Another week, another dominating win. I’ve been telling myself for fourteen years now to enjoy this era of Patriots football, because it won’t last forever. It won’t, but with the way the Patriots have been rolling over their opponents week after week, it’s hard to see where the end of this epic streak will come.
(By the way, feel free to shove this back in my face if the Patriots stumble in Lambeau next week.)
The Patriots have found themselves a winning combination of a lock-down defense, and an unstoppable offense. Although the Detroit Lions don’t tend to strike fear into the hearts of many opposing fans, given their history, I have to admit that today’s game may just be the toughest remaining task on the Patriots schedule. If any team was going to challenge Revis, it was as squad boasting receivers like Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. If any team was going to be able to hurry Brady and make him uncomfortable, it would be a formidable line featuring Ndamukong Suh. Yet the Lions never found the end zone once on Sunday afternoon, and Brady escaped the game without being sacked.
The Patriots are playing as good football as I’ve seen from them in the entire Brady/Belichick era. Whoever knocks this team off is going to have to do it on both sides of the ball. It’s no longer sufficient to limit Brady and then try to exploit a mediocre defense. It’s going to take a complete game, a mistake-free game, where the opponent forces the Patriots into mistakes, to take this New England team down. That’s the blueprint teams are going to have to take into the game to come out with a victory, and I don’t see a single one of the thirty-one who can pull that off at the moment.
Risers:
Darrelle Revis (CB) – This is the type of game we all envisioned when #24 signed with the Patriots. Revis was breaking up passes and creating a mid-afternoon nightmare for the Detroit receiving corps. His play went beyond himself, though. You can tell that he has elevated the play of the rest of the secondary. Browner, Arrington, Ryan, Chung, and McCourty are all better with his presence on the field. He’s essentially the “Gronk” of the defense.
Julian Edelman (WR) – He took some hard hits, but remained reliable. His punt return for a touchdown was a thing of beauty, even if it was negated by a penalty.
Danny Amendola (WR) – No, he’s not Welker. He’s not Edelman either. But Danny Amendola is finding ways to contribute to this football team. His 81-yard kickoff return helped blow the lid off this game.
Ryan Allen (P) – Given what I mentioned above with Edelman and Amendola’s fireworks, it’s hard to believe that Allen’s punt early in the game was the special teams play of the day. With the Patriots offense sputtering and the team in a 3-0 deficit, Ryan Allen drilled a punt 65 yards to completely reverse Detroit’s favorable field position. It was all downhill from there the rest of the afternoon.
Tim Wright (TE) – Two touchdown receptions gets you on the Risers list.
LeGarrette Blount (RB) – Welcome back! Jonas Gray’s faulty cell phone battery paved the way for Blount’s triumphant return. He notched two touchdowns of his own and continued where he left off last January, by picking up huge chunks of yards with each carry.
Fallers:
None.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
