Facing a top-tier opponent.
After overhauling an entire offense.
With the offensive line in a state of disarray.
With a first time head coach.
An offensive coordinator who hadn’t truly coordinated an offense in 15 years.
And a quarterback who was outplayed by a 21-year-old rookie through the latter part of camp.
No one, but no one, could’ve seen this coming.
Granted, one did:
But what does that Bozo know?
He’s just a charming, insightful silver fox and a shameless Patriots fanboy.
(Makes note to bring that character back as well.
I’ve missed that guy.)
–It’s not a stretch to say this was a throwback win.
Because they beat an opponent in all three phases.
Won both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Forced turnovers while taking proper care & feeding of the football themselves.
Didn’t give up big chunk plays.
Took away the opponent’s best weapon.
And were led by a quarterback who made good decisions.
All of which we’ve grown unaccustomed to.
–The more I think about it, the more apt the comparison gets.
David Andrews to Damien Woody.
Christian Gonzalez to Ty Law.
Jacoby Brissett and young, “caretaker QB,” Tara Reid Era Tom Brady.
Rhamondre Stevenson to Antowain Smith or Corey Dillon.
And Alex Van Pelt to Charlie Weis.
–That last one works especially well for the way he game-managed this one.
AVP allowed Brissett to take an occasional deep shot.
Whatever they needed to work on over the past two weeks, Van Pelt and Scott Peters did.
–Simply put, this was the best the offensive line has looked in recent memory.
Stevenson with 4.8 YPA.
With 11 rushing 1st downs and 17 overall.
All capped off with some drives made all the more impressive for how unspectacular they were.
–Here’s a much earlier example.
This time Wallace is on the left.
Who wasted no time letting his presence be known by committing a false start.
But to the surprise of all involved, that turned out to be the one glitch for this mission.
Michael Jordan got the start between Lowe and Andrews.
With six receivers getting two or three catches.
Though none more than Hooper’s 31 yards.
And no play longer than this seam curl to Tyquan Thornton:
–But it worked.
Seeing the Patriots pull off a statement win like this like a reunion with an old friend.
But for now, this’ll do.
–By far the biggest challenge defensively was Ja’Marr Chase.
(The slot on one down.
Two consecutive press-man coverages.
Then dropping off him into a deep zone.)
But ultimately containing All Pro to minimal damage.
McCourty had the best rookie season of any Pats cornerback I’ve ever seen.
Eventually resulting in a move back to safety.
In the increasingly subjective officiating of the NFL, we’re getting more and more reputation calls.
And he’s still in the “Welcome to the Majors, Mr. Hobbs” phase of his career.
Just wait until he’s established himself and starts to get away with acts of mayhem.
All the truly great ones enjoy that privilege.
And his time is coming soon.
The secondary employed the usual variety 12-pack of autumn beers we were used to seeing under Steve Belichick.
A nickel base with Kyle Dugger as the Robber.
As a result, they kept Joe Burrow guessing.
And his guesses led to three straight 3 & outs to start the game.
And the Bengals didn’t produce a 1st down until there was about 5:00 gone in the 2nd quarter.
Playing to the whistle.
Knowing what the moment called for and doing that thing.
I have no early Dynasty comparison for his performance.
Or this stat line.
We might look back at 2023 as one of the great drafts in recent memory.
–I don’t want to undersell just how tougher the Patriots were than the Bengals.
White imposing his physical dominance.
And not one of them more impressive than this little 4th & 2 tone-setter from Jonathan Jones.
–This Week’s Applicable Movie Quote: “Hey, man!
You trying to get yourself capped?”
But that one’s too obvious.
True though it is.
Not yet, at least.
They’re better than we thought.
At least our worst fears haven’t been realized.
And gets results:
And for now, that’ll do.
–I have one last question before we’re through here.
Is saying “MOOD” before you post a meme still a thing?
–Finally, it feels good to be back.
We’re onto Seattle.
