Playing on the defensive line for the New England Patriots can be a thankless job.
It’s a reason why Chris Long only wanted to last one season in New England and Michael Bennett was traded midway through the Patriots’ 2019 campaign. Patriots interior defenders do the dirty work. They eat up space and let the linebackers, edge rushers and defensive backs around them make plays.
That’s what makes Lawrence Guy’s impact in the Patriots’ 24-17 win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday even more amazing. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound defensive tackle registered a sack, a QB hit, a hurry, six tackles and five run stuffs. He made or assisted on five tackles within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage.
And this is all while Guy also was doing his primary job of eating up space along the defensive line in a two-gapping role.
“Lawrence played well again last night,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Sunday. “He’s played well all year. He does a very good job of playing his position, which is really multiple spots across the line. He’s a hard guy to block, he’s got good power, uses his hands well, he’s instinctive, he recognizes plays well and plays very consistently. He’s probably one of the most consistent players we have on our team.”
Guy dominated all over the line of scrimmage. He helped stop Bills running back Devin Singletary for no gain with 10:15 left in the first quarter. Guy (93) wouldn’t let right tackle Cody Ford push him off the line of scrimmage, then he chipped in on a gang tackle.
With 5:05 left in the second quarter, Guy shoved Ford back and twisted him. He then clotheslined Singletary for just a 1-yard gain.
Just 47 seconds into the second half, Guy blew past right guard Jon Feliciano and chased after quarterback Josh Allen for a 12-yard sack.
Guy got into the backfield with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter by jolting left tackle Dion Dawkins back at the snap. He looped around to pull down Singletary for just a 1-yard gain.
With 5:06 left in the game, Guy had a mismatch against rookie tight end Dawson Knox, Guy stacked and shed Knox and pulled down Singletary for no gain.
With 2:21 left in the game, Guy did a nice job sliding down the line of scrimmage and cleaned up nice play by Adam Butler by stuffing Allen for a 1-yard loss.
Bills rookie running back Devin Singletary was averaging 5.4 yards per carry entering Week 16. The Patriots, with a whole lot of help from Guy, held Singletary to just 3.1 yards per carry.
