FOXBOROUGH - There are no medals for trying, but the Patriots' defense showed up and, after a sluggish start, showed out Sunday at Gillette Stadium. They turned one of the league's very best offenses a year ago into a puddle for periods of the season opener, and while it wasn't enough, no one with a brain would be hanging the loss on that unit.
"I ain't learn nothing I didn't already know," spit Matthew Judon at the podium postgame. "That's for y'all. Y'all learn what we have in this locker room; y'all learn what it's going to look like on Sundays or whenever we play. We didn't learn nothing."
What we learned - or better yet - what we had hammered home is that this defense can defend at all levels and do it in various ways. It's rare for someone with Jalen Hurts' poise and confidence in the pocket to look unsteady and uncertain, but that happened.
The newly-minted $255 million quarterback (he signed an extension in the spring) had one completion that went over 20 yards and finished a pedestrian 22-of-33 for 170 yards.
"I think really just disguising with our safeties and making sure we were deep enough," said veteran safety Adrian Phillips. "We know they like the 50/50 balls; they like to throw it up to (A.J.) Brown and like to throw it up to 16 (Quez Watkins) and 6 (Devonta Smith)… We had to make sure we were always showing high with our safeties to discourage that."
"He's got a lot of explosive players over there," said Jabril Peppers. "We know Hurts can throw the hell out of the ball. We just wanted to spin the dial, mix up the looks, make it hard for him. If he gets us, he gets us. We did a pretty good job but not good enough to win.
According to Phillips, some of the lack of explosives fell on the Eagles while also acknowledging that what the Pats defense prepared for didn't always appear Sunday.
"They had a different game plan than we expected," he said. "Last year, they did have those big shots and stuff like that. A lot of deep balls, seams, stuff like that. But they didn't run that many today. I think it was kind of two-fold. We did a good job disguising, and they had a different game plan than the last year."
That plan was a little perplexing to Philly fans (they were vocal in their disgust for offensive coordinator Brian Johnson), but give credit where it is due: the Patriots generated a lot of pressure on the incredibly elusive Hurts while also managing to slow down a run game that was - by the numbers - better than anyone was a season ago.
Much of that load was shouldered by the front four and linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, who remains undervalued by even those who get paid to watch this team regularly. They not only went toe-to-toe with the Eagles' uber-talented offensive line but won that matchup, even if the scoreboard says otherwise.
"We're not trying to let him or any other offense dictate the game," said Judon. "We're trying to dictate the game. We're trying to be aggressive, so we're moving, dropping in and out of different coverages. We are not just sitting in one coverage. Not sitting in cover one. They have great wide receivers; you gotta get your hands on them and mix up the looks."
They did that several times, either pretending to send the house - cover zero for those of you who want to get technical about it - and falling back into zone with as many as seven in coverage or creeping up late and bringing damn near everybody, which they did late in the final quarter, on fourth down, with a first down likely ending the night.
Instead, the pressure forced Hurts to get rid of the ball quickly, and a first-round rookie, Christian Gonzalez, undercut the slant to A.J. Brown and nearly had his first career interception. As it was, his pass breakup got the ball back to Mac Jones and the offense for one final push, which came up just short.
"It was just film study," said the soft-spoken Gonzalez. "Trust in film study and then just going out and trusting myself to make a play."
That's the other part of this game that you'd have to declare a win for the Patriots - the poise, maturity, and playmaking ability shown by their first three picks in the 2023 NFL Draft - Gonzalez, Keion White, and Marte Mapu. All showed up on the stat sheet - Gonzalez recorded a sack on a well-timed corner blitz - and White, in particular, gave two All-Pro/Pro Bowl tackles in Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata fits. We told you what they could do if you read us this summer at BSJ. Their teammates knew it, too.
"I think for Gonzo to go out there and play the way he played, for Keion to play how physically he played, and when Marte was in the game, him making plays and just kind of being all over the field, said Judon, continuing. "I don't really know Marte's background too much. I watched highlights and things like that, but for him to be able to play linebacker and safety and outside linebacker, that's kind of unbelievable. Those three guys got a lot on their plate, and they handled it."
"We know if this guy's out there, he's going to make that play," smiled Phillips when I asked him about that trio of rookies. "Gonzo almost had a pick today. He had a couple of great tackles. Keion did what he did up front. Marte is 'see ball, get ball.' He's going to get the ball. We've seen it out there in practice, and we already trusted them, and then when you get into the game, it's a calming effect. They get their little first hit out of the way, their little welcome to the NFL, and then it's just time to play ball. Those guys are ballers, so I'm not surprised it happened that way."
There is still work for the Patriots to do. They gave up scoring drives to start the game, and the second half are no no's in anyone's book. But the overall performance, as stifling as it was, portends to something great, something that, if it continues on this track, will elevate a unit that had great numbers last year but didn't get it done when it truly mattered, especially against the best of the best. On this Sunday, they did just that.