New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots took care of business on Thursday Night Football.
New England continued to secure its place at the top of the AFC East on Thursday, securing an easy 27-14 victory over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium.
I’ve got your takeaways:
Rhamondre Stevenson is expected to reclaim his starting role when healthy, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
I’d imagine those plans are subject to change, though.
TreVeyon Henderson has officially arrived, putting together back-to-back terrific performances that have included 241 total yards and five touchdowns — which is kind of what folks were expecting, fair or not.
Henderson’s greatest strength has always been his ability to change gears, which we’ve seen each of the last two games while also watching him display some toughness between the tackles. The Patriots still need to see some improvement in the passing game, but the rookie is on the right track — and that should have people extremely excited.
The Patriots have both the worst first-quarter defense in football and the best non-first-quarter defense in football…
New England has allowed an opening-drive scores in six of the last eight weeks, and an average of 5.81 points in the first quarter as opposed to (4.33) across all others — an incredibly odd statistic considering that in-game adjustments should be more difficult with an interim defensive coordinator.
It’s working, though, so no sense in hoping for a change.
I’d be remiss to ignore the untimely demise of Uni-Watch, a website devoted to the aesthetics of sports uniforms, two weeks ago.
Uni-Watch made caring about sports uniforms cool less nerdy, and unfortunately shut down before we could hear what those good folks thought about the on-field debut of the “Nor’Easter” uniforms at Gillette Stadium.
I’ll pick up the slack.
If you don’t like the details (red stars on the collar, netting pattern on the shoulder stripes, italicized numbers) you’re a grouch, but the overall look is missing something. It’s almost like they’re wearing denim — which would be cool for the Toronto Argonauts, but not the New England Patriots. Christian Gonzalez had the right idea with red accessories, though.
GRADE: 7.9/10
Ben Brown and Khyiris Tonga had expanded roles on the short week, with the offense making an effort to establish the run by plugging the former at tight end and the latter at fullback.
If you include their listed weight with that of the starting offensive line, we’re talking about 2,247 pounds of mass in front of Henderson — which worked out pretty well.
Brown had key blocks on both first-half rushing touchdowns, which means he’ll likely see more time in his new role moving forward.
New England won’t have to play another game until Nov. 23 when they visit the Cincinnati Bengals — presenting a nice little opportunity.
Stevenson (toe), Kayshon Boutte (hamstring), Austin Hopper (concussion) and Christian Elliss (hip) all missed the contest with injuries, while Milton...
