New England Patriots: 5 observations on week 10 win over Broncos

Law and Order: STU

In the National Football League, opposing teams are considered especially heinous. In New England, the dedicated players and coaches who take down these vicious felons are members of an elite squad known as the Special Teams Unit. These are their stories. Dun dun.

You name it, the special teams got it done. It got going early on in the first quarter after the Patriots offense went 3 and out on their first drive of the game.

On 4th down, Patriots punter Ryan Allen launched a ball into orbit with his leg. His left leg, might I add. Old Belichick trick. When it came down, it was muffed and swiftly recovered by Patriots TE Jacob Hollister. That put the Patriots in great field position, and they capitalized. 7-0.

Next thing you know, the Broncos are driving. One thing lead to another, yada yada yada, and the Broncos kicked a field goal.

On the following kickoff, resident freak athlete Dion Lewis took the ball 103 yards to the house. The blocking on the play was fantastic and allowed Lewis to use his game breaking speed to take it the distance. His route to paydirt was like Rickon Stark’s route to Jon Snow to start the Battle of the Bastards: virtually straight. Once he made it past the kicker, it was game over. 14-3.

The third notable special teams play the Patriots made was by none other than utility player Rex Burkhead. On a punt attempt by the Broncos, Burkhead blocked the punt, giving the Patriots great field position yet again.

Special teams might go under-appreciated, but not last night. The Patriots STU stole the show.

As good as the Patriots special teams were, the Broncos special teams were that bad. They made blunder after blunder. Starting with the muffed punt, they continued to give up big plays to the Patriots. The worst mistake, however, was getting called for 12 men on the field on a Patriots 4th down. It let the Patriots off the hook and gave them a first down.

If the special teams can play like this weekly, the New England Patriots will be in very good shape.

Oh, and one final thing. Did anyone see Dion Lewis receive the kickoff, stand in the end zone for two seconds, flip the ball to the ref, immediately realize he didn’t take a knee, snatch the ball out of the ref’s hands, and kneel for a touchback? Dion Lewis flipped the ball to the ref thinking he had a touchback, but forgot the most important part #NEvsDEN pic.twitter.com/hl9aOXeA9G

That was incredible.