These crazy stats highlight Gonzalez’s dominance vs. elite WRs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Expectations were super high for Christian Gonzalez entering the 2024 NFL season, and the New England Patriots cornerback rose to the occasion without a dominant performance in Sunday’s Week 1 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Gonzalez was following Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase all over the field in one of the most important matchups in the game. Chase wasn’t able to make any big plays when covered by Gonzalez. In fact, Gonzalez covered Chase on 20 of his 28 routes on Sunday, and the superstar wideout was limited to just three catches for 14 yards with Gonzalez in coverage. (Chase finished with six catches for 62 yards overall.)
“I feel that we executed what we wanted to do,” Gonzalez told reporters postgame, including Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “There were some plays we left out there. Obviously, there’s never a perfect game — we’ll get to the film and watch it. Personally, I feel like I did good. It was a fun matchup — he’s one of the best receivers in the league. So, it was fun.”
Gonzalez locking down an elite wideout isn’t anything new. His 2023 rookie campaign was limited to just four games due to injury, but before that, he was decisively winning his matchups against the other team’s most feared pass-catchers.
Here’s a recap of his stats against those players from last year:
Week 1 vs. Eagles
Week 2 vs. Dolphins
Week 3 vs. Jets
Gonzalez doesn’t say much. He lets his play on the field do the talking, much like former Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, whom Gonzalez has drawn comparisons to early in his career.
Gonzalez’s job won’t get any easier in the coming weeks and months. The Patriots play against many of the best wide receivers in the league this season, including D.K. Metcalf (Seahawks), Garrett Wilson (Jets), Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk (49ers), Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins), and Stefon Diggs (Texans) over the first six weeks.
The Patriots need their defense to keep the score close if this team is going to have any chance at winning more games than it did last season because New England‘s offense isn’t built to win high-scoring matchups.
It’s a tough ask for the defense, but with Gonzalez playing so well against the opponent’s most dynamic players, this team should at least be competitive on a week-to-week basis.
