New England Patriots: 5 key players in Week 10 battle vs Ravens
Here are five bold player predictions in the New England Patriots Week 10 battle against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Do the New England Patriots have a shot at upsetting the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night at Gillette Stadium?
If they do, it’s going to come down to the running game on both sides of the ball. Can the Patriots’ defense somehow slow Lamar Jackson and that fast and powerful running attack?
On the other side of the ball, can Cam Newton and the Patriots rushing attack find a way to play ahead and keep that Ravens stout defensive line off-balance? If they find a way to do both of those things and also eliminate mistakes, Bill Belichick and his team will improve to 4-5 and find themselves right back in the mix of playoff contention.
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It will be a daunting task given the team’s struggles on both defense and offense, but anything is possible in 2020, especially when confidence starts to build. As for Belichick and his outlook for this game, he knows it all starts on the defensive end.
"“Yeah, when you play the Ravens, it’s really about team defense,” Belichick said during his conference call Friday, via Patriots.com. “They have a lot of options on every play, so you’re not just trying to stop one thing. Whatever you do, they have potentially an answer to it. So, if you take away one thing, they have something else that’s built into the play. It’s a lot of post-snap reads for the quarterback and he makes a lot of good decisions.”"
So, it sounds like discipline as well as being in the right position to makes plays is going to be crucial in this game. On both sides of the ball, the New England Patriots will have to have players step up and make things happen. Here are five players predicted to play big in this Sunday night matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
Josh Uche will have his most productive game
If the New England Patriots are to have success slowing Lamar Jackson in this game, it’s going to come down to speed on defense.
While it’s obvious the Patriots’ defense lacks depth in speed, one player who should be able to make some plays is rookie linebacker Josh Uche.
Undersized, the Michigan product has the speed and talent to make some plays, which he really only got an opportunity to do against the Buffalo Bills in which he did deliver some pressure on Josh Allen.
If he does get the defensive snaps (and he should) in this game, it could be the coming out of the second-round pick who, due to injury, hasn’t had much opportunity in his rookie season.
With how the New England Patriots defense has been dominated by the run in the past few weeks, it’s time for Bill Belichick to see what this kid to do. At this point in the season, there is nothing to lose.
Expect Josh Uche’s name to be called a lot in this game.