The New England Patriots‘ defense has been one of the best second-half units in the league this season, but they clearly had issues late in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
They stifled the run game by holding Falcons running back Bijan Robinson to only 12 carries for 46 yards on the ground. However, there was no answer for the Drake London mismatch against Marcus Jones. The Falcons’ star receiver went off for nine catches, 118 yards and three touchdowns overall in the game.
His longest reception came on a 40-yard pass with All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez in coverage. Overall, it was a solid battle between the two stars with Gonzalez winning more often than not. The defense stood tall in the end to get the offense the ball back and ultimately ice the game for the Patriots.
Even with a win, this clearly wasn’t their best performance this season. Here are the best and worst Pro Football Focus grades for the Patriots’ defense in Week 9:
Top five PFF graded playersDT Cory Durden – 81.7S Jaylinn Hawkins – 79.4DT Milton Williams – 77.0OLB Harold Landry III – 74.5S Dell Pettus – 71.4Bottom five PFF graded playersLB Christian Elliss – 30.2LB Jahlani Tavai – 39.8CB Marcus Jones – 40.8DT Christian Barmore – 43.1DT Khyiris Tonga – 54.4
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