11 best moments of Patriots’ 2015 season entering Week 11
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
11. Defensive line stuffing Chris Ivory on first play from scrimmage
Entering the Week 7 game against the New York Jets, everybody and their mother thought that the Gang Green rushing attack was going to run all over the Patriots. At the time, the Jets boasted the top-ranked ground game in the NFL, and Chris Ivory was absolutely feeling it having accumulated 312 yards rushing in the previous two games against the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins.
Not surprisingly, on the first play from scrimmage the Jets handed the ball off to their workhorse back. Alan Branch and the rest of the Pats’ defensive line responded by suffocating Ivory from the moment he touched the ball, forcing him down for a loss.
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Unfortunately, Ivory was injured on the play, but that’s not the point. This was the 11th best moment of the Patriots 2015 season thus far because it set the tone early in the game that the front seven wasn’t going to budge, even for the league’s top rushing attack.
The defense continued to answer the Jets’ ground game all day, allowing just 60 yards rushing to Ivory and Zac Stacy. It’s safe to say that the Pats aren’t missing Vince Wilfork all that much these days, as Branch, Malcom Brown, Sealver Siliga and Dominique Easley are doing a fine job on the interior.
Next: 10. Hightower's sack of Brandon Weeden