Quietly the Patriots have gone about building the strongest record in the NFL amidst all the talk of rebuilding and “giving up on the season.” How does that happen? Well in short a lot of their youngsters are making big contributions. Really big. You only need to look at the aging Vikings and their continued decline to see just how wise the Patriots are.
Whether they can continue this type of performance is unsure. Will their rookies hit the rookie wall, but right now that defense that was such a concern is by and large stepping it up in a way no one could have expected.
As for Minnesota, reports of buffet trashing and ex-team loving were chalked up to Randy Moss' release, but our review of the tape showed a receiver that's as poor as anyone.
Vikings: Performances of note
Another day, another disappointing performance from Asher Allen (-3.2). Asher was responsible for Brandon Tate’s long touchdown (though in fairness he deserves some slack, given the amount of time that Tom Brady had) but the biggest problem was his tackling. Four times he was in position to make a tackle, and only once did he. It’s inexcusable to miss three tackles in a game.
It was a tale of Jekyll and Hyde at the receiver position. While Percy Harvin (+3.0) was excellent in catching six of the eight balls thrown his way, the same cannot be said of Randy Moss (-2.9). In fact it was this performance that probably made it easier to waive the one-time Viking legend, as he struggled to gain separation and only caught one ball (plus drawing a big P.I. penalty). The Patriots had safety help on him most of the game, but it doesn’t excuse such anonymity.
The defensive line has taken a lot of flak in the past few weeks and it won’t change after this one. Only Kevin Williams (+2.0) came out of this game with any credit, as the starters combined to hit Brady only twice. They weren’t terrible in accumulating nine total pressures between them, but they lost the battle at the line of scrimmage and none more so then when the game was on the line.
Patriots: Performances of note
There’s a rookie of the year candidate emerging that nobody is talking about. But if you watch ILB Brandon Spikes (+4.5) knife through the line and make play after play in the Pats base package you’ll understand why. It wasn’t just the six tackles (three of which were defensive stops) but it was Spikes' continual ability to blow up plays and prevent the Vikings running where they wanted to. Jerod Mayo is piling up the tackles, but it's Spikes who is making the bigger impact.
A scarier thought for Patriot opponents after Spikes' great day was that he was barely the best Patriots rookie on the field! Devin McCourty (+4.2) has played well at times, and looked like a first-year starter at others times. Against the Vikes, he looked better than good. Five times he was thrown, at and the end result was him breaking up two passes and deflecting another while only giving up 15 yards. Great day against a Hall of Fame quarterback — even a 41-year-old one.
On the offensive side of the ball the Pats didn’t really have the same kind of explosive performers the defense did, but it’s worth noting how well BenJarvus Green-Ellis (+2.5) played. Relishing the opportunity handed to him, “The Law Firm” made the most out of some average blocking to pick up 112 yards with 68.75% of those coming after contact.
Rookie report
Chris Cook (+0.0) saw most of the action as the third cornerback in nickel formations. He gave up 37 yards in a decent showing … Toby Gerhart (-0.6) spelled Adrian Peterson more than we’ve become accustomed to but only really inflated his stats with the game over.
Of the excellent Patriots we haven’t mentioned, give some credit to Brandon Deaderick (+2.6). The rookie end made two big defensive stops and held his ground at the point of attack … Jermaine Cunningham (+0.3) had a hit and two pressures in an otherwise quiet day … The rookie tight ends had mixed days. Aaron Hernandez (+0.5) had a decent day but Rob Gronkowski (-2.0) had his worst day as a pro. His run blocking was off the pace and he dropped a pass.
Random notes
Bernard Berrian was the only Viking to drop a pass … The Vikings combined to hit Tom Brady just four times in the entire game.
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