The Patriots are rolling.
It wasn't long ago when the Pats were 2-4 and the mistakes were piling up. That seems like a different season at this point. On Sunday, the Patriots showed there's a lot more life in this team en route to delivering a convincing 24-6 win over the Carolina Panthers.
The Patriots have won three-straight games for the first time since 2019. At 5-4, the Pats put themselves in a position where a playoff spot is longer a laughable thought.
This wasn't the prettiest of games for either offense, but the Patriots defense held tough and continues to lead the way in New England. Once again, the Patriots had quarterback Sam Darnold seeing ghosts. Halloween has passed, but the former New York Jets quarterback was tortured on Sunday.
The defense's three-interception effort overshadowed Stephon Gilmore's 'revenge' game against the Pats. Gilmore had an interception, but he was outdone by his successor, J.C. Jackson, who finished with two picks on the day.
Here are three takeaways from the Patriots win:
Defense won this game for the Patriots
The Patriots defense was outstanding. The Panthers offense never had a chance.
That was emphasized at 6:55 of the third quarter. Carolina was in the red zone after their longest gain of the afternoon. That's when J.C. Jackson intercepted Sam Darnold and ran back 88 yards for the touchdown to extend the Patriots lead to 21-6.
At that point, it was pretty obvious the Panthers were already out of reach.
On the Panthers next drive, Darnold was intercepted by Jamie Collins at 4:10 of the third quarter. Then with 13:38 left, Jackson intercepted the Panthers quarterback for a second time.
Darnold finished with 172 passing yards, no touchdowns and three picks.
In the first half, the Patriots dominated Carolina. In five first half drives, the Panthers were held to a three-and-out twice. Their only successful drives came off of Patriots turnovers. The Jones strip sack and Jones interception led to the Panthers getting two field goals. In the first half, the Panthers' offensive stats were embarrassing with 65 total yards. They were 1-of-6 (17%) on third down. Sam Darnold was 5/12 for 32 yards. Carolina averaged just 3.0 yards per carry (33 yards on 11 attempts).
The Patriots defense put constant pressure on Darnold and the Panthers never looked efficient on offense.
Patriots offense started sloppy
The Patriots were sloppy to start the game with four penalties in their first two drives.
In the first series, the Patriots had a false start on Isaiah Wynn followed by a holding call on Ted Karras on back-to-back plays. Then on third down, Jakobi Meyers bobbled the reception, which cost him the first by a yard. In the second drive, the Pats started off with a delay of game penalty. After crossing midfield, the Pats had another false start (Hunter Henry) followed by a pass play to Brandon Bolded for -1-yard. That sequence killed the series and the Pats punted again.
According to ESPN Stats Info, the four penalties were the most in the first quarter for the Patriots since 2017. They had five penalties accepted against them in the first quarter all season combined entering Sunday.
On the third drive, it was even worse. With 39 seconds left in the first quarter, Jones was strip-sacked on third down by Brian Burns near midfield. Carolina's Frankie Luvu recovered. The Panthers turned that into a Zane Gonzalez 39-yard field goal.
Gilmore intercepted Jones at 6:31 of the second quarter. Gilmore easily read Jones on the play as the quarterback was trying to hit Nelson Agholor on a quick slant. This marked Gilmore's second interception in two games with Carolina. The Panthers turned this into another field goal.
Running backs changed the tide for the offense
Jones completed 12/18 passes for 121 yards to go with a touchdown and interception. The rookie was underwhelming against a good Panthers defense, but the Patriots running backs carried the offense.
The Patriots ran for more yards than they passed (151-to-139) on Sunday. The 151 rushing yards are a season high. Rhamondre Stevenson ran for a career-high 62 yards to go with 44 receiving yards. Brandon Bolden added a season-high 54 rushing yards to go with 27 receiving yards. Damien Harris has now scored a touchdown in five-straight games.
In the first half, the backs combined for five catches along with 74 of Jones' 121 passing yards. The Pats had 105 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry in the first half.
Stevenson got the offense back on track. The rookie running back touched the ball on four plays in a row to set up a Harris 3-yard touchdown at 8:19 of the second quarter. Stevenson got things going with a 41-yard catch and run. He then took the next three hand offs downfield, including a 13-yard run on third-and-2. Harris finished the drive on the play to give the Pats a 7-3 lead.
On the Patriots' second scoring drive, Bolden took the lead. On third-and-5, he hauled in a 28-yard reception. The veteran then had back-to-back runs of 11 and 12 yards. That got the Pats within striking distance and set up Jones' 7-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry with 24 seconds left in the first half to put the Pats up, 14-6.
