Its pretty understandable the Pats being underdogs this week. No defense in the league has been as effective in keeping points off the board in the last 5 weeks, while the Pats D has been hammered with key injuries. And one effective game on offense is not going to make people forget how inconsistent and ineffective the offense has been prior to the Steeler game.
Frankly I love the underdog role. This will be a great test for where our offense has progressed thus far. Anything more than 24 points by the offense against this defense will show that the Steeler game was no fluke and the offense is coming along just fine
What I'm still having trouble with is how we are going to stop other people's running games. Valano and Jones have done yoeman's work and have far exceeded everyone's expectations. But the fact is there were a dozen or more guys who are at the same talent level as these guys who were cut this year from teams with more talent on the DL. God bless them for making the most of their opportunities, but the fact is they are a match up nightmare for Patricia when he goes against any of the better OLs
The loss of Mayo only exacerbates the Kelly and Wilfolk losses, especially in coverage. He was the brains and tackling machine who covered up a lot of mistakes in front of him. Very underrated by many in the media and here.
Hopefully getting Talib back will allow the Pats to add that extra guy into the running game and help protect the DT's and LB's some. The downside of that is, with a rookie S likely getting the start, we could see the Pats susceptible to play action passing on Monday.
I think the win here will come more from the extra preparation we will have this week than anything else. Be solid, don't turn the ball over and play better special teams. I don't see a lot of sacks this week because so much effort will be spent keeping Newton in the pocket. So the game will be frustrating in that vein. On the other hand, I think we are going to attack the Carolina secondary, and I expect to see a return to the screen game and the "Welker routes" from Amendola and Edelman.
