Pats crash party
Defense slams cap on sloppy road win
TAMPA — The Patriots were willing party crashers last night at Raymond James Stadium.
In a game that had been billed as one of the most meaningful regularseason contests in Buccaneers history, the Patriots seized their host’s booty by claiming a 19-14 victory.
And after the defense was assailed throughout the short week, the Patriots (3-2) clinched the win with a stop at the buzzer, as Jonathan Jones broke up Jameis Winston’s endzone bid on the final pass of the game. The Patriots now have 10 days to tinker with that side of the ball before visiting the Jets.
“If you go out there for four weeks and stink it up, things will start to change,” Devin McCourty said. “Coaches have to make changes, and guys know that. Our backs were kind of against the wall. We had to come out and play well. You take adversity, and it helps you bond as a team.”
Tom Brady completed 30-of-40 passes for 303 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but he was also sacked three times and hit on six occasions, not including an ill-advised late run that culminated with him doing an impression of a pretzel. Brady has kept up an MVP-caliber start, but he already has been sacked more times this season (16) than all of last (15).
“Offense isn’t always going to have a great day,” Brady said. “Defense isn’t always going to have a great day. In the end, you’ve just got to find a way to win.”
Rob Gronkowski was stuck on the sideline with a compression sleeve on his left thigh that he injured Wednesday, so Danny Amendola (eight catches, 77 yards), Chris Hogan (eight catches, 74 yards, touchdown), James White (seven catches, 57 yards) and Brandin Cooks (five catches, 85 yards) led the way through the air. Dion Lewis added seven carries for 53 yards, and Mike Gillislee (12 runs for 52 yards) was a nice complement.
It was still a sloppy affair, thanks in large part to the league’s long-running pattern of ill-efficient Thursday night football, and that was evident early. The 40-year-old quarterback opened the first drive of the game with four consecutive completions for 22 yards. However, Brady sailed a throw way behind a wideopen Hogan that was intercepted by Justin Evans. The misfire was Brady’s first pick of the season.
The defense, which was heavily maligned in the 100 hours since the 33-30 loss to the Panthers, came to Brady’s aid. Stephon Gilmore followed Mike Evans and Malcolm Butler took DeSean Jackson, and Dont’a Hightower had more involvement in the middle of the defense after a limited workload against the Panthers. This on the heels of a public benching of Alan Branch, who was left home in New England for performance-related reasons, according to a source.
“Honestly, I think our backs were against the wall,” Duron Harmon said. “We had one choice — to get better or stay the same. I think all the competitors we’ve got on defense and we knew it wasn’t enough. We knew we were literally costing our team.
“We really did cost our team the game last week, and it was good to come out here and play good football and help us get a win today.”
After opening the game with eight consecutive passes, the Pats went to the ground on their third possession, as Gillislee, Lewis and White combined for 54 yards on seven carries, highlighted by Lewis’ 31-yard scamper. Brady also completed his first three throws of the drive for 42 yards, but he was hit by Robert Ayers on third down and had to ditch the ball into the dirt. Stephen Gostkowski’s 27yard field goal made it 3-0.
The Bucs took their first lead after turning loose Doug Martin, who made his season debut after serving his four-game suspension. He had five carries for 48 yards on the drive, and he capped it with a leaping 1-yard touchdown for a 7-3 advantage in the second quarter.
Brady got it in gear in response to their first deficit. He completed all seven passes on the ensuing drive for 84 yards and got the Patriots out of an early first-and-25 hole due to Nate Solder’s illegal peelback block thanks to consecutive strikes to Cooks for 19 yards and Amendola for 10. The Patriots closed the possession when Brady flung a 5-yard dart to a leaping Hogan for a touchdown and 10-7 lead.
The defense in turn forced its second three-andout thanks to a split sack by Trey Flowers and Kyle Van Noy. Amendola helped the cause with a 40-yard punt return, but the Pats had to settle for Gostkowski’s 23yard field goal and a 13-7 lead with 40 seconds to play in the opening half.
Nick Folk couldn’t make a 56-yard field goal at the buzzer. It was the first of his three missed kicks.
Gostkowski made it 16-7 with a 45-yarder in the third quarter.
The Bucs tried to make late noise with Cameron Brate’s 18-yard touchdown reception with 2:09 to play to trim the deficit to 16-14.
Nate Ebner recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Gostkowski later drilled a 48-yard field goal to make it 19-14 with 1:10 remaining before the defense finished the job.
“What y’all were saying was right,” Harmon said of the media criticism of the defense. “It was right, and we knew it. We knew we had to play better.”