New England Patriots: Keys to victory vs. Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers
Who are they? Patriots defense vs Panthers offense
On the opposite side, the Pat’s defense should have it comparatively easier as Israel called the Panthers’ offensive line the “weakest group on the team”. That will certainly help since NE’s defense is the worst in the NFL currently.
I’m actually more worried about the hands of Carolina’s lead running back, Christian McCaffrey, who turned heads last week with a 100-yard receiving game while leading the Panthers with 18 receptions. His running stats?
Related Story: New England Patriots will have their hands full with Christian McCaffrey
Not so much. However, he seems like the kind of guy who can break a game wide open with a big play such as Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt consistently did a few weeks ago.
Their actual wide receivers, Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess, will tower over Stephon Gilmore and Malcolm Butler. However, Benjamin is nursing a sore knee and has yet to catch a TD. Butler, by the by, improved significantly last week so I expect him to start over Eric Rowe who is still groin-impaired. Both cornerbacks have lots of experience handling big receivers.
Over all, I feel more comfortable about this one – kiss of death? I hope not – than I did about the Texans game. Defensively, I don’t care a fig about Newton. I don’t think the Panthers can match the Texans’ output while I expect our defense will be better than last week.
Offensively, with Cannon back, hopefully, the offensive line should be able to keep the Panthers defense at bay, allowing Tom, Gronk, Brandin, both James (White and Develin), Mike (Gillislee), and Danny to overwhelm the Carolinians.
Final Score: Patriots 31 Panthers 24
Go Pats!