Isaiah McKenzie was an absolute nightmare for the New England Patriots in Week 16.
In the Buffalo Bills’ 33-21 win over the Patriots, the slot receiver finished with 11 catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Myles Bryant, who was the hero in the Patriots’ Week 13 win against the Bills, was getting torched up and down the field the entire day.
McKenzie entered the day with only six catches on the season and he left the day with the biggest game of his career — in one of the Patriots’ most important games of the season.
There wasn’t any level of situational awareness or planning that led to this unreal performance though. McKenzie discussed his day with NBC Sports’ Peter King and broke down his thought process.
“To be honest, when I’m making those catches, I really have no idea what down it is, what the situation is,” McKenzie said. “I’m in the zone, in the moment. All I knew is I had to take advantage of my chance.”
His route chart shows how dynamic he was.
Isaiah McKenzie caught all 6 targets for 77 yards after going in a shift/motion, tied for the 2nd-most such receptions in a game since 2016.
McKenzie has went in shift/motion on 42% of snaps this season, the highest rate in the NFL (min. 200 snaps).#BUFvsNE | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/PNlEvt1mc4
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 26, 2021
The Patriots clearly have some issues at slot cornerback with Jonathan Jones injured for the year. These problems will likely resurface with the playoffs just weeks away.
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