The New England Patriots kicked off Week 11 in the NFL last Thursday and were able to pull out a shutout win over the Falcons on the road. That not only extended their winning streak to five games and moved them to 7-4 on the season, but, thanks to the Colts win over the Bills on Sunday, they are now in first place in the AFC East and the No. 3 seed in the conference. This has been a dramatic turn for New England after starting out the year 2-4, but they are now in the thick of the playoff race as they go down the home stretch.
Next up is a pivotal matchup with the Tennessee Titans, who are currently the No. 1 seed in the AFC, at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Before we fully dive into that head-to-head, however, let's take a look back at that dominating win over the Falcons and take stock of where a handful of Patriots are trending at this point in the season.
Stock up: Kyle Van Noy
You really can't ask for a better day at the office than what the Patriots defense put together on Thursday. They dominated the Falcons offense from the jump and then put together a turnover tsunami by recording four-straight interceptions to end the game. One of the main constants from wire to wire during that big day by the defense was linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
He was at the center of a number of big plays as he finished his day with a team-high eight tackles, two sacks, and an interception that he returned for a touchdown. While the pick-six is self-explanatory, Van Noy's sack during Atlanta's third drive of the game was also a critical point in the contest. The Falcons brought the ball all the way to the New England 14-yard line and Van Noy was able to sack Matt Ryan for a 13-yard loss on a third-and-1 attempt.
That sack, along with an illegal formation penalty by the Falcons, turned what should have been a chip-shot field goal attempt into a 50-yard attempt by Younghoe Koo, which he ultimately missed.
Stock up: Patriots backfield
It was an extremely productive day for the Patriots backfield duo of Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris. After missing Week 10 due to a concussion, Harris was able to return to action against Atlanta and rush 10 times for 56 yards. Meanwhile, Stevenson led the team in carries (12) and turned that into 69 yards on the ground, giving him a 5.8 yards per carry average. Nine of the Patriots' 20 first downs for the game came on the ground. With both backs now healthy, this will be a dangerous combination for opposing defenses to defend going forward.
Stock down: David Andrews
Andrews will more often than not see his arrow pointing upward after a given game, but this was one of the rare poor showings from New England's starting center. He was called for two holding penalties, one that negated a 28-yard run by Stevenson that would have pushed the Patriots to the Atlanta 18. On a more positive note for Andrews, he turned in a clean sheet in pass blocking situations on Thursday, so he's still a key anchor for the New England club and will likely bounce back in short order.
Stock up: Christian Barmore
The Patriots seemed to have struck gold by selecting Barmore in the second round of the draft this past spring. With each passing week, the rookie defensive tackle continues to improve and make his presence known to the opposing offense. He was constantly clogging up the Falcons O-line (even has been facing double-teams) and finished his day with three total pressures (a QB hit and two hurries). While he didn't come away with any sacks himself, he was clearing the way for others to get to the quarterback.
Stock up: Kyle Dugger
For the second week in a row, Kyle Dugger has come up big for the Patriots in critical moments. Last week, he had the interception off Baker Mayfield to spark New England's blowout win and on Thursday had a key PBU against Kyle Pitts on a third-and-9 throw from Matt Ryan on Atlanta's opening drive. Dugger was able to stick with the rookie phenom and stick his hand in front of Pitts to bat the ball away and negate a first down conversion.
Pitts was targeted three times with Dugger in coverage and managed just one catch for 16 yards. The second-year safety also finished the game with seven tackles (second-most on the team).
Stock up: Nelson Agholor
It may have gotten lost in the shuffle in the midst of the dominating play by New England's defense, but Nelson Agholor put together his most efficient game of the season on Thursday. He caught all five of his targets for 40 yards and scored the game's first touchdown on a 19-yard pass by Mac Jones.
Agholor tied his season-high for receptions and scored his first touchdown since Week 7. What was interesting about this performance by Agholor was that he had the second-lowest ADOT (4) of his season so far. Given that he succeeded while getting targeted in a shorter area of the field, it'll be worth watching to see if the Patriots begin to use him in different ways over the next few weeks.