Tag: J.C. Jackson

Winners and losers from Patriots’ gusty win over the Bills in Week 16

Tom Brady finally started to get some momentum in the passing game.

Here are the winners and losers from the New England Patriots’ 24-17 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

The Patriots have clinched the AFC East, and will spend Week 17 attempting to hold off the Miami Dolphins, so that New England can retain their No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.

Winner: Tom Brady, QB

Brady led a 17-play, 81-yard drive, which spanned over 8 minutes and 58 seconds. The drive started on that 1-yard line. While the drive concluded with a field goal, it was representative of Brady’s best self in 2019. He spread the ball around, but favored Julian Edelman. The quarterback’s patience and accuracy were New England’s biggest asset. The offense was a flashback to what they did best in the early 2000s: death with a thousand incisions — which requires great precision.

That hasn’t come together in previous games — it did on Saturday night. Brady finished 26 of 33 for 271 yards and one touchdown.

Loser (until he proved a winner): Rex Burkhead, RB

His fumble on the Patriots’ opening drive felt like a significant swing in points. The Bills turned around and scored on a field goal. But New England was moving the ball well, and looked poised to score at least three points. The turnover was a momentum changer.

Then the script flipped completely on Burkhead.

He was reliable after that, with five carries for 20 yards and a touchdown with four catches for 77 yards on the game. He and the Patriots offensive line did well running screen passes, which helped him finish with the most receiving yards for New England. But Burkhead’s most impressive play of the game came on 1-yarder. Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander hammered Burkhead, who somehow stayed upright and managed to make his way into the end zone.

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The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

 

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

Every year, a group of undeserving players are named to the Pro Bowl. Here’s this year’s list, and the players who should replace them.

If you think the Pro Bowl is a meaningless exercise, don’t tell the fans, players, and teams when somebody on their side is snubbed in the process. Every year, there are deserving players who aren’t voted to the Pro Bowl roster, and every year, there are players who get on more through previous reputation than current performance.

Here are the most egregious omissions in the 2019 voting, with thought on which players these unfortunate snubs should replace. Because if you’re going to complain about a player who’s wrongly off the Pro Bowl roster, you should be able to find a guy who’s taking up space. That’s where things get a bit more difficult!

Quarterback (NFC)

In: Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins
Out: Aaron Rodgers

(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

Either Prescott or Cousins would be a better fit on the NFC roster than Aaron Rodgers, who had just three games with more than 300 passing yards this season, three games with less than 200 yards passing, and eight games with one or zero touchdowns. Cousins has been on fire after a rough start to the season, and Prescott ranks first in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics. Not that Rodgers has had a bad season, but this seems much more like a reputation pick than anything else.

Receiver (AFC)

In: Julian Edelman
Out: Jarvis Landry

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Landry has been one of Cleveland’s few bright spots on offense this season, but it’s kind of ridiculous to have him in over Edelman, who was part of a total snub of New England offensive players that hasn’t happened since 2003. Yes, Landry has 74 catches on 1,018 yards and five touchdowns, but Edelman has 92 catches for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns in an offense so broken, opposing defenses can bracket him on just about every play. Edelman has faced more double teams than at any other point in his career, and he’s having arguably his most productive season.

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Patriots praise J.C. Jackson: ‘He has the best ball skills I’ve seen’

“He has the best ball skills I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of corners,” Stephon Gilmore on J.C. Jackson.

The New England Patriots have an emerging star in second-year cornerback J.C. Jackson.

He’s just one component of an absolutely loaded secondary, but he’s beginning to draw in attention. Jackson recorded two interceptions in the Patriots’ 34-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He now has five interceptions for the season — right behind Stephon Gilmore with six, whose undoubtedly the best cornerback in the NFL.

Jackson has stepped up for the injured Jason McCourty and he’s making the most of his opportunity as a starter. His ball skills are receiver-like and everyone around him will attest to that. The Patriots have a league-high 25 interceptions this season, so this praise is coming from arguably the best secondary in the league.

“He has the best ball skills I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of corners,” Gilmore said, as transcribed by NESN. “He plays the ball as good as anybody.”

Here’s one example of those ball skills.

And, this play sealed the game.

Veteran safety Duron Harmon shared a story about Jackson’s first season, and he continued to pile on the praise.

“I remember J.C.’s first year last year, we were down a scout-team receiver,” Harmon said. “He went over there and played receiver and was making plays, catching the ball, running some good routes. He kept going around saying, ‘I’m really supposed to be a receiver.’ And I was like, ‘No, you’re supposed to be a corner. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you got (signed).’

“But his ball skills are phenomenal. Not too many guys can, on a fade, run with the receiver, turn around, locate the ball, high-point the ball — and he’s done that just continuously over the last two years. I mean, the sky is the limit for that guy right there. What was that, his fifth interception of the year? And he’s, in some ways, our fourth cornerback. It just shows you the type of ball skills — elite ball skills — that he has.”

Talk has surrounded Gilmore and his ability to play the wide receiver position, but maybe Jackson should get some consideration as well.

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5 takeaways from Patriots’ bounce-back victory against Bengals

Here are five takeaways from the Patriots’ 34-13 victory against the Bengals.

The New England Patriots got a much-needed victory in Week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

There are still glaring vulnerabilities throughout the unit, but they’ve done enough to clinch the playoffs and enter the final weeks of the season with an 11-3 record. New England’s scary-good secondary showed why they’re among the best in the league, and the offense did just enough against the Bengals to get the job done — this has been the recurring theme all season.

Needless to say, the Bengals are now 1-13 and this isn’t a victory to boast about. The Patriots will see the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 and the Miami Dolphins during the final week of the season. They’ll have to play much better than they have in the past few weeks, but this game against the Bengals was a solid start.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

Stephon Gilmore is New England’s MVP this season

The Patriots have a league-high 25 interceptions this season and Stephon Gilmore is responsible for six of them.

He is undoubtedly the NFL’s best cornerback right now and he continues to make a case for Defensive Player of the Year. He added on to that case against the Bengals after recording two interceptions — one resulting in a pick-six. Gilmore told reporters after the game that he should’ve had three, maybe four interceptions.

Gilmore leads New England’s secondary and he’s the reason that they feel so comfortable playing man defense. He has changed the dynamic of this team, and the Patriots will need his continued excellence if they want to make a deep playoff run.

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This insane statistic puts perspective on Patriots’ lockdown secondary

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots. 

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots.

Through nine games this season, opposing quarterbacks have a 13.3 passer rating while throwing 21 yards or more in the air, H/T Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. New England has more interceptions (7) than opposing teams have completions (5) when throwing for more than 21 yards.

The second-best team in this category is the Buffalo Bills, who have kept opposing quarterbacks at a 40.6 passer rating. But, they’ve only had 20 pass attempts against them, compared to New England with 44 pass attempts. The Patriots have the No. 2 pass defense in the league currently with 150.2 passing yards allowed per game.

The secondary is primarily composed of Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Pat Chung and Duron Harmon. Devin leads the group with five interceptions and Gilmore is second in the unit with three.  New England has a league-high 19 interceptions through nine games and the second-best team has 14.

The Patriots have accumulated a league-high 270 yards from interceptions along with two touchdowns. They’ve been able to create great field position for the offense, while helping hold opposing offenses to an average of 10.9 points per game.

New England struggled against the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 9 loss, but it was mostly due to the run defense. Baltimore had 210 rushing yards against the Patriots and only 162 passing yards.

This secondary has some talented quarterbacks ahead of them with Carson Wentz, Day Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. It would be an incredible feat if the Patriots could keep these numbers up for the entirety of the season.

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