So far to start the 2019 season, the New England Patriots defense and special teams have made quite a few game-changing plays. And that continued on Thursday night against the New York Giants.
The Patriots first got on the board after Chase Winovich returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. Later in the game, they were leading by just one possession when Jamie Collins forced a fumble that Kyle Van Noy scooped up and returned for a touchdown. And that ended up being the turning point for the Patriots.
After the game, Bill Belichick was very complimentary of the Patriots' effort in those facets of the game and spoke glowingly about how they gave the team "a big spark" in the victory.
"Any of those defensive or special teams touchdowns are really kind of bonus points," Belichick said. "You don't really think about getting those when you go into the game so to be able to get 14 of them was huge. That was a big spark.
"Again, give the Giants credit. They battled back and they hit us on a big play and then they got a scoop-and-score and got back into the game as well. We've got to avoid giving those kind of big plays up to offset the ones that we make. In the end, we made enough plays in the second half to come out on top."
The defense sparking the offense has been a theme early this year for the Patriots, as the offense hasn't always been able to get things going. That has left the defense and special teams to carry the squad. The Patriots have scored five touchdowns on either defense or special teams while they have only allowed three total touchdowns on those units. So, needless to say, they are vastly outperforming their expectations and that's why they're one of the best overall defenses in the league.
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Moving forward, Belichick will hope to continue to get this type of elite production out of his defense. But at the same time, he'll have to focus on getting his banged-up offense back on track. He'll have plenty of time to do that, as the Patriots don't play again for another 11 days. They face the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 7.
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