The weather was horrendous, but thankfully the Patriots were not. The Ravens were toppled in a rough encounter at Gillette Stadium. Here are the ups and downs from Week 10.
Ups ⬆️
Cam Newton
Cam is up for me this week as he continues to build on positive performances. His stat line wasn’t off the charts, but he ended his run of games without a passing touchdown, led the team, and most importantly, made good decisions. Good for Cam.
J.C. Jackson
Mr INT continues his reign of interception dominance in the NFL, he made his fifth-straight game with a pick (sixth of the season) last night as he nabbed a deep Jackson throw at the end of the first half. With Stephon Gilmore still missing with a knee injury, Jackson is showing that he can step up to fill the void if Gilmore moves on in the offseason.
To credit Jackson further, it wasn’t just the pick that got him on the ups list, he was also better in coverage last night.
Jakobi Meyers
Meyers is here to stay, and apparently, he can do it all. Just when we were set with him being a consistent receiver, Josh McDaniels activated the double pass and Meyers slung a 24-yard pass to Rex Burkhead for the touchdown. I would have been content with his performance yesterday of 5/7 for 59 yards, but with the TD pass, he’s showing he can provide in clutch moments for this team, a skill that will be so useful moving forward.
Damien Harris
It seems the torch has been passed for the lead running back position. Harris had another big game on the ground last night, excelling on 22 rushes for 121 yards. I think Michel could have been activated from IR for last night’s game if they really needed him. Now, I’m not saying his time with the Pats is over, but I can’t see them relinquishing the reigns from Harris if he continues playing the way he is.
I think Mike Reiss summed it up perfectly in this tweet, Harris finally got his opportunity, and he isn’t giving it up.
Offensive Line
The previous O-Line turmoil is in the rearview mirror now as last night showed, they’re getting better and better. Now, it wasn’t all perfect, notably, Mike Owenu got beat by Matthew Judon to allow a sack on Newton. But, mainly very positive. They created some gaps to get the run going and were cooking up pancakes in the elements, some good chemistry forming here.
Rex Burkhead
Oh Rexy, you continue to produce for this Patriots team when they need it most. Another solid game for Burkhead, a brace of touchdowns took his tally to six for the season (3 rush, 3 receiving) and he is a vital part of the redzone offense which is actually being productive. Another up, this one was easy.
Coaching
After re-watching the game at a normal hour (stupid UK timezone), I couldn’t help feel the coaching decisions and strategy were excellent. Factoring in the conditions also, I felt that the coaches did their job well to give the players every chance to succeed. In some weeks this season we’ve come away from a loss questioning decisions made by the staff, not today, brilliant game plan, brilliant win.
Honorable Mentions: James White, Jakob Johnson, D Line, Josh Uche, Kyle Dugger, Jake Bailey
Downs ⬇️
Nick Folk
This could be considered a harsh one, but last week’s hero is down this week for the extra point he missed last night. Folk has been very consistent of late, but the miss could have easily come back to haunt the Patriots.
