The Patriots have been trying for a while now to add someone to their roster who could harass opposing team's quarterbacks, and fortunately it looks like Andre Carter is becoming exactly who they hoped he would be.
Carter once again had a big night for the Patriots, this time finishing with 4.5 sacks during New England's 37-16 win over the Jets, which was a new Patriots single game franchise record. He also hit Mark Sanchez 8 times, and was a major factor in disrupting New York's passing game.
 Andre Carter set the Patriots franchise record for sacks in a single game Sunday night with 4.5. (FILE:Icon/SMI) |
"Somebody did tell me," said Carter when asked about it after the game. "I tell everyone, God is great, and this is one of those games that you'll definitely rememeber.
"I'm still shocked. I'm still soaking it in. But regardless, I'm just happy we just came out there and won. That was the most important thing in general. Just like I said, we came off two tough games back-to-back, and this was a must win."
His performance now puts Carter's season sacks total at 9.0, which already has him ahead of where he finished for the season in 7 of his 10 previous years in the NFL. His two best years were in 2002 and 2009 where he finished with 12.5 and 11 sacks respectively.
Following last week's disappointing performance against the Gaints, Carter walked away from that game without any sacks but hit Eli Manning three times. However, the frustrating part about the way last week's game ended was the fact they couldn't protect the lead after Tom Brady put them up 20-17 with 1:36 left in the game. Brady said after that game that he'd find out a lot about the team this week and how they responded against New York.
Following Sunday night's win over New York, Carter offered his thoughts.
"I think in general we're just a team that goes out there and just tries to find a way to win," said Carter. "I mean it's been definitely frustrating to lose two close games back-to-back. There wasn't a time where we had questioned ourselves, but there was a time where we had to look at ourselves in the mirror as men and as football players and just say, 'O.K., what will be our defining moment? Either we're going to go out there and be unsuccessful, or go out there and just play the game the way we know we're capable of doing and be successful."
One thing we've heard over the past couple of weeks was the fact New England's defense was getting closer to working out the kinks and solving a lot of the issues that had plagued them during their recent struggles. Carter agrees, and said that the communication is better, and now it's time for them to continue working on making sure they can start playing more consistent football during the final weeks of the eason.
"We did," said Carter, when asked if they finally moved past 'being close' defensively. "I think what it boiled down to was the communication as far as the defensive line front, and the communication on the back end. There's just been times where we've been consistent for maybe three quarters of the game, and then that last quarter, for whatever reason, we just don't finish.
"That was something we constantly harped on, and this was such a great opportunity just to put together a full game."
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