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The New England Patriots blew past the Miami Dolphins in the two teams’ Week 2 encounter, winning with a final score of 43-0. Naturally, there had to be some standout performances on New England’s side in order to make a final result like that possible — and according to advanced analytics website Pro Football Focus, three of them were among the best of the week across the entire league.
QB Tom Brady
Once again the Miami Dolphins’ defense is on the receiving end of our PFF Team of the Week quarterback. On Sunday, Brady went 11-for-14 for 198 yards and a touchdown on throws 10-plus yards downfield. When the Dolphins couldn’t get pressure on him, he carved them up, with both of his touchdown throws coming from a clean pocket.
Brady was marvelous on Sunday, distributing the football well and making sound decisions throughout the afternoon. While his statistics — 20 completions on 28 attempts for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns — are certainly very good, they only tell part of the story: after all, Brady’s favorite receiver was playing his first game as a Patriot while the quarterback himself lined up behind an offensive line missing both starting tackles for most of the afternoon.
LB Jamie Collins Sr.
Collins had a big showing in coverage in his team’s blowout win on Sunday. He picked up a sack on one of his eight blitzing snaps and finished the game with another two tackles that resulted in a defensive stop, but it was his two interceptions — one of which he took back for a touchdown — that really stood out.
New England’s defense has not allowed a touchdown in its last three games, and steamrolled Miami en route to the shutout. Jamie Collins played as big a role as any player on the unit, by registering two turnovers and making plays all over the field while playing 58% of defensive snaps. Two games in, Collins’ return to the Patriots appears to be off to a tremendous start as he has been an asset for the club against the Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.
CB Stephon Gilmore
[...] Stephon Gilmore had another standout showing on Sunday. Targeted six times, he allowed just two receptions for 32 yards and came away with an interception and two pass breakups. For the day, he allowed an NFL passer rating of 12.5 on throws into his coverage.
Despite entering the NFL back in 2012 as a first-round draft pick, and having 20 interceptions on his career résumé entering Week 2, Stephon Gilmore had yet to register a pick-six. In the third quarter of the game against Miami, it finally came: the All-Pro undercut a route and returned the interception 54 yards for the touchdown. It was the highlight of another spectacular performance from the Patriots’ number one cornerback.