The Patriots should have an easy time keeping their ten game winning streak alive today. That being said, here are the things they need to take care of on the field to avoid an embarrassing loss to the Redskins.
PLAY 60 MINUTES- While the Patriots haven't struggled with this recently, it was a problem earlier in the season. Heading into the Jacksonville game Bill Belichick said they were going to focus on playing a full game. While that made for a complete dismantling of the Jaguars and the resurgence of the "running up the score" whiners, it is how things need to be done.
GET FIRST DOWNS- A month ago the Patriots had a 3rd down efficiency of over 60%, they are now second in the league with a a success rate of 47.1%. This is one of the few areas where the Redskins' defense has a bit of an edge. For the season they are holding opponents to a 39.3% efficiency on third down. Assuming the Patriots do face some third downs in today's contest, this should be an area to keep an eye on.
GET FIRST DOWNS- A month ago the Patriots had a 3rd down efficiency of over 60%, they are now second in the league with a a success rate of 47.1%. This is one of the few areas where the Redskins' defense has a bit of an edge. For the season they are holding opponents to a 39.3% efficiency on third down. Assuming the Patriots do face some third downs in today's contest, this should be an area to keep an eye on.
AVOID PENALTIES- The Patriots are the 16th most penalized team in the NFL this season. When it comes to offensive penalties, the team is third behind Tampa Bay and Buffalo. Having watched the games, you and I both know that a lot of these calls are pretty bogus. While there definitely has been some times when Gronk was guilty of pushing someone off of him, there have been several offensive pass interference penalties that were just plain old made up calls. I'm sorry if I still think back to the non-call on Gronk a few years ago whenever I see an offensive pass interference flag on a ball which was thrown to the left sideline and the "interference" was on the other sideline. If the defensive player couldn't have made a play, then it's not a penalty. Like Tom Brady says, "Read the rule book.
In case you were wondering, Tom Brady does lead the league in passing yards lost to penalties with 219.
OFFENSE INSIDE THE 10 YARDLINE- Assuming at some point our offensive line of scrimmage is inside the 10 yard line, we need to execute better. Without having looked back at the specifics of all of this year's games, I do recall several times when we've either had to settle for a ridiculously close field goal or four attempts to score. Inside the 10 is the one place where Brady has a pedestrian QB rating of 92.
TURNOVERS- While we could probably have a turnover or two and still have the game in hand, we need to hold onto the ball. In addition to the fact that a turnover doesn't go over very well with Belichick, not turning over the ball has to be pissing off the Patriot Haters. Remember last January when people said the Patriots didn't turn over the ball because of it being under-inflated? Well, what's their excuse now? The Patriots are once again tops in the NFL with only 3 turnovers. Yes, total turnovers after 7 games, the Patriots have 3. One of which was the completely unlucky Edelman deflection for Brady's only pick of the season.
In case you were wondering, Tom Brady does lead the league in passing yards lost to penalties with 219.
OFFENSE INSIDE THE 10 YARDLINE- Assuming at some point our offensive line of scrimmage is inside the 10 yard line, we need to execute better. Without having looked back at the specifics of all of this year's games, I do recall several times when we've either had to settle for a ridiculously close field goal or four attempts to score. Inside the 10 is the one place where Brady has a pedestrian QB rating of 92.
TURNOVERS- While we could probably have a turnover or two and still have the game in hand, we need to hold onto the ball. In addition to the fact that a turnover doesn't go over very well with Belichick, not turning over the ball has to be pissing off the Patriot Haters. Remember last January when people said the Patriots didn't turn over the ball because of it being under-inflated? Well, what's their excuse now? The Patriots are once again tops in the NFL with only 3 turnovers. Yes, total turnovers after 7 games, the Patriots have 3. One of which was the completely unlucky Edelman deflection for Brady's only pick of the season.
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