Pats Pulpit
Ahead of their game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, we identified several X-factors that would be important for the New England Patriots to come with a victory. Given that they ended up beating the NFC South team with a final score of 42-13, it is safe to say that they succeeded in those key areas.
Let’s revisit them to find out where and how the Patriots managed to do it.
After turning the ball over five times in Week 3 against Pittsburgh, the Patriots put an emphasis on ball security heading into Week 4 against Carolina. It paid off: the team did not seriously put the ball in harm’s way at any point in the game, with an incomplete third down pass from quarterback Drake Maye on New England’s opening drive probably the most dangerous play of the afternoon.
Overall, however, Maye made sound decisions with the ball and looked decisive with his reads and rushing attempts. Meanwhile, the running backs also deserve praise: Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson both fumbled versus the Steelers, but the two veterans played a clean game a week later; the same also was true for rookie back TreVeyon Henderson.
“It was really good,” Henderson said after the game. “I think we did a good job as a group at holding one another accountable, encouraging one another, pushing forward, and not dwelling on the past. Coming to work this week, especially Rhamondre and Antonio, seeing how they approached practice this week, really encouraged me.”
The win over Carolina was the second game this year that saw the Patriots not turn the ball over. The sample size is admittedly small, but we’re going to say it nonetheless: they are 2-0 in those games.
Perimeter run game: New England’s running game had yet to find its rhythm entering Week 4, but the group did have a solid day against Carolina to finish with 106 yards on 26 carries — an average of 4.1 yards per run — and a pair of touchdowns. A significant portion came on runs to the outside, i.e. away from stalwart defensive tackle Derrick Brown: the Patriots had 75 yards when attacking horizontally and averaged 6.3 yards per carry on plays like these. Misdirection concepts played a big role in that.
TE Hunter Henry and TE Austin Hooper: The Panthers entered Week 4 as one of the worst teams in the NFL at defending tight ends, and the Patriots did take advantage of their insufficiencies in that particular area. Henry and Hooper combined to catch three passes for 63 yards and a touchdown on the day — not a massive output, but still important production on a day that saw the team take to the air just 17 times.
RG Mike Onwenu and RT Morgan Moses: The aforementioned Derrick Brown was a potential problem along a Panthers defensive line that had been inconsistent to start the year. However, New England’s...
