Week 16 Patriots’ offensive and defensive statistics from PFF

Our friends at ProFootballFocus.com were kind enough to share their quick stats from Sunday’s game. Make sure you check out their PFF Edge and PFF Elite products to give you insight, and an edge with your fantasy team. The PFF guys really know the game, so make sure you follow them at @PFF.

Week 16 Patriots Offensive Stats:

While it was evident that Rob Gronkowski once again excelled in the passing game – he caught all five of his catchable passes for 67 yards and a touchdown – the Patriots tight end was once again dominant in the running game too. Gronkowski’s PFF run blocking grade of 89.0 was the second-highest on the Patriots offense behind only fellow tight end Dwayne Allen’s 92.1.

RB Dion Lewis picked up the slack in the absence of James White and Rex Burkhead as he led the Patriots with 24 carries and was tied with Gronkowski for the most receptions with five. While Lewis broke just one tackle against Buffalo, he averaged 2.58 yards after contact on carries and gained 27 of his 24 receiving yards after the catch.

New England’s offensive line had an excellent day in pass protection as they allowed just three total pressures on 30 passing plays leading to a pass blocking efficiency rating of 91.7, which was the fourth-highest in the NFL after Sunday’s early afternoon games. As a comparison, the Patriots offensive line had a pass blocking efficiency rating of 75.8 coming into the game, which ranked 26th in the NFL.

The offensive line’s right side recorded a clean sheet as right guard Shaq Mason and right tackle Cameron Fleming did not allow a single pressure on 32 passing plays. Furthermore, left guard Joe Thuney did not allow a single pressure either for the fourth time this season, but for just the first time since Week 10.

The Patriots offensive line had a good game in run blocking as well and allowed running backs to gain 2.69 yards before contact on runs. Overall, New England averages 1.74 yards before contact on the season, which ranks fifth in the NFL.

Week 16 Patriots Defensive Stats:

Edge defender Trey Flowers played the most pass rushing snaps on the Patriots by a significant margin and was also the New England’s best pass rusher on the day. Even though he picked up just two hurries and one hit on 40 pass rushing snaps, Flowers also beat his blocker three times just to see QB Tyrod Taylor release the ball before he could get to him. In addition, Flowers was disruptive in the running game too and was tied for the second most defensive stops on the Patriots with five.

S/CB Patrick Chung had one of his best games in coverage against Buffalo. Even though he was targeted a team-high nine times, New England's hybrid player gave up just three receptions for 27 yards in coverage and allowed a passer rating of just 42.4 in coverage. Chung also recorded a career-high three pass breakups against the Bills on Sunday, which is even more impressive considering he had just three pass breakups in the entire 2016 season.

Following his limited playing time against Pittsburgh, linebacker Marquis Flowers played a big role for the Patriots once again as he logged a career-high 55 snaps against the Bills. Whereas only nine of Flowers’ 55 snaps came rushing the passer, he led the Patriots with five total pressures as he picked up three sacks and two quarterback hurries.

The Patriots had one of their best days rushing the passer as Taylor was under pressure on 22 of his 46 dropbacks. Even though New England did not generate pressure on either of the three plays when they rushed with more than five defenders, they had success without blitzes. The Patriots rushed with only three rushers on 14 plays, but were still able to generate pressure on half of them. Furthermore, New England recorded pressure on 7 of the 11 plays when they rushed with five defenders.

While missed tackles were an issue against the Steelers, the New England defense played disciplined against the Bills and missed just two tackles in the entire game, which was the fewest since they missed just one against New Orleans in Week 2.