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Patriots first-rounder: Our defense played better than Texans defense
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- Patriots first-rounder: Our defense played better than Texans defense
FOXBOROUGH — With the No. 1 ranked Texans defense in town for a divisional round matchup, it was the Patriots defense that stole the show.
New England forced five turnovers: four C.J. Stroud interceptions and a Woody Marks fumble, and the Patriots won, 28-16. Marcus Jones helped his offense on the scoreboard by returning one of the Stroud picks for a touchdown, and first-round tackle Will Campbell said the Patriots defense was the difference in the game.
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“Their whole defense is (talented), but our defense played better tonight,” Campbell said. “Our defense outplayed their defense. That’s something we talked about coming into the week. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew it was going to be a battle. Whenever your defense can get four interceptions, it’s pretty cool to watch and be a part of.”
The rookie left tackle had his hands full with edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter , who combined for five sacks, three of which were strip sacks. Drake Maye fumbled four times in the game, but Campbell was able to recover two of them.
“(Anderson and Hunter) are both good,” Campbell said. “They’re both first-team All-Pro. You watch the tape... they’re talented.”
Campbell knows that he needs to raise his game moving forward, but was perplexed by one element of it. The rookie tackle believes some of his worst reps have come with help from either a running back or tight end.
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“Whenever you’re going against good players, the margin for error is very small, and there’s just some stuff I got to clean up, and it just takes more practice,” Campbell said. “Some of my plays from this year that I wish I could have back have come whenever I had help — which is weird as (expletive), quite frankly. I’ve just got to keep working at some other stuff. Whenever I’ve got the back or the tight end with me, and just get better.
“I need to play better. I hold myself to a higher standard than what I put out tonight.”
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