Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Blount Carries Load After Patriots Lose Lewis
By Levan Reid, WBZ-TV Sports
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots are still rolling, improving to 8-0 on the season Sunday with a 27-10 win over the Washington Redskins, but that victory came at a price.
All of New England awaits any word on the Dion Lewis' leg injury, and that's just one of the few injuries the Patriots suffered on Sunday. Sebastian Vollmer, filling in at left tackle for the injured duo of Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon, was lost in the first quarter with a head injury. The Boston Herald's Jeff Howe also Tweeted after the game that center David Andrews had his leg wrapped and limped out of the locker room. So we'll all be paying close attention to the injury reports when they come out later this week.
While there are concerns, the Patriots still picked up a win on Sunday. Here are your Gold Stars and Penalty Flags for New England's win over Washington.
Gold Stars
- LeGarrette Blount gets a gold star after rushing for 129 punishing yards on 29 carries. With the weather starting to get colder the Pats want to bruise you up and run the ball; they are right on schedule with that. Blount is such a big back with sneaky breakaway speed. He almost broke a couple on Sunday. Instead, he grinded out a very solid game.
- Patriots offensive lineman Cam Fleming gets a gold star. Sebastian Vollmer went down and, once again, the team had to figure out their left tackle spot. So they moved Fleming from right tackle to Tom Brady's blind side -- a position Fleming had never played before -- and he did a great job. Brady wasn't touched and the Pats were able to hold off any rush by Washington. Plus, they had enough communication along the line to run the ball successfully. What offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has done with this offensive line is nothing short of a miracle. They have bodies down but they keep chugging along, mistake free. They all deserve gold stars, but Cam Fleming was the one who stood out during Sunday's win.
- Logan Ryan gets a gold star for always being in the right place at the right time. This may have been done under the radar, but appears Ryan has moved into the Pats No. 1 cornerback spot. He was on Pierre Garcon on Sunday, Jarvis Landry when they played Miami and Brandon Marshall when they played the Jets. Ryan is playing well and making plays on the ball. His tip drill interception was a benefit of all his hard work Monday through Saturday.
Penalty Flags
- The Patriots' mood in this game gets a penalty flag. There was a point when the team just seemed so disinterested in the game. They have to be more aware of their opponent, even if the team is a bunch of scrubs. The Pats were bored and instead of blowing the Redskins out, they basically kept getting in their own way. They have to be better than that.
- Julian Edelman gets a penalty flag. All of a sudden Jules is having ball security issues with drops and now fumbles, as he turned one over on Sunday. He's Tom Brady's chain-mover and can't have problems handling the rock. Jules needs to be better and he will be. He strives to be the best and, at the moment, is just going through a tough stretch.
- The Redskins get a penalty flag. They can't catch. Period. Watching them on the field was weird because they have no direction or game plan. I dislike bad football and the Washington Redskins play bad football.
