Many people have predicted that the Patriots linebacker unit will be successful this year because the team is being led by Jerod Mayo, Linebackers coach, and Bill Belichick, Head coach/Defensive Play-caller.
The Patriots faced the Steelers on Sunday September 8, 2019. Patriots started the season on the right foot with a 33-3 victory. This was the beginning of the season and the Patriots didn’t fail to disappoint.
As opening games go, this one proved to be exciting for Patriots’ fans, with people believing that this team has the potential to be better than the previous ones that have won three of the past five Super Bowls.
The Game in More Detail
Offensively, Tom Brady three for three scores and 341 yards, 251 of those went to his top three receivers. All of this was without Antonio Brown, one of the NFL’s best receivers, who is set to join the squad later in the week.
On defense, Stephon Gilmore handed JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Steelers went 3-for-12 on third down but only managed to reach the red zone once. All this without Kyle Van Noy, who was believed to be one of the Patriots’ best defenders in the Super Bowl, who also wasn’t playing the game against the Steelers.
Stephen Gostkowski, who had previously dealt with a lot of criticism during preseason, even managed to prove his critics wrong by delivering all four of his field goal tries.
It seems all the pieces of the Patriots team came together in their game against the Steelers, including Isaiah Wynn’s first career game where he started at left tackle, and Josh Gordon returning from suspension.
“The New England Patriots have several players who are hoping to prove people wrong this season, including Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, and Ja’Whaun Bentley. The burning desire to prove people wrong could well be the Patriots’ main motivational tool of success, ” says Joe Jenkins, a fitness spokesperson from thegoodestate.com.
“As it could be yours, if you’re interested in playing into American Football. There are many opportunities to play the game both professionally and as a hobby. If you want to prove people wrong and feel like you have what it takes, then you should start playing,” explains Joe Jenkins.
The Negative Takeaways
The opening game showed that the Patriots can succeed even without some of their top players on the field, but the team still came across as a little rusty. They need to focus more and get their head in the game.
As was seen, when Marcus Cannon got an arm injury which forced him from the game. Some also believed that the Patriots running game was not up to scratch, as they attempted several times to get through and cover some ground but to no avail. With Sony Michel who only managed to gain 14 yards with his 15 carries, and overall the team averaged 3.4 yards per rushing attempt.
