Four Studs, Four Duds From Patriots Ugly Win Vs. Falcons

The New England Patriots earned their sixth-straight victory in Week 9 over the Atlanta Falcons, with the final score settling in at 24-23. It wasn’t exactly pretty, and there was a bit of luck involved (thank you very much, John Parker Romo), but at the end of the day, a win is a win.

In a bit of a role reversal, the Pats came out of the gates hot in this one before cooling off in the second half. They ended up doing just enough to win and push their record to 7-2, though, so with this game officially in the books, let’s look back at the action and pick out four studs and four duds for New England.

Studs

Demario Douglas

After a slow start to the season, Demario Douglas has come on strong as of late. With Kayshon Boutte being forced out of this game early due to a hamstring injury, Douglas stepped up and put together arguably the best game of his young career, catching four passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Christian Gonzalez

A quick look at Drake London’s stats (9 REC, 118 YDS, 3 TD) will make it look like he torched Christian Gonzalez. Aside from a spectacular 40-yard catch, though, almost none of London’s production came against Gonzalez. With seven tackles and two pass deflections, Gonzalez once again showed why he’s one of the top cornerbacks in the league in this one.

K’Lavon Chaisson

New England’s pass rush would have been entirely invisible in this game if it weren’t for K’Lavon Chaisson, who continued to enjoy his breakout season on Sunday. Chaisson racked up two tackles, both of which went for a loss, and the Patriots’ lone sack of Michael Penix Jr. With the trade deadline a day away, it’d be wise for the front office to get him some help.

Carlton Davis III

The other side of the Patriots’ cornerback duo, Carlton Davis III, flew under the radar in this one, largely because of how well he locked up Darnell Mooney, who caught just one pass for 15 yards. Davis did allow London to score his final touchdown of the day, but it was another phenomenal catch by him. Davis finished with six tackles and a pass deflection.

Duds

Marcus Jones

The guy whom London did most of his damage against was Marcus Jones. Part of this isn’t Jones’ fault, as he was put in a horrible spot by lining up against London on two of his three touchdowns. Gonzalez should have spent his entire day shadowing London, but when Jones found himself across from him, he was no match for the big-bodied pass catcher.

Mike Onwenu

It was another tough week for the Patriots’ offensive line, as they allowed Drake Maye to get sacked six times. Some of those sacks were on Maye, but it was an all-around rough game for right guard Mike Onwenu, who has largely been a pillar of consistency this season. Here’s hoping this is just a one-off performance for the star guard.

Drake Maye

Speaking of Maye, this wasn’t his best game either. He wasn’t bad (19/29, 259 YDS, 2 TD), but he committed a pair of costly turnovers that led to 10 of the Falcons’ 23 points. Maye seemed rattled in the second half as a result, and yet, he still managed to do enough to help his team earn another win, so it’s tough to harp on him too much.

Kyle Williams

Another guy who seemed to be in line to benefit from Boutte’s aforementioned injury was Kyle Williams, and while his snap total increased, he still managed to do nothing with his extra time on the field. Williams was targeted just once, and he appeared not to be on the same page with Maye, as the second-year quarterback missed him badly.