New England Patriots: Players who need to start ballin’ following bye

Despite starting with an 8-1 record, the New England Patriots are not without their weaknesses.

The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots  are coming off a 37-20 loss at the hands of Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens’ offense was the first big test of the season for the vaunted Patriots defense. A test that this unit has failed miserably.

However, this defense had been on a historic tear in the first 8 weeks of the season. For example, allowing just 43 points over that span, which is 5.4 points a game. No team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 had allowed less than 6 points per game over 8 weeks. We can assume that this defense will recover from the loss and continue to dominate, and they will need to, as the schedule gets much harder.

The problems have come mostly on the offensive side of the ball. As the defense has had to bail the offense out a few times when the offense couldn’t do their part.

Here are a few players that need to step in up big time if the New England Patriots want to continue their dominance.