The New England Patriots are heading into the NFL playoffs with a positive taste in their mouths. Their regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins, after all, was another display of power: despite some sloppy moments, the Patriots cruised to a 38-10 victory.
The game itself saw multiple individual performances worthy of recognition, for better or worse. As a look at our weekly position grades shows, however, New England looked rock-solid pretty much across the board.
Patriots position grades from NFL Week 18
Quarterback: Drake Maye continues
to play at an MVP level, and ended his standout regular season in appropriate fashion. Against Miami, he completed 14 of 18 pass attempts for 191 yards and a touchdown, while also gaining 41 yards on five scrambles. It may not have been the most statistically impressive outing of his season, and there were some plays he likely would want back, but he still finished in the 94th percentile in expected points added per play (0.50) and allowed his team to build a massive lead — so massive, in fact, that Maye was pulled in the early fourth quarter in favor of backup Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs was not asked to do a lot more than hand the ball off, but he did complete three of his four pass attempts for 23 total yards. | Grade: A-
Running back: The Dolphins run defense may not be a top-tier unit in the NFL, but the Patriots’ two-headed monster at running back still dominated to an impressive degree. Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson had arguably their best combined game of the season, accounting for 184 of their team’s 245 rushing yards and finding the end zone five times. Stevenson was the star of the show as a runner, receiver and pass protector, and is heading into the playoffs on a very high note. If their backs perform like they did on Sunday, any opponent will have a tough time slowing down the Patriots offense in the postseason. | Grade: A
Wide receiver: Josh McDaniels and the Patriots offense built their game plan around their rushing attack, relying heavily on the ground game as well as play-action concepts. Accordingly, no wide receiver’s stat line truly jumps off the page. That being said, the performances were still solid across the depth chart: led by Stefon Diggs’ three catches for 43 yards — which allowed him to secure his seventh career 1,000-yard season — the wideouts made plays when called upon both as receivers and as blockers. | Grade: B+
Tight end: Hunter Henry is ready for his return to the playoffs, that much seems certain. The Patriots’ No. 1 tight end was productive as a receiver, leading the team with five catches and 56 yards, and also flashed in the running game: his blocking continues to be a major asset for the team. Austin Hooper and fullback/tight end hybrid Jack Westover were less productive as receivers — finishing with one catch each — but they too positively contributed to the Patriots’ success on the ground. | Grade: A
Offensive line: Neither Drake Maye nor Joshua Dobbs found themselves under a lot of pressure on Sunday, with Maye finishing a game without taking a sack for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, New England gained 245 yards on the ground for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. Not all of that production in the run game was due to the offensive line, though, with Rhamondre Stevenson in particular making something out of nothing (i.e. gaining 104 of his rushing yards after contact). All in all, it was a solid if a bit uneven outing at times. | Grade: B
Defensive line: Consistency was again on and off through the day, but overall the Patriots defensive line performed well even with Harold Landry and Khyiris Tonga out due to injury. Milton Williams and Christian Barmore both flashed their standard disruptiveness, whereas Anfernee Jennings played his best game of the season on the edge. There is room for improvement, but against the Dolphins the D-line’s performance was adequate. | Grade: B
Linebacker: Even though the Patriots were without Robert Spillane for a fourth straight game, their linebacker group performed at a good level against Miami. It took the unit some time to find its rhythm, but once it had the Dolphins had a hard time moving the ball both on the ground and through the air. Spillane’s replacement, Jack Gibbens, performed particularly well. Besides forcing the fumble that was recovered by Elijah Ponder, he also notched five tackles — third on the team behind fellow ‘backers Christian Elliss and Jahlani Tavai. The latter of the two also forced a fumble. | Grade: A
Cornerback: Going against an opponent likely to lean into the run game and pre-snap motion, the Patriots relied primarily on zone coverage and base looks against the Dolphins. When they did go to man, Christian Gonzalez once again shined, allowing no completions on two targets; he also helped set up Jack Gibbens’ forced fumble in the second period. His running mate on the outside, Carlton Davis, failed to perform on the same level: Miami targeted him over Gonzalez — an approach New England might be seeing more of in the playoffs — and he surrendered three catches. The rest of the cornerbacks had quiet days. | Grade: B-
Safety: Rookie Craig Woodson had a rough outing, finding himself caught in no-man’s land on the Dolphins’ lone touchdown and missing three tackle attempts on the day. It was not all bad for the safety group as a whole, though. Jaylinn Hawkins registered his fourth interception of the season, and the Patriots were able to keep everything in front for much of the afternoon; Quinn Ewers went only 3-for-9 with an interception on passes beyond 10 yards. | Grade: C+
Special teams: The field goal protection unit deserves some scrutiny for breaking down on Andy Borregales’ blocked 38-yard attempt in the second quarter, but special teams as a whole had a nice day. Borregales making a career-long 59-yarder later in the game was a highlight, but the group was solid throughout the day. The coverage teams were stout against both punt and kickoff returns, while Bryce Baringer out-performed ex-Patriot Jake Bailey in the punting game. | Grade: A-
The Patriots played a solid overall game against the Dolphins, building an early lead and overcoming a lull in the second half to finish strong. It was the type of performance a team heading into the playoffs needs: good enough to build some momentum, but with plenty of teach tape to address still.
How would you grade the Patriots’ performance in Week 18? Do you agree with our assessment? Please head down to the comment section to discuss.
