New England Patriots' Christian Gonzalez Wins Award; Dallas Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb Next Challenge?
Led in part by newly christened NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month Christian Gonzalez, the New England Patriots' defense has played well enough to be 3-0.
The Pats (1-2) held the Philadelphia Eagles to one offensive touchdown, and limited the Miami Dolphins - who hung 70 on the Denver Broncos and scored 36 against the Los Angeles Chargers - to only 24 points. In both of those losses, New England's offense had the ball with a chance to win in the final two minutes. And last week against the New York Jets, the defense provided the game-clinching safety.
During that stretch, Gonzalez has been a shining star. The cornerback went up against elite receivers such as A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith (Eagles), Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins) and Garrett Wilson (Jets). The 17th overall pick has more than held his own, often playing man-to-man coverage but still yet to allow a touchdown catch.
Patriots' cornerback Christian Gonzalez defends a pass against Eagles' receiver A.J. Brown.
In total, he's produced 16 tackles, a sack, an interception and three passes defensed. According to Pro Football Focus, Gonzalez ranks third among all cornerbacks who have played a significant amount of snaps (100 through three weeks) with a grade of 84.4.
His and the defense's job doesn't get any easier this Sunday when the Pats travel to AT&T Stadium to face a high-powered Dallas Cowboys offense featuring quarterback Dak Prescott and Top 10 receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Says Gonzalez of his next challenge, “I just have to keep my head down and just keep working.”
The NFL obviously took note of Gonzalez' play, as have the Cowboys.
“If there’s a better young corner in the league than Gonzalez, he’d be hard-pressed to find,” said Cowboys' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. “He’s playing at a really high level. They matched him up on Tyreek [Hill] a couple of weeks ago, then Garrett Wilson. He provides another really good challenge for us.”
While the Cowboys and early MVP candidate Micah Parsons get more publicity, the Patriots enter Sunday's in Arlington with comparable stats. They have a better league rank in third-down percentage (3rd vs. 4th) and yards per play (4th vs. 10th), and almost identical yards per game (5th vs. 4th) than Dallas.
“They’re playing really well,” Schottenheimer said. “They’re very physical, one of the most fundamentally-sound teams you’ll see. They don’t make a lot of mistakes, very gap-conscious in the run game, do a really good job from a coverage standpoint”
Thanks to Gonzalez' superb play, the Patriots are doing this, mind you, without three of its top five cornerbacks in Jonathan, Jack and Marcus Jones, all injured. The defense took two more hits last week, losing defensive linemen Daniel Eukale (biceps) and Davon Godchaux (ankle) on consecutive plays against the Jets.
