Costly Fumbles Spoil Patriots' Otherwise Strong Special Teams Effort
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's unfortunate that Matthew Slater's lack of return experience showed - as did Cyrus Jones' Cyrus Jones-ness - during the Patriots' win over the Ravens on Monday night, because besides two costly fumbles that resulted in 14 points for Baltimore, the Patriots' special teams unit had themselves a night.
Joe Judge's group made its presence felt in the oft-underappreciated third phase of the game early and often. On the Patriots' second possession of the game, Ryan Allen punted the ball down near the goal line. That's when cornerback Jonathan Jones dove to save the ball from bouncing into the end zone and tipped it to a waiting Matthew Slater, who downed the ball on the 1-yard line. Jones' terrific effort led directly to Malcom Brown's tackle for a safety on the very next play.
On the Ravens' next possession, they had a chance to get on the board with world-class kicker Justin Tucker lining up for a 34-yard chip shot. That's when Shea McClellin instantly transformed from maligned free-agent bust to literally Jamie Collins as he hurdled the center and blocked the kick.
McClellin also messed up covering a punt soon after, kicking the ball through the end zone to force a touchback. But, considering his excellent blocked kick, he gets a pass.
The Patriots very nearly blocked the Ravens' punt on their next possession, as Nate Ebner shifted to overload the left side of the line then broke in untouched. He couldn't quite make the play, but it's worth noting that he came within inches of giving the Patriots two blocks in as many kicks.
It was quite the superlative first half for the Patriots on special teams, but things went a little haywire in the third quarter. That's when Cyrus Jones got all Cyrus Jones-y, yet again. The Patriots gave up an easy touchdown on an egregiously short field following Jones' bizarre muffed punt, then Slater compounded problems by fumbling on the very next return play, which led to another easy Ravens touchdown. Less than two minutes of shockingly sloppy football suddenly had the Patriots up by only six points instead of 20.
The teams traded possessions for about 12 minutes after that, and the Patriots avoided special teams blunders for the rest of the night as they mixed and matched their return men. Patrick Chung put the cherry on top when he recovered the Ravens' onside kick with 2:03 left, gathering a football that Cyrus Jones undoubtedly would have booted straight into the waiting arms of a man in white and purple.
Besides their handful of potentially disastrous mistakes - Tom Brady's mind-boggling end zone interception included - the Patriots put forth their best all-around effort of the season on Monday night. The mostly-superb effort for the special teams deserves as much recognition as anything.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
