After 20 long years of pure dominance, the New England Patriots suffered a mediocre season in 2020, purely off lack of talent from the trenches to the skill positions. Because of this, New England finished the season 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. In 2021, the Patriots have made a statement so far, signing key guys in free agency to help get them back to the promise land after a disappointing season. Let us look at the key moves they have made so far and what is next for New England.

Defense

While the offense sparked the most scrutiny, the Patriots’ defense did not play up to par as well. Whether it was because of the lack of offensive productivity, the opt-outs of key players, or plain not enough talent on the defensive end, New England struggled on the defensive side of the ball. Just one day into free agency, New England addressed this issue in a big way. 

Led by Matt Judon, the Patriots emphasized their front seven, signing three players to fill this void. Besides Judon, the Pats also agreed to terms with DL Henry Anderson and Davon Godchaux, bolstering their defensive line. Judon agreed to the largest deal out of the three, agreeing to a four-year/ $56M contract the day free agency opened.

 New England also strengthened their back end as well, signing DB Jalen Mills to a four-year contract after a strong season at safety with the Philadelphia Eagles. Add to this the veterans coming back from opt-outs such as LB D’Onta Hightower and S Patrick Chung and the Patriots suddenly have a well above average defense.

The TE Room

Last season, the story of the offense was the lack of talent at the skill positions, specifically the receivers for QB Cam Newton to throw too. A part of that issue was the Tight End position, which produced under 250 receiving yards and just one touchdown in 2020. With obvious room to upgrade, the Patriots made an enormous splash, signing not one, but two big-name tight ends to expensive contracts. They go by the names of Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry. 

Starting with Smith, who scored eight times in 2020 with the Titans, he and the Patriots agreed to a four-year/$50M contract when free agency opened. This deal included a $15M signing bonus with an average salary of $12.5M per year. Smith might become QB Cam Newton’s favorite red-zone target, exhibiting a large frame and impressive hands, which is ideal for a tight end in the red zone.

Just a day after signing Smith, New England did not let up, signing former Chargers TE Hunter Henry to a three-year/$37.5M contract. Like Smith, Henry has an enormous frame with impressive hands while showing off good speed on vertical routes. When Henry is healthy, he has proven to be one of the games best and might be the move of the offseason for the Patriots. New England is going to be running a ton of two-tight end sets, which is something that Newton has had a lot of success with in the past.

The WR Room

While the Patriots made a big splash at the tight end position, that did not stop them from upgrading at the receiver position as well, starting with former Raiders wideout Nelson Agholor. After having a rough time with the Eagles, Agholor broke out in 2020, setting career highs in receiving yards, touchdowns, and yards per reception (Y/R), posing as a legitimate deep threat for Las Vegas in 2020. Agholor and the Patriots agreed to a two-year deal for $22M, giving him an $11M base salary. This move gives the Patriots a guy who can stretch the field and let Newton work in between the numbers, where he is at his best. An overall solid signing for the Pats.

While not the most glamorous move, signing WR Kendrick Bourne is a low-risk, high reward scenario for New England, after giving him a three-year, incentive-heavy deal with an opt-out after year one. Bourne has not gotten a true chance to play consistent snaps in the NFL yet but has shown signs of becoming a solid NFL receiver. In 2020, Bourne had 49 catches for 667 yards and two touchdowns while only starting five games (appearing in 15). If New England can catch lightning in a bottle, this can be a difference-making move for the Patriots’ offense.

What’s Next

Even with all these moves, there is still the possibility that New England continues to be active. Expect New England to continue to be in the market for defensive players, specifically linebackers and safeties to add depth. Also, they may be in the market for a running back who can catch passes with HB James White most likely going elsewhere. There have been rumors about HB Chris Carson being a target, but that might not be the greatest fit. A free agent like HB Philip Lindsay would fit in nicely, along with Duke Johnson or Jerick McKinnon. With the draft coming up as well, it should be interesting to see what direction the Pats move in and what positions they target before this upcoming season.

stats and info from profootballreference.com

contract details from spotrac.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

Rams Shut Down New England on TNF to Stay in First Place

To start off the last quarter of the season, the Los Angeles Rams hosted the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. The Rams were the better team going in and showed that all game long, dominating New England by a score of 24-3. Let us highlight the big moments in this game and what is at stake moving forward.

Rams Dominate on Defense

The Rams are enjoying a lot of success this season and a lot of that has to do with the dominance on the defensive side of the ball. Led by DT Aaron Donald and CB Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles came into the night ranked fifth in points allowed and second in total yards allowed. They also were tied for third in takeaways coming into the night with 20 (12 INT, 8 FUM).

This game proved to be the most impressive of them all, limiting the anemic New England offense to 220 yards of total offense, holding them to 3-13 on third down and 0-3 on third down. They also totaled six sacks (Donald 2, Brockers 2, Young 1, Fox 1) and forced one turnover. That turnover was a pick-six by Kenny Young, cutting off a screen pass and returning it 79 yards. The Rams defense took over this game and will continue to do so leading them to the playoffs.

Cam Akers

When the Rams offense is successful, it is a ground and pound offense that is complemented by the play-action pass. After a slow start to the season, rookie RB Cam Akers has started to turn the corner, tonight being his breakout game. The former Florida State standout had 29 carries for 171 yards while also catching two passes for 23 yards. In his last three games, Akers has carried the rock 59 times for 327 yards and two touchdowns.

As for the passing attack, it was pedestrian at best, but moved the chains enough to complement the dominant running game. QB Jared Goff went 16/25 for 137 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also scored on a QB sneak to start the scoring for the night. WR Cooper Kupp caught the only passing touchdown, while TE Tyler Higbee and WR Robert Woods added seven catches for 66 yards.

New England Comes Crashing Down

Before tonight, the New England Patriots were enjoying a nice little stretch, winning four of their last five with their latest being a 45-0 blowout over the Los Angeles Chargers. Against the Rams, the Patriots faced a harsh reality. They simply do not have the talent to compete yet and their offense is not dynamic enough to scare a defense. After throwing for over 300 yards against the Texans, QB Cam Newton has not combined for that number in his last three games and ended up getting benched tonight. RB Damien Harris ran for 50 yards tonight and the leading receiver had 49 yards. To top it off, they scored just three points. This offense is too stagnant and does not have any firepower, which has resulted in struggles. If it were not for head coach Bill Belichick scheming this team to victory, it is hard to see what their record would be.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead to Week 15, the New England Patriots (6-7) will travel to Miami to take on the playoff-hopeful Miami Dolphins (8-4), with the hopes to get back to .500 and keep their slim playoff hopes alive. As for the Los Angeles Rams (9-4), they will have a golden opportunity to boost their chances of winning the division against the New York Jets, who are yet to win a game yet this season.

Info and stats from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

East Brunswick, NJ – Going into week nine’s Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, Jets fans were at a standstill. On the one hand, this was a chance to pound on a weakened Patriots team on primetime football; a division rival they haven’t beaten since 2015. On the other hand, if they win, their window to acquiring the first pick in next year’s draft gets smaller and smaller. For Patriots fans, it was a similar situation. Do you want New England to join the #TankForTrevor race and deprive their divisional rival of a generational talent in the Clemson QB, or do you play for pride, and avoid losing to the only winless team left in the NFL? Let’s break it down here. 

Superman to the rescue!!! 

            Cam Newton started the 2020 season off looking like the potential comeback player of the year. In the first two weeks of the season, the former NFL MVP was on a tear; scoring 5 total touchdowns and throwing just one interception. Then, he and Stephon Gillmore, New England’s premier corner and the 2019 Defensive player of the year, both caught the Coronavirus, forcing Newton to miss New England’s week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs (a 26-10 embarrassment manned by Brian Hoyer and Jared Stidham). When Newton returned, he just wasn’t the same. In New England’s next four games, Super-Cam returned, but he was playing like Cam Newton that was essentially fired from the Carolina Panthers earlier this offseason. He was slow on his reads, had nine total turnovers (six interceptions, three fumbles), and was even benched against the 49ers for Stidham after he threw three picks and couldn’t even surpass 100 yards passing. Monday Night’s game against the Jets was Cam’s get right game, and looking at the box score, it looks like Cam got right; 27/35 (77% completion) for 274 yards passing, 16 yards on the ground on 10 carries, and two rushing touchdowns. But on the eye test, Cam was kept to a conservative playstyle by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Most of Newton’s passes were dump-offs, flats, shallow crosses, and curl routes, with Newton not attempting a pass more than 20 yards until the Patriots’ second-to-last drive of the game (a pass to Myers that could have gone for 20, but Myers stepped back in behind the conversion line to make it a 19 yard gain).  

            Overall, it was a winning formula for Newton and the Pats, with Newton limiting turnover opportunities and letting the running game take over. And boy, did it take over. Damien Harris (went out during the fourth quarter with a chest injury) and Rex Burkhead combined for 127 total rushing yards on 26 total carries, with Burkhead averaging nearly 5 yards per carry and getting a touchdown on the night. In the passing game, the Patriots were without their reliable pass-catcher in slot wideout Julian Edelman, nor former first-round N’Keal Harry (both out with injury). Instead, it was the Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd show! Byrd (5-65) was more the reliable short pass catcher for Newton, mostly targeted on curl routes and shallow drags for most of the night. Myers was the YAC Master, netting 12 catches for 169 yards, often finding holes in the Jets coverage and getting huge returns on short passing plays.  

            Only note to make about the Patriots defense;  

Jets’ tank still going strong 

            Joe Flacco sure picked a weird time to turn back the clock to being the “elite” talent he was during his days in Baltimore. In the Jets’ first six drives of the game, New York only punted once, with Flacco leading Gang Green to three touchdown drives and two field goals that helped keep the Patriots at bay for most of the game. Powered by a nitty-gritty running attack fueled by the old workhorse in Frank Gore (12-46) and the rookie up-and-comer La’Mical Perine (6-19), Flacco kept the Jets lead to 10 points twice in this game, hitting on his deep passes better than the supposed-franchise QB Sam Darnold ever could. Prior to the Jets last drive, Flacco completed 18/24 of his passes (75% completion) for 262 yards and a touchdown. He found deep threat, and former Raven teammate, Breshad Perriman (5-101) for two of Flacco’s touchdowns for the night; one coming off a 50 yard go route, the other a 20-yard go route, both blown coverages by cornerback Jaycee Jackson (more on him in a bit). Rookie wideout Denzel Mims (4-62) showed plenty of play-making promise for his third game of the year, using his 6’3, 207-pound frame to box out defenders for the ball all night. Jamison Crowder (2-26), the Jets leading receiver this season, pulled out an amazing toe-drag-swag play in the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown. The Jets defense did their best to keep the Patriots offense down. Going in without star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and losing slot corner Brian Poole to injury during the game really crippled New York defense, even though they are, objectively, the worst in the league, overall. Gregg Williams’ squad maintained a 10-point lead twice in this game, going into the 4thquarter with a 27-17 lead.  

            And then, the 4thquarter started, and the Jets did the most Jet-iest thing they could do; they melted down. After the Patriots put up a field goal to cut the Jets lead to seven, New York had two drives in the fourth quarter. The first ended in a single play; a ballsy, unnecessary deep pass by Flacco down the middle of the field to Mims on a deep post was intercepted by Jaycee Jackson (his sixth of the year) in double coverage. Patriots went on an 11-play, 72-yard drive that led to a one-yard QB sneak touchdown by Cam Newton. The next drive: a three and out in which Flacco took a sack on second down and two to stall the Jets’ momentum. From there, 47 seconds left, after punting the ball down to the Patriots 22-yard line, all New York needed to do was force a stall. Not feasible for this Jets D, as they allowed New England to march down the field for 45 yards, setting up Nick Folk, a former Jet Kicker, to win the game on a 51-yard field goal attempt. That kick would have been good from 60 yards, it was that good.  

            On the bright side, the Jets’ 2020 rookie class showed out on Monday night. Even though first-round pick Mekhi Beckton left the game with a chest injury, he played well for the one drive he was actually in. 3rdround safety Ashtyn Davis played like Jamal Adams; playing close to the line, forcing hard hits, and implementing good pressure on the quarterback. 5throunder Bryce Hall, who was called up from the practice squad earlier that day, was quiet for most of the night, but didn’t allow any major plays against him, and only had a holding penalty called on him. Punter Branden Mann averaged 41.5 net yards punting on his two punts on the night and looking like a potential Johnny Hekker for New York.  

What’s next? 

            At 3-5, New England is still in the hunt for that 7thplayoff sport, but the schedule doesn’t ease up anytime soon. They host the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. As for the Jets, they have a bye week coming up, but it doesn’t offer much comfort, as none of their next 8 games looks remotely winnable. Their first game coming off the week 10 bye; a cross-country trip to a 2-6 Chargers team that has a budding franchise QB of their own in rookie Justin Herbert 

Writer

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo