What that means is that Goff may find himself having a productive day even if the Rams lose, which has been the trend for much of the\u00a0season.\u00a0 Many of the quarterbacks the Patriots have faced so far have each had one of their best performances of the year, which has been the story in a season where the focus continues to be New England trying not to give up big plays while keeping opponents out of the end zone. \u00a0Fortunately when you have a quarterback like Tom Brady, he pushes New England’s offense forward enough where most of their opponents haven’t been able to keep up. This, coupled with their discipline offensively from a penalty standpoint (tied for third fewest in the league), along with the fact Brady has only thrown one interception this season (fewest in the NFL from an active QB) has really been the difference so far this season.<\/p>\n
It’s been a simple formula. \u00a0They keep their opponents from scoring and they don’t beat themselves.<\/p>\n
But they’ve allowed quite a few quarterbacks to have success and after going through each of their opposing passer’s game logs this season, it was surprising to see how well each one\u00a0played against the Patriots compared to their other opponents.<\/p>\n
Here’s the rundown from this season:<\/p>\n
Week 1: Carson Palmer (Arizona) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>Palmer completed 64.9% of his passes, his third-best performance of the season along with 271 yards and 2 touchdowns, giving him a quarterback rating of 104.7, also his third best performance of the season.<\/p>\n Week 2:\u00a0<\/strong>Ryan Tannehill (Miami)<\/strong> Summary:<\/strong>\u00a0Tannehill completed 71.1% of his passes (season-high) in their week two match-up along with a season-best 387 yards passing along with two touchdowns, but did throw two interceptions. \u00a0Tannehill’s performance is the best completion percentage against New England among all the quarterbacks they’ve faced all season, which included a second half that saw him miss on just five passes after he completed an astounding 22-of-27 (81%) for 273 yards.<\/p>\n Week 3: Brock Osweiler (Houston) Summary:<\/strong>\u00a0Osweiler’s performance as his team was shutout in Foxboro was one of the worst\u00a0of the season for an opposing quarterback. \u00a0He completed 58.5% of his passes for 196 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, the only time all year where he failed to throw a touchdown pass and was picked off in the same game.<\/p>\n Week 4: Tyrod Taylor (Buffalo) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>In his first meeting against New England, Taylor completed 69%\u00a0of his passes (3rd highest completion rate for him this season) for 246 yards, which so far is his third highest passing yard total of the season along with a quarterback rating of 94.6. \u00a0He also accomplished it while attempting a season-high 39 attempts.<\/p>\n Week 5: Cody Kessler (Cleveland) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>Kessler’s outing didn’t last long before a hit by Dont’a Hightower knocked him out of the game, but before that happened he completed 5-of-8 along with a touchdown on the Browns’ opening drive, marching his team down the field 75-yards on 9 plays to knot the score at 7-7 at the time. \u00a0The performance gave him a quarterback rating of 126.0, his best of the season. \u00a0We won’t get into when Charlie Whitehurst replaced him, because he was held to 58.3% passing and hasn’t seen the field since that game.<\/p>\n Week 6: Andy Dalton (Cincinnati) Summary:<\/strong> The Patriots couldn’t slow Dalton down and he completed 68% of his passes against them, one of six times this season he’s accomplished that feat. \u00a0However, he finished with a QBR rating of 88.1, his second best outing of the season behind the 90.2 performance he put up the next week against the winless Browns.<\/p>\n Week 7: Landry Jones (Pittsburgh) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>Jones actually played relatively well in his only start of the season against the Patriots. \u00a0He finished 29-of-47 for 281 yards while also completing 61.7% of his passes along with 1 touchdown and one interception. \u00a0But taking a closer look, Jones actually had a good run through three quarters before the Patriots shut him down in the 4th. \u00a0He finished the first half 14-of-20 (70%) for 179 yards and came out in the 3rd quarter by completing 6-of-7 (86%) before completing\u00a0just 9-of-20 (45%) in the final quarter of play.<\/p>\n Week 8: Tyrod Taylor (Buffalo) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>The Patriots got the better of this rematch, keeping Taylor out of the end zone for what at the time was the third time all season (he made it four two weeks later against the Bengals. \u00a0They also held him to a 50% completion rate, tying him for his lowest output of the season, which matched the 50% he completed the week before against Miami.<\/p>\n Week 10: Russell Wilson (Seattle) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>Wilson had his best outing of the season against the Patriots, throwing for 348-yards and three touchdowns, tying a season-high that he achieved against the Jets in their fourth game of the year. \u00a0He also had a solid second half against New England, completing 10-of-14 for 151 yards and a touchdown, with his 71% completion as the 2nd-highest by an opponent this season.<\/p>\n Week 11: Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>Kaepernick was one of the few quarterbacks to complete under 60% of his passes after he went 16-of-30 for 206 yards and two touchdowns. \u00a0His performance against the Patriots was his only game of the year where he threw multiple touchdowns without an interception, but New England’s defense embarrassed him in the second half after holding him to 8-of-21 (38%) throwing the football, although they did allow one touchdown.<\/p>\n Week 12: Ryan Fitzpatrick (NY Jets) Summary:\u00a0<\/strong>The Patriots ended up being Fitzpatrick’s best outing of the season, with the quarterback completing 22-of-32 (68.8%) for 269 yards. \u00a0His completion percentage and yardage totals were both his second-best totals of the year, and his two touchdown and no interception performance marked the first time in 2016 he threw multiple touchdowns without being picked off.<\/p>\n 2) Defense Remains Among tops in the NFL in points allowed<\/strong> – Speaking of\u00a0the Patriots defense, one of the things that comes to mind is that despite the perception of that group by those who have been following them this season, they’ve still quietly put together a pretty remarkable run through 11 weeks of the season.<\/p>\n Going back to the 2015 campaign, at this point in the season, the Patriots had already allowed five games where opponents had scored over 20 points, including one game – Week 2 against the Bills – where they allowed over 30.<\/p>\n In 2014, their most recent Super Bowl\u00a0championship season, they had allowed seven, including that nightmare of a game against the Chiefs in Week 4 where Kansas City put up 41 at home on Monday night football in front of an Arrowhead Stadium crowd who enjoyed every minute of it. \u00a0Despite the Patriots turnaround, it also started a streak of five straight games where an opponent scored 20 or better.<\/p>\n But even with those issues, by the time the season was over, they were hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n Here in 2016 they’re outperforming each of those two previous seasons having allowed just four games of 20 points or better, with their match-up against the Seahawks being the one where they allowed a team to break the 30 mark. \u00a0Despite that game, they’re still ranked third in the NFL in points per game, having allowed 17.9. \u00a0Aside from the Vikings (3rd in yards per game allowed), the Patriots defense ranks ahead of each of the other teams who lead the NFL in fewest average yards per game given up, with Arizona (1st), Baltimore (2nd) and Denver (4th) in that category.<\/p>\n It’s an argument that’s been rehashed over and over and while it’s not pretty and it may be hard to watch, so far the results continue to speak for themselves.<\/p>\n 3) Third down defense remains a problem<\/strong> – However, despite the success we just mentioned, one area that Bill Belichick would like to hopefully improve on are New England’s defensive struggles on third down, which still\u00a0remain an issue and will likely be the focus again this weekend when the Rams visit Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n So far this season they’re ranked 20th in that category, allowing opponents to convert 41.3 of their attempts against them, which continues to be one of their glaring weaknesses. \u00a0When you look at other teams who are in the playoff hunt, the numbers on this category certainly reflect the current success of each of those clubs.<\/p>\n Looking at the top five teams in this category, Miami leads the league while giving up just 33.3%, followed by Baltimore (33.6%), Tampa Bay (33.6%), Oakland (35.1%) and Denver (35.1%). \u00a0All teams with winning records, and all teams who have shots at reaching\u00a0the postseason.<\/p>\n Looking back at 2015, the Patriots finished allowing just 37.3% on third down (10th in the NFL), which is certainly much better than where they are right now. \u00a0It’s been a rough ride but since the Seahawks game (they allowed Seattle to convert 50% of their third down attempts), they’ve been better, allowing 5-of-14 (36%) against the 49ers and 5-of-11 (45%) against the Jets. \u00a0They also allowed just 17 points in each of those two contests.<\/p>\n One of the areas they haven’t had much success with is getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which has been a frustrating topic here in New England and Belichick addressed just over a week ago prior to the Jets game and emphasized that while pressure is important, defending the play is ultimately the more important priority.<\/p>\n “I think you\u2019ve got to look at the individual plays. If the quarterback just catches the ball and throws it, I mean, I don\u2019t care what you have,” said Belichick. “You\u2019re not going to really get any pressure but you have to defend the play.”<\/p>\n “The quarterback \u2013 the longer he holds the ball, then the more pressure you would expect to get on the quarterback or you\u2019d want to get on the quarterback. The more guys you rush, the more pressure you would expect to get on the quarterback. Again, there\u2019s a point where certain plays the ball just comes out of his hand. You can\u2019t get there. I don\u2019t care if you send everybody.”<\/p>\n “So it\u2019s really a result of the play. If you stop them on third-down, if you stop them in the red-area, if you stop them on first-down and put them in second-and-long, those are good plays. I don\u2019t care if you have pressure or have coverage. Whatever it is, you\u2019re happy with those plays. If you don\u2019t, then find a way to do them better.<\/p>\n .@StonePhotos<\/a> caught this shot of the play when #Patriots<\/a>' Rob Gronkowski left the game on Sunday https:\/\/t.co\/Eqb6KR71pl<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/m0aejyM2a4<\/a><\/p>\n — Sean Leahy (@leahysean) December 1, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>24-of-37 (64.9%) 271yds 2 TDs, 0 INTs
\n<\/strong>QBR Rating: <\/strong>64.2 (4th Highest)
\n<\/strong>QB Rating: <\/strong>104.7 (3rd Best)<\/p>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>32-of-45 (71.1%) 387 yards 2 TDs, 2 INTs
\nQBR Rating: <\/strong>73.5 (3rd Highest)
\nQB Rating: <\/strong>93.5 (5th Highest)<\/p>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>24-of-41 (58.5%) 196 yards 0 TDs, 1 INT
\nQBR Rating: <\/strong>29.1 (2nd Worst of the Season)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 60.6 (4th Worst of the Season)<\/p>\n
\nStats:<\/strong> 27-of-39 (69.2%) 1 TD, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 70.9 9 (5th Best of the Season)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 94.6 (5th Best of the Season)<\/p>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>5-of-8 (62.5%) 62-yards 1 TD, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 45.3 (5th highest)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 126.0 (Season High)<\/p>\n
\nStats:<\/strong>21-of-31 (67.7) 254 yards, 1TD, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating: <\/strong>88.1 (2nd Highest)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 103.4 (5th Highest)<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Stats: <\/strong>29-of-47 (61.7%) 281 yards, 1TD, 1INT
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 45.7 (N\/A)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 76.6 (N\/A)<\/p>\n
\nStats:<\/strong> 19-of-38 (50%) 289 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 67.6 (6th highest)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 63.8 (9th highest)<\/p>\n
\nStats:<\/strong>25-of-37 (67.6%) 348 yards, 3TDs, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 89.7 (3rd highest)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> 124.6 (2nd highest)<\/p>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>16-of-30 (53.3%) 206 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating:<\/strong> 32.4 (Worst of the season)
\nQB Rating:<\/strong> (2nd Highest)<\/p>\n
\nStats: <\/strong>22-of-32 (68.8%) 269-yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
\nQBR Rating: <\/strong>64.0 (3rd Highest)
\nQB Rating: <\/strong>115.2 (tied for 2nd highest)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n \n ![](\"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/images\/us-presswire\/600w\/2016-Week-6-Donta-Hightower-TQzvz-600w.jpg\")
Dont’a Hightower and the Patriots defense continue to limit opponents from scoring. (USA TODAY Images)<\/strong><\/font>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n