Patriots stacking wins, building confidence
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Patriots entered Week 10 of the NFL season in an unfamiliar situation.
For the first time in a long time, the Patriots were the underdog in a November home game. They were desperate for a win to keep their season alive and they had to do it against the 6-2 Ravens and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson.
As the skies opened up and rain poured down, one couldn’t help but wonder if the Patriots would somehow crumble in adversity.
Difficult losses have become commonplace this season. Moral victories were meaningless. There’s nothing positive about losing when you’re 3-5.
A bad snap, turnover or fumble would have been costly.
Truthfully, it wouldn’t have been shocking to see Cam Newton and New England blow their fourth-quarter lead to the Ravens on Sunday night.
Instead, the Patriots put their moral victories and heartbreaking losses behind them. On Sunday they upset Baltimore as both the offense and the defense aimed to prove doubters wrong. Now, this team showed something it lacked throughout this season – confidence and momentum in their 23-17 win.
“Every win is a confidence builder. Playing a team like that – a tough-nosed football team, reigning MVP, good record – in a hard battle like this, that’s the type of confidence (builder) you need,” safety Adrian Phillips said. “We need to keep stacking those wins, and we started last week with the Jets. Then you get a big win like this on Sunday night, you keep it going. We know that the schedule is only going to get tougher, so we need to make sure we keep stacking these wins up.”
This game was tailor-made for the Patriots’ defense to mess up. New England came into the week ranked 25th against the run. In four of its losses this season, the defense allowed more than 135 rushing yards. In back-to-back losses, against San Francisco and Buffalo, the Patriots allowed over 190 rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Ravens were the top rushing team in the NFL.
Instead of crumbling, the Patriots allowed only 115 rushing yards. The Ravens averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Jackson led the way with 55 rushing yards.
More important, the defense got stops on third down and helped the Patriots win the turnover battle as J.C. Jackson’s second-quarter interception likely saved three points.
The Patriots came into the contest with several goals: stopping the run, winning the turnover battle and establishing their own ground game.
“We just want to keep getting better each and every week and I think we have been showing that, finding different ways to win, establishing our dominance in the running game, and trying to stop the run as well,” said Newton. “Those are all keys to victory for us. And as this season keeps going, we just want to keep transcending upwardly in a way that our team is getting better week by week.”
On offense, the Patriots have been playing a frustrating blend of inconsistent football. During their four-game losing streak, the offense scored over 20 points only once. Newton came into this contest with eight rushing touchdowns, but only two passing TDs compared to seven interceptions.
It was clear that the Patriots weren’t going to throw the ball very often as winds swirled with monsoon-like rains. In a game against the NFL’s top rushing offense, the Patriots outran their opponent, rushing for 173 total yards. Damien Harris led the way with a career-high 121 yards. Newton added a rushing touchdown while throwing his first passing touchdown since Sept. 27.
The Patriots’ offense has been criticized plenty this season. But on Sunday, in the bad weather, it had some overwhelmingly positive moments. In the first series after halftime, it put together a dominant four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that featured Harris running over several Ravens defenders.
“I think it was representative of how we wanted to come out and play. We knew we were facing a tough physical team that wanted to come in and bully us and push us around,” Harris said. “We wanted to stand up for ourselves and show how tough and how physical we are and play the game the right way. It was kind of the mentality of the whole team the whole night.
“We went out there and competed hard for 60 minutes and we were able to come out with a great win against a great team.”
Following the Patriots’ win over the Jets, there were still a lot of questions. After all, for three quarters, the Patriots looked like they were going to lose to the winless Jets.
On Sunday, the team made a giant leap inside a soaking wet Gillette Stadium.
There’s still a lot more to do this season, but Sunday’s win was a step in the right direction.
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction here,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “So, great to win, but look forward to the challenge of getting ready to go again next week and developing some consistency here.”