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‘You heard the hit from the sideline’: Christian Elliss’s tackles set tone for Patriots defense vs. Giants
"If you're going to stay in bounds — I mean, what am I supposed to do? We play hard on defense."
FOXBOROUGH — Christian Elliss was looking for an opportunity to deliver a spark on Monday night.
Said opportunity presented itself as Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart attempted a tightrope walk along the Gillette Stadium sidelines in search of extra yardage.
For Dart, using his legs to extend plays was a necessary measure in a primetime matchup against the Patriots.
And for a hard-hitting, mobile linebacker like Elliss, what played out in front of him was akin to a shark smelling blood in the water.
“He started tiptoeing on the sideline, and I thought he was just going to go out of bounds, but then I saw him [keep] tiptoeing,” Elliss said. “So I was like, if you’re going to stay in bounds — I mean, what am I supposed to do?
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“We play hard on defense. We try to bring life to this team. So that’s all I was trying to do, just do my job and hit anything in the whites.”
With Dart making the call to not scramble out of bounds, Elliss took it upon himself to launch the rookie QB off the gridiron — knocking him into orbit with a thunderous tackle that had an already raucous Foxborough crowd roaring in approval.
The heavy hit drew a spirited response from New York, with Giants tight end Theo Johnson assessed a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty after swarming Elliss.
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Be it the tone that Elliss set on defense with that hit on Dart or the subsequent loss of composure from the Giants off the legal tackle, it was a sequence that Christian Gonzalez relished after New England’s 33-15 win on Monday Night Football.
“That sparked some energy, especially on their sideline,” Gonzalez said of Elliss’s hit. “It was a good hit. Clean, legal hit. We just can never relax on the football field, but Elliss was able to go over there and make a play, and they retaliated, and it helped us even more.
“So it sparked momentum. And it’s always fun, being on a defense that’s got linebackers who are gonna go up and hit like that.”
Mike Vrabel’s emphasis on deploying a physical, relentless defense that swarms ball-carriers and plays through the whistle was put on display with Elliss’s hit.
But it also served as a reminder to New England’s own quarterback of the dangers that can come with trying to extend plays by a yard or two — at the cost of getting knocked into the stratosphere.
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“It’s a weekly reminder to the quarterback, our quarterback — we show them every week, I wouldn’t get too cute over there by the sidelines,” Vrabel said. “It happens every week. So Christian’s playing through the whistle, and as long as the player’s inbounds he’s going to try to hit him legally.”
For his part, Drake Maye didn’t need a reminder on the sideline from Vrabel about the lesson delivered by way of Elliss’s highlight-reel hit.
“I don’t think he needed to,” Maye said when asked if Vrabel had to speak to him about those sideline scrambles. “You heard the hit from the sideline. I think everybody in the stadium knew.”
Elliss’s response was a bit more blunt about the message sent with his first-quarter tackle.
“Make sure to slide,” he declared.
Elliss was a heat-seeking missile throughout Monday’s win, also forcing a fumble in the second quarter. As Giants kicker returner Gunner Olszewski started to get wrapped up by Marte Mapu, Elliss trucked him over — knocking the ball loose and allowing Elijah Ponder to pounce on it for the recovery.
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“We take a lot of pride in covering kicks. It was a matchup. They were top five — they were No. 5, and we were No. 6 in kickoff and we expect us to be in the top five,” Vrabel said. “And that’s what I tell our coverage team. It was good to see the impact it can make and turning the ball over as well.”
Vrabel will need more of that same urgency and punishing approach from his defense down the stretch — starting with a key rematch against the Bills on Dec. 14 coming off the bye week.
For Elliss, years of struggles in Foxborough have now steeled a defensive unit that still isn’t satisfied with all of the success they’ve achieved so far this fall.
“Trials and tribulations produce character, and they also produce endurance,” Elliss said. “So looking back on it — yeah, it was hard. But I’m thankful that it happened, thankful that we’re able to learn from it, grow from it, and then be able to carry it on to this year. And I think we’ve done a good job of that.”
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