Each week, Globe NFL reporter Ben Volin reviews the film of the Patriots’ game and breaks down the outcome. Here’s a closer look at some of the key plays.
How Vereen got open
Shane Vereen caught a 49-yard touchdown pass 89 seconds into the game. How’d he get so wide open?
The Jets are in a Cover 3 defense, which is specifically designed to deter big plays. Vereen is on the top of the screen, and he’s supposed to just be a decoy on this route.
But safety Antonio Allen commits the cardinal sin of looking into the backfield. He never notices Vereen streaking by him, and instead jumps up to cover Tim Wright when Tom Brady leaves the pocket.
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And the play wouldn’t have been complete without a fantastic diving grab from Vereen.
Defending the Patriots
The deep zone was a staple of the Jets’ defense, and Rex Ryan only called four blitzes on 38 pass attempts.
On this play in the second quarter, the Jets took away the deep pass to Julian Edelman, who was the primary target. But the deep zone left the middle of the field wide open, and Brady had enough time to find Brandon LaFell over the middle for 23 yards.
And Brady had plenty of time to throw for much of the night. Look at how clean his pocket is, with help from Nate Solder, on the second touchdown pass to Vereen, in which the Jets only rushed two defenders.
Gashing the Patriots
The Jets rushed for 218 yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.
Look at this hole for Chris Ivory on this 9-yard run in the third quarter.
Giving Geno time
The Patriots didn’t blitz Geno Smith much, instead choosing to sit back in coverage and try to contain him.
It didn’t work too well, as Smith had time to throw for most of the game, and found open receivers (Jace Amaro dropped this pass in the first quarter).
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Offensive snap counts
Season percentage is out of 490 total snaps.
| Dolphins | Vikings | Raiders | Chiefs | Bengals | Bills | Jets | Total | Season % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB Tom Brady | 86 | 65 | 75 | 38 | 83 | 71 | 57 | 475 | 97% |
| RG Jordan Devey | 64 | 65 | 60 | 0 | 4 | 46 | 57 | 296 | 60% |
| C Ryan Wendell | 22 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 86 | 71 | 57 | 251 | 51% |
| G Josh Kline | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 57 | 136 | 28% |
| WR Brandon LaFell | 39 | 36 | 43 | 50 | 76 | 50 | 55 | 349 | 71% |
| LT Nate Solder | 86 | 65 | 75 | 41 | 77 | 65 | 54 | 463 | 94% |
| RT Sebastian Vollmer | 85 | 65 | 75 | 39 | 76 | 60 | 54 | 454 | 93% |
| WR Julian Edelman | 83 | 50 | 70 | 47 | 68 | 60 | 54 | 432 | 88% |
| TE Rob Gronkowski | 38 | 27 | 44 | 31 | 68 | 56 | 53 | 317 | 65% |
| RB Shane Vereen | 61 | 19 | 28 | 29 | 34 | 36 | 46 | 253 | 52% |
| WR Danny Amendola | 61 | 18 | 27 | 28 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 196 | 40% |
| TE Tim Wright | 21 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 104 | 21% |
| TE Michael Hoomanawanui | 30 | 42 | 48 | 14 | 46 | 40 | 15 | 235 | 48% |
| RB Jonas Gray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 2% |
| FB James Develin | 17 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 21 | 8 | 118 | 24% |
| LG Marcus Cannon | 86 | 57 | 75 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 280 | 57% |
| RB Brandon Bolden | 9 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 41 | 8% |
| WR Brian Tyms | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2% |
| C Dan Connolly | 86 | 54 | 75 | 38 | 86 | 25 | 0 | 364 | 74% |
| RB Stevan Ridley | 22 | 36 | 43 | 12 | 50 | 24 | 0 | 187 | 38% |
| C Bryan Stork | 0 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 162 | 33% |
| OT Cameron Fleming | 4 | 27 | 12 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 18% |
| WR Kenbrell Thompkins | 46 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 17% |
| WR Aaron Dobson | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 52 | 11% |
| QB Jimmy Garoppolo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3% |
| RB James White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3% |
| WR Matthew Slater | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1% |
Defensive snap counts
Season percentage is out of 473 total snaps
| Dolphins | Vikings | Raiders | Chiefs | Bengals | Bills | Jets | Total | Season % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE Rob Ninkovich | 36 | 66 | 58 | 63 | 52 | 69 | 87 | 431 | 91% |
| LB Jamie Collins | 73 | 0 | 19 | 54 | 52 | 69 | 87 | 354 | 75% |
| FS Devin McCourty | 73 | 58 | 58 | 63 | 19 | 69 | 87 | 427 | 90% |
| LB Donta Hightower | 74 | 66 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 343 | 73% |
| CB Darrelle Revis | 63 | 58 | 58 | 62 | 48 | 68 | 86 | 443 | 94% |
| DE Chandler Jones | 70 | 66 | 58 | 43 | 18 | 69 | 84 | 408 | 86% |
| SS Patrick Chung | 46 | 35 | 40 | 47 | 48 | 60 | 77 | 353 | 75% |
| DT Vince Wilfork | 50 | 37 | 48 | 55 | 47 | 64 | 69 | 370 | 78% |
| CB Alfonzo Dennard | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 66 | 50 | 219 | 46% |
| DT Chris Jones | 0 | 16 | 27 | 33 | 39 | 50 | 50 | 215 | 45% |
| DT Casey Walker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 33 | 49 | 96 | 20% |
| CB Logan Ryan | 18 | 66 | 58 | 40 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 233 | 49% |
| CB Brandon Browner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 9% |
| DE Dominique Easley | 26 | 30 | 16 | 31 | 19 | 0 | 20 | 142 | 30% |
| DE Zach Moore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 6% |
| SS Tavon Wilson | 22 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 82 | 17% |
| LB Deontae Skinner | 0 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 36 | 5 | 79 | 17% |
| SS Duron Harmon | 5 | 27 | 12 | 13 | 34 | 16 | 5 | 112 | 24% |
| CB Kyle Arrington | 31 | 41 | 21 | 24 | 42 | 45 | 1 | 205 | 43% |
| LB Jerod Mayo | 74 | 66 | 58 | 62 | 52 | 20 | 0 | 332 | 70% |
| LB Chris White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| DE Michael Buchanan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5% |
| DT Joe Vellano | 33 | 1 | 14 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 16% |
| CB Malcolm Butler | 27 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 14% |
| SS Nate Ebner | 1 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5% |
| DT Sealver Siliga | 41 | 37 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 19% |
| SS Don Jones | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1% |
Follow Ben Volin on Twitter at @BenVolin.