Patriots – Eagles Key Matchups, Who Has the Razor’s Edge?
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Patriots RBs vs Eagles Front Seven – Razor’s Edge New England
The Patriots running game has been largely stuck in neutral this season. Some of it has been design but some of it has to be blamed on the offensive line for not doing a good enough job of making holes for the backs to get thru. LaGarrette Blount is most effective when he gets to the second level; there his size and ability to break tackles are best utilized. Too many times this season, he’s getting bottled up at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Philadelphia’s run defense is currently 27th in the league allowing 126.6 yards per game. Their defensive line wears down in games due to being on the field for too long and their tackling suffers.
Look for the Patriots to try to wear down this Eagles defense with much more Blount and Bolden carrying the ball this week in a similar offensive game plan as when they faced a fellow NFC East foe, the Redskins. Blount carried for 129 yards in that contest and will be looked to again. Josh Kline had a rough week in Denver against Derek Wolfe but look for the Pats to run behind him more this week in the gap between NT Bennie Logan and DE Cedric Thornton.
Patriots WRs vs Eagles Secondary – Razor’s Edge New England
The Patriots injuries continue to pile up at a ridiculous rate, during the game in Denver, Rob Gronkowski went down and Tom Brady finished the game missing 74 percent of his production in the passing game.
Danny Amendola may play in this one and he’d be a big boost to the passing game. Brady will look to Brandon LaFell as well as Keshawn Martin in this one on the outside. We may see newly signed Demaris Johnson in the slot for a few snaps. Scott Chandler will take over Gronk’s role and although he doesn’t have the athleticism of Gronkowski, few other TEs do. Look for him however to attack the seams.
Philly’s pass defense is in free fall; their best corner Nolan Carroll was lost to a broken ankle Thanksgiving day and they put rookie Eric Rowe one-on-one with Calvin Johnson. The results were about what you’d expect. They moved Walter Thurmond to safety to solidify the back end ala what NE did with Devin McCourty but it hasn’t worked. Free agent Byron Maxwell came over from the Seahawks and has disappointed.
Even with a very depleted receiving core, Brady, given time will find plenty of open spaces to operate in. He should have a big day throwing the football.
Next up the Philadelphia offense:
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