Mark Morse's Archive:

The Patriots couldn’t have picked a worse opponent for their opening game of 2023.  The Philadelphia Eagles are the defending NFC Champions and gave the Kansas City Chiefs a heck of a game in the Super Bowl.

The New England Patriots have completed the OTAs, Mini-Camp, and Pre-Season, and we still don’t know what the team has because of injuries to the Offensive line.  I am confident that the proven Bill O’Brien system will work again in the NFL. 

Here are some thoughts following the New England Patriots’ cutdowns, along with a look back at my roster projections.

We all knew the Offensive Line was the one area of concern that we would be watching this Pre-season and it’s been an absolute train wreck.  Bill Belichick is panicking now because he ignored the need for Ots in the draft or earlier in the Pre-season. 

The final Patriots 53 man, roster projection ahead of cut down day for the New England Patriots.

The Patriots rested their starters in the final Pre-season loss to the Tennessee Titans.  The heat was brutal with a game time temp near 100o and the on-field temp was 110o. 

This is my latest shot at projecting the moving target known as the New England Patriots’ final 53-man roster. 

Former Patriots inside linebacker and now radio talk show host at 98.5 The Sports Hub, Ted Johnson was highly critical of the 1st team’s defense. 

The first Joint Practice was a mixed bag.  The Offense seemed to move the ball early but was stymied by poor O-line play by the 2nd unit in particular.  Bailey Zappe had no time to throw and would have been sacked 9 times.  It was reported by Andrew Callahan of the Herald that he was holding onto the ball too long.

Bailey Zappe was under duress constantly with the poor play of the Offensive line.  Despite this, he was 12 of 14 passing and his two incompletions were actually throwaways.  He had no turnovers.  There was also no running game as the runningbacks averaged 1.9 yards per carry.  Again the O-line couldn’t open any holes for the backs.

Some thoughts following the Patriots preseason loss to the Texans on Thursday night.

The Patriots have assigned new numbers to the rookies prior to tonight’s Pre-season game versus the Texans.

Houston will be led by first-year coach DeMeco Ryans, the former 10-year NFL Linebacker who was the Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Houston Texans. 

We are less than a week away from the 1st Pre-season game. The Patriots host the Houston Texans next Thursday at Gillette.

The Patriots DBs have dominated the WRs in the Red Zone during the early practices.