First Tyrone Poole went down, and Samuel was called on to start. Then Ty Law was lost, and suddenly Samuel was the No. 1 cornerback. Injuries were a problem for him, too, but they didn’t stop him from leading the Patriots with 12 passes defensed. Samuel returned from a two-game absence in Week 14 and returned a Bengals interception for a TD, but his biggest play was the biggest hit against the Colts in the playoffs, Samuel laying out Brandon Stokley in the first half.