FOXBOROUGH - Late in the third quarter, it looked like the game was about to get away from the Patriots. They had allowed a touchdown to cut their lead to five, 21-16, and the offense got stopped on downs near midfield.
Sure, the Buccaneers were without three of their top four pass catchers, but at home, with MVP candidate Baker Mayfield heating up, Mike Vrabel's team was up against it. What the defense did in the following three series speaks volumes about what the Pats have done consistently during their seven-game win streak: one unit picking up the other, until that unit finds its footing.
- After surrendering the lone first down of the drive, linebacker Jack Gibbens (team high 10 tackles) perfectly sniffed out a screen to running back Sean Tucker and dropped him for a two-yard loss. That put the Bucs behind the sticks, and their fourth-down conversion was overturned by a blatant offensive pass interference (pick play), forcing a punt that resulted in a touchback.
- The Pats' offense proceeded to go three plays and out, but the defense responded in kind thanks to a massive play for UDFA Elijah Ponder, who beat All-Pro Left tackle Tristan Wirfs for his first NFL sack.
- Following a potential back-breaking end zone interception thrown by Drake Maye, the Bucs put together a sustained march, covering nine plays and 50 yards. But on 3rd-and-3 from the Pats' 27-yard line, rookie safety Craig Woodson drove hard on a stop route to Cade Otton and, for the second time in the game, jarred the ball free from the tight end (with help from Christian Gonzalez). On fourth down, still clinging to that five-point lead, the Pats called an all-out blitz, and K'Lavon Chaisson worked a T/E stunt, looping to the inside and racing past an unsuspecting Michael Jordan (remember him?!). The play was ruined, and even though Mayfield shook off two sack attempts, the Bucs weren't able to threaten the chains.
Two plays after that stop, TreVeyon Henderson went 69 yards for a touchdown. Goodnight, Irene.
"Man, we ain't gonna stop," Milton Williams told us on Monday. "Like, I don't care what happened. You know, you do good on one play, do bad on one play, we move on. Try to figure it out. I think that's been our motto all year. Somebody gotta make a play. We don't care who it is, when it is. When the opportunity presents itself, if you know what you're supposed to do, the ball comes to you, you make it. That's what we live by."
"I truly believe when we have 11 guys out there in that two-minute warning, everyone is picturing themselves making the play to win the game," added Robert Spillane. "I know I sure do. I sure see myself making the play to help our team win. When you've got 11 guys out there with that mindset, playing within the scheme of the defense, but going out there to win the game, good things are going to happen."
That's not to say it was perfect. It rarely, if ever, is. For the first time this season, the Pats defense allowed a running back to get over 50 yards in a game (Tucker had 53), ending the longest streak to start a season in the Super Bowl era. The Bucs also rushed for 113 yards as a team. Considering the Pats came into the game leading the league, surrendering just 75.4 YPG, that's a relatively big number.
"I just felt like we weren't as sound as we had been all year," Williams said. "I don't know why, but I mean, like, they weren't just running at will, but I'm always - you know me - I feel like we can do better, but it's on to the next week."
That's the proper mentality, especially on a short week with a divisional foe, the Jets, coming to town. At 8-2, the Patriots lead the AFC East and are getting more and more attention as the wins stack. I asked Williams if he was embracing the increased expectations.
"I mean, I just like winning," he said. "That stuff is gonna come with it. I think somebody asked me about being overlooked or under-hyped or something yesterday (Sunday). It's like, bro, that's gonna be there regardless. We win, lose, everybody gonna have something to say, but I'd rather win and then see what you gotta say after that."
This team has largely been impervious to the outside noise. That's good, because it's getting louder and louder every week, as it should. There aren't many teams putting together a season like this, and the way the Pats are playing, there's no reason to think it's a mirage.
