The Patriots must get by way of only one extra sport earlier than their late Week 14 bye.
The two-10 Giants will come to Gillette Stadium on “Monday Evening Soccer” to face off in opposition to the 10-2 Patriots. Right here’s what we’re watching within the Week 13 matchup:
• All of it begins with the offensive line. Left deal with Will Campbell is out for 4 video games on injured reserve, and left guard Jared Wilson will even miss Monday evening’s matchup, although he’s prevented an IR stint up up to now whereas battling an ankle damage. Who replaces Campbell and Wilson? Count on Vederian Lowe, in his third season with the Patriots, at left tackle, and Ben Brown to proceed to fill in at left guard.
• The Patriots do have two different choices to play left deal with in rookie Marcus Bryant and Thayer Mumford Jr., who was simply re-signed off the Browns’ observe squad. If the Patriots wanted a fill-in at proper deal with, it could most likely be Bryant’s job. Mumford beforehand began video games for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with the Raiders, however he simply got here again into the constructing this week after a brief stint with New England early within the season. Lowe struggled mightily in 2023 when he was tasked to play proper deal with, when left deal with is his extra pure place. He was higher final season whereas solely aligning at left deal with. We’ll see how he appears to be like this week with a full week of observe as a starter below his belt and in a brand new system with McDaniels at offensive coordinator and Doug Marrone, Jason Houghtalin and Robert Kugler instructing him new strategies as offensive line coaches. Don’t anticipate him to be an ideal facsimile for Campbell, however it could not be stunning if he performs higher with improved teaching and expertise round him for the subsequent 4 video games.
• Brown was a middle final season however performed guard in school at Ole Miss. He stuffed in properly for Wilson in Week 4 in opposition to the Panthers however struggled extra final week in opposition to the Bengals. If Brown performs in addition to he did in Week 4, there can be a dramatic dropoff from Wilson to Brown, who’s an even bigger however much less athletic offensive lineman.
• It’s a troublesome take a look at for the offensive line this week going through the Giants, who’ve a foul file however nonetheless possess loads of expertise. Move rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter are each first-round abilities. Defensive deal with Dexter Lawrence is likely one of the greatest within the sport.
• This is able to be a very good sport for quarterback Drake Maye to do away with the ball faster. Large receiver Stefon Diggs already stated this week that his place group must be decisive and get open rapidly. If Maye holds onto the ball too lengthy, the pocket might collapse, leading to sacks and potential turnovers. It could possibly be an enormous sport for Diggs and tight finish Hunter Henry if Maye must depend on his most trusted targets to get open quick.
• The Patriots’ run sport have to be a lot better this week, even with backups on the offensive line. McDaniels acknowledged this week that he should do higher as a play-caller down within the deep pink zone. The Patriots ran six performs from their 1-yard line of their win over the Bengals and couldn’t get inside the tip zone, turning the ball over on downs as soon as and settling for a discipline objective the subsequent time.
• The Patriots have used defensive deal with Khyiris Tonga as a short-yardage fullback this season, however he’s coping with a chest damage and is questionable to play. Might they job another person with that position, whether or not it’s an athletic defensive deal with like Jeremiah Pharms Jr. or Cory Durden or a backup offensive lineman? Jack Westover has improved as a fullback this season, however he’s been higher blocking in area than getting a push in brief yardage.
• The Patriots’ line of defense additionally should defend the run higher this week. They’ve struggled since Milton Williams went down with an ankle damage. The Giants are prime 10 in dashing makes an attempt, dashing yards and dashing touchdowns this season. Chase Brown was in a position to exploit them final week in opposition to the Bengals. It will be useful to have Tonga obtainable. If he can’t play, it could improve the roles of rookies Joshua Farmer and Eric Gregory and may necessitate a observe squad call-up of Jeremiah Pharms.
• With special-teams captain Brenden Schooler out, anticipate a number of gamers to fill his numerous roles quite than seeing a 1-for-1 swap. Cornerback Miles Battle, who simply signed off the observe squad this week, definitely has the velocity to contribute as a gunner. He ran a 4.37-second 40-yard sprint at 6-foot-3, 196 kilos popping out of Utah at his professional day in 2024.
• This feels prefer it could possibly be a lure sport for the Patriots. We’ll nonetheless decide the Patriots to win 27-20 in a matchup that appears nearer than the staff’s information point out.
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