The New England Patriots (3-2) have found their way back into the track defensively at the beginning of Week 5.The Pats-Defense proved to be much better after the debacles of the last few weeks and led New England to a 19:14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2).Quarterback Tom Brady delivered another very good match, but the defending champion still has a question mark on his side.
For the Pats there was the first bad news already about two hours before Kick-Off: Rob Gronkowski, who had gone into the week with a thigh injury, would not be able to play.At the same time, however, the Buccaneers went into the match defensively without several stars: Linebacker Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander were eliminated in the same way as the Safeties T. J.Ward and Keith Tandy, Doug Martin was back after being locked out.
But whoever expected a shootout in view of the two strong offenses and the so far so desolate Patriots-Defense as well as the decimated Bucs-Defense was mistaken early on.On the one hand, this was due to individual mistakes – the interception of Tom Brady (30/40,303 YDS, TD, INT) was a far too high throw with a short pass over the middle, the next drive ended with a drop of Brandin Cooks – but on the other hand also due to better defensive play of the patriots: New England avoided the serious communication errors in the secondary from the previous week.
In the Run Game, however, the front crumbled, Martin started impressively in the second quarter and caused the first touchdown of the game – while Jameis Winston (26/46,334 YDS, TD) had inaccuracies in his game early on.Brady responded with a TD-pass to Chris Hogan and New England scored higher before the half-time break via Field Goal.Numerous penalties against New England helped Tampas Offense time and again, including the final drive in the second quarter.But the 56-yarder missed.
A second half developed, which was even more marked by the two defenses.The Bucs had huge problems in passing, New England’s defense was no comparison to the past weeks.Nevertheless, it remained tight until the end – two missed field goals on the side of the hosts but were a heavy mortgage.An 18-yard TD to Cameron Brate put Tampa in striking distance, the Bucs had the chance to win the game one minute before the end and Winston from 19 yards had an attempt for victory, the Pats defended the pass.Game Over.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) – New England Patriots (3-2)14:19 (0:3,7:10,0:3,7:3) BOXSCORE
Significant increase on the part of the patriots.New England showed close coverage, very good tackling (at least over three quarters) and even a pass rush.Here New England’s stronger focus on zone coverage paid off, Tampas receivers were barely open and apart from DeSean Jackson’s long catch-and-run in the final quarter, the Pats hardly allowed any yards after the catch.Mike Evans has been deliberately doubled in the Red Zone, and the trend fits here.However, Run Defense remains problematic.
Even though the Patriots were the better team for much of the match, it was only 16:7 at the beginning of the final quarter – with the chance that the game would fall: After a bag fumble by Brady, Tampa came within Field Goal range, but once again was unable to exploit a third down.The 49-yard-field-goal would have meant a one-score game, but the kick went wrong.And it got even worse: Cameron Brates drop in the end zone a few minutes later, which cost Tampa valuable minutes and finally also the touchdown, followed – whereupon Folk also forgave the 31-Yarder.
nearby
Brady started unfamiliarly bumpy, especially with short passes he had several inaccuracies.He improved in the course of the game and had some great throws – one of the reasons for his good performance was Danny Amendola (8 REC, 77 YDS).Again and again he won against Man Coverage or found the gaps in Zone Coverage, Brady and Amendola showed great chemistry.The receiver’s influence on the game was greater than its stats would suggest.
To admit only 19 points against this Patriots-Offense in all the defensive failures speaks for Tampas Defense very clearly.The problem: The own offense could not capitalize at all, and that was largely due to Winston.Although Winston was extremely imprecise from the beginning, Winston overlooked free receivers and made false reads and litters in coverage.The first third down conversion took place just under two minutes before the end of the third quarter, and Winston has played a roller coaster season so far.