With the New England Patriots being forced to start a rookie at quarterback last Sunday against the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, they needed their defense to step up as they looked to end a two-game losing streak.
New England got the defensive effort it needed, with linebacker Matthew Judon playing a pivotal role during their 29-0 blowout win over Detroit and it’s earned him some recognition as he’s been named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Judon finished the afternoon with three tackles including two sacks along with four quarterback hits, one of which forced a fumble by Lions QB Jared Goff on a 4th-and-9 near the end of the first half. That play saw Kyle Dugger fly in and take the football 59-yards the other way for a touchdown, which extended the Patriots’ lead to 13-0 heading into the locker room at halftime.
It ended up being a key play in the game as it gave the Patriots the momentum and they never looked back, with the team piling on another 16 points while improving to 2-3 on the season.
The veteran now has six sacks on the year, which has him tied for the league lead in that category with Maxx Crosby (Raiders), Micah Parsons (Cowboys), and Nick Bosa (49ers).
Judon also became the first player in franchise history to record a sack in the first five games of the regular season, which eclipsed the previous record of all-time great Andre Tippett, who had done it in four straight.
This is the second time Judon has earned the honor, with the linebacker last accomplishing the feat back in Week 11 of the 2017 season.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
