Three Reasons The Patriots Could Win Superbowl LV

Danny Jaillet of Patriots Wire wrote an article "3 reasons why the Patriots could win superbowl LV". There's probably a few more reasons but what does Danny think? I'm a dive in and find out.

Even with departures on defense and special teams, the Patriots Still have two of the best phases in the game. That alone should guarantee them to be in the hunt for another AFC East title. Whether people want to admit it, the Patriots are still the team to beat in the AFC East, regardless of their schedule.

Rex Burkhead is a dual threat and every down back. Red shirt Damien Harris it is unknown if he's more than a north and south, ground and pound back. Being a third round draft steal, expectations are high on Harris to contribute in year two. Burkhead must show he can stay healthy and play consistent, while Harris has the potential to push both Bolden and Burkhead off the team depending on what he learned during 2019 and his play this preseason.

Sony Michel will need to show he is more than a one dimensional back. Backs who can't catch in the NFL are a dying breed. Sony's inability to develop into a passing target hurt the team's ability to keep defenses guessing. If Michel cannot find his hands, this could be the final season that he lines up in a Patriots backfield.

When Isaiah Wynn went down week two and the Patriots tried Marshall Newhouse at left tackle. Newhouse could not set an edge in the running game. Defenders were in the backfield whenever the Patriots ran the ball to the left side of the line. We won't discuss how fast he let them to Tom Brady on passing plays.

To make things worse David Andrews got hurt and while Karras did an okay job, when the Patriots lost James Devlin, they lost the the plow that opened holes up the middle. Johnson and Roberts did okay but had to be developed and Johnson got hurt just as he was picking things up. The Patriots added Danny Vitale to make sure they were covered but drafting a fullback might be in the cards.

Nobody saw or realized how much Rob Gronkowski's blocking meant to the team. Belichick tried to replace him but when Austin Seferian Jenkins was released to handle personal reasons, the Patriots had no time or options at tight end. The Patriots signed Ben Watson who soon after got suspended. The team ended up with three guys who had stone hands, subpar blocking and injuries that derailed development and threw the game plan out of whack. Just my opinion but I think Belichick was holding out hope Jenkins or Gronkowski would return.

According to Patriots.com the times and dates for their games are still yet TBD. So I don't get where Jaillet gets they're playing Buffalo, Houston and Kansas City in the first three weeks. It is true the Patriots have a tough schedule and as it sits now, could be facing five playoff caliber teams on the road. 

Add to that the Patriots always seem to struggle in Miami and the Team could be 2-6 on the road. While that wouldn't eliminate them from the playoffs, they would have to go nearly undefeated at home. The Patriots will play the following teams on the road: Buffalo Bills, LA Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, LA Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans.

Even Adam Gates who many say cannot coach, has wins under his belt and thus is no guaranteed for the Patriots. We all know it only takes any given sunday for Gase to get lucky and win his superbowl by beating Belichick. The Patriots need all four phase of the game, Offense, Defense, Special Teams, and Coaching to be on. There is no room for error in 2020.

The defense played well. However, the injuries to the offense, poor offensive play calling, inability to run behind Newhouse or throw to Sony out of the backfield, and The 42 year old quarterback refusing to help develop pass catchers hurt the defense. 

Defenses win championships. We saw that in superbowl LIII. Defenses are not supposed to win games but do on occasion, they're definitely not supposed to win seasons while the offense plays like a division 3 college team. The University of Rochester's Yellow Jackets could've stopped Brady's offense in 2019.

During the first half of the season, especially against Miami week two, the Defense had to score because the offense was struggling to beat a team that just gave up 50 plus. The reason the Patriots lost games in 2019 was because the defense was not putting enough points for on the board. Defensive scoring is why they went 8-0. The only game I give the offense a pass was versus the Chiefs in the regular season.

The Patriots lost their linebackers, Collins. Van Noy, and Roberts. They still have Hightower and Bentley. While Rivers, Wise, Calhoun, Simon, Bower, Hall, King, and Winovich could play linebacker. The Patriots also lost Danny Shelton and Butler is still a wait and see. The Patriots still have Thurman, Guy, Davis, and sophomore Cowart plugging their defensive Interior.

The team will reload with the draft but it doesn't matter. The team is stacked with defensive backs. The team runs a Nickle Base and could easily run a Dime,  Quarter, or Dollar base defense. At the moment, it doesn't matter if it's a 1-5-5, 2-4-5, 3-3-5, 4-2-5, 5-1-5, 3-2-6, or even a 3-1-7 base formation the Patriots have the personal to match up. 

Belichick knows how to put personal in the best positions possible to win. With more teams going pass happy, with running quarterbacks and subpar running backs, the More defensive backs on the field, the better the Patriots odds are. The Patriots had not only the best starting secondary but the best depth chart at secondary. As long as the Patriots have an over abundance of safeties, they don't need to load up on linebackers.

As long as the Patriots have a quarterback who can game manage and not make mistakes, there's no reason to think the dynasty is over. Brian Hoyer is one of the most intelligent game managers in the league and Jarrett Stidham is a fourth round quarterback with first round talent. Stidham who sat a year under Brady studying and getting a fast track development due to Brady being injured during practices. The Blitz for seven is still on.

 

https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2020/04/11/3-reasons-the-patriots-could-win-super-bowl-lv/3/