The New England Patriots got hand-fed a bad Indianapolis Colts team on Sunday.
Sam Ehlinger had only one career NFL start coming into the game, and the team had just fired their offensive coordinator, Marcus Brady. The writing was already on the wall with the Colts going on the road to face a shaky Patriots team with a championship caliber defense.
Sure, it would have been nice to see the offense come to life as well. Instead, it was just more of the same sluggish drive attempts that ended in more field goals than touchdowns.
But the Patriots can feel satisfied with the victory and finally moving over .500 win percentage heading into the bye week. Here are the winners and losers from their 26-3 victory over the Colts.
Winner: Matthew Judon
“The Man with the Red Sleeves” lived in the Colts’ offensive backfield in Sunday’s game. It was a live-action horror show for Sam Ehlinger, who spent the entire game running for his life.
Matthew Judon is without question a candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. If his name wasn’t on lists before this game, it will definitely be on them after he hung three sacks and four quarterback hits on the Colts.
He currently leads the league with 11.5 sacks on the season, and he’s helping carry a Patriots team that has sputtered offensively. It’ll take Judon and company creating the new-age Boogeymen on the defensive side of the ball for New England to have a prayer of competing in a rapidly improving AFC East division.
Winner: Jonathan Jones
I could spend all day handing out wins to Patriots defensive players after they completely locked down the visiting Colts. But they weren’t just getting the job done on the defensive side of the ball, they were handling business on special teams as well.
Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones came away with a key punt block in the second quarter that set up the Patriots’ first touchdown of the game. On a day when the offense couldn’t get much of anything going, it came down to a major special teams play flipping the field and setting up an easy score for Mac Jones and company.
Textbook.
📺: #INDvsNE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/YN4lG7zNoS
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 6, 2022
Along with making the standout special teams play, Jonathan Jones ended up icing the game with a heads up interception late that he returned for a touchdown.
Loser: Mac Jones
This game was an opportunity for Mac Jones to put the Bailey Zappe noise to bed at Gillette Stadium, where he was mercilessly booed in the Monday Night Football meltdown against the Chicago Bears a little less than two weeks ago.
On a positive note, Jones avoided turning the ball over in a game for the first time this season. But things still seem out of sync with the offense when he’s under center. Keep in mind, it isn’t all his fault. Coach Bill Belichick is still shuffling offensive linemen during games late in the season, and Matt Patricia’s play-calling has been confusing at times.
But Jones was missing throws throughout the game, and he was clearly lagging behind on his progressions. It wasn’t a problem against a pitiful offensive team like the Colts, but the Patriots offense could find themselves in trouble when needing to put more points on the board against some of the better offensive teams in the league.
Winner: Josh Uche
Josh Uche made sure Matt Judon wasn’t the only one having fun in Sunday’s defensive spectacle. It was a sack feast on Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger, and Uche showed up with an empty stomach.
He tied Judon with six tackles and a team-high three sacks in the matchup. It was a much-needed performance considering the struggles he has endured this season. Perhaps this game was the spark he needed to remind people why he was believed to be a breakout candidate.
His emergence would be significant across from a proven and consistent game-wrecker in Judon.
Loser: Offensive line
It’s never a good thing when the coach is making mid-game adjustments with the offensive line on the fly in the ninth game of the season. The Patriots look like they haven’t figured out their personnel alignment with the group.
Granted, David Andrews and Marcus Cannon are both out with head injuries, but the Patriots are going to need to settle things down and have more consistency along the offensive front. Rookie offensive guard Cole Strange was benched at one point for veteran tackle Isaiah Wynn, and the team started Yodny Cajuste at right tackle.
There was simply more movement than you’d like to see from a group entrusted with keeping the quarterback upright. The unit allowed four sacks and seven quarterback hits on the day, along with committing multiple penalties.
