Devin McCourty Named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week

The Devin McCourty roller coaster was in full effect on Sunday in the Patriots' 29-26 overtime win against the Jets. He moved to safety-where he become more effective late last season-and returned a kickoff 104 yards for New England's first touchdown of the game. Oh and he fumbled another kickoff late in the fourth quarter that should have the reason they lost.

Luckily for him and Patriots fans, they were facing the Jets so New York only managed a field goal to put them ahead 26-23 after his ghastly miscue. For the first kickoff return for a touchdown in his career (and New England's first in over two years), today he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

When Jeff Demps was put on IR in the preseason, things did not look good for the Patriots' kick return game. Luckily, McCourty has done a good job in that respect. He has been their main kick returner and averaged 28.3 yards on 12 returns so far this season.

New England (4-3) is getting ready to hop across the pond for their game on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS) against St. Louis (3-4) at Wembley Stadium. It's the second time (2009) that the Patriots have invaded the UK. That time, they blew out the Buccaneers 35-7. That Tampa Bay team was a joke and at the time, New England was playing better than now.

The Pats have opened up as a seven-point favorite but they were a 10.5 point favorite against the Jets last weekend. What I'm saying is that at this point, you can't overlook almost any team on their schedule. Expect a closer than expected contest. Some more good returns by McCourty and keeping him at safety would help the Patriots' cause.

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