New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots responded to their crushing Week 3 loss with a blowout 42-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon. One of the most encouraging developments from this game was the return of injured cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Over the summer, Gonzalez suffered a hamstring injury that ended up holding him out of action for two months. Without Gonzalez on the field for the first three games of the season, the Patriots’ pass defense struggled, and it quickly became clear just how important he is to this unit.
Against the Panthers, Gonzalez spent most of the afternoon guarding star rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, holding him to four catches for 62 yards. Most important, though, is the fact that Gonzalez made it through this game unscathed, and he was hyped after helping his team earn its second win of the year.
“Good W. Catch y’all next week,” Gonzalez said while walking off the field in a video posted on the Patriots’ official X account.
Gonzalez hasn’t played in a while, so he’s going to need to shake off some rust as he gets back into the swing of things. With him and Carlton Davis III on the field, though, New England was finally able to utilize more man coverages after being forced to play quite a bit of zone defense early in the season.
Carolina only threw for 208 yards in this one, and Gonzalez played a big role in silencing its offense. New England will look to keep up the positive momentum in Week 5, but that will be easier said than done, as the team has a meeting with the undefeated Buffalo Bills on its schedule.
