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BEN VOLIN

Patriots Replay: Key plays from New England’s win over the Falcons

Listen to recent episodes of the Boston Globe Sports podcast “Season Ticket.”

Here’s our weekly look at the key plays in the Patriots’ game after reviewing the film.

Defending Julio

Wherever receiver Julio Jones went, the Patriots put a safety directly above him. It was usually Duron Harmon.

The Patriots bracketed Jones with a cornerback underneath and a safety trailing over the top.

So even when Jones caught the ball, like he did here for 16 yards, he had nowhere to run.

Strong run defense

The Patriots had much stronger run defense this time against the Falcons. Here linebacker Dont’a Hightower took on a double team . . .

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But he shook it off at the line of scrimmage and made the tackle.

Clogging the middle

Like in the Super Bowl, the Falcons flooded the middle of the field with defenders, forcing Brady to look outside.

Up the gut

The Patriots won the battle up front, creating several big holes up the middle for the running backs.

Blocking it out

Three Patriots defenders occupied four Falcons offensive linemen, allowing defensive end Cassius Marsh to squeeze free and block the 37-yard field goal.

Offensive snap counts
KC (81) NO (76) HOU (65) CAR (70) TB (74) NYJ (68) ATL (74) TOT (508) %
G Shaq Mason 81 76 65 70 74 68 74 508 100.0%
G Joe Thuney 81 76 65 70 74 68 74 508 100.0%
C David Andrews 81 76 65 70 74 68 74 508 100.0%
QB Tom Brady 81 76 65 70 74 68 74 508 100.0%
RT Marcus Cannon 81 76 0 70 74 68 74 443 87.2%
LT Nate Solder 81 76 64 70 74 66 74 505 99.4%
TE Rob Gronkowski 78 46 64 70 0 63 71 392 77.2%
WR Brandin Cooks 67 65 58 64 72 66 70 462 90.9%
WR Chris Hogan 73 65 59 68 74 63 59 461 90.7%
WR Danny Amendola 32 0 32 36 55 29 38 222 43.7%
RB Dion Lewis 6 14 12 14 18 29 26 119 23.4%
FB James Develin 19 24 15 16 13 25 24 136 26.8%
RB James White 43 30 32 43 35 29 23 235 46.3%
TE Dwayne Allen 27 46 17 9 50 6 20 175 34.4%
RB Mike Gillislee 24 30 21 18 24 13 13 143 28.1%
RB Rex Burkhead 10 8 0 0 0 0 13 31 6.1%
WR Phillip Dorsett 18 32 7 9 20 11 8 105 20.7%
WR Matt Slater 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 0.8%
TE Jacob Hollister 0 16 7 3 8 1 1 36 7.1%
OT LaAdrian Waddle 8 0 65 0 0 6 0 79 15.6%
OT Cam Fleming 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 7 1.4%
Defensive snap counts
KC (69) NO (65) HOU (71) CAR (63) TB (72) NJY (76) ATL (57) TOT (473) %
S Devin McCourty 68 65 71 63 72 76 57 472 99.8%
CB Malcolm Butler 69 49 71 63 71 73 57 453 95.8%
CB Johnson Bademosi 0 0 0 0 0 73 55 128 27.1%
S Patrick Chung 45 63 52 34 72 67 55 388 82.0%
LB Kyle Van Noy 69 65 71 63 66 65 52 451 95.3%
S Duron Harmon 63 52 50 55 63 50 50 383 81.0%
DE Deatrich Wise 18 28 34 25 29 59 45 238 50.3%
DE Cassius Marsh 24 31 31 18 50 39 44 237 50.1%
DE Trey Flowers 69 62 68 63 70 63 40 435 92.0%
LB Donta Hightower 35 0 0 37 62 69 34 237 50.1%
DT Adam Butler 21 45 46 11 18 17 28 186 39.3%
DE Lawrence Guy 26 30 51 46 41 41 26 261 55.2%
DT Alan Branch 42 6 21 12 0 22 23 126 26.6%
CB Jonathan Jones 3 27 42 18 28 20 19 157 33.2%
LB David Harris 2 1 4 0 0 0 19 26 5.5%
DT Malcom Brown 49 34 46 48 42 44 16 279 59.0%
S Jordan Richards 42 16 3 1 11 35 6 114 24.1%
LB Elandon Roberts 9 36 57 33 23 23 0 181 38.3%
CB Stephon Gilmore 69 65 60 62 71 0 0 327 69.1%
LB Marquis Flowers 0 0 2 22 70 0 0 94 19.9%
DE Geneo Grissom 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.6%
CB Eric Rowe 37 34 0 19 0 0 0 90 19.0%
DE Harvey Langi 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 1.3%

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