Poor Craig Dahl. The Rams safety had an opportunity to make a solo tackle in the third quarter, but ran into a problem named Stevan Ridley. The Patriots running back lowered his shoulder and bowled through Dahl almost as if he wasn't there. It was a little while before Dahl was back on his feet.
That carry was just one of many strong runs for Ridley on the day as he tallied 127 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in New England's 45-7 win over St. Louis.
Former Patriots Ty Law and Troy Brown liked what they saw. They discussed Ridley's performance after the game on Postgame Live with Michael Felger.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"He ran with a passion today," Law said of Ridley. "He ran with a lot of power, and we like to see that. He was very explosive at the point of attack. As a running back in this league, if you wanna continue to get the ball and have your team trust that you can get the job done. Especially coach Bill Belichick, who magnifies everything, especially if it's a mistake. You're going to keep comtinuing to get the ball."
Ridley's had trouble fumbling the ball in the past, but Brown says he proved today, once again, that he's worthy of being the Patriots' No. 1 guy.
"He's big enough, he's strong enough, he's tough enough, he's nimble enough to make people miss and then he's strong enough to run over some people," Brown said. "He finishes runs like Corey Dillon basically. And he finishes people off. That's the kind of back they're going to need here."