Patriots 2023 Season Thread

JC Jackson was a healthy scratch for the Chargers today. So far not re-signing him to a huge deal has been one of Bill’s best recent moves. Absolutely loving what I am seeing from Christian Gonzalez so far; guy absolutely looks the part of a true shut-down corner. Hope today gives them some momentum, got a few winnable games coming up

Jets were good enough to beat the Bills two weeks ago so I am not having any asterisk nonsense on the W. NE Played with 3 of top 4 CBs out & still held Jets to 170 yards.

One for the win column and now on to Dallas.

Jackobi was back and had another good game. This is really a debacle for Bill. JuJu has been useless.

It's also very concerning that in Patriots win, the only real story is how bad Zach Wilson is, and the Patriots were a completion away from being 0-3.

Dallas lost to Arizona so glass half full would suggest they're not the juggernaut everyone claims they are (plus that injury in their secondary is big)

Glass half empty is that you can expect Dallas to be dialed in after an embarrassing loss.

3 levels? He's a short area possession receiver with yac ability. The problem is he isn't on the same page with Jones, either no chemistry or doesn't know the plays. Plus those routes are better run by Bourne and Douglas. It's why I talked about trading Bourne early on after signing him, you can't have so many similar type players. Add in all the RB throws, too many players running routes in same area. It leads to them having those guys run routes they shouldn't be. Give me Boutte and Thornton, Boutte showed ability to get open deep and already has more chemistry with Mac Jones. Thornton adds speed when he's healthy. Heck I'd give Reagor a few plays a game now to see if he can run down a few deep passes a game.

Everyone made fun of Patriots not playing Bourne a ton last year. It made sense though, you need the right mix.

That or his knee is handicapping his ability to create separation and space.

Average yards per catch in air before yac, 7, 7.7, 4.4, 4.1, 6.0 and 3.7. That's 4.5 yards the last 4 years, he's not a guy that gets open down the field. Younger big Ben who was mobile and Mahomes running around allowed that to increase some on broken plays, it won't with Mac and this OL. Douglas is much better for those type of routes, plus he adds much needed speed. Bourne might be slow, but has unreal footwork to allows him to get open. JuJu game is a bunch of easy short passes where he picks up yac yards. He's simple been beaten out by an electric rookie slot WR.

This might be your only story. Others who watched the game saw a good NFL road victory under adverse field conditions. 

BAL lost at home to Indy. Dallas lost to ARI. Media darling JAX got manhandled by the Texans (and their rookie QB). NFL wins are never to be apologized for.

Reminder: Zach Wilson was good enough to beat the Buffalo Bills two short weeks ago. He was 14-21 and turnover free. 

Of course NE eliminated the Jets ground game which put the game on Zach & his receivers. Well coached & well played. And without any of the Jones boys. 

What I am heartened by after three weeks against a stiff early schedule (Week 1: 2022 SB Team w/dominant OL & DL; Week 2: 2023 Juggernaut Team; Week 3: alleged SB Roster sans QB Rodgers that does indeed have an excellent Defense) while acknowledging there is much to improve on, mostly on offense): 

Patriots Offensive Plays/Yards/Avg:      218  1020  4.7
Opponents Offensive Plays/Yards/Avg:  183   811   4.4

As much as the offense could stand to get better -- and I expect they will, given time -- the Patriots have so far more than held their own. Mistakes have hurt them, mostly the turnovers. That, and some uneven line play. But staying on the field is generally a factor in winning, and they are already doing that.

I think it was actually Kendrick Bourne who accidentally hit Sauce in the nuts.

EDIT: saw a different angle and yeah it was Mac, cheap shot. He needs to either stop doing that or to get out of the league.

Zach Wilson might be the worst QB in the league since Ryan Leaf. I have no idea what happened to Buffalo in week 1, but Wilson is truly atrocious. Any given Sunday is still a thing and a win is a win, but Wilson, despite being atrocious on Sunday, still almost won on a great throw to the end zone. I don't do the could of, should of in losses so not trying to do that with a win, but it was still extremely close despite the atrocity at QB. The game weather was terrible so there is an excuse to be made there, but the Patriots should have won by more than 5 with how that game played out. Wilson's lack of awareness gave the Patriots 2 and the ball.

Happy with the win, but it wasn't really a feel good win other than the fact it was one.

I have to say I'm surprised Baringer is rated that low. Huge leg, biggest issue coming out was inside 20 kicks, sitting at almost 60% and doing exactly what you want. Bill is clearly training him to be a complete kicker and when its complete he might be like the Jets punter. Hasn't been anything special so far, just given last year I'm surprised they think he's basically worst in league.

2nd I'd add Lowe, again kinda hard to Judge OL live sometimes, but against that very good Jets D, he looked much better than Anderson. Heck the whole OL frankly looked better pass blocking versus Jets than they did last year.

On the pass rush, would imagine White will get more snaps from the inside.