Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Butler, Amendola Step Up Big Against Giants
BOSTON (CBS) -- I guess whenever the Patriots play the Giants, we should expect a fight until the very end.
Sunday's 27-26 win by the Patriots in the Meadowlands was one of the best games I have seen in a while. Here are you gold stars and penalty flags from the tilt:
Gold Stars
- Danny Amendola gets a gold star. Amendola is the "got to have it" player for the Pats. The team needed a spark and Danny was there with his punt return to put the team in good position. On 4th and 10, Danny was there with the catch to move the chains. And when they needed to get into field goal range, Amendola got the yards after the catch that the team needed. He is their Mr. Clutch at the moment, and with Julian Edelman on the mend, the Pats will have to lean on Danny some more. He's good for it though.
- Malcolm Butler gets a gold star. After the 87-yard touchdown catch by Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants second offensive play, Butler locked the receiver down the rest of the way. They had a spirited matchup and Malcolm finally looked like a No. 1 corner. He never gives up and that was the key to that play in the end zone at the end of the game. He kept after it and knocked the ball free.
Butler is growing in a good corner right before our eyes. Sure, he has good games and bad ones, but he's gotten better since the start of the season. His game against the Giants was proof.
- Stephen Gostkowski gets a gold star. He's simply the best kicker in the league and every team understands that. The Pats players don't treat him as the kicker, they treat him as just another member of the 53 and that's saying something. Some of the Patriots players on the sidelines were on one knee as Stephen was lining up for his game-winner, but Rob Ninkovich walked by and told them to get up. He said this is Gostkowski, he's got this, no problem.
That's respect.
Penalty Flags
- Tom Brady gets a penalty flag. It wasn't like Brady had a terrible game but he made crucial mistakes with a pair of fumbles and a costly interception. Then on the final drive, he almost threw an interception that cost the Patriots the game. Brady always says he has to get better and after that game, he's right. Maybe after getting his fine tuning, he was off. Brady didn't look good and without Edelman for the near future, he's going to have to be better.
- The injury bug gets a penalty flag. I think we all know why and I think the Pats are tired of losing key players, week after week. The loss of Julian Edelman is big. The silver lining in all of this is he's not out for the season.
The team needs to get through the next couple of games and be injury free.
- The Giants clock management gets a penalty flag. I heard how bad the Giants were with late clock management and I watched a couple of games to validate that point. But to see how bad they are up close was just crazy. Leaving 1:48 on the clock for the Patriots when all they needed was a field goal was irresponsible, especially when the Giants defense is not that great. Tom Coughlin needs to get that under control because it keeps costing his team.
