It was a sorrowful moment when new fan-favorite running back Dion Lewis went down holding onto his left knee late in the third quarter in Sunday’s matchup against the Washington Redskins. As soon as the words, “non-contact knee injury” were muttered, everyone knew bad news was looming. I imagine many New Englanders, like myself, all sat around on monday anxiously awaiting Lewis’ MRI. Our fears quickly became a reality, knowing that we had seen the last of “Little Dirty” in the 2015 season. The immediate reaction when this news broke was utter heartbreak, knowing how big of a role Lewis had played in the Pat’s 8-0 start. After countless minutes sitting around in misery, I began to look at the big picture, and understood that this loss would not make or break anything for the 2015 Patriots.
Lewis’ 36 receptions and 622 total yards out of the backfield is not something to overlook. He showed an impeccable ability to make men miss in the open field and worked wonders moving the chain, but the reality of it is, the Patriots can practically afford to lose any man not wearing the number 12. Of course some injuries can hurt more than others, but in my opinion losing Dion Lewis is not something that should slow them down all too much. I came to the realization that I was so shaken up over this news more so based on how much I liked to watch this guy play as opposed to me actually fearing that it significantly hurt this team. Im not downplaying or disregarding what he has done this season, but I looked at him more as a cherry on top of what already was a loaded offense. Plus, put this in perspective for a moment, had you told any Patriot’s fan before the season that Dion Lewis would tear his ACL in week 8 of the season, nobody would really care at all. He was a gift this season, an unexpected one too. Watching him carry the football in space was truly remarkable, and I cannot express how much I am going to miss watching him play on sunday. He is a great talent, and will hopefully return to where he left off soon, but Brady and the rest of this offense will continue to terrorize opponents for the remainder of this year even without number 33. I expect that someone will step up in his place, maybe it’s Brandon Bolden, maybe it’s James White, but Brady has never failed to make a 3rd down back reliable catching the ball. When Kevin Faulk began to age many questioned who would fill that roll, then we met a man named Danny Woodhead. When he left for San Diego, we were introduced to Shane Vereen, and went Vereen signed with the Giants this offseason, many questioned who would, or even could fill his roll, and just 8 games later we find ourselves asking this question yet again, who will replace Dion Lewis? My answer: whoever Belichick and McDaniels decide to put alongside Brady is going to do just fine.
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