The Amendola-Jones Redemption

Defensive tackle Chris Jones blocked this last-second potential game-winning field goal attempt.

Chris Jones has come full circle.

Almost a year ago to the day, the then-rookie defensive tackle was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty midway through the overtime period of the New York Jets' wild 30-27 victory over the New England Patriots - Jets' kicker Nick Folk's miss on a 56 yard field goal attempt nullified when Jones was flagged for shoving fellow Patriot Will Svitek into the Jets' offensive formation - a no-no that had just become so.

During the league meetings in Phoenix the previous February, the owners and rule committee had adopted what eventually became known as Rule 9, Section 1, Article 3 (b), which states as a matter of player safety, "Team B (kick defense) can not push teammates on the line of scrimmage into the offensive formation" - and wouldn't you know it?  Jones became the first player ever flagged under that rule.

The 15 yard penalty moved the Jets well into Folk's range, and he nailed a 43 yard field goal to win the game three plays later.

"It just slipped my mind." said a distraught Jones after the fact to a gaggle of beat writers pecking around his locker in the bowels of MetLife Stadium. "It was my mistake and no one else's.  I've got to man-up and fix it next time."

And the "next time" was at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night, and fix it he did.

Jones blocked a potential game-winning 58 yard field goal attempt by Folk as time expired to preserve a whisker-thin 27-25 win that propelled the Patriots to an AFC East leading record of 5-2 and dropped the Jets almost completely out of the picture in the division race at 1-6.

But if it weren't for much-maligned receiver Danny Amendola's 2015 breaking out party, Jones would never have had his opportunity for redemption.

Amendola celebrates after catching a 4th quarter TD pass

Amendola was a difference maker in the Patriots' offense for the first time this season while also making his kick return gig debut, showing some of the explosion that has been missing from his game for over a year now, and returning kicks was just what the doctor ordered to get some forward momentum going.

"For me it was just trying to get involved in the game and just try to do an much as I can to create a spark and get involved in the offense," a typically demur Amendola said after the game. " It was fun."

There is little doubt that the game was fun for Amendola, particularly since it was his instincts and hustle that saved the Patriots' bacon - and suddenly, the whipping boy and for the Patriots' perceived passing game woes and his $4.5 million cap hit were back in the Foxborough folks' good graces.

"He was running full-speed through those holes," Tight end Rob Gronkowski offered after being told that Amendola had been a successful kick returner during his days as a St. Louis Ram, "He was doing a great job, so props to him."

Amendola returned four kicks for an average of just over 26 yards per, showing zero fear in running full throttle into the heart of the New York Jets' coverage unit, and then ran what Jets' coach Rex Ryan called the "Best route in football history" that gave the Patriots their winning points on a 19 yard hook up with Brady on 3rd and goal midway through the final quarter.

But the play of the night came about five minutes later when the Jets - who had just scored a touchdown but misfired on a two-point conversion to leave themselves two points behind New England with just over two minutes to play - attempted an onside kick.

Folk dribbled the ball perfectly toward the Patriots' sideline, where it took a mean bounce into the legs of receiver Brandon Lafell, and a mad scramble ensued.  The now-live ball skittered behind Lafell and with all of the Jets' kick coverage personnel converging on the spot, it appeared imminent that New York would recover the ball...

...that is until Amendola appeared in our TV screens, flying in from seemingly nowhere and jumped on the bounding pigskin, setting up the Patriots' offense in position to need just one first down in superb field position to ice the game.

That didn't happen, for reasons that will be discussed elsewhere, and the Jets got the ball back at their own 12-yard-line with a little over a minute remaining - and there was little doubt, given the manner in which New York had moved the ball all evening, that they would drive down the field to get into field goal position, but Jones was having none of that eerily similar scenario.

"I was just trying to get as deep and as high as I can." Jones said, "I think it was just coming down to will at the end."

Will, yes, and also the laws governing redemption.

"He stepped up and he made up for that last year's field goal" Linebacker Rob Ninkovich observed of Jones after the game. "He went out there, he played well, and he got the block.  It was a good way to end the ball game."

Actually, it was the best way to end that ball game.  Anything less that the efforts of Amendola and Jones, and Patriots' Nation would be lamenting a last-second loss instead of celebrating the rise of two players who finally received their just due.

Patriots' defensive line status up in the air while injuries mend

There was something wrong even before his Achilles tendon snapped like a taut rubber band.

Prior to the 2013 season, Vince Wilfork had missed a total of six games in nine years, amassing 323 solo tackles and disrupting three times as many plays before they even had a chance to get started - his girth not so impressive at times as what he could do despite his size, his unique athleticism on display weekly.

Such burst he had off the line for a big man, he could find the gap before the guard had a chance to slide over most times, and on the others he would just shove his double team back with sheer brute strength and re-establish the line of scrimmage three yards deep in the pocket...

If Easley is healthy, he can play anywhere along the defensive line

...his singular dominance earning him first team All Pro honors following the 2012 season after amassing four second-team All Pro team selections in the previous five seasons, truly becoming better with each passing year.

But when last season began, it was obvious and apparent that the big man wasn't displaying his normal burst, not driving his blocker back into the pocket, not able to disengage when the run came right up the middle, which happened more and more the more he played, as he was pretty much rendered stationary - and not even the presence of wing man Tommy Kelly could mask the struggles that Wilfork was going through.

Then on the first defensive series of the game in week four at Atlanta and the Patriots backed up inside their own five yard line, Wilfork took a step toward Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan and suddenly crumpled in a massive heap on the Georgia Dome turf, and his season was over.

Kelly followed Wilfork to the shelf the following week with a knee injury - linebacker and defensive signal caller Jerod Mayo the week after that - and the results for the defense were predictable.

Was Vince dealing with a partial rupture prior to it tearing?  It really doesn't make any difference now, as for partial tears rest, ibuprofen and a professional tape job will keep the athlete competing while scar tissue forms and the tendon knits itself back together - but in that scenario the tendon continues to be compromised until complete immobilization can be achieved...

...or until surgery is indicated and performed, which quite often can return the player's full range of motion with proper rehabilitation and physical therapy - and from the reports coming out of the New England Patriots' Organized Team Activities, this has been accomplished - though the real test will come during mini camp and training camp when pads go on and the trench warfare starts in earnest.

Missing both of their starting defensive tackles and their weakside, sideline-to-sideline linebacker left the Patriots with a gaping hole in the middle of their defense in 2013 - a void that affected every level of the defense as Belichick was forced to plug and play rookie free agents Joe Vellano on the nose and Chris Jones as the three tech and bringing in Issac Sopoaga from Philadelphia to bolster the middle.

But the try-hard Vellano just didn't have the bulk to take on double teams and Sopoaga was a classic bust from the moment he put on the Patriots' uniform, and it wasn't until career practice squad nose tackle Sealver Siliga was plucked from the ranks of the unemployed and inserted in the middle that the proverbial tide was stemmed.

In fact, the 6' 2", 325 pound Siliga stabilized the interior defense to the point that the rest of the defense gained enough autonomy to become a reasonable facsimile of what the unit was supposed to be.  He took on the double teams which enabled Jones to penetrate opposite and gave the Patriots linebackers a little bit better defined idea of which gaps to shoot.

It wasn't perfect, but they made it work all the way to the AFC Title Game, where they bent plenty, but only broke twice, surrendering just 26 points to the Denver Broncos' record-setting juggernaut offense but still losing the game because the Patriots were unable to overcome issues on the offense side of the ball.

In both instances, the Broncos controlled the line of scrimmage - on defense because the offensive line just couldn't stop the Denver pass rushers once their run defense had rendered the Patriots one-dimensional, and on offense because once Denver wide receiver Wes Welker took out New England's top cover corner, the ends were forced to chip the Broncos' receivers before initiating their pass rush.

The answer to this would have been to have quality depth everywhere, which they didn't have then, but appear to have now - particularly on the interior, where the Patriots' offseason roster features no less than nine tackles vying for what will probably be five spots, while the defensive end depth chart sports six players with just four spots open.

A healthy Wilfork and ends Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich are the only true locks on the chart, with Siliga and Kelly probables to retain their roster spots, leaving ten players fighting for just four slots on the final 53 man roster - with the spots, more than any other level on the defense, dependent on health in determining who makes it and who doesn't.

First round draft pick Dominique Easley is coming off a torn ACL, as is Kelly and former Saints' defensive end Will Smith, who also may figure in the linebacker competition - while the much rumored, Howard Hughes-like presence of tackle Armond Armstead is still shrouded in mystery after missing all of last season with a flesh-eating infection.

Second year end Michael Buchanan spent his rookie year playing underweight thanks to a broken jaw in his senior season at Illinois, and is expected to be able to show exactly what made him such a pass rushing force in college now that he's a had a fully healthy offseason to get his body right.

Ends Jake Bequette and Zach Moore  are buried deeply on the depth chart while the same is true for tackles Marcus Forston and L. T. Tuipulotu, with seventh round selection Moore the only one with a fighting chance to be with the team past August, but probably as a practice squader.

Easley, a certain top 10 pick had he not torn his knee up, can play anywhere along the line, even on the nose at just 290 pounds as many scouts profess that he plays with violence and leverage that add another 20-30 pounds of force behind his drive - and the same is supposed to be true with Armstead, but neither have been regular participants in OTAs.

If healthy for camp, both would be locked in for spots along the line thanks to their versatility, but the caveat remains for the time being, and renders the defensive line depth chart as seen below, with the probables to make the final roster in bold:

LDE:  Rob Ninkovich  Will Smith  Jake Bequette  
DT:    Tommy Kelly  Chris Jones   Dominique Easley  Armond Armstead  Marcus Forston
NT:    Vince Wilfork  Sealver Siliga   Joe Vellano   L. T. Tuipulotu
RDE:  Chandler Jones   Michael Buchanan   Zach Moore 

Of course, the aforementioned health status for Wilfork, Easley and Armstead will dictate this list on final cutdowns, as will the health and depth amongst the linebacking corps, where Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins could figure into the mix as nickle rushers on the strong (left) side.

This is part 7 of 9 wrapping up the Patriots' offseason.  Part 8 will focus on what could possibly be one of the best linebacker corps in the NFL.

Part 1 of 9: New England Patriots' philosophies morphing back to a simpler time
Part 2 of 9: New England Patriots' offensive philosophy - Heavy on substance, not sexy style
Part 3 of 9: Patriots surround Brady with talent, just not how most envisioned
Part 4 of 9: Patriots' incumbent backs no roster locks as rookies ready to compete
Part 5 of 9: Belichick takes a mulligan with Patriots' pass catchers
Part 6 of 9: Belichick in the spirit (of 76) in regard to offensive line

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