The New England Patriots are on to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2018 season. They defeated the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live-viewing the Patriots’ playoff victory.
Winners
DT Milton Williams and ED Elijah Ponder: The Patriots pass rush continued their hot streak and largely kept them in the game early on as Jarrett Stidham was under pressure on 35 percent of his drop backs. That effort was led by Milton Williams and Elijah Ponder,
who tallied four pressures each — even with Williams drawing double teams on 40 percent of his pass rush snaps. Ponder also had a key fumble recovery to help set up New England’s first score.
CB Christian Gonzalez: While New England’s top corner allowed a 52-yard completion that led to Denver’s opening score, Gonzalez rebounded with a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter. In his 21 matchups against Broncos’ top receiver Courtland Sutton, Gonzalez limited him to just two catches for 11 yards.
S Brenden Schooler and DT Leonard Taylor III: It was a busy day for New England’s punt unit, and Schooler led the way in minimizing elite returner Marvin Mims. Schooler had two tackles on their first three punts holding Mims to zero yards.
As for Taylor, the defensive lineman had perhaps the play of the game with a field goal block on Wil Lutz’s 45-yard attempt late in the fourth quarter to preserve a three-point lead that ultimately was the difference.
Losers
N/A
Honorable mentions
- Against another top ranked defense in poor conditions, it was a challenging outing for Drake Maye who ended the day 10-for-21 with just 86 yards with -0.32 EPA per drop-back. Maye had a handful of inaccurate passes over the middle to Kayshon Boutte, but did take care of the football and made a handful of impactful plays with his legs — totaling 65 yards and a touchdown on a QB draw — which were a major difference for the offense.
- Mack Hollins’ return was felt with a pair of explosives on a 20-yard deep dig and a 31-yard flea flicker.
- Rhamondre Stevenson played 60 of the team’s 64 offensive snaps and managed 71 rushing yards on 25 carries, digging out some dirty yards and protecting the football in addition to doing his usual strong work in pass protection.
- The offensive line had their hands full at times with Denver’s front, as Maye was under pressure on almost 40 percent of his drop backs and sacked five times (some appearing to be coverage sacks in live action). Will Campbell was tabbed with five pressures in initial charting.
- New England played a third of their offensive snaps in their six offensive line package — a key component to help them milk clock in the second-half.
- Elsewhere up front, Christian Barmore had a sack on a clean swim move against All-Pro Quinn Meinerz, while Khyiris Tonga had a tackle for loss in the run game.
- While the numbers don’t look great for Bryce Baringer in the stat sheet, the Patriots plan was simple: don’t let Marvin Mims make a game-changing play. They often opted to kick out of bounds — especially in the second-half with the conditions — and trust their defense. Mission accomplished.
