Molholt
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New England Patriots | Post Game Report | Weeks 3 & 4
Game 3 | New England vs Pittsburgh
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New England's offense just never got it going, especially on the ground, where rookie Javia Locke struggled to break through the Pittsburgh front seven. The team only managed 38 rushing yards in the game, but didn't make up for it through the air, only picking up 107 yards in the passing game. A dismal offensive effort. The Patriots were 1 for 10 on 3rd downs, almost always failing to keep their drive alive and rarely making it past midfield. New England had one turnover of their own and didn't force any from Pittsburgh, resulting in a -1 turnover differential.
Jimmy Garopollo was 12 for 21 for his 126 yards, which most of went to Rob Gronkowski. Gronk had 4 catches for 85 yards on the day, the only player who finished with a semi-respectable statline. Julian Edelman had 3 catches that only went for 21 yards, which was still better than Brandon LaFell's 4 yards and 2 grabs. Javia Locke carried 13 times for his 33 yards, the long of which was 11 - meaning he had 12 carries for 22 yards for most of the game. Brandon Bolden had 2 carries for 5 yards and 2 catches for 12, but was mostly ineffective as well.
Stephen Gostkowski had 1 attempt, a 59 yarder, that he hit off the crossbar for a miss. Ryan Allen punted 5 times for a 36 yard average, landing none of them inside the 20.
Tony Carter and Brandon Magee forced fumbles for the Patriots, but the Steelers recovered both of them. McCourty led the team with 6 tackles. Rob Ninkovich and Tony Carter both picked up sacks, with Carter's resulting in the aforementioned fumble.
Game 4 | New England vs Buffalo
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The Patriots bounced back strong from getting shutout by the Steelers and gave the Bills a run for their money. Despite being fresh off of a Super Bowl trip last season, and undefeated, this looked to be the Patriots game to win for most of it. New England struck first with two field goals, and from then on it was a back and forth contest for awhile. In the second half, New England turned the tables and pulled out to a 17 point lead, 31-14. Buffalo hit a deep touchdown on some busted coverage on a verticals play to cut it down to 10. Then, New England had to punt the ball back to Buffalo, who managed another score. After a longer drive and a punt inside the Bills 5 yard line, Buffalo still marched down the field and beat New England's secondary with more deep balls to take a 4 point lead. With all of their timeouts, New England started to march with around a minute remaining, but Garopollo threw a costly interception which led to a Buffalo score. New England struck back, but failed to secure the onside kick and lost by 3.--------------------------------------------------
New England controlled the clock fairly well and outrushed the Bills 110 to 55. They picked up 220 yards in the air (to Buffalo's 363). New England was 44% on 3rd down, much better than their 10% from the week before. The Patriots had the one costly turnover, but had three takeaways of their own for a +2 turnover differential. Despite playing better and controlling a lot of the game, deep balls really turned the tide of this game.
Garopollo was 18 for 23 for 232 yards with 2 TDs and 1 crucial interception. Javia Locke was a bit more effective, picking up 79 yards on 22 attempts with a long of 13. Bolden came in for 6 carries and 31 yards, also picking up the team's lone rushing touchdown.
Brandon LaFell had 4 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Gronkowski led the team again with 117 yards on 6 grabs. Scott Chandler had 2 grabs for 24 yards with one of them being for a score. Edelman had 43 yards on 4 catches.
Gostkowski hit on all 3 of his field goal attempts with a long of 53 yards. Ryan Allen punted twice for a 43 yard average and pinned one of them at the 3 yard line.
Tony Carter had an interception that he returned for a touchdown, as an addition after Week 2, Carter has a pick six and a forced fumble already for the Patriots. Malcolm Butler and Devin McCourty had the other two interceptions and both had 4 tackles as well.
Overall, the Patriots played a really nice game and still came up short. They now sit at 1-3 for the season and will have a lot of work to do to climb back into contention this season, especially with Buffalo in the division at 4-0.
