Note: to see player by player statistics and notes, scroll to the bottom of this post
Alright, it’s the preseason and frankly, nothing matters. But nevertheless, that sense of meaning still had a weak presence in last night's dominant win over Philadelphia.
For guys like Tim Tebow (yeah Tebow) and LeGarret Blount, odds are they won’t be seeing any pro snaps come September. But nevertheless they were here and fighting for their preseason lives....long story short, it was a fun game.
After winning the coin toss, the Patriots started the game at their own 20 yard line following a decent touch back kick by the Eagles special teams unit. Almost immediately the starters picked up where they left off last season as star Patriot: Stephan Ridley snagged his first touch after leaving the AFC championship with a concussion back in January. But even for Ridley, what he did next all with the ball in his hands was still eye opening. On literally the first play, Ridley went straight up the middle of the Eagles defense running step for step for nearly 62 yards before he was tackled. Just a few plays later, he capped off the drive via an easy 1 yard touchdown run to put New England up 7-0 after the Gostkowski extra point.
But for the Patriots, Ridley was not the only star facet of the running game that dominated last night. Fact is, for almost every second of the game the trio of Stephan Ridley, Shane Vereen, and a newcomer: LeGarret Blount dominated combining for a total of 4 touchdowns and close to 200 yards.
Blount in particular smacked up an artistic 51 yard touchdown run dodging and weaving out of nearly the entire Eagles defense. He finished the night as New England's leading rusher with 101 yards and 2 touchdowns.
"It's critical to run the ball" QB Tom Brady said "and they know you're going to run it. We had big runs, we had short yardage runs where we needed to get the ball, we ran in on the goal line so I mean that establishes the identity of the team how well you run, how well you stop the run and all those guys did a great job, they are big strong powerful runners that want the ball in their hands and when they get in the rhythm, they make a bunch of plays and Stephan Ridley has done it since he got here.. Shane (Vereen) is doing it. Brandon (Bolden) made some runs."
Brady then elaborated speaking specifically about his 13 yard touchdown pass to Vereen.
"I was trying to figure out what to do, I saw what we wanted. I was looking and trying to figure out well what's the best thing to do because I knew the coverage and then Shane (Vereen) and I had a little connection and it was good. It was a great catch, I mean to get his feet down, a tight area, Shane (Vereen) has been doing that but I mean he's really come on. He's really continued to improve so it was great to see him make that play."
But still there was even more to look at last night than simply the offensive ground game.
After he was signed by New England back on June 11th, there were some slight inclinings that Tim Tebow might possibly threaten to oust Ryan Mallet as the Patriots back up. Well, after both Mallet AND Tebow saw playing time last night...I will let you decide who deserves the 2 spot in the QB depth chart.
Amidst his near 2 quarters of play, Tebow could not seem to get the ball out of his hands as he managed just 4 completions on 12 attempts while running for 35 yards on 4 carries. Now frankly, Mallet was not much better but seeing as over the past few years HE has been the backup, odds are that we are not in for much controversy this year.
"It's all about the same for everyone," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said when asked about Tebow. "It was good, it was far from perfect. We all made mistakes out there and there are plenty of things to work on for all of us. Not singling anyone out. We haven't played a game in six months, so we saw decent things, but also things we need to work on."
New England won 31-22 last night and while this only was a single preseason game, the sights and bright spots delivered by the starters in this game begin to remind you that even without Hernandez or Welker this ensuing season still has the possibility of becoming a great one.
Player by player notes
Tom Brady finished the night 7 for 8 with 65 yards and 1 touchdown pass on 2 drives.
LeGarret Blount racked up 101 yards with 2 touchdown runs and 11 carries.
Stephan Ridley hit up 92 yards and scored a touchdown
Tim Tebow went 4 for 12 with no touchdowns and 35 yards rushing. Tebow was sacked once.
Ryan Mallet played less than 1 quarter, missing a wide open shot at touchdown pass to Vereen. He left the game with a head injury after he was sacked late in the 2nd quarter of the game.
Stephan Gostkowski kicked at 33% with 1 field goal and 2 misses
New England Defense allowed 3 touchdowns one of which was followed up with a 2 point conversion
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