3 things to watch for Pats Panthers tonight
Preseason football for the New England Patriots kicks off tonight and we can finally see this team go up against competition instead of scrimmaging against each other. Here are my 3 things I will be keeping a close eye on.
Offensive Line
One of the most important positions on the offensive side got ignored this offseason and that would be left tackle. You draft Drake Maye, your next franchise guy, and don’t get anyone to protect him. Huge red flag in my opinion. From all accounts the o line has looked good during training camp but that’s going up against your own guys, let’s see how they look against one of the worst teams in the league last year. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod week 1 since it’s been a “throw something at the wall and see what sticks” approach.
2. Drake vs Joe
Coach Vibes came out and said Drake Maye will see the field tonight and so won’t Joe Milton. The one thing as a Patriots fan you do not want to see tonight is Drake Maye struggle and Joe Milton outshining him. This team and offensive as a whole has no identity and from all reports is going to be a disaster. What would be a bigger disaster and hit to Drake is if he struggles. It’s being reported that they are basically teaching Maye how to do 7 step drop backs and holding his hand as he gets used to the NFL play. If Drake is outshined by Milton this beat guys (Michael Felger in particular) will have a field day about how your 3rd overall pick got outplayed by a 6th round QB.
3. Coach Mayo
How does 1st year coach Jerod Mayo look coaching. It’s the first pre season game and it’s going to look weird as shit not seeing Bill Belichick roaming the sidelines. How many references of Bill will we hear tonight and let’s just see how Mayo handles this team. They are trying to get away from the Belichick era (they have shoved that down our throats this offseason) so let’s see how Mayo got prepared for the Panthers and see how this goes.
Yes I know it’s preseason (this is directed at you Patrick) it doesn’t count in the win loss column but you can still see what you have tonight on the field.
