New England Patriots: 3 storylines to watch in week 1
By Sam Minton
Can the Patriots rely on their defense?
Patriots fans don’t have fond memories of New England’s defense. We all remember how awful the defense was in the Super Bowl. No one could make a tackle and Nick Foles looked like an MVP quarterback thanks to New England’s poor effort
This season the Patriots are without Malcolm Butler so the secondary will be challenged a lot. Stephon Gilmore will have to shut guys down and Eric Rowe and Jason McCourty need to step up their play.
The one thing that the Patriots have going for them is that they have a quality pass rush. Trey Flowers and Adrian Clayborn could be a dangerous duo on the edges. When you add in Dont’a Hightower coming from the outside it gives fans hope that the Patriots defense may actually be good.
The Patriots offense may be able to put up plenty of points but that doesn’t matter if the defense can’t stop opposing offenses. With Tom Brady’s weapons not being as mighty as they once were the defense’s success is even more important.
If the Patriots defense struggles this could be a long season.