NFL
By: Steve Atkinson
The Patriots got the win over the Colts on Sunday. Despite the win, there are some takeaways you can get from the game. Both offensive lines for the Patriots and Colts are terrible. Neither offensive line can protect the quarterback. Even with Jones passing for 147 yards he only had one touchdown and zero interceptions. It did take a long time for the Patriots offense to get going in this game. Thank God for the blocked punt heading into halftime that led to a touchdown. Other than that, the offense was kind of blah.
The Patriots Head Into The Bye Week 5-4
Matthew Judon is the best player on this Patriots team period. He had three sacks on the day and the Patriots got to Sam Ehlinger 9 times today altogether. What an amazing game by the defense getting to the quarterback who is obviously bad. I think the Patriots had to win this game to gain some confidence heading into the tougher part of their schedule. It doesn’t get easier after the Jets game in two weeks.
I would like to see the offense get off to quicker starts. Mac Jones still looks uncomfortable out there most of the time. I feel like they won this game because the Colts are bad, the defense played lights out, the special teams had a blocked punt, and Nick Folk doesn’t miss. I think the Patriots need to score touchdowns more than to settle for field goals when they get into the redzone. But they have been having this problem for a few years now. So, does this win say more about the Colts or the Patriots? The answer is the Colts that are a dysfunctional mess, and the Patriots still have a problem offensively.
David Andrews Will Hopefully be back in two weeks
Having David Andrews out is a huge blow to that offensive line for the Patriots. He is basically the offensive line coach and player when he’s out there. It wasn’t that much better when he was in there however it was better than it is now. Isaiah Wynn isn’t good, and we’ve been saying that for a while now. Marcus Cannon is now on IR and Cole Strange gets a lot of penalties. They’re going to get Mac Jones out for the season if they aren’t more careful about protecting him on the offensive line.
It seemed like Mac was more conservative with the ball so he wouldn’t turn it over. I put that on what he’s been given between the coaching staff and the offensive line. Zappe looked different because they were calling different plays for him. I have yet to see them do that for Mac Jones. But overall, it was a good win to head into the bye with a winning record. Mac knows he can play better and so does the offense. However, you can only do so much with the tools you have. And the tools aren’t great. Hopefully, with the week off guys will get healthy enough to have a strong second half of the season starting with the Jets in two weeks.
Looking Ahead To The Second Half Of The Season
Looking ahead we will see what this Patriots team is really about. They should beat the Jets in two weeks and then have two tough matchups with the Vikings and Bills. I think both of those games will probably be losses. Minnesota has better weapons on offense and the Bills are the top team in the AFC. Maybe they sneak wins against the Cardinals and Raiders before playing the Bengals on Christmas Eve day.
