3 Players To Watch in Patriots’ Week 10 Matchup vs. Ravens
The New England Patriots head into a Sunday night matchup with the Baltimore Ravens this week. They do so boasting a three-way tie for their longest win streak of the season (that of course being a streak of one). After the foot of Nick Folk beat the New York Jets in dramatic fashion last Monday night, the Patriots enter their Week 10 matchup with a 3-5 record.
Sunday night is a must-win game for the six-time Super Bowl champions. A must-win in order to even appear on the playoff radar.
While you watch this game tonight closely with much at stake, here are three players to keep your eye on throughout the contest:
Adrian Phillips
This game is arguably what Phillips was signed for. Phillips' work against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' read option-style offense in the past is deserving of a gold medal. In fact, it's Phillips who even came out this week to talk about his knowledge of the Baltimore offense. The same offense that gashed the Patriots' defense last year for 37 points and 210 rushing yards.
After this year's draft process concluded, one of the big messages I harped on was the newfound versatility of defensive players like Phillips, Kyle Dugger and Josh Uche. I stated that this team was being built to have more versatility and more speed at the linebacker spot in order to hold up against the read options and RPOs, which caused some headaches for the New England defense last year. The defense appeared to be tailored to almost specifically stop the Jacksons and Deshaun Watsons of the world. The face of that plan was Phillips.
Phillips has been phenomenal in his tape against the Ravens so far. Phillips being a willing tackler with a nose for the football bodes well against the option plays Baltimore runs. He is instinctive and can fly towards the football untouched. He sets the edge well and can take down Jackson in space. With all that, I also failed to mention that he might also be the team's best tackler at linebacker. One would think that the team's best tackler at linebacker and a confirmed Raven killer should be a big part of the gameplan to stopping Jackson, the reigning league MVP.
Jakobi Meyers
Everyone can rejoice! The Patriots have found a capable, developing receiver moving forward.
After coming into a Monday night matchup against the New York Jets on his birthday, the now 24 year old walked into the game with 11 catches on the season and walked out with another 12 catches from that night alone. 169 receiving yards on 12 catches out of 14 targets for Meyers last Monday.
While his Monday night game was exciting and good things appear to be on the horizon, Meyers now faces his toughest task of the season. That is a matchup against a great young cornerback in Marlon Humphrey. While the sole fact that Humphrey could shadow Meyers could lead Newton to look at options like Damiere Byrd and Isaiah Ford more, watching this matchup will give a good sense of what we can expect the rest of the season from Meyers. Keep an eye out for the youngster as he heads into a matchup he may not be ready for.
Cam Newton
Some might be saying "Newton is practically on this list every week". Which is a valid point. Newton might have to simply be known as "the man to watch every week" from now on. However, Newton has been on this list so much mainly because of his up-and-down performance this season. Newton looks to be on an upward trajectory after a fine game in Buffalo and a good game in the Meadowlands. However, Newton is not a player to watch this week because of his recent success. In fact, he is on this list because this game could spell more struggles of old from Newton, rather than successes of late.
The tough news to come to grips with is that Newton just hasn't been great against the blitz this season, although things looked better against New York on Monday night. A banged up offensive line in New England also hasn't been entirely perfect in keeping pressure out of the face of their quarterback, which is understandable. With that being said, Baltimore is blitzing at the fourth-highest rate in the league (36.5% of snaps). They are also running the aggressive Cover-0 style defense at the third-highest rate in the league (7.4% of snaps, which is higher than the Patriots at 4.5%).
The good news is that New England handled the blitz better against the Jets last game. However, yes, it was against New York, the 28th ranked DVOA defense.
Now, we are talking about the Ravens' 5th ranked DVOA defense that allows a league-low 17.8 points per game. With that, more bad news. Newton's struggles this season have largely revolved around the blitz and man coverage, as opposed to zone, where he has been a stronger passer. With a blitz-heavy, frequent Cover-0 team like Baltimore studying up on Newton, he could be in for a long Sunday night if he's not careful.
Keep an eye out and cross your fingers that this game is not another bad game for #1.
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