New England Patriots links 11/08/21 - Pats run on empty Panthers; Defense screws in the cork

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots at Panthers. Patriots improve to 4-0 road record. RB Damien Harris scores in his fifth straight game. WR Jakobi Meyers returns first NFL punts following injury to Gunner Olszewski. More.
• Gamebook: Full Patriots-Panthers stats.
• Erik Scalavino’s Game Observations: Patriots stay grounded in victory.
• Mike Dussault shares 5 keys from the Pats’ 24-6 win over Panthers. 1. Sloppy start, Stevenson sparks.
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Panthers.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick - Matthew Judon - Jamie Collins - Dont’a Hightower - Christian Barmore - J.C. Jackson - Mac Jones - David Andrews.
• What Went Right: Patriots win on the road. (1.54 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Evan Lazar tells us ten things we learned from the Patriots’ 24-6 victory over the Panthers. 1. Pats defense finding a formula with more zone coverage.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Patriots’ lessons-learned from Week Nine victory. 1. The Patriots are proving to be a playoff-caliber team.
• Tom E. Curran explains how this team is no fraud, and is evolving into a well-rounded AFC contender. ‘For the second straight week the defense came to play’.
• Mark Daniels writes how the defense dominated in Sunday’s victory against Carolina, intercepting Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold three times.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Patriots defense, running game smother Panthers 24-6.
• Andy Hart writes sees the Patriots defense rounding into midseason form, as expected.
• Darren Hartwell gives us the historical perspective on J.C. Jackson’s career interception total.
• Michael Hurley says that with this 24-6 thumping of the Panthers in Carolina, we can now safely say what the Patriots are.
• Karen Guregian points out the Patriots odds to make the postseason continue to rise. They currently sit in the 7th spot, which would earn them a berth.
• Mike Reiss sees a chipper Bill Belichick reflecting on how the Patriots’ season has changed course after three straight wins, morphing from a 2-4 team to a 5-4 playoff contender in the wide-open AFC.
• Bob George (PatsFans) Patriots season suddenly looking a lot brighter after win over Panthers.
• Dakota Randall calls the AFC East officially up for grabs after the Patriots win and stunning Bills loss.
• Zack Cox offers six thoughts on Mac Jones’ performance yesterday. 1. The Patriots didn’t need this to be an air-it-out game for Jones. They cruised to a comfortable victory on the back of a strong rushing attack and a swarming, dominant defense.
• Dakota Randall calls attention to Jamie Collins’ insane interception on Sunday, showing his unreal athleticism.
• Nick Goss says Jakobi Meyers now holds an NFL record he probably wishes he didn’t. Meyers tallied just one reception for eight yards Sunday. Those eight yards gave him 1,523 for his career, which set a new record for the most receiving yards without a touchdown of any player in league history.
• Dakota Randall picks his three studs, three duds from Sunday’s win.
• CBS Boston picks its Ups and Downs: Patriots defense dominates while offense runs wild.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Patriots injuries could be a cause for concern: Four key contributors to the offense left the game and did not return to the action on the field.
• Darren Hartell with the latest injury updates on RBs Harris and Stevenson.
• Zack Cox reports J.C. Jackson says he thought he was ‘about to die’ last week. ‘Man, I was sick as (expletive)’
• Adam London notes everyone made the same joke after Sam Darnold’s picks against the Patriots.
• Marcus Kwesi-O’Mard points to a stat that suggests Sam Darnold shouldn’t throw on the run anymore.
• Jake Levin highlights Stephon Gilmore on his relationships with former Patriots teammates, coaches and other personnel following his new team’s 24-6 loss Sunday.
• Dakota Randall relays Bill Belichick refuting Stephon Gilmore’s claims about the handling of his quad injury.
• CBS Boston posts the clip of Bill Belichick arriving in his own special style for the game.
• Marcus Kwesi O’Mard calls attention to the awful announcing errors from the Pats-Panthers CBS’ broadcast crew. /How many more wins before we graduate from the D-list broadcast teams?

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) Monday Morning QB: Lamar Jackson is proving he can come from behind; Colt McCoy steps in; Plus, Josh Allen gets the best of Josh Allen, the Aaron Rodgers investigation and much more.
• Gary Gramling (SI) Week 9 Takeaways: The real Browns stand up, cagey Colt McCoy, Jordan Love’s slow start, Josh Allen on Josh Allen; Plus, Broncos secondary forces Dak’s bad day, Vikings can’t close again, Jaguars D figures it out, the most poorly officiated game maybe ever, and much more!
• NFL Nation (ESPN) NFL Week 9 takeaways: What we learned, big questions for every game and future team outlooks. Patriots-Panthers What to know: Defense leads the way. More.
• Nate Davis (USA Today) 32 things we learned from Week 9 of 2021 NFL season. No. 6. Surely you’ve heard that cliché about New England treating the early portion of the regular season as its very own preseason petri dish? Welp. Look who’s won four of five after a 1-3 start is now a half-game out of the AFC East lead and projects into the AFC playoff field as the third wild card?
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Week 9: What we learned from Sunday’s games. Pats-Panthers: 1. Rookie comes through with breakout game for Patriots. Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson got his most extensive action of the season Sunday, and showed why he deserved it. More.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) NFL winners and losers: Cowboys look bad in every way in troubling loss to Broncos. Loser: Sam Darnold.
• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers of NFL Week 9. Loser: Robby Anderson. Sunday, Darnold threw three interceptions against the Patriots—just like the good old days in New York. Anderson had one reception for 2 yards. His longest play of the night was the one where he tried to chase down J.C. Jackson’s 88-yard pick-six.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 9 grades: Patriots: B+, Panthers: D. New England didn’t play a perfect game by any means, but it was able to rise to the occasion when it needed to, particularly in the first half. When the Patriots turned the ball over twice (a fumble and interception by Mac Jones), the defense held Carolina to a field goal each time and the offense was able to respond with two 75-yard touchdown drives on its ensuing possessions.
• Michael Renner (PFF) NFL Week 9 Game Recap: Patriots 24, Panthers 6. Running Backs: The Patriots controlled the game on the ground all day long. Rhamondre Stevenson had one of the best games of his young career. The rookie finished with 62 yards on 10 carries with four broken tackles. He also led the Pats with 44 receiving yards on two catches.
• NFL Game Center (NFL.com) Patriots at Panthers: Drives, stats, highlights.
• Tyler Sullivan (CBS Sports) Patriots at Panthers: Pats pick off Carolina, Sam Darnold for third consecutive win.
• Shalise Manza Young (Yahoo! Sports) Bills’ stumbles open door for Patriots in AFC East.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) 2021 NFL season: Notable injuries, news from Sunday’s Week 9 games.
• Jared Dubin (CBS Sports) Jaguars pull off seventh-largest upset since 1990, beat Bills despite closing as 15.5-point underdogs: Buffalo has been involved in four of the seven largest upsets.

VIEW FROM CHARLOTTE

• Anthony Rizzuti (PanthersWire) Carolina vs. New England game recap: Everything we know. “There was a lot of ugly for the Carolina Panthers in their feeble Week 9 showing against the New England Patriots.”
• Anthony Rizzuti (PanthersWire) 4 takeaways from the Panthers’ 24-6 loss to Patriots. 1. Sam Darnold is a lost cause for the Panthers.
• Bradley Smith (CatScratchReader) Two takeaways from Carolina’s Week 9 loss to New England. The Panthers were completely outmatched by the Patriots in an embarrassing 24-6 loss in Week 9.
• Bradley Smith (CatScratchReader) Panthers 6 Patriots 24: Darnold’s three picks seal Carolina’s fate in Week 9 loss. “Sam Darnold was putrid once again and the Panthers fell to 4-5 on the season.”
• Darin Gantt (Panthers.com) Sam Darnold: “I’m fully aware I didn’t play my best football.” /Oof!
• Will Bryan (Panthers.com) Snap Counts: Panthers vs. Patriots in Week 9.
• Will Bryan (Panthers.com) Stats and Superlatives: Turnovers prove costly.
• David Newton (ESPN) Panthers LB Haason Reddick calls out Patriots’ Mac Jones for ‘dirty’ play.
• Anthony Rizzuti (PanthersWire) Panthers WR Robby Anderson explains sideline outburst on QB Sam Darnold.
• Rushil Vashee (PanthersWire) Studs and duds from the Panthers’ 24-6 loss to the Patriots.