Patriots Blog: Gold Stars And Penalty Flags From Blowout Win Over Ravens
BOSTON (CBS) -- After the Patriots' most impressive win of the season, New England is back in the playoffs. Here are your gold stars and penalty flags.
Gold Stars
LeGarrette Blount gets a gold star. The bruising back ran like he was mad at the ground and put the Pats into the playoffs. With his 16 carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns, the Pats were able to salt away the victory and Blount kept it going. He ran well late and he ran fumble-free.
Logan Mankins gets a gold star. The move to left tackle was something that we all questioned. But watching him out there made you realize it was a great idea. He handled Terrell Suggs and did a fantastic job in the running game. Logan Mankins played out of position and maybe played his best game of the year.
The Pats defense gets a gold star. Logan Ryan, Chandler Jones, Tavon Wilson, Rob Ninkovich, Andre Carter -- you name them and they contributed. The defense played physical and turned turnovers into points. It was a great game all around.
Penalty Flags
Whatever Josh McDaniels was trying to do in the third quarter needs to be questioned. The Pats were beating the Ravens with the run and the offense opened the quarter with three straight passes from empty backfield sets. Recognize what's working and stick with it until they catch on. That's the only problem I had with this game.
Follow Levan Reid on Twitter @LevanReid.
