Thursday games usually aren’t pretty, but all that matters is coming away with a win.
That was the case Thursday in Atlanta for the Patriots, as it wasn’t their best performance, but they came away with a 25-0 win.
It was their fifth straight and they are now 7-4 on the year.
New England was led by its defense, as it made life very difficult for Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense. Meanwhile, Mac Jones was pretty efficient besides one bad throw that resulted in an interception.
Dating back to last week against Cleveland following its opening drive touchdown, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 70-0.
Here are 10 quick thoughts on the game.
1. Jones finished the game 22-for-26 passing with 207 yards, a touchdown and an interception. With that being said, Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees dialed up a few blitzes at the right time that frustrated the rookie. This could be something other teams look to use moving forward since the Patriots struggled with a few of them.
2. The Patriots defense is really turning into a dominant unit. Not only does it limit yards and has done an outstanding job against the run recently, it also makes plays. Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips, Kyle Van Noy and J.C. Jackson each recorded interceptions, which brings them to 16 turnovers the last seven games.
3. With Cordarrelle Patterson inactive with an ankle injury, all the Falcons really had on offense was rookie Kyle Pitts. The Patriots defense, led by Kyle Dugger and J.C. Jackson did a great job on him. He finished with three receptions on five targets for 29 yards.
4. Matthew Judon was once again a major disruption on defense. He recorded a sack, which set a career-high in a season (10.5). He will challenge Chandler Jones and Mike Vrabel’s record for the most sacks in a single season with the Patriots under Bill Belichck. They each had 12.5.
5. When it came to the offensive line, the Patriots did close to the same thing as last week against the Browns. Ted Karras started at guard, so the odd man out was Michael Onwenu. He did see some snaps as a blocking tight end to help the running game. We’ll see if this look continues the rest of the season, or if with the extra time in between games the Patriots change things up again.
6. Nick Folk has been dynamite this season. The veteran kicker had four field goals in the win, which has him 25-for-25 on kicks under 50 yards this season. He had kicks of 32, 33, 44 and then 53 yards. The 37-year-old deserves a ton of credit for the job he’s done the last two seasons.
7. It seemed the Patriots made an effort to get as many people involved in the offense as possible, especially early in the game. On the first nine offensive plays, seven different Patriots players touched the ball. Jones went to N’Keal Harry on the opening drive and the wide receiver seemed to play more than in recent games. Eight different Patriots caught passes.
8. When it came to the running back position, for the most part the Patriots switched every series with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson and then Brandon Bolden coming in on third down. We’ll see if this continues the rest of the year, but it keeps everyone fresh and helps stay physical for a full 60 minutes. The Patriots finished with 136 rushing yards as a team. It was for the seventh straight game, the first time that’s happened since 2012.
9. The game did have a Thursday night feel with some sloppy play at times, including penalties. Atlanta killed itself with them, finishing with nine for 72 yards. The Patriots weren’t much better, as they had five penalties for 59 yards.
10. The Patriots will now get the weekend off and some extra rest ahead of the showdown with the Titans at Gillette Stadium Nov. 28. They are in a great spot by getting some extra rest ahead of their two biggest games on the schedule, as they will take on the Bills in Buffalo the week after hosting Tennessee.
Thanks to MacFarlane Energy, your Mitsubishi Diamond Elite contractor, where they can very affordably heat your three-season room with a Mitsubishi ductless hyper heat unit. Please visit MacFarlaneEnergy.com.