First things first, that performance against the Titans this past Sunday afternoon was repulsive. The last thing I want to do is break down and analyze the Patriots’ play against them, for my and your own good. There’s a lot of anger within me at the moment.
With that being said, I’m going to take the easy way out and express my emotions through Dion Lewis’ post-game comments towards the Patriots. Lewis did not hold back on slamming his former team after beating them (in a meaningless game at the beginning of November, I may add); there’s a lot to dissect, expand on and call him out on, so buckle up.
So, Dion Lewis. I love the guy. I have from the very first time New England took a chance on him and brought him in in an attempt to revive his career after suffering a knee injury with Cleveland. From the jump, he played with a chip on his shoulder, was a playmaker and extremely elusive. He was an extremely likable player and hell, he still is. He’s motivated and quick; what more could you ask for? He was the soul of New England’s ever-changing running back corps and held things down in his tenure here.
Around this time, early November, back in 2015, just a couple months into his Patriots career, he tore his ACL against the Washington Redskins. In just two months, Lewis was having a breakout season with his new team, rushing 49 times for 234 yards as well as 36 catches for 388 yards, four touchdowns total, in just seven games. He forced a whopping 43 missed tackles in 85 total touches in those seven games alone. The Patriots had no reason to even take a chance on him back in that season’s training camp in the first place, but even after his torn ACL, they kept him for the 2016-17 season, a season in which he was still recovering from his injury. Again, New England had no reason to bring him back considering his injury history and the risk they were taking in bringing him right back into the fold again.
In 2017-18, Lewis bounced back a bit, playing in all 16 games, but not having as much of a presence as he originally did. He didn’t look like his “old self” either. That’s not his fault; the dude has suffered countless knee injuries now. There’s only so much you can do. New England was bound to move on from him and let him enter free agency, benefitting both sides. The Patriots kind of had to upgrade at the position and both parties knew Lewis deserved more money and a better playing situation, neither of which he was going to receive in Foxboro. Thus, Lewis signed a four-year, $23 million contract with Tennessee earlier this year.
Any normal human would think that Lewis would have great respect for the team that revived his football career and took multiple chances on him when they had no business doing so, right? Apparently not. Let’s look at some of his comments made post-game after beating his former team:
“Hell yeah, it’s personal. That’s what happens when you go cheap. You get your ass kicked.”
“I didn’t have to prove anything. I know I can play. I just had to let our team know that these guys are beatable…I know those guys. I know that you be physical with them and let ’em have it and they’ll fold.”
“It’s a real sweet win,” he said. “You know, especially when you used to be there and they didn’t want to bring you back.”
I guess he didn’t feel like he was done being petty, as he took to Twitter for a couple more jabs:
There is a LOT to unpack here. Let’s go quote by quote.
It’s personal? The Patriots are cheap? Easy there, pal. There’s a difference between being cheap and staying true to an organizational philosophy that has been one of the key factors in sustaining a nearly two-decade-long dynasty. Keeping an RB carousel running constantly, one at seemingly every position actually, at the end of every season in order to stay young and effective, is not cheap. Dozens of players have been “unwanted” by the Patriots. That’s how things go around here. If you don’t want to feel “unwanted” then you probably shouldn’t play for the New England Patriots. Nobody is safe. That’s why they win. They don’t keep guys around simply to spare their feelings. If parting ways with a player in order to make the roster as talented and fresh as possible is cheap, then the Patriots are the cheapest team in all of sports.
It’s such a weird thing for someone to say to their former team, one that revived their career and they won a Super Bowl with. The Patriots took multiple chances on you because they believed in you and saw you in a way 31 other teams couldn’t. This lil fella talks a lot of smack for someone who only recorded 57 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards in this game in which he “kicked ass”. Pal,,,, if Tennessee took you out of the equation in this game, your team still would have won. Pipe down, please.
Now, his comment aimed at all of his teammates is unfathomable to me. I understand taking shots at the organization as a whole, kind of, I guess. They did let you walk, yes. But, your teammates? What did they do to you? They’re “beatable” and “they fold”? These are the guys you spent three years practicing and playing with on almost a daily basis, for starters. They did nothing but support you whether you were on the field, the bench or receiving treatment and recovering. Plenty of players leading up to this game boasted about you and how excited they were to face off against you. There is absolutely no reason to bring your teammates into this, teammates you won a world championship with. It’s weird. Really weird.
Say what you please after a win, I suppose, but personal shots like that at innocent people you had a bond with for three-plus years is a WILD move. Not to mention, you had no idea “how they were going to play”. If anyone should know that the Patriots change literally everything they do based on the opponent week-by-week, it’s Dion Lewis. Wack.
Now, he keeps repeating that New England “didn’t want him”. That isn’t really the case. Anybody with a brain wants Dion Lewis on their team. What they don’t want is to employ a living, breathing knee injury just waiting to happen, especially when one of the better running back classes of all time in the upcoming draft was about to take place. The Titans weren’t exactly the smartest party here, either, taking a gamble on a 28-year-old running back who has required two surgeries on the same knee for the same injury and a broken fibula when there was a plethora of young talent they could have chosen from for much cheaper.
I suppose we should congratulate Dion Lewis for winning his Super Bowl against the Patriots this past weekend. Each time a team beats them in the regular season, certain players boast about it and act like they genuinely won the title. Kinda feels like Lewis is doing that here, which is odd. You never see former Patriots act/talk like this about/towards New England, mainly because they actually enjoyed their time and have respect for the organization as a whole. It feels like Lewis does miss being here and is just upset about how everything went down, but that’s no excuse to act petty like so. Nobody is ever happy about a team letting them go, but the majority at least handle it like adults. I’m telling you, money changes people typically for the worse.
The storyline heading into this game this week was Malcolm Butler; there wasn’t a peep about Dion Leis across the airwaves or online, it’s interesting how quickly that dynamic changed after the game. Neither Logan Ryan, Butler or Lewis for that matter played a role in the game, but here I am, writing an entire report on one of them, one I didn’t exactly expect to be doing so on. I’m just going to leave it at this: the Patriots are 7-3 atop their division and the Titans are 5-4 in second place. Sorry if this offends.
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