Patriots vs. Giants: The good, the bad, the s—t that gets you beat

Ahead of this year’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat.

The Patriots’ 33-15 win over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football mostly saw them operate in the first category. That being said, if the coach wants to look at the Patriots through all three of them, who are we to disagree? So, let’s break down the Week 13 game in exactly that manner.

The good: Energy

Playing on Monday Night Football for the first time in three years, the Patriots came out swinging. Besides jumping out to a 17-0 lead behind some impressive play in all three phases, they also were the more physical and energetic team throughout.

“We focused on being aggressive and attacking and keeping that mindset. And I think we did,” said Mike Vrabel after the game.

The Patriots set the tone from the get-go. After a 39-yard kickoff return set the offense up near midfield, the unit used a mix of run and pass before scoring a field goal on the opening drive. Then, on their first defensive series, they brought the heat, highlighted by linebacker Harold Landry sacking quarterback Jaxson Dart while he was trying to maneuver around the pocket. Three plays later, Marcus Jones scored a 94-yard touchdown that further helped electrify the team and all of Gillette Stadium.

“In each game he has returned a touchdown, it has just sparked the offense and defense,” said cornerback Christian Gonzalez after the game. “That is a big weapon we have.”

The Patriots kept their foot on the gas for much of the night, and when all was said and done had decisively outclassed their opponent. If not for some finishing issues we will talk about in a second, they very well could have won by more than 18 points.

The bad: Missed tackles

We have to be a bit nit-picky here, because the Patriots mostly played a clean game. Bryce Baringer’s 22-yard punt in the second quarter or Andy Borregales’ missed 45-yard field goal attempt in the third stand out as exceptions, but our choice goes to the team’s tackling.

It wasn’t necessarily bad per se, and the Patriots did deliver some hard hits — led by Christian Elliss forcing quarterback Jaxson Dart out of bounds on the Giants’ second possession. However, their eight missed tackles were above their season-long average entering Week 13 (6.3) and also a problem on New York’s first touchdown drive: Darius Slayton’s 30-yard catch-and-run saw him out-leverage defensive backs Jaylinn Hawkins, Marcus Jones and Christian Gonzalez en route to the end zone.

On the whole, tackling was not a major problem. But the Giants showed that a team can quickly regain momentum on a play like the Slayton touchdown.

The s—t that gets you beat: Finishing drives

Two things can be true at the same time. The Patriots ended up winning by 18 points and very much dominated proceedings from start to finish and in all three phases of the game, but their offense also left plenty of points on the board once again.

New England ended up scoring on six of its nine competitive possessions, with only two of those coming in the form of touchdowns. In total, they went 1-for-5 in the red zone, something Mike Vrabel also pointed out during his postgame press conference.

“We need to be better in the red zone,” he said.

On the season, the Patriots are now 24-of-47 in the red area for a 24th-ranked conversion rate of 51.1%. Among teams in the current NFL playoff picture, only two others — Tampa (50%; 25th) and Baltimore (46.5%; 30th) — are ranked below them at the moment. Come playoff time, the team’s efficiency in turning scoring opportunities into touchdowns needs to improve, or else they run risk of a short-lived return to the postseason.