"Elliss, who finished with 10 tackles, was the Patriots' chief clobberer. He crushed Dart - who has a promising future if he can stop courting injury - along the sideline after a 12-yard run, a legal hit that nonetheless led to a brief fight and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the Giants. Elliss - yet another Patriot who has improved under this coaching staff - later knocked Giants punt returner Gunner Olszewski from the game (and forced a fumble, recovered by the Patriots) late in the second quarter with an accidental but brutal helmet-to-helmet hit."
"To a man, they walloped the Giants like they were trying to somehow avenge the two Super Bowl losses (sorry), or that quarterback Jaxson Dart had made a mean Tik-Tok about one of their family members, or that they were out to prove they're on their way to earning a cool nickname, like the Legion of Boom or the Steel Curtain. OK, maybe they weren't quite that dominating, but this was the most vicious - yes, that is the right word - that a Patriots defense has been since they were winning Super Bowls. That, given their 10 straight wins and 11-2 record, appears to be on their collective to-do list once again."
The Patriots defense set an immediate, physical tone in the 33-15 win over the Giants, delivering repeated hard hits and forcing turnovers. Linebacker Christian Elliss led the charge with 10 tackles, a crushing sideline hit that sparked a scuffle and a later helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked punt returner Gunner Olszewski out and forced a fumble recovered by New England. Harold Landry, Jaylinn Hawkins, Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III also recorded big hits and penalties. The defense had been solid all season, but the sudden, sustained aggression accompanied a 10-game winning streak and an 11-2 record.
Read at Boston.com
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