3 Reasons the Eagles Will Blow Out the Patriots in Week 1
By Tyler Maher
2. The Patriots’ Offensive Line
Speaking of offense, have you guys seen New England’s offensive line lately? It’s, um, not great.
The Patriots added depth to their O-line throughout the preseason via trades and signings, but the unit is still loaded with question marks. There’s only one legit, proven tackle (Trent Brown), and he’s in decline. The group is also dealing with injuries to several key names in Week 1, which could leave them shorthanded come Sunday.
It’s also hard to have much faith in them after their ugly preseason performance. They consistently missed blocks and struggled with assignments in O’Brien’s new offense, often leaving Jones and the backfield to pay the price.
This is great news for our pass rush, which led the NFL in sacks last year, and which might be even better in 2023.
Haason Reddick is a legit Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and we’re crazy deep with edge rush talent around him. Losing Javon Hargrave doesn’t hurt all that much either, considering we’ve replaced him with Jalen Carter who already looks like a real threat to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. There aren’t many offensive lines in the entire NFL that have a chance at slowing down this group, and the Patriots’ certainly isn’t one of them.
Our defenders should have no problem getting through New England’s porous line and wreaking havoc in the pocket.
We’re going to have a field day against Jones and keep him running for his life. That will make it very hard for the Patriots to sustain drives, making it even more difficult for their already-limited offense to keep pace.