There are two things preventing the Patriots from having a winning record. If they plan on moving above 500 before heading into their bye week, they'll need to overcome both of them.
MOBILE QUARTERBACK- Sam Ehlinger will be making his second start in an NFL game. Coming into Foxboro and going against Belichick typically doesn't end well for inexperienced quarterbacks. That being said, the 2022 Patriots are having a lot of trouble going against mobile quarterbacks and Ehlinger is a dual threat. As a sophomore at Texas he ran for a record setting 16 touchdowns as a quarterback. With the Colts having fired their offensive coordinator and still being without Jonathan Taylor, Ehlinger will really have his work cut out for him.
TURNOVERS- Stop me if you've heard this before, win the turnover battle, win the game. This year the team is 3-1 when they win the battle and 1-3 when they lose, ball control is still the key. While ball management is the responsibility of every player who handles the ball, it largely falls on the shoulders of the quarterback. While Mac has had his share of unlucky turnovers, he's also appeared to have a lucky horseshoe on some other plays which could have been disastrous.
6th SENSE- In my opinion a big thing that Mac appears to be missing from his game is knowing when he's in danger and making choices to play another down. So many of his bad throws you could see happening before he pulled the trigger. He also rarely appears to feel when the pocket is breaking down around him. If you think about some of the great quarterback plays, they all seem to have that split second where the quarterback took a step or two to avoid a would be sacker. This is something I just haven't seen from Mac at all. The way quarterbacks are protected at practice, I'm not sure if it is something that can really worked on in practice or if it either develops or doesn't through game experience and watching film. Looking back at Mac's college statistics, he likely never had to develop this "sixth sense" when playing at Alabama. In his 29 career games he was only sacked 19 times. I don't think this is because he was an escape artist, but more due to the line dominating their competition.
6th SENSE- In my opinion a big thing that Mac appears to be missing from his game is knowing when he's in danger and making choices to play another down. So many of his bad throws you could see happening before he pulled the trigger. He also rarely appears to feel when the pocket is breaking down around him. If you think about some of the great quarterback plays, they all seem to have that split second where the quarterback took a step or two to avoid a would be sacker. This is something I just haven't seen from Mac at all. The way quarterbacks are protected at practice, I'm not sure if it is something that can really worked on in practice or if it either develops or doesn't through game experience and watching film. Looking back at Mac's college statistics, he likely never had to develop this "sixth sense" when playing at Alabama. In his 29 career games he was only sacked 19 times. I don't think this is because he was an escape artist, but more due to the line dominating their competition.
SPECIAL TEAMS- Last week the Patriots had a pretty good day with special teams. Of course not quite knowing the rules and somersaulting into the endzone and giving the Jets the ball on 20 instead of the 1, was a black mark on day that we won't soon forget. While watching the Patriots play this year, it would be hard not to notice that our punts and kickoffs haven't been great. Well, the good news is that the Colts are also struggling with both of those aspects of the game as well. Hopefully, the Colts continue to struggle and Jake Bailey's improved play from last week continues today. With today's weather being perfect and the field likely in tip top shape, it should come down to execution.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Usually their strength, this year the offensive line is not doing a great job protecting the quarterback. Moreover, pre-snap penalties have consistently added distance between the ball and the endzone we are heading towards. Although the team will once again be without center David Andrews, I have a feeling that we might finally get a clean game. Not necessarily a clean pocket, but less pre-snap whistles at least.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Usually their strength, this year the offensive line is not doing a great job protecting the quarterback. Moreover, pre-snap penalties have consistently added distance between the ball and the endzone we are heading towards. Although the team will once again be without center David Andrews, I have a feeling that we might finally get a clean game. Not necessarily a clean pocket, but less pre-snap whistles at least.
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