Unless you wear Patriots-colored glasses, the following statements are facts:
- The Patriots have struggled to find consistent offense and big plays on a series-by-series basis in recent weeks;
- The Patriots have taken a more aggressive approach on defense in the previous two weeks.
Here are the positional ratings against the Vikings:
Quarterback (3 out of 5)
Brady might have been efficient in this game — outside his atrocious interception that against a better opponent may have cost them the game — but 84 percent of his completions (27 of 32) came within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.
That may be solid quarterbacking, but that doesn't mean it was good quarterbacking. That's an Alex Smith performance. ... And it's not like Brady didn't have chances to make plays down the field. He did. But in what has been a season-long trend, Brady did not see the field well. Some examples: On the first drive, Brady didn't see White wide-open for a touchdown and dumped it off to Rex Burkhead. On the second drive, Brady felt pressure that wasn't there and threw late to Edelman. On a 9-yard dump off to James Develin, Brady didn't wait for Josh Gordon to come open on a post-corner against zone coverage. On the third-and-15 pass to Gronkowski over the middle, Brady threw flat-footed with nothing on it with no pressure around him.
Running backs (4 out of 5)
Man, what a different Burkhead makes when he's back in the lineup. Even after being on mothballs, he still comes out and shows he's the team's best all-around running back. Can he stay healthy? Who knows ... Sony Michel was average in this game and had a false start. ... White had two big third-down conversions as usual. ... James Develin was great, which tells you all you need to know about this offense right now.
Receivers (2 out of 5)
No other way to put it: This was by far the worst game of Gronkowski's career. Three penalties, seven poor blocks, and couldn't break the tackle of a small safety on a clear-out play designed for him. It wasn't a completely lost game, as we saw him attract extra coverage once, and he had three "plus" run blocks. But this wasn't close to normal Gronk.
Offensive line (5 out of 5)
[table id=198 /]
Tremendous work by this group keeping the pressure off Brady and keying the quick passing game. Shaq Mason, in particular, was outstanding in the screen game. In order of effectiveness: Trent Brown (one knockdown on Brady's interception), Mason, David Andrews, Marcus Cannon. Joe Thuney had his first rough game in a while with two holds.
DEFENSE
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Defensive line (5 out of 5)
Spectacular game by this group. I had them for two errors: Trey Flowers and Deatrich Wise both didn't hold the edge on a run each. That's it. Other than that, they completely owned a bad Vikings' offensive line. Best combined game by the interior guys (Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown) this season. Usually, it's just Guy playing well. Danny Shelton was a healthy scratch, mostly because they wanted to use more linebackers/ends in their amoeba front, but it's not like Shelton has earned his spot. ... Another good game by Adrian Clayborn, who keeps coming on.
Linebackers (4 out of 5)
Outside a few issues in the running game and in zone drops (mostly by Dont'a Hightower) this was a very good performance. Elandon Roberts was the best, but Hightower wasn't far off. Hightower is getting healthy, but he's still a step slow in space.
Secondary (4 out of 5)
Wouldn't say this was a spectacular game out of this group because Kirk Checkdown barely looked down the field and blew some chances for big plays. But they executed well and tackled exceedingly well. ... Nice job by J.C. Jackson defending two possible touchdowns (he should have been flagged for either of them) and causing the game-clinching touchdown. ... Little bit of a rough game from Patrick Chung (two 20-yard plays allowed). ... Stephon Gilmore's slip wrecked any chance Jason McCourty had at defending the Adam Thielen touchdown.
THREE UP
Lawrence Guy: In this well-rounded team effort, there weren't all that many players that stood out from the rest. But Guy continued to be the glue in the middle of the field and was probably the rest why the Vikings stopped trying to run up the middle. Also had two QB knockdowns.
Josh Gordon: Like I said, a very mature game out of him as he worked within the offense, had a great drive block on an Edelman run, a touchdown, drew a pass interference penalty ... did a little bit of everything, which I think is probably the right amount for him.
Shaq Mason: A nearly flawless performance, and his second-level blocking was back to his elite level.
THREE DOWN
Rob Gronkowski: I had him for 11 minus plays, which is about 4-5 games worth for him. Had his moments, but just not effective overall.
Julian Edelman: He's far from 100 percent for him. Give him a ton of credit: he's simply gutting this out at this point (left foot).
Danny Shelton: From former first-round pick to healthy scratch. Not great in a contract year.