Esiason On Toucher & Rich: Patriots Most Complete Team In NFL
BOSTON (CBS) - CBS Sports football analyst and WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason broke down the Patriots game as well as other contests around the NFL Monday morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich.
"The Patriots just absolutely steamrolled the Indianapolis Colts last night. This is why they're one of the best teams all of a sudden in the NFL. Not only can they throw it, not only is Rob Gronkowski uncoverable, but a guy by the name of Jonas Gray comes out of the shadows and decides to run for four touchdowns and about 200 yards, steamrolling the Colts on national television in their own building. Doesn't get much better than that."
The offensive line also deserves a ton of credit for the Patriots ground game Sunday night. They opened up holes the size of craters for Jonas Gray to run through, and it was working so effectively they called 41 run plays to 30 passes.
Gray finished the evening with the most rushing touchdowns (4) of any Patriots running back in team history, as well as the third most rushing yards (199) in franchise history.
Not bad for a guy who was promoted off the practice squad one month ago.
"The Patriots just find these guys and they plug 'em in. It's always somebody," Esiason said of Gray. "If you can run the ball in the NFL you have the chance to win every single game because you can control the flow of the game. That's exactly what happened last night. Andrew Luck never really got into a rhythm; he did throw for over 300 yards but it wasn't the prettiest game for him. It's frustrating when you're on the sideline and the other team is holding onto the ball and running right through your defense. Running the ball is imperative."
The 8-2, AFC-leading Patriots have shown this season they can win ball games in a variety of ways.
They can win on defense and they can win on offense. They can win shootouts and they can win nail-biters. They can tee off on the bottom feeders and they can win handily over division leaders.
Are the Patriots the most complete team in the NFL?
"I would say yes, because Gronkowski is uncoverable and when you can run the ball like you did last night that's great. They have a solid offensive line. I wouldn't say their defense is a top-five defense, but their secondary is pretty damn good," said Esiason. "When they get later into the season, outside at Gillette Stadium when they can have some homefield advantage in the playoffs, they're going to be a tough out. They really are, assuming they stay healthy."
Boomer also explained how St. Louis was able to upset Denver, the Cardinals continued excellence, the Brady Backup Bowl and much more.
Listen below!
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