It wasn’t pretty at times early on, but the Patriots kept their midseason winning streak rolling at three games with Sunday’s comfortable 24-6 win over the Panthers in Carolina.
New England improved to 5-4 on the year and 4-0 on the road, while the Panthers fell to 4-5 in losing for the fifth time in their last six games.
Before turning to next week’s battle with the Browns at Gillette Stadium, here are some of the highs and lows from the win that pushed the Patriots to a game above .500 for this first time this season:
Thumbs up
J.C. Jackson – New England’s No. 1 cornerback and interceptions leader missed a couple days of practice this week due to illness, but Jackson was the one making Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold sick on Sunday.
Jackson picked off a short Darnold overthrow in the third quarter and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. The young playmaker, who’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, then added to his team-best interception total with his second of the game and his fifth of the year in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. It’s a great day for a corner when he both keeps the other team out of the end zone with a play and scores a touchdown for his own team. A week after Adrian Phillips earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for a pair of interceptions including a pick-6 in L.A., Jackson has a good chance to earn the award this week thanks to his own impressive performance.
Rhamondre Stevenson – The rookie running back has been a healthy scratch multiple times this season but showed in Carolina why he probably deserves to be a consistent rotational part of the Patriots offense.
The fourth-round pick almost single handedly set up a second quarter touchdown with a 41-yard gain on a swing pass followed up by three straight carries totaling 21 yards. All told, Stevenson had his best day as pro with 10 carries for 62 yards and two catches for another 44 yards. The only down side for Stevenson was that he went to the locker room early with a head injury in the fourth quarter.
Defense – Even with Mac Jones and the offense turning the ball over a couple times in the first half, New England’s defense was borderline dominant against the suspect Panthers’ attack. The Patriots held their ground to force Carolina field goals after both turnovers and held the home team to just 65 total yards in the first half with a mere three first downs and a single third-down conversion. It was a solid all-around effort front to the back end in the first 30 minutes. The big plays for the unit started to come in the second half when J.C. Jackson returned the easy interception for an 88-yard touchdown, while Jamie Collins also notched a highlight-reel pick against a seemingly overmatched Darnold.
Christian Barmore – New England’s second-round pick and top defensive rookie made his presence felt once again against the Panthers. Barmore batted down a pass in the second quarter that probably saved a would-be touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. Barmore added another batted pass later in the third quarter, while serving as part of a front that more than held its own against the Carolina run game most of the afternoon. Barmore is becoming a beast on the Patriots front.
Thumbs down
Mac Jones – For the second straight week the Patriots got a road win without their rookie quarterback playing a great game. Jones was at the center of a pair of first half turnovers that gave the otherwise lifeless Panthers a bit of life. He held the ball a tick too long for a fumble on a strip sack, though neither Hunter Henry nor Isaiah Wynn really slowed down Brian Burns from the blindside. Then Jones made a bad throw/decision on an interception to former teammate Stephon Gilmore over the middle in the second quarter. Jones also seemed to be off the mark on a series of “spot” throws down the left sideline in the third quarter as the Patriots had to settled for a field goal after the Collins interception. Jones did have a nice touchdown pass to Hunter Henry, but overall had a lackluster day completing 12 of 18 passes for 139 yards and a 85.2 passer rating.
Offensive penalties – The Patriots offense got off to a slow, sloppy start in Carolina and penalties were a big part of the problem. Isaiah Wynn had a false start on the opening drive that was swiftly followed by a holding call on Ted Karras on a tight end screen. New England started its next drive with an immediate delay of game call. There were also a couple false start penalties on Hunter Henry and Jakobi Meyers in the first half as the offense kept shooting itself in the foot but was still able to lead 14-6 at halftime. New England cleaned things up for the most part in the second half, though there was another delay of game penalty in the fourth quarter.
Damien Harris – While Stevenson and Brandon Bolden were finding room to be productive, Harris never really got things going on the ground. Certainly some of his stagnation was due to the blocking – and he did find the end zone for the fifth straight game with a 3-yard touchdown – but Harris finished the day with just 30 yards on his 15 attempts for a mere 2-yard average, and that included an 8-yard run. Adding injury to insult, Harris had to get helped off the field by trainers and go the medical tent due to a head injury in the fourth quarter after taking a big hit from Burns.
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