Dion Lewis Continues To Make Opposing Defenders Look Foolish
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- He already earned a shiny new contract from the New England Patriots, so after another stellar game Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins, it's only fitting that Dion Lewis gets a nickname.
Following New England's 36-7 win over the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium, Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman referred to the undersized playmaker as "Little Dirty." After watching the 5-foot-8 running back make several Miami defenders look silly throughout the course of the game, it's a very fitting moniker for Lewis.
Look no further than this 19-yard catch and run by Lewis in the first quarter, where he nearly broke the legs of Dolphins' linebacker Koa Misi. While he looked pretty bad on the play, Misi can just cue up Lewis' touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys from a few weeks ago when the back made five defenders look much, much sillier.
"He played great. He makes a lot of guys miss out there," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said of Lewis after Thursday's win. "He's dynamic in the run game and the pass game, and he's tough to tackle."
Brady had a great view of Lewis' spin move against Misi, which looked more like something out of a video game. But the Patriots are becoming used to see the impossible become possible with Lewis.
"He had to run to the flat and I tried to get it to him, and he kind of just, I mean he's so quick in space," Brady said. "It would be a miracle for anybody to touch him, more or less tackle him. He's just a dynamic player for us."
After missing Sunday's win over the Jets with an abdominal injury, Lewis was eager to return to the field and help his teammates -- especially as they dealt with a short week of preparation for Miami.
Lewis admitted that he's not yet 100 percent. He could have fooled us.
"You know, missing last week, I was eager to get back out there with my guys and try to help the best way I can. Everybody was well prepared for this game coming off a short week, and we came to work," he said. "It doesn't matter what your percentage is. If you're out there playing, you're expected to make plays."
Making plays is what Lewis has done best in his brief stint with the Patriots. In his six games this season, replacing Shane Vereen as New England's pass-catching back, Lewis has 32 receptions for 394 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Six of those catches (and a touchdown) came Thursday night, and his ankle-breaker against Misi wasn't even his most impressive of the evening. Lewis kept New England's first drive of the game alive by picking up 17 yards on a short 3rd-and-16 pass from Brady, making a defender miss and taking a big shot before getting enough to move the chains. A few plays later Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 47-yard score, and the Patriots never looked back.
"The dude is unreal with the way he can move. I don't know if anyone else can move like that," Gronkowski said of Lewis after the win. "The way he can cut. He's great to have on the team. He's a great guy and it's amazing to have him out there with us."
"He's a tough guy to handle in space and he's a tough kid in-line," added head coach Bill Belichick. "He runs hard. He puts his head down and runs with good pad level and can make some tough yards, too. It's not all just space plays, but he helps us in the running game, he helps us in the passing game. So it was good to have him back."
It's amazing to think that three other NFL teams (the Eagles, Browns and Colts) all let Lewis, a fifth-round pick by Philadelphia in 2011, come and go without much of shot to crack the roster. Now he's making plays for the 7-0 Patriots, and he couldn't be happier.
"I'm very thankful to be in this position. I'm trying to move forward now; the past is the past," he said. "I'm just trying to control what I can control and that's working hard every day."
It's not difficult to understand what Belichick likes so much out of the pint-sized playmaker who continues to make a big impact in the offense. The Patriots are now counting on Lewis to bring a lot more "dirty" to the field throughout the second half of the season.
"He keeps making them miss, and he's just got to," said Brady. "We're only seven games through, so we've still got a lot of work to do."
