Tag Archives: New Orlean Saints

Andy’s Candor: Matchup of the Game!

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“If a defensive lineman sacks a quarterback in the forest does he make a sound?”

The Patriots

That’s how I feel about the state of the defensive line of the New England Patriots. In the opener against KC they had some positives. Flowers had a good stat line of two sacks, six hits and eight pressures, but that was it. We knew coming into this season that the between the new faces and lack of star power manufacturing pass rush was the order of the day. The youthful energy and solid secondary would produce the finished product. So far, the returns are unimpressive. Other members of the front seven barely cracked the stat sheet, and with the loss of Hightower, the game against the Saints has taken an ominous tone.

The Saints

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 11: Everson Griffen #97 of the Minnesota Vikings sacks quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints in the third quarter of the game on September 11, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

But fear not Patriots Nation! If the state of our pass rushing sucks, then the offensive line of the Saints is downright deplorable! Heading out of training camp without LT Terron Armstead, they lost RT Zach Streif before two quarters of the 2017 season was over. This caused a normally explosive offense led by the prolific Drew Brees to fizzle and produce just 19 points. Including netting four field goals in the red zone.

Why it’s Important

This matchup is important for a multitude of reasons. Let the young guys get experience and confidence. Allow the Patriots defensive coaches to further gather information on their own personnel. Making sure that Drew Brees doesn’t get too comfortable and be able to pick apart the secondary. But, the biggest reason is that they need to prevent this game from becoming too big of a shootout. The offense still has kinks to work out and Brady has to be forced to trust other receivers on third down. And his Edelman and Amendola security blankets have been put in the wash and you have to get Tom used to the Hogan, and Cooks stuffy now, so it can pay off dividends in January.

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Patriots: On To New Orleans

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After the Patriots got their wake up Thursday night against Kansas City, it’s on to New Orleans to play the Saints on Sunday. The Patriots appeared lost on offense, defense, and special teams. It was unusual for the Patriots to have a distraction get in the way.

Too much play, not enough work?

What was the distraction? The banner ceremony for one.  But Brady and Bill have all the answers, right?  Some players might think that this game was going to be a cakewalk but that certainly didn’t happen. Like Belichick said,  “Last year was last year. This is a new year new team and everyone starts from the beginning.”

Another distraction?  The Patriots missed Julian Edelman Thursday night. Fans everywhere predicted that someone like Hogan, Cooks, Amendola would step up. For some reason, Brady couldn’t connect with anyone.  Or nobody could get open. I know Belichick doesn’t want to look to the past. But in 2014 when they lost to Kansas City, Belichick said the team fought to the end. Last Thursday it seemed like they just gave up. No fight. No urgency to win. Very unusual and sort of a kick in the butt that you won’t playing in Super Bowls with performances like that.

Brady and Belichick have shifted the team to only focus on this week’s opponent,  the New Orleans Saints. The Saints didn’t look good on Monday night in their loss to Minnesota. The Patriots haven’t practiced all weekend.  Puzzling. You would think after that performance Thursday, they would practice Sunday and Monday, off Tuesday, then practice on Wednesday. But the Patriots started practice Wednesday for the Saints.

The defensive line and the pass rush  need work.  Hopefully they get it together with these practices. I don’t see the Patriots going 0-2.  I do think they bounce back this week and they have a better game against the Saints.