Major props to these non-headlining players...

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Ben Watson- Not sure exactly what happened, but Mr. Cement Hands has transformed into Mr. Sticky Hands this season. According to many reports, Watson dedicated most of his off season to improving his hands, and has hauled in everything in his direction ever since a week one drop (it was a tough catch.)

Ellis Hobbs- This guy has improved every game since his rookie season. He's at the point where he's starting to cover the team's #1, splitting time with Samuel. In addition to being a great pass defender, Hobbs can also hit hard, make big plays, and is obviously a huge kick returning threat.

Dan Koppen- Why is it when experts talk about elite centers, they wax about guys like Olin Kreutz, but never mention Koppen in the same sentence. This guy is always solid and very rarely makes mistakes.

Stephen Gostkowski- How many times have the Colts allowed kickoff touchdowns during the AV era? Plenty. Gost may never have the accuracy or clutchness of Vinatieri (who does?), but I'll take the 5-10 yards of field position, on average per kick.

Anyone else I missed?

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

^Yes, Tedy Bruschi - for leaping over the OLine like he used to on a regular basis three or four years ago and totally blowing up or disrupting plays. For this play alone, he deserves mention.

 

[patsox23]

Upon further review (I just watched the tape over), Brandon Meriweather did a nice, solid job tonight.

I'd also put Donte Stallworth as an unsung player who did a good job.

Want to echo your thoughts on Benjamin Watson, and expand on them. He has made quite a few nice catches at his feet this season - an unglamorous category of catch that is not only athleticially hard but requires a certain degree of "want to" - including tonight. That was a helluva catch. He also threw THE block that sprang Sammy Morris for his 4th down TD run. Heath Evans got a bit more of the credit, and did a good job there, too, but Watson's role in that play was really significant.

 

[Pats726]

Mike Wright...tough on Special teams..kickoffs...

 

[bbabin]

I noticed that fantastic catch by Watson as well. I was hoping they'd show a replay from a better angle, but alas, there were more important things to show like stats for Chad Johnson on Monday night while wearing orange playing at home after a good night's sleep.

 

[fillylabinga]

Gots was good last night, but how about Special Teams in general? It's hard to think about it much with the job the O is doing, but turnovers and big plays are the only way they could have lost to one of their first 4 opponents and ST has been rock solid.

Other than the INT the Bengals had maybe one drive they started just outside their 30. I'm sure BB will get on them for the almost XP block, but otherwise they have been an important cog.