry. Against the Buccaneers, he averaged a much more impressive 4.3. That's much more in line with what the Patriots probably thought they'd be getting from Gillislee when they added him.
Gillislee ran hard between the tackles and regularly picked up yards after contact.
Now, Gillislee isn't hitting the type of home runs he often did with the Buffalo Bills, but if he can continue running like he did against the Buccaneers, it's going to be a lot easier for New England to feature him in the ground game.
Loser: Tom Brady
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Quarterback Tom Brady didn't necessarily have a bad game, but he probably had himself a miserable one. For the fifth time in as many weeks, he was battered, harassed and banged around. He was sacked three times, but he was hit several more.
Brady has been sacked at least twice in every game this season, 16 times in total. That's once more than he was sacked in 12 games last season, and Brady is on pace to be sacked 51 times. That's a problem for a 40-year old quarterback. The most Brady has been sacked in a season is 41 times, which came in his second season.
Brady also threw his first interception of the year and was stripped on one of his three sacks.
Poor play from the offensive line has been a big issue for the Patriots, but not having star tight end Rob Gronkowski didn't help either. In addition to giving Brady a quality outlet, Gronk is one of the best blocking tight ends in the game.
Winner: Dion Lewis
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We mentioned that Gillislee helped with an improved running game against the Buccaneers. The Patriots got an even bigger boost from Dion Lewis, who racked up 53 yards on just seven carries. Obviously, Lewis isn't the type of player New England wants to overwork in the running game, but used sparingly, he can be a major boon.
Of course, Lewis wasn't just a factor on the ground. He also added two catches for 10 yards and returned a kickoff for 23 yards.
Through five weeks, Lewis has racked up 141 yards of total offense to go with one touchdown and averaged 19.9 yards off seven kickoff returns. What really stands out is that he's averaging a tremendous 5.1 yards per carry on the ground and a solid 6.0 yards per reception as a short-passing option.
It would probably behoove New England to get Lewis involved in the offense even more.
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Loser: The Offensive Line
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The offensive line seemed to open more holes in the running game in Week 5, but pass protection remains an issue. The Buccaneers don't have an upper-tier pass rush—just one sack in three games coming in—but that's exactly what it looked like against New England.
Left tackle Nate Solder, however, believes the line was improved.
"I think we would have some good plays, some bad plays," Solder said, per Anthony Gulizia of the Boston Globe. "I think we were more consistent. I think we need to continue to push that, you know, not letting free guys hit Tom and making them work for everything they get."
Perhaps Solder didn't notice the kind of pressure Brady was under throughout the game. To be fair, there's a good chance he just didn't see defenders slipping by him. He and the rest of the line seem to be doing that a lot this season.
Winner: The Secondary
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One of the biggest issues early in the season has been miscommunication in the secondary. There's no other way to explain some of the huge plays the secondary has allowed because the players on the back end of the defense are talented.
In order to cut down on communication issues, the Patriots simplified coverage schemes and allowed cornerbacks like newcomer Stephon Gilmore to play more man coverage. The result was a better performance from the defensive backs and Jameis Winston struggling—at least for the first three quarters.
According to safety Duron Harmon, the unit really didn't have a choice but to improve.
"Honestly, I think our backs were against the wall," Harmon explained, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. "We had one choice—to get better or stay the same. I think all the competitors we've got on defense and we knew it wasn't enough. We knew we were literally costing our team."
Hopefully, New England's secondary won't be costing the team moving forward.
Loser: The Defensive Line
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The Patriots defensive line has been a strength in years past, but it has been merely an average unit so far. The lack of a pass rush is a serious concern, and the line has regularly been pushed around in the running game.
This trend continued Thursday.
The Patriots did manage to sack Winston twice, but there was certainly not consistent pressure on him. The defense also allowed running back Doug Martin to rush for 74 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in his season debut.
As a team, the Buccaneers rushed for 4.5 yards per carry. Only one Tampa rushing attempt resulted in a loss of yardage.
Overall, the Patriots surrendered 409 net yards of offense. While the secondary was largely responsible for surrendering yardage in past games, the defensive line was the culprit in Week 5.
Winner: Chris Hogan
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It appears the Patriots have found their replacement for the injured Julian Edelman. While most assumed Brandin Cooks—for whom the Patriots traded a first-round pick to acquire—would be the guy, Chris Hogan is emerging as Brady's favorite receiver.
Hogan had another big game Thursday with eight receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. He has produced 288 yards and five touchdowns this season.
Hogan saw just one reception in the season opener but has become a much bigger part of the offense over the last month. If Hogan continues to average what he has over the last four games, he'll be on pace for roughly 82 receptions, 1,060 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns.
Edelman had 98 receptions for 1,106 yards and three touchdowns last season.
There are still some problems with this Patriots offense. However, a Hogan-led receiving corps isn't one of them.
Loser: Dwayne Allen
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Hogan is doing a good job of replacing Edelman in the offense. The same cannot be said for Dwayne Allen, who needed to replace the injured Gronkowski Thursday. Yet again, he was left without a reception.
Allen now has zero receptions through five weeks. That's obviously not good, but the fact he wasn't even targeted with Gronkowski on the sideline is alarming. Rookie tight end Jacob Hollister didn't log a reception but at least he has a couple this year and was targeted once against Tampa.
Even though Hollister isn't being used a ton in the passing game, the Patriots seem high on him.
"He's a young guy that does a lot of things that can help you on the field," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. "He runs well. He's been able to create some separation in the passing game."
None of this bodes well for Allen's role in the offense or his future with the Patriots. Allen has two years remaining on his current deal, but no guaranteed money remaining beyond this season.
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