FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts — Christian Elliss thought Jaxson Dart was going to run out of bounds.
But when the Giants quarterback started to tiptoe down along the sideline toward the first down marker, the Patriots linebacker sped up.
The hit was legal. Elliss kept his head away from the impact and lowered his shoulder into the quarterback, shoulder-to-shoulder. Dart’s attempt to balance-beam the sideline left him ill-prepared to absorb any hit, and Elliss had him lined up.
“Scrambling out of the pocket, trying to get the first down and guy made a good hit,” Dart said.
That hit sent Dart, who was in his first game back after missing two games with a concussion, sprawling. The rookie sailed several yards with his back parallel to the ground before crashing into the Giants’ sideline.
“When I saw him tiptoeing, I thought, ‘If you’re going to stay in bounds, what am I supposed to do?’” Elliss said. “We play hard on defense. We try to bring life to this team. That’s what I was trying to do. I was trying to do my job and hit anything in the white [uniforms].”
Carlton Davis liked the hit and loved Elliss’ reaction to it.
“It was a tone-setter. He just hit him and kept walking,” Davis said. “He had a whole lot of aura. Everybody in the stadium feels lit.”
Seeing his quarterback go down, Giants tight end Theo Johnson went after Elliss, trying unsuccessfully to throw him down. The reaction earned Johnson a drive-killing 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but no ill will from Ellis.
“I understand it. If that was Drake [Maye] that took that shot, we would probably react the exact same way,” Elliss said. “We’re good.”
The play set a tone. At Gillette Stadium’s first Monday Night Football game in three years, the hit ignited the Patriots and the crowd and appeared to rattle the Giants.
“That super-ignites us,” K’Lavon Chaisson said. “Elliss set it from jump. He was going crazy today. He had us super excited.”
Despite their record (2-11), the Giants have been competitive in most of their recent games. But they never regained their composure after Elliss’ hit as New England coasted to a 33-15 win.
Christian Gonzalez felt the energy shift.
“Oh yeah, that sparks some energy. Especially on their sideline,” he said. “It was a clean, legal hit. We can never relax on the football field. So, Elliss was able to go over there, make a play, and they retaliated, and it helped us even more. It sparked momentum. It is always fun being on defense with linebackers that can go up and hit like that.”
Mike Vrabel noted the moment as it happened.
“I think our guys certainly [fed off it]. I think our fans did. I think our team did,” Mike Vrabel said.
“Christian’s playing through the whistle, and as long as the player is in bounds, he’s going to try to hit him legally.”
Elliss finished with a team-high 10 tackles in the game. He’s closing in on a career-high in tackles this season.
“Everyone has God-given abilities,” he said. “I want to use my speed and physicality to impact the game in any way I can.”
He and Johnson met up again on the field on the last competitive play of the game. On fourth and 8 from the Patriots’ 41, Elliss stepped in front of Dart’s pass toward Johnson and batted it away.
Fellow linebacker Jack Gibbens thought it was fitting that Elliss had the play to seal the win.
“The ball finds energy,” he said. “When you play with great energy and see the right way. The ball seems to find you.”
As the Patriots head off for the bye week, Elliss was happy for a break, but at the same time eager to get back.
“It is easy to come to work and work with the guys in there. We love doing it. I love doing it,” he said. “It just makes a lot of things easier. It is not like that everywhere.”
Story by Matt Vautour, MassLive.com.
