Patriots
Jonas Gray brought out the big guns Sunday. (Getty Images)When Jonas Gray rushed for 86 yards on 17 carries in Week 8 vs. the Bears, it was a nice performance by a running back not many people had heard from before. Especially since Gray had spent his career on practice squads and had been elevated to the Patriots active roster after Stevan Ridley suffered a season-ending knee injury.
As the Patriots handily beat the Colts, 42-20, on Sunday night, Gray had the breakout of his career, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 199 yards on 38 carries. Before Sunday, he'd never scored a touchdown in the NFL. Now, he's got more rushing scores this season than Matt Forte, Andre Ellington, Frank Gore and Le'Veon Bell.
Also, this ...
Week 11 rushing touchdowns by Jonas Gray: 4 Week 11 rushing touchdowns by the entire rest of the NFL: 4
- Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) November 17, 2014
Gray showed what he can do on the Patriots' first series, rushing for 34 yards by himself on New England's first drive. Which was particularly impressive since in two of his three previous games, he'd rushed for less than 34 yards for the entire contest.
But on Sunday, Gray kept running and running and running. Running so much that he became the first Patriots player ever to gain more than 199 yards and score four or more touchdowns in the same game. And only the ninth NFL player to manage it since at least 1960.
'I'm blessed beyond belief,' Gray told NBC after the game. 'The linemen did a great job up front. They kept keeping me positive, picking me up after plays.
Gray, in fact, made even more history.
According to @EliasSports, Jonas Gray is the first NFL player since 1921 to record 4 rush TD in a game he entered with 0 career rush TD.
- ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 17, 2014
And to add injury to insult.
Not only is Jonas Gray going to score four touchdowns on you, he's also gonna punch you in the nuts. http://ift.tt/1qNOmDs
- Josh Katzowitz (@joshkatzowitz) November 17, 2014 Shakeup in the AFC
With the Broncos surprisingly falling to the Rams earlier Sunday, the Patriots and the Colts had a chance to make inroads on the opportunity to take the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. Which, obviously, gives that team homefield advantage all the way until the Super Bowl.
But with Denver falling to 7-3 on the season, the Patriots (7-2 entering Sunday night's game) and Indianapolis (6-3) had an opportunity to change the potential complexion of the postseason.
New England -- which already has a home win vs. the Broncos this season -- was happy to take advantage and, in doing so, continued its dominant play since its 41-14 embarrassment vs. the Chiefs in Week 4.
Since last losing, New England has averaged 40.5 points per game on offense, and the Patriots have scored five double-digit wins in their past six games.
And now they have to be considered THE favorites in the AFC.
Tom Terrible
It's not often you see such a dreadful throw from Tom Brady. But near the end of the first half, this is the ball he threw.
Just how rare was that kind of miscue from Brady?
You gotta go back to the 2004 ass pass in Miami that Brady had picked by Jason Taylor to find a comparable bad throw.
- Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) November 17, 2014 And that INT led to ....
something else we rarely see. Colts receiver Hakeem Nicks catching a touchdown pass from Andrew Luck. Actually, it was Hicks' third score of the season, but he didn't have a single touchdown catch last season and only recorded three in 2012. So, a touchdown for Nicks is still somewhat rare.
Hakeem Nicks with one more TD catch in this game than he had all last season with the Giants.
- Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) November 17, 2014 This is what happens when a tackle catches a TD pass
Take it away Indianapolis' Anthony Castonzo.
Considering J.J. Watt caught a touchdown pass earlier in the day, this has been a banner week for non-skills players catching TD passes.
Vinatieri afforded respect
Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri enjoys playing the Patriots. That's because he spent the first 10 years of his career (from 1995-2004) playing in New England, and even though he's spent the past nine seasons with the Colts -- which means the 41-year-old has been playing for 19 seasons -- he's still one of the best kickers in the league.
With his two successful kicks Sunday, including a 53-yarder that probably would have been good from 65 yards away, Vinatieri now has made 28-straight field goals.
He has certainly earned the respect of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
'He's as good of a kicker, good of a clutch kicker, and consistent kicker that's probably ever been in the game,' Belichick told reporters this week. 'Mentally, he's as tough as they come in terms of concentration, focus, discipline, blocking all the things that he can't control and just doing his job.'
Before the game, the two had a nice little reunion.
Bill Belichick and Adam Vinatieri met on the field for a few moments #PatriotsTalk @PhilAPerry http://t.co/cV3T6GpqU1 http://ift.tt/1yLvHg7
- CSNNE.com (@CSNNE) November 17, 2014 Belichick vindicated in Indy
The only two times Belichick has coached at Lucas Oil Stadium, he left the building sorely disappointed.
The first occurred in 2008 when Belichick, deep in his own territory, went for it on fourth-and-2 late in the fourth quarter, which led to Peyton Manning throwing the winning touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne four plays later. So, that probably wasn't fun.
But that game paled in comparison to Super Bowl XLVI when the Giants and quarterback Eli Manning put together ANOTHER winning drive late in the fourth quarter to beat New England for the NFL title.
On Sunday, then, Belichick exorcised a few of those demons.
Why isn't this is a safety?
It certainly feels like it should have been. Instead, the officials ruled that because the Colts never had possession of the ball before it went back into the end zone, it was NOT a safety but a touchback instead.
Much of my Twitter timeline, though, was convinced the rule is stupid.
That's an insane rule. If it looks like a safety, smells like a safety....
- Ben Volin (@BenVolin) November 17, 2014 A bad Bradshaw drop
Ahmad Bradshaw has clearly been the best Colts running back this year, but his gaffe as a receiver might have cost his team a chance to make the Patriots pay for an early turnover.
Instead, Bradshaw did this.
A straight drop, and the Colts had to punt soon after. But if Bradshaw -- who left the game with a leg injury later on -- had held on, there's no telling how far he could have gone before he was tackled.
Another TD for Tim Wright
Tim Wright hasn't spent much time on the field this season. But perhaps nobody is more efficient with the limited number of snaps he's received thus far.
As the Boston Herald points out, Wright has averaged 15.2 snaps per game -- which equals 21.2 percent of the team's overall offensive snaps.
But among his 18 catches this season, four of them have been touchdowns, including one on his only catch Sunday.
Not only that, but Brady has only targeted him 20 times this season. Wright, as you can tell, catches just about everything thrown his way.
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