New England Patriots: Grading the 5 bold player predictions of Week 2
Ja’Whaun Bentley did not have a breakout game
The New England Patriots defense needed to come up big against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks and overall, they did not get a passing grade.
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Not only did Wilson pass for 288 yards and five touchdowns, he had a couple of big scrambles. It was not all on the back of third-year linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, but he was not the factor I predicted him to be.
With just four combined tackles, he came nowhere near the 10 predicted and also didn’t provide much pressure on Russell Wilson, but all of this could’ve been a result of how the defense was being called against the veteran quarterback.
In all, Ja’Whaun Bentley has to be more of a factor in the middle of that defense, especially against the run. Carlos Hyde rushed for just 22 yards on five attempts, but Seahawks running back Chris Carson had 4.2 yards a carry in rushing for 72 yards and burned the team for a receiving touchdown.
With the secondary as good as it is, a lot of teams will start targeting that second level of defense. That is where a young player like Ja’Whaun Bentley has to establish himself and be the hammer he was at the University of Purdue.
Grade: C+