DEFENSIVE BACK
The choice was made to cover the game's most explosive receiver, Julio Jones, mostly with safety help over the top, allowing the corners to worry only about getting underneath his routes. Jones had nine receptions on 13 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown, but he never was able to hurt the secondary as he did in the Super Bowl. Neither did anyone else because corner Malcolm Butler played perhaps his best game of the year and scrappy Johnson Bademosi held up his end replacing concussed Stephen Gilmore and limping Eric Rowe. The Pats played more often with three deep safeties and two corners than the other way around. Jones had a 16-yard catch early, but Butler was on him tightly even then. Butler blitzed on a running play and upended Tevin Coleman in the backfield for no gain. He also stuffed a swing pass to receiver Justin Hardy for a 1-yard loss. Bademosi broke up a deep crossing route to Jones early with safety Duron Harmon supplying deep help. Bademosi also had Jones covered on a screen that went for only 3 yards. Corner Jonathan Jones got a break when Mohamed Sanu beat him to the sideline but didn't take his route as deep as Matt Ryan thought he would, resulting in an incompletion. If he had, he might have gone to the house. But later Jones had him one-on-one on a corner route and forced the incompletion. Safety Devin McCourty was his usual reliable self but didn't make many plays because the Pats played so much deep zone.