For the first time all season, the New England Patriots have won back-to-back games to improve their record to 4-5. The second of those victories came on Sunday Night Football against a Baltimore Ravens team that entered the contest as a one-touchdown favorite. However, New England played its most complete game of the season to come away with a 23-17 win that saw the team play some impressive football in all three phases.
With that said, let’s dive into the advanced statistics from the game. Before analyzing the numbers, however, we will have to explain two of the categories you will meet here that go beyond conventional statistics:
- OSR: OSR stands for “Offensive Success Rate” and is based on Bill Connelly’s work at SB Nation. It aims to characterize how successful a play was relative to the down and distance in which it took place. For a play be considered a success it will have to gain at least 50 percent of the necessary yardage on first down (i.e. at least 5 yards on 1st-and-10), 70 percent on second down (i.e. at least 7 yards on 2nd-and-10), and 100 percent on both third and fourth down (i.e. at least 10 yards on 3rd-and-10 and 4th-and-10).
- EPA: EPA stands for “Expected Points Added” and is based on the work done by Ben Baldwin through his website rbsdm.com. EPA aims at measuring the value of individual offensive plays in terms of points by calculating what is expected to happen on an individual play depending on down, distance, field position and game situation and contrasting it with the eventual outcome.
With that out of the way, let’s dig into the stats.
Quarterbacks
Quarterback statistics
Player | Snaps | Attempts | Completions | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Drops | Throwaways | Pressure rate | Rating | OSR | EPA/Play |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Attempts | Completions | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Drops | Throwaways | Pressure rate | Rating | OSR | EPA/Play |
Cam Newton | 58 | 17 | 13 | 118 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22.2% | 114.3 | 52.9% | 0.22 |
Jakobi Meyers | 57 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | 158.3 | 100.0% | 3.52 |
Ever since the second half of the Patriots’ close Week 8 loss in Buffalo, Cam Newton has played some solid football and the game against the Ravens was no exception. While asked to drop back just 18 times, he was generally efficient when asked to throw the ball: Newton completed 13 of his 17 pass attempts for 118 yards and a touchdown — all while posting a success rate of 52.9 and an EPA per play of 0.22. Those numbers may not stand out, but they certainly played an important role to complement New England’s rushing attack and round off the offense.
For the third time this season — not counting his one-week absence following his Covid-19 diagnosis —Newton was not the only Patriot asked to throw the ball. After Julian Edelman and Jarrett Stidham attempted passes in Week 6 and Week 7, respectively, it was Jakobi Meyers’ turn this time. The college quarterback-turned-wide receiver threw a perfect 24-yard touchdown to Rex Burkhead, despite getting pressured up front on the trick play.
Ball carriers
Ball carrier statistics
Player | Snaps | Attempts | Yards | Yards after Contact | Touchdowns | Fumbles | OSR | EPA/Play |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Attempts | Yards | Yards after Contact | Touchdowns | Fumbles | OSR | EPA/Play |
Cam Newton | 58 | 9 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 44.4% | 0.05 |
Damien Harris | 32 | 22 | 121 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 50.0% | 0.06 |
Rex Burkhead | 20 | 6 | 31 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 66.7% | 0.25 |
New England’s running game had another highly productive day, despite going up against one of the best run defenses in the NFL this season. Damien Harris led the group with 121 yards on 22 attempts, but the most efficient back was once again Rex Burkhead: he registered only six carries, but posted a 66.7 percent OSR as well as an EPA of 0.25 per play. For as impressive as Harris has looked since taking over the lead role in Week 4, Burkhead remains the Patriots’ best all-around back.
Pass receivers
Pass receiver statistics
Player | Snaps | Targets | Completions | Yards | Yards after Catch | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Rating | Drops | OSR | EPA/Play |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Targets | Completions | Yards | Yards after Catch | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Rating | Drops | OSR | EPA/Play |
Jakobi Meyers | 57 | 7 | 5 | 59 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 96.7 | 0 | 57.1% | 0.42 |
Ryan Izzo | 54 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 118.8 | 0 | 100.0% | 1.69 |
Jakob Johnson | 37 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 108.3 | 0 | 100.0% | 1.32 |
Rex Burkhead | 20 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 135.4 | 0 | 40.0% | 0.51 |
James White | 10 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 83.3 | 0 | 50.0% | 0.10 |
The Patriots received some solid contributions out of their pass-catching group, despite only one wide receiver touching the ball all day. That wideout, Jakobi Meyers, once again led the club in receptions and yards — continuing his strong stretch of play. Meyers is not the only receiver to stand out, as the aforementioned Rex Burkhead also played a big role by catching both of the team’s receiving touchdowns.
Ryan Izzo, Jakob Johnson and James White were also generally effective when trusted with the ball.
Pass protection/run blocking
Pass protection/run blocking statistics
Player | Snaps | Sacks | QB Hits | Hurries | Stuffed runs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Sacks | QB Hits | Hurries | Stuffed runs |
Michael Onwenu | 58 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Joe Thuney | 58 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
David Andrews | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Isaiah Wynn | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shaq Mason | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ryan Izzo | 54 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jakob Johnson | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
N'Keal Harry | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Damien Harris | 32 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Going up against one of the best defenses in the entire league, New England’s offensive line had a banner day. The unit, which saw all five of its starters go wire-to-wire for a second straight week, helped the team gain 175 yards on 37 carries for one touchdown and a very solid 4.7 yards per attempt. It was no less impressive in pass protection, giving up just five disruptions on 19 pass plays — just two of which courtesy of the line itself.
Pass rush/run defense
Pass rush/run defense statistics
Player | Snaps | Sacks | QB Hits | Hurries | Stuffed runs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Sacks | QB Hits | Hurries | Stuffed runs |
Chase Winovich | 65 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Kyle Dugger | 56 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
John Simon | 41 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Lawrence Guy | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Byron Cowart | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Josh Uche | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Carl Davis | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
While other players also deserve to be mentioned — rookies Kyle Dugger and Josh Uche had some positive moments — one name clearly stands out above the rest when it comes to the Patriots’ pass rush: Chase Winovich. The second-year man, who played a career-high 98.5 percent of defensive snaps, finished with 10 quarterback disruptions and was generally unblockable. No matter where he lined up in the defensive formation, he made an impact by putting the heat on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Pass coverage
Pass coverage statistics
Player | Snaps | Targets | Completions | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Pass Breakups | Pass interference | Rating | OSR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Snaps | Targets | Completions | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Pass Breakups | Pass interference | Rating | OSR |
J.C. Jackson | 66 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 | 33.3% |
Jason McCourty | 66 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 64.6 | 0.0% |
Devin McCourty | 66 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39.6 | 0.0% |
Kyle Dugger | 56 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60.4 | 0.0% |
John Simon | 41 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79.2 | 0.0% |
Myles Bryant | 6 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104.2 | 100.0% |
Given Baltimore’s impressive ground game, the Patriots decided to rely mostly on zone coverage and only went to man-to-man looks in select select situations like some third downs. Whenever they did, however, they found success: Jackson went just 5-for-10 against New England’s man looks for just 45 yards and a 20 percent success rate (his first touchdown pass also came against man, but it was more of a run play masquerading as a pass in the books).
All in all, New England’s coverage unit bounced back nicely after a so-and-so performance versus the New York Jets six days earlier.