Who Is Craving Mac Jones? The Patriots Aren’t.
Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. First, the Patriots bring the famous militia red jerseys for Sunday’s matchup against the Lions. Then, it’s time for the Zap attack.
The first four weeks of the season don’t matter in New England. The Patriots rarely jump out to a hot start to the season. In seasons that they won the Super Bowl, they started 1-3. It happened in 2001. What else happened in 2001?
Fast forward two decades and Patriots Nation finds themselves experiencing deja vu. Of course, no one can predict that Zappe will evolve into a GOAT, but we can hope. The rookie did a bit more than his job on Sunday, leading the offense into OT against the back-to-back MVP, Aaron Rodgers.
The Patriots need a win this week. But, even with Mac on the sidelines, The Patriots can do it. A famous actor once said, “life is a game of inches, and so is football.”
The Patriots Schedule Gives Zappe An Advantage.
Zappe had to make his debut in one of the most historical fields in NFL history, and he had to line up across one of its best defenses. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case in Week 4.
The Lions have allowed the most points per game with 35.5. They allowed Geno Smith to bulldoze them, and have yet to have a start-to-finish complete defensive performance. New England’s offense has more talent and depth than Seattle’s. After the Lions come the Browns, Bears, two games against the Jets, and a game against the colts, all of which are very winnable.
Zappe doesn’t need to play out of his shoes. He needs to be a maestro. His conducting of the offense decides the fate of the outcome. Relying on the run, short pass, and even throwing the ball away to avoid a sack are all ways he can keep the Patriots in the game, and most importantly, he needs to take care of the ball.
The Patriots Running Backs are Zappe’s Best Friends
Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson have been sensational this season. Both average around five yards per carry, and Harris has scored three touchdowns. The two-headed monster makes Zappe’s job easier, not only by shortening his required distances for first downs, but also by facilitating play action passing.
The Lions’ defense cannot stop the run. Last week, Rashaad Penny burst out for two long runs that ended in the end zone. It sucked the wind out of the Motor City Football Team. It’s time for them to experience their deja vu against this pair.
Get the Ball to the Patriots’ Best Receiver
That could be an open-ended question, but not to Patriot Pitts. It has one answer.
Kendrick. Bourne.
The man can do it all on a football field. He is the most versatile and reliable receiver on the depth chart, and one of the more explosive ones, but Patricia refuses to let him out of the dog house.
Bourne played a season-high 45% of snaps on Sunday. That’s embarrassing. Zappe needs a receiver like Bourne to lean on during critical plays, much like Mac was able to in 2021.
He’ll also need to try to distribute the ball to the rest of the Patriots’ weapons, Devante Parker, Nelson Agholor, etc… and with such a variety of weapons, he needs to use the right ones at the right time for the Patriots to be successful.
Whether we like it or not, Zappe is our guy in Mac’s absence. He proved that to the Foxboro faithful in Green Bay. It’s all about finding a way to win. Nobody does it better than the New England Patriots.
The Lions kick off a stretch of weaker opponents. Sunday will decide the fate of the season. God is a Patriots fan. We’ll be alright.
I mean… personally I’m feeling pretty confident with the Patriots in the next few games ahead 👇🏽 #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/KyvcpPSzSm — 🦉 Just Cece tweets (@JustCeceTweets) October 4, 2022
Go Pats.
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