The Patriots defense had another big day in Sunday’s 33-7 win over Washington and linebacker Dont’a Hightower was one of the unit’s standouts.
Hightower had eight tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits to help lead the way to a 5-0 record. His fellow linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins have had starring roles in other wins and Hightower talked about how the group wants to play a leading role after the game.
“We want to go out there, and we want to be the engine and the starting force of the defense,” Hightower said, via NESN.com. “We know that if we go out there and we play well, then that will hype every other spot whether that’s in the front seven or the back seven. Not even if it’s a linebacker, whether it’s Dev [Devin McCourty] with a pick or JMac [Jason McCourty] with a pick or Du [Duron Harmon] with a pick. We feed off of each other. “We compete. It’s a great group not just in the linebacker room but the defense, we all want to compete. . . . We’re trying to get more picks, more forced fumbles. It’s a great defense.”
The record for a 16-game season is the 165 points allowed by the 2000 Ravens. The Patriots are currently on pace to allow 109 points with the Giants on deck in a Thursday night game.