FOXBOROUGH — Much the way Grandma had no idea what hit her when she got run over on Christmas Eve, Titans cornerback Coty Sensabaugh had no clue who trucked him last Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
It was a reindeer that got Grandma. It was Joey Iosefa that got Sensabaugh.
Bringing the sellout crowd to its feet — and there were plenty in the stands that didn't know who the wrecking ball in the blue No. 47 jersey was — Iosefa made quite the impact on just the third carry of his career.
Lined up as a tailback — though looking an awful lot like a fullback — Iosefa took a handoff from Tom Brady and went off tackle right. Actually, "off tackles right" would be more accurate, as both Marcus Cannon and Cameron Fleming were in position. Additionally, tight ends Michael Williams and Rob Gronkowski were lined up to that side.
It was your basic student-body-right formation.
Cannon, Fleming, Williams, and Gronkowski leaned left at the snap and sealed the edge. That left Sensabaugh, who was lined up as a linebacker, unblocked and with solo coverage on Iosefa.
The poor guy never had a chance.
Iosefa, a rookie from Pago Pago, American Samoa, via Hawaii, Tampa Bay, and Brooklyn, rumbled past the line of scrimmage and over his defender, nearly leaving Sensabaugh senseless. Iosefa was finally stopped 15 yards later.
"I didn't see it at all until the replay because I was blocking,'' said Gronkowski. "That's my kind of play, though. That was an awesome run. I loved seeing that replay.''
Though Williams was caught up in the mass of humanity, he was able to take in Iosefa's exploits.
"I had a great view,'' said Williams. "Joey gave us exactly what we wanted on that play. He gave us that toughness that we needed.''
Williams wasn't the only one surprised that Iosefa, who finished with a game-high 51 yards on 14 carries one day after being promoted from the practice squad, was able to inflict such punishment.
"Me and Joey, we've done some tackling drills out there in practice for the last 4-5 weeks,'' said safety Duron Harmon. "He's really been a player that has helped me work on my open-field tackling.
"It was really exciting to see him go out there, run the ball a little bit, and run hard. I was really cheering for him. He's a load, man. He runs through people and he's really, really strong."
Defensive tackle Alan Branch acknowledged he was caught a tad off guard by Iosefa's brute strength.
"He definitely made a good impression,'' he said. "He has good feet, and honestly we don't thump on the running backs [in practice], so I didn't know that he had a truck-stick ability like he does, but he definitely showed everybody out there."
To Iosefa, the play that put a charge into the crowd and into his teammates was no big deal.
"That was just a play we run,'' he said. "We took care of whatever our reads were and [Sensabaugh] was in the way. I was trying to make a play and take care of the ball.''
The road to Foxborough was quite a circuitous one for the 6-foot, 245-pounder. After starring at Hawaii, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Buccaneers last spring. He wasn't able to secure a spot in Tampa and was cut in August. Though the Buccaneers viewed him as a tweener, the Patriots, who worked him out in September, viewed him as a hybrid.
"He's somewhere between a bigger halfback and a smaller fullback,'' Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in November.
He spent some time with Brooklyn of the Experimental Football League before signing with the Patriots practice squad in October.
"I had to just keep working and keep grinding and let it work itself out,'' Iosefa said. "The opportunities come up and you have to take advantage of them.''
Iosefa has certainly done that. And he's quick to credit the guys with whom he shares the film room and backfield with helping him get up to speed.
"We've got some very good running backs, good guys,'' he said. "They're all very helpful and they help me understand stuff, so it's good.''
Deceptively athletic for a man his size, Iosefa played quarterback, linebacker, and safety in high school before a stellar four-year career at Hawaii, where he piled up more than 500 carries and 2,000 yards. Though he liked playing multiple positions, he likes where he's playing now.
"Football is football," he said. "There's X's and O's and everything's all related. I'm very excited doing what I'm doing here.''
It's a sentiment shared by his teammates — and fans, too.
Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com.