Week 8 Preview – Patriots Edition
By: William Ferran
Gainesville, VA - Another week, and another crushing win for the still undefeated New England Patriots, (7-0), who dominated the New York Jets in week’s 7 Monday night matchup with a final score of 33-0. In a repeat stellar performance, the Patriots defense are living up to their adopted name, “the boogeymen”. With four interceptions and holding the opposing Jets to only 86 passing yards and zero touchdowns, it was no wonder Jets quarterback Sam Darnoldwas recorded saying he was “seeing ghosts” on the field, a product of an overwhelming Patriots defense.
A rather quiet night for Brady who recorded 249 passing yards from 31 of 45 attempts, along with one touchdown, and one interception, his fourth of the season. He targeted eight different offensive players, sans wide receiver Josh Gordon, with running back James White recording the most passing yards, (59), with no touchdowns. Running back Sony Michel had a productive night even with low rushing numbers, (42 yards), managing to score three touchdowns. Brady’s only passing touchdown was scored by wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, who finished the game with 46 yards from three pass catches; a welcomed relief to this offensive squad who have been struggling to find help in prior weeks.
Jump to Tuesday morning and everyone except for Patriots fans were shaking their heads in disbelief that, after a dominant Monday night game, Bill Belichick acquired veteran wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from the Atlanta Falcons for a second-round draft pick. In his eighth NFL season, the 6-foot-2, 210 pound Sanu gives the Patriots an inside target that should helptake some pressure off top wide receiver Julian Edelman. It will also help the Patriots replace wide receiver Josh Gordon, who after missing this past game, was placed on the injured reserve list, ending his season with a reported knee injury. In other team transactions, it was reported Thursday that the Patriots traded defensive end Michael Bennett to the Dallas Cowboys for a conditional 2021 seventh-round draft pick. Bennett completed his stint with the Patriots with 2.5 sacks.
In other news, much discussion has been given to Brady’s remarks this week after asked about retirement, which he replied to as “taking it day by day” and not knowing “what the future holds”. Media outlets have been rampant discussing the options of whether he would stay with the Patriots in the 2020 season, whether he would retire after this one, or that he will play for a different team in hopes of answering that age old question… could Belichick and Brady still be great without each other?Time will tell.
In the meantime, the Patriots are getting ready to host the 2-4 Cleveland Browns, who have a potent offense that has yet to shine this season. Look for the Patriots defense to continue their “ghostly” ways. The game is scheduled for October 27th at 4:25PM EDT.