The Patriots found a steady hand when they needed one most against the Jets, and Corey Kiner was the one carrying the load.
With New England clinging to a 23-16 lead late in the fourth quarter Sunday, the team went to Kiner and stayed with him. He handled the ball eight straight times, helping the Patriots chew up more than six minutes and set up a field goal that pushed the margin to 10 points in the eventual 26-19 win.
That finish came after a very specific message from the team.
“Protect the team, protect the ball,” the 24-year-old recalled after the game. “The team is the ball, the ball is the team, so just protect the ball and put the team’s best interests in front.”
That instruction made plenty of sense in a game where the Patriots, as head coach Mike Vrabel put it, “tried to beat ourselves.” New England committed two turnovers Sunday, part of the reason the game never fully got away from the Jets.
Kiner was part of that conversation too, since one of the Patriots’ 13 giveaways this season came on his fumble in last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Even with that blemish, the Patriots trusted him in a high-leverage spot against New York, and he rewarded them by grinding out yards when the game was there to be closed.
Of the 51 yards New England gained on that late drive, 42 came on Kiner runs. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry on the possession and now has 4.5 yards per attempt on 31 carries this season.
“It feels great,” he said. “To be in that position in the game, to see the smiles on my teammates’ faces and my coaches’ faces, that they can trust me. It felt great, all the hard work we have been putting in as a team and personally, it just feels great.”
TreVeyon Henderson said he was glad to see it happen.
“I’m glad Corey got a chance to get his opportunity,” said fellow running back TreVeyon Henderson. “I’ve been telling him that his time is coming. So, I was grateful to see that today, to be able to support and serve him.”
Henderson’s own day was shortened by an ankle injury, which limited him to 16 snaps. He also had one of the game’s two turnovers, coughing up the ball inside New England territory in the third quarter.
That opened the door for Kiner, and the late-August trade acquisition made the most of it. Vrabel praised the way he runs, and pointed to the broader role he’s carving out for the team.
“He runs hard, and it’s the same way he’s selling the kickoff returns,” said Mike Vrabel about the late-August trade acquisition. “We got three capable backs and you ride the hot hand.”
On Sunday, the hot hand belonged to Kiner. With a short week ahead and a Thursday night game in Chicago next on the schedule, the Patriots may keep leaning his way if he keeps protecting the football.
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