5 takeaways from the Patriots’ sixth-straight win

 

5 takeaways from the Patriots’ sixth-straight win The lone turnover turned the game. Julian Edelman Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman runs after the catch during third quarter action against the Packers. –Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff By Dave D'Onofrio 1:38 AM Five takeaways after the Patriots pull away from the Packers to score a 31-17 victory and a sixth-straight win. Brady over Rodgers oversimplifies it The allure of Sunday night’s game for the national audience was the battle between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, with two of their generation’s elite quarterbacks trading possession of the football, and with the Patriots’ victory will come the headlines that Brady outdueled his Packer counterpart. But that assessment would be dramatically oversimplifying things. Brady and Rodgers were both fine. Brady finished 22 of 35 for 294 yards and a touchdown; Rodgers went 24-for-43, totaling 259 yards and two scores. Their passer ratings were 99 and 89.2, respectively. Per that measure it was Brady’s sixth-best game of the season; only one of Rodgers’s eight games has been worse. So Sunday was less of a duel than it was the Patriots overcoming a series of significant offensive injuries to take advantage of a Green Bay defense that has now allowed 29-31 points in six of its last seven games, and the New England defense making improvements against a Packers attack that entered as one of the top five offensive units in football. To that end, the Pats held the Packers to 5.3 yards per play offensively, almost a full yard less than their season average coming in. They only had one sack, but a cast led by Adrian Clayborn and Trey Flowers kept the heat on Rodgers all night, and limited Green Bay to just four first downs after the Packers scored to tie the game at 17 on the first series of the second half. Without Rob Gronkowski, Sony Michel, and Shaq Mason, the Pats’ offense was missing three key components that factor into every phase of their attack, and for a second straight week was struggling to finish drives. Brady, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically inaccurate early in the second half. But ultimately the defense played well enough to keep the score even until the offense could figure it out, and even turned momentum by creating a turnover that 4 minutes and 46 seconds later was turned directly into the game-winning score. On that decisive drive, the biggest play was a 37-yard pass thrown not by Brady, not by Rodgers, but by a guy whose ceiling as a quarterback was realized at Kent State University – Julian Edelman. That was fitting on a night that came down to more than merely a couple of legends sharing the field. Most evident was the 55-yard dagger that Brady connected on with Gordon, then there was the 37-yard hookup from Edelman to White. But there was more. Brady and Edelman paired up for 33 yards off a flea-flicker. Gordon caught another ball for 29 yards, elevating over his defender to snag it. Patterson earned himself more carries with runs of 25 and 17, and all together the Pats had 10 offensive plays gain at least 17 yards. Unsurprisingly, all of those came as part of drives that led to points for the Patriots. And just as unsurprisingly, here it is, November, and the Patriots are 7-2.