Thoughts & Reactions: Patriots Smother Rams as Defense Shines

The New England Patriots put away the Los Angeles Rams pretty quick in Sunday’s 26-10 victory at Gillette Stadium. 

This was one of those games where the score was closer than the game went.  Tom Brady collected his 201^st career win as the New England Patriots dominated the Los Angeles Rams in a 26-10 win at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots offense showed early on how they will move forward without the services of Rob Gronkowski.  With a heavy use of the running game, New England jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 53-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount.

Brady, who completed 33 of 46 passes for 269 yards, threw his only touchdown of the game in the second quarter with a beautiful connection to wide receiver Chris Hogan.  Kicker Stephen Gostkowski added four field goals to complete the scoring for the Patriots.

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While the offense didn’t appear fully in control, the Patriots defensive unit made sure rookie quarterback Jared Goff and the Rams never got going.  The defense did it with a heavy pass rush and a couple of timely interceptions to limit the Rams for 59 minutes of the game.  Los Angeles scored their lone touchdown in the last minute of the game on a Goff to Kenny Britt touchdown connection.

With the victory, the Patriots are now 10-2 on the season and have a three-game lead over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East.

Thoughts

Wide receiver Julian Edelman is finding his groove in the offense again.  He caught eight passes on 12 targets for 101 yards.  Most importantly, rookie Malcolm Mitchell continues to grow in the offense.  He also caught eight passes for 82 yards.

Tight end Martellus Bennett never got going, but it appears offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is holding back a little with the passing game.  The team appears locked in on getting the screen game going and there is also focus on the ground game.

Although they were playing against the Rams, the performance by the defense was encouraging.  Not only were they able to get off the field on third downs, they hit hard, displayed a heavy pass rush and played with emotion.  It was good to see players like Kyle Van Noy, Chris Long and Shea McClellin come up with big plays in the game.

Player/coaches reactions

Bill Belichick on the importance of the first turnover created by the defense via Patiots.com:

"“Well, I mean we had some chances there in the second half; we just couldn’t finish the drives. We had three field goals. We had the ball down there but we just weren’t able to get the touchdowns that we had to start the game. Overall, I think we were hurt by too many negative plays. We had some holding penalties, some tackles for loss that created second-and-long, third-and-long. Defensively they do a good job in those situations. They get you in third-and-nine, 10, 12 like we were in too many times. We didn’t do well there. That’s always a tough down and distance situation to be in. We’ve got to do a better job of getting positive yards on first and second-down so that we stay out of that.”"

Devin McCourty on Tom Brady’s 201 wins via Patriots.com:

"“It’s great to be a part of it. I’ve learned so much from him as a leader, and not only just talking to him but just getting the opportunity to watch him whether it be in captains’ meetings, daily routine, on the field, off the field. I think at times you don’t really know the true worth of being around a guy like that, but you see the bigger picture when you see a record like this. Two hundred and one wins, the most by a quarterback, it kind of forces you to step back and really realize what the guy has done in the NFL. I’m happy to be a part of it and learn so much from him.”"

Malcolm Butler on allowing the Rams to score a touchdown in the final minute via Patriots.com:

"“We’ve just got to clean up that communication, play smart and just finish the game strong, period. We’ve got to finish. I’m glad we had the lead, but we most definitely want to finish stronger than that.”"

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The New England Patriots will next host the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium.