Week 7 Preview – Patriots Edition
By: William Ferran
Gainesville, VA - After week 6 of the NFL season, the New England Patriots, (6-0), remain the only undefeated AFC team. In their latest outing, the Patriots hosted familiar Super Bowl foes, the New York Giants on a Thursday night game. In a surprisingly tough game with a banged up and depleted Giants team, the Patriots managed to come away with another victory that was accentuated by a number of new records. The most unusual; Tom Brady is now the oldest player to have multiple rushing touchdowns in a game at 42 years and 68 days old, after recording two rushing touchdowns against the Giants.
In a game that had no passing touchdowns, Brady finished the game with 334 passing yards from 31 of 41 completed attempts, and six yards rushed for two touchdowns. In addition to the rushing record, Brady is now sitting in the number two spot for all-time passing yards, previously held by Peyton Manning. The number one spot is currently held by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Other offensive records noted from the game included Julian Edelman now third for most catches in team history, only following Wes Welker and Troy Brown, (placed at number one and two, respectively).
The defense continued to show why they are the best defensive group in the league, scoring two out of the five touchdowns the team had in the game, and allowing only one touchdown from the two the Giants scored. Second Giants touchdown came from their defense via a sack fumble recovery. Chase Winovich, rookie defensive end, recorded his first NFL touchdown from a blocked punt returned for six yards, and linebacker Kyle Van Noy, also scored his first touchdown of the season from a fumble return for 22 yards.
With the trade deadline looming, a lot of rumors and speculations are being thrown around in media outlets. Players potentially under Bill Belichick’s radar include wide receiver A.J. Green from the Cincinnati Bengals, wide receiver StefonDiggs from the Minnesota Vikings, and of course, the ever rumored return of tight end Rob Gronkowski. Now a Fox Sports analyst, the former three time Super Bowl winning tight end, put to rest such rumors, indicating that a return is not likely.
While the Patriots offense would greatly benefit from adding any of such players, help is coming to the offensive group. First round rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry returned to practice this past week after being placed in the injured reserve list during the pre-season and will be eligible to play week nine. The Patriots also re-signed former Patriot and veteran tight end Ben Watson, after a roster spot opened from placing fullback JakobJohnson on IR. A timely move as injuries to the two current Patriot tight ends, (Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo), were reported after the last Thursday night game.
Up next, the Patriots are on their way to the Big Apple to meetdivision rivals the New York Jets, facing off for the second time this season. The Patriots beat the Jets in their week 3 matchup with a final score of 30-14. But with the Jets coming off a great win over the Dallas Cowboys, being led by their returning starting quarterback Sam Darnold, and home stadium advantage, look for a competitive Monday night game, scheduled for October 21st at 8:20 PM EDT.