New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots remained red-hot heading into their Week 14 bye week, as they cruised to a fairly effortless 33-15 victory over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The Pats jumped out to an early 17-0 lead, and they never looked back on their way to win No. 11 this season.
With this win, New England reclaimed the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the time being, and it can officially win the AFC East division in Week 15 with a win over the Buffalo Bills. First, the team will get some much-needed time off after this game. With another big “W” in the books, let’s look back at the action and pick out four studs and four duds from this game.
Marcus Jones
It feels like Marcus Jones is setting up a permanent residency in the studs section of this column. Jones contributed to N.E.’s explosive first quarter with a 94-yard punt return touchdown, and while he didn’t have to do much defensively in this game (he didn’t record a single statistic of note), his huge touchdown got the Pats off on the right foot.
Christian Elliss
The most vicious defensive performance of the season belongs to Christian Elliss after what he did to the Giants. Elliss led the Patriots with 10 tackles, two of which were massive hits delivered to Jaxson Dart and Gunner Olszewski, the latter of which resulted in a fumble that New England recovered. Elliss also registered a pass deflection in coverage, too.
Drake Maye
After an uneven performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, Drake Maye responded with one of his most effective games of the season. Maye completed 24 of his 31 pass attempts for 282 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 12 yards on six carries. With this game, Maye has reemerged as the league’s MVP frontrunner heading into Week 14.
Kyle Williams
The positive plays haven’t always been easy to come by for rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams, but he delivered the goods during his limited time on the field against New York. Williams got just one target in this one, but he turned it into a beautiful 33-yard touchdown reception, thanks to one of the best passes of Maye’s young career.
Robert Spillane
While Elliss starred for the Pats in this one, it was a fairly muted performance from his partner-in-crime at the linebacker position, Robert Spillane. New England’s leading tackler finished the night with just two tackles, and if it weren’t for Elliss’ big game, his struggles would have been much more notable.
Jaylinn Hawkins
This game continued a concerning mistake-filled stretch for Jaylinn Hawkins. While he had four tackles and a pass deflection, he was not at his best in coverage again, and he completely whiffed on a tackle that allowed Darius Slayton to coast to the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown. He will have to be better as the games begin to get more important.
Bryce Baringer
If your...
