DEFENSIVE BACK
This group has the second-most salary cap dollars devoted to it of any secondary in the league, yet it ranks last in pass defense and has allowed 18 plays of 20 yards or more and seven of 40 or more. On Sunday, the secondary gave up completions of 35, 34, 31, 29, 28 and 21 to a rookie quarterback making his second NFL start. With Eric Rowe out, Malcolm Butler was back in the lineup after his benching and played well, allowing only two short completions in front of him, both to DeAndre Hopkins for 5 yards. His $65 million teammate, Stephon Gilmore, had another erratic day. He was targeted four times and gave up three completions and was flagged for interference that cost the defense 34 yards despite the fact he was in double coverage and had help. Gilmore made a critical interception in tight coverage and returned it to the Pats 12 on a badly underthrown ball. Young Jonathan Jones had problems, allowing five receptions for 58 yards, including a 29-yard seam route for a touchdown by receiver Bruce Ellington on which he was badly beaten. Safety Devin McCourty was second in tackles with 10 and broke up a pass to tight end Stephen Anderson with perfect technique, but he was beaten for a TD by tight end Ryan Griffin to start the second half. Safety Patrick Chung allowed a horrendous 35-yard completion to Griffin when he came off him for no discernible reason as Watson was eluding tacklers across the field.