10 Things We Learned Last Night
NFL. Here, in no particular order, are 10 things we learned about the Patriots in last night’s 31-28 win over the Eagles in Foxborough.
1. People can talk all they want about how this New England team is one of the finest collections of offensive talent on the planet, but you still need a stout defense if you want to get the job done with the game on the line. The Patriots found themselves in just their second real nail-biter of the season last night, a back-and-forth affair with the Eagles in front of a sold-out crowd at Gillette. But, like they did against the Colts, New England managed to come away with a win in a close game. And like that game, it was the defense that came up big with the game on the line. Cornerback Asante Samuel made a pair of nice interceptions, blunting a pair of Philadelphia drives and making sure that New England’s dream season continues for at least another week. “Asante has great hands, good instincts and he doesn’t let too many get through his hands,” said Head Coach Bill Belichick, who saw his team improve to 11-0 with the win. “That’s really what a good playmaker in the secondary does — they catch the ball well and they’re able to turn those mistakes by the quarterback into turnovers instead of just foul balls and batted down [balls].”
2. Asante Samuel should really cash in this offseason. The two picks by Samuel were both unique. The first came on the third play from scrimmage, when Samuel jumped in front of a pass in the flat meant for Brian Westbrook and returned it 40 yards for the games’ first score. “They tried to throw it out to Westbrook, and I just read it and broke on it,” Samuel said. “I saw him behind me a little bit, so I had to ease up a little bit, and fortunately, the ball came.” The second — and far bigger pick — came with 3:52 remaining in the game in the near corner of the end zone. It was intended for wide receiver Kevin Curtis, but Samuel made a nifty over-the-shoulder grab that ultimately iced the game. His two interceptions last night give him six on the season and 22 for his career. “How many times has he come up big in the last two or three years to stop the drive to score on defense?” asked linebacker Tedy Bruschi. “They were in field goal range. They were in field goal range, in scoring position on the second interception, and the great play he made to stop that drive might have been the biggest play of the game.”
3. In what will likely be an MVP season, it was not Tom Brady’s best performance. But the grittiness he showed last night speaks volumes. Brady was beaten up badly by a physical Eagles’ defense, getting sacked three times and suffering numerous knockdowns. But each time, he popped back up again, unfazed by the hits — much to the amazement of his teammates. “Tom doesn’t lose any sort of poise or anything,” said teammate Wes Welker of Brady, who finished 34-for-54 with 380 passing yards and one touchdown. “The dude is on top of it. I’m sure he probably felt it, but he sucked it up for us and got back in there and drove us down the field.” The first hit drew Brady’s admiration. “He got me good. He got me good,” Brady said of Juqua Thomas. “Usually, when I get hit … I’m very bony, so if they hit me on my bones it hurts. If they don’t hit me on my bones I’m usually fine. I’m like Gumby, I just dead-leg everything. That’s why I just fall down when people hit me. He hit me good, but I’m proud [that] we went down and scored on the drive, so that was good too.” The Eagles ended up with three sacks on the night, tying a season-high for total sacks in one game against New England this year. (Dallas also had three.)
4. Trying to beat the new Patriots? One way to get some success against them is to treat them like the old Colts. A few years ago, the best way to beat Peyton Manning and the Colts was to get a lead and bleed the clock with as many lengthy, sustained drives as possible. (You want to beat Peyton? Keep him off the field.) Last night, Philly QB A.J. Feeley (27-for-42, 345 passing yards, three TDs, three INTs) and the Eagles were able to do an excellent job at keeping the chains moving and converting on third down. None of their four scoring drives were less than 68 yards, and, as a result, were able to keep the New England offense off the field and their own offense on the field as much as possible. Thanks in large part to Westbrook, Philadelphia converted 62 percent of its third-down opportunities, a tremendous success rate against a New England team that had held the opposition to just 31 percent on third down entering last night.
5. The nice run that New England’s special teams has enjoyed the last few weeks couldn’t have last forever. Between a botched kick return than ended up with the ball back in Philadelphia’s hands and a missed field goal, it was not a good night for most of the special teams. Fullback Kyle Eckel goofed on an onside kick early in the second, failing to recover a loose ball on a fluky play that ultimately saw the Eagles regain possession. (Eckel later redeemed himself with a forced fumble on a punt late in the game.) And there was a missed 32-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, one that went wide left. It was the second miss of the year for the kicker, who is now 12-for-14 on the season.
6. When it comes to Laurence Maroney, right now, there are more questions than answers. It was quite a week for the second-year running back — on Wednesday, he found diapers in his locker, and last night against the Eagles, he did not play the entire first half. Clearly, he was healthy enough to go — he was on the sidelines, and appeared game-ready throughout the first two quarters, but his first carry didn’t come until there was 11:27 left in the third quarter. (He ended up with 31 rushing yards, as well as the game-winning touchdown, a four-yard plunge that made it 31-28 midway through the fourth quarter.) Part of his absence last night was practical — when it comes to facing a team that can bring a sustained pass rush like the Eagles, the Patriots are better off going with veteran Kevin Faulk, a back who is far superior to Maroney in blitz pickup. And part of that can be attributed to the fact that New England didn’t put a priority on running the football in the first half. (They had just two running plays in the first 30 minutes.) But his on-again, off-again presence leaves him as a riddle to many people who cover the team. For what it’s worth, Head Coach Bill Belichick staunchly defended Maroney on Sportsradio 850 WEEI after the game.
7. Brian Westbrook could be one of the most underrated offensive options in the NFL. The Villanova product finished with 52 yards rushing (one touchdown) and 40 yards receiving, and showed the Patriots last night why he’s one of the most elusive running backs in the league. He put a killer fake on linebacker Rosevelt Colvin that sprung him for a three-yard gainer midway through the first quarter. He also leaped clear over defensive lineman Mike Wright on his one-yard plunge later on that same drive to tie the score at seven, and slipped past Colvin late in the first for a 13-yard completion from Feeley. He was fun to watch, and singlehandedly kept many Philadelphia drives alive with his elusiveness and unpredictability. “Westbrook is a tough guy to tackle,” Belichick said after the game. “We missed him a few times, and that’s not uncommon — so does everybody else.”
8. You can’t call him “Old Reliable” just yet, but Wes Welker is certainly getting there. Last night was Welker’s finest game as a Patriot. With the Eagles doing a great job taking away the deep ball against Randy Moss (five catches, 43 yards), Welker was the most dependable offensive option on the field for New England, finishing with a career-best 13 catches and 149 receiving yards. Perhaps his finest moment of the evening came midway through the third quarter on a catch-and-run that had the feel of Jim Brown’s broken-field dash in “The Dirty Dozen.” It was a 42-yard thing of beauty where he accounted for about 41 1/2 of the yards. It started as a quick screen, but Welker was quickly off to the races, picking up a series of nice blocks, including one where Stephen Neal absolutely caved in a Philadelphia defender. On screen passes, it’s tough waiting for the big guys to line up in formation, but Welker made it work. “You just have to trust the offensive linemen getting out there,’ said Welker afterward. “You just have to have that patience to stay behind them and, in some situations, you have to go. But I felt like that situation, I could get behind them and get a solid block.”
9. Nick Kaczur is struggling. The massive right tackle had another bad game — his second in the last three outings — allowing a pair of first-half sacks and almost getting Brady killed in the process. The first time, defensive end Juqua Thomas beat Kaczur and delivered a nasty hit on Brady. The second time, Chris Jocong blasted Brady after maneuvering past Kaczur. (As for the rest of the offensive line, left tackle Matt Light had a difficult evening, picking up a pair of false start penalties.) On the heels of his tough game against the Colts — where Robert Mathis beat him for a pair of sacks — it’s clear that these are tough times for Kaczur.
10. In the end, no one does hat and T-shirt games better than the Patriots. With the win, New England got its chance to indulge in some free swag — and expand its hat and T-shirt wardrobe — with 2007 AFC East Champion hats and T-shirts. (Linebacker Tedy Bruschi was the one who coined the phrase years ago.) The veteran linebacker said last night they’re not done climbing the mountain, but it’s not a crime to sit back admire how far they’ve gotten. “We don’t talk about it before the game, but after the game, you have to acknowledge that we have accomplished something now. We are AFC East Champs. I know it’s just 11 games, and we have a handful of games to go, but it feels good that we are division champs and we have a spot in the tournament,” Bruschi said of the Patriots, who became just the 13th team in NFL history to start 11-0. “We know we have some work to do to win some more games, to improve upon, to get some momentum rolling here in December. But we’ve accomplished something today, and we’re proud of that.”
Christopher Price is sports editor of Boston Metro and the author of “The Blueprint: How The New England Patriots Beat The System To Create The Last Great NFL Superpower,” published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. He can be reached at cprice@metro-boston.com.
