Can Henry find success vs. Hyde, Poyer?
Win or lose, the Patriots’ Wild Card game at Buffalo will be a defining game.
The Pats successfully embarked on a new era this season by rebuilding behind a rookie quarterback, yet failed to retake the division. If they win Saturday night in Orchard Park, they’ll be remembered for passing the Bills anyway. If Buffalo triumphs, Josh Allen and Co. can claim the new era actually belongs to them, the established kings of the AFC East.
Before either team can celebrate a victory, they must win four critical matchups Saturday. So leading up to kickoff, the Herald will preview one of these matchups each day before Patriots-Bills Part III.
In Mac Jones’ first NFL season, Hunter Henry has been one of the quarterback’s favorite targets. But in the Patriots’ two meetings with the Bills, the tight end has been silenced.
The first game, when Jones threw the ball just three times, was an outlier. But in the rematch at Gillette Stadium, Henry was a non-factor. He was targeted six times, and caught just one ball for nine yards.
The reason? Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, the Bills’ two Pro Bowl-caliber safeties, shut him down. It wasn’t by accident, either. They specifically game-planned to eliminate the tight end.
“We knew he was a top target and knew that Mac liked to get him the football,” Poyer explained after the Bills’ 33-21 victory. “We were … taking away his routes and forcing Mac to look elsewhere.”
Saturday night in Buffalo, where Jones is almost certain to throw more than the first meeting, finding his top security blanket in Henry against Hyde and Poyer will be a major key. Whether it’s on third down — where Henry caught 14 balls for first downs this season — or inside the red zone — where all nine of Henry’s touchdowns came this season — much of Jones’ success this season has hinged on his connection with Henry. On Saturday, that will require the duo to beat Hyde and Poyer’s coverage schemes and disguises.
“It’s a huge challenge to diagnose what they’re doing defensively,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said this week. “They have two really, really good safeties. They’re very smart. … They’re in sync always with the rest of the unit. They hide their intentions, and they’re very disciplined. Whenever somebody is supposed to defend the deep part of the field, that’s what they’re doing.”
Hunter Henry vs. Micah Hyde & Jordan Poyer