Lewis could be difference vs. Steelers
Isn't this just like the New England Patriots? They would go and find their most vibrant offensive threat on the discard pile, wouldn't they? Other teams draft and sign; the Patriots rummage. One search a couple of years ago turned up Dion Lewis, a running back thrice dismissed from NFL rosters, with a dreadful history of injury, who once sat unemployed for nearly an entire season. And now here Lewis is, maybe Tom Brady's most vital cog on a Patriots offense prepping, at 15-2, for another AFC championship game.
It almost seems rude of them, doesn't it? Or maybe it's just another example of Coach Bill Belichick's football brilliance.
Lewis has become the Patriots' latest castoffturned-star, a 5-foot-8 jitterbug who perhaps poses the Pittsburgh Steelers' most difficult defensive challenge.
Lewis served as the Patriots' primary catalyst in their 34-16 thumping of the Houston Texans last week, becoming the first player in NFL history to score rushing, receiving and kickoffreturn touchdowns in the same playoff game.
While injuries have hampered him in New England, too, Lewis has proven invaluable. In games in which Lewis has played, the Patriots are 15-0.
Lewis's success does not surprise Joe Banner, the former NFL executive who pushed for the Philadelphia Eagles to draft him out of Pittsburgh in 2011 and acquired him in a trade for the Cleveland Browns in 2013.
“You can see it,” Banner said. “His quickness is hard to match. His vision and instincts are outstanding.”
Lewis just could not stay healthy, which is how he ended up without a team for almost all of 2014, after recovering from a broken leg. As Lewis sat at home, Banner, by that point out of the league, called NFL contacts and told them, “I'm telling you, this is crazy this guy is sitting at home.” He joined Twitter around that time, and vouched for Lewis on the site “to the point where people were giving me a hard time about my man-crush,” Banner said, laughing. The Patriots eventually signed him, Lewis choosing them over an offer from the New York Giants, Banner said.
If any doubt remained as to whether he belongs in New England, Lewis erased it in the moments after the divisional-round victory. Faced with questions about his emergence and spectacular performance, Lewis castigated himself for his two fumbles, one of which he lost. “I feel like I let my team down,” he said, “so that's what my focus is on.”
From Kevin Faulk to Danny Woodhead to Shane Vereen, the Patriots under Belichick have always employed a shifty, pass-catching running back who creates matchup dilemmas for opposing defenses. With apologies to Faulk, Lewis might be the best version of that player yet.
The Patriots prioritize versatility, and Lewis provides it with a side of explosiveness. He can line up at wide receiver or run a precise, sudden route out of the backfield. If the defense tries to counter his receiving by playing an additional defensive back, the Patriots can simply hand him the ball - and Lewis has the speed, and enough surprising power, to make the undersize alignment pay. When it adds an extra man to the front, Lewis can render a linebacker helpless in cover-
“Just keep working, keep everything day by day. That's the kind of approach I like to take. That's gotten me this far.” – Patriots RB Dion Lewis
age.
Asked about his ability to beat linebackers, Lewis shrugged. “Supposed to,” he said.
Outwardly, Lewis has expressed little wonder in his journey from college star to overlooked pro to Patriots dynamo. He spent time with three NFL teams over four seasons - and was unclaimed for three months - before the Patriots snagged him.
“Just going with the punches,” Lewis said. “Just keep working, keep everything day by day. That's the kind of approach I like to take. That's gotten me this far.”
Lewis entered the 2011 NFL draft early out of Pitt, and the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the fifth round. He appeared in 26 games over two years, but the Eagles, then coached by Andy Reid, never incorporated him into an offense built around running back LeSean McCoy. Lewis carried the ball 33 times and caught three passes over two years.
Chip Kelly prefers big running back, and when he took over, Philadelphia traded him to the Browns for defensive end Emmanuel Acho, who quickly washed out of the league. (This week, Acho wrote on Twitter, “To think, I got traded for Dion Lewis back in 2013. . . . someone needs to be fired for that.”) Lewis impressed during Cleveland's training camp, but he broke his fibula before Week 1.
“He was clearly winning people over,” Banner said. “Unfortunately, he got injured and didn't get a chance to do what we were all seeing him do in practices.”
Lewis missed the entire 2013 season and failed to catch on in any training camps in 2014. In September, Indianapolis Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson signed Lewis on the advice of Banner, for whom he worked in Philadelphia. But injuries at another position forced the Colts, in need of a roster spot, to cut Lewis. No other teams bit. For almost a whole season, any team in the NFL could have signed Lewis for the minimum.
“It's really incredible,” Banner said. “I understand the injury concern. It could be an issue again at any moment. But it was pretty shocking to me that no one sensed what this guy could do.”
The Patriots, on the hunt for talent even as they prepared for a Super Bowl run, signed Lewis to a futures contract in December 2014. When he debuted with the Patriots in the first week of 2015, it marked his first game action in more than two years.
Lewis gained 120 yards on 15 carries and four catches and made enough of an impression for the Patriots to give him a two-year contract extension after just three games. That risk is why the Patriots will pay such a crucial player only $1.6 million in 2017, when, at 27, Lewis should still be in his prime.
As the Patriots unlocked his potential by using him as a receiver, Lewis became central. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Week 8 last year, knocking him out for the season. The Patriots had gone 7-0. In his absence, they went 6-5, playoffs included, and fell to the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game.
The Patriots have returned, this time with Lewis, a player so essential to their success and yet available, two years ago, to every team in the league. In the years he spent languishing and injured, Lewis never worried whether he would come out the other side.
“I'm a confident person,” Lewis said. “I just worked. Kept my head down and keep working and keep pushing and just believing in my talents.”
“There's a lot people that believe we grow through hardships,” Banner said. “I think that fits him. I think if you had talked to him through those years, he's really evolved and, in fact, the adversity helped him.”
In the NFL, Lewis's talents surfaced only after he pulled on a Patriots uniform. His journey now may go all the way to the Super Bowl. What's amazing about the Patriots is that it might be Lewis who pushes them there.