Here is one really bold prediction for New England Patriots first-round pick, quarterback Mac Jones in his rookie season in Foxborough, and it’s a doozy so fasten your seatbelts.
The prediction here is that on Sunday night, October 3 at Gillette Stadium in week four of the season, Jones, who won the starting role from Cam Newton, will beat Tom Brady and the Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This prediction not only comes with the outcome of that game but it comes with much, much more.
It’s also going to be revealed in this space just how the intuitive Jones and the Patriots will proceed to accomplish this feat…read on.
How Mac Jones and the New England Patriots will beat Tom Brady and the Bucs on October 3
No question that this is a bold prediction for a team that won only seven games last season with a terrible offense and a vapid defense.
Yet, it says here, the revamped Patriots will indeed beat the defending champion Bucs led by former Patriot super-icon, Brady in Week 4.
So, just how is this seemingly unreasonable, unlikely, and wholly unexpected cycle of events going to happen at Gillette on October 3? This is how.
That’s right, the uber-talented Mac Jones and his New England Patriots offense are the keys to the win against Brady’s Bucs. It’s a massive match-up. Here’s how they’ll do it.
The main focus of this blockbuster prediction is a back to the future move by the Patriots to a long-ago strategy to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
The strategy simply stated is, you keep the ball away from the opposition and the greatest quarterback of all time. If you do, he can’t score to beat you. That’s how it will be done.
There will likely be no one in the NFL who is more endowed with just the right attributes to do this than the Patriots rookie Mac Jones. Here are the particulars.
New England Patriots running game the key to beating the Bucs
Basically, the parameters to win this game are ridiculously simple. You keep the ball out of the hands of the all-time best quarterback in the business, Tom Brady.
The method is also crystal clear, you grind out time-clearing drives and critically, keep drives alive with tough short-yardage running and pinpoint passing when required. How can they do this?
First, The New England Patriots and Jones have a multi-faceted running game loaded with versatile performers all of whom can gouge defense for big gains on any given play.
The group of Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson, James White, and J.J. Taylor is built to slash, gash, and run over, around, and through any NFL defense. This is the best group in the NFL.
They can run through you with Damien Harris. They can run over, through, and by you with “Ram” Stevenson.
They can run around and through you with dynamo J.J. Taylor, the Dion Lewis clone. And, they can all catch the ball, spearheaded by James White.
The key to rounding out the offense will be Mac Jones who will do what has to be done to beat the reigning champion, Brady.
The running game is the key to the win. You grind out yards, play-after-play, and secure drive-extending first downs (hello Stevenson on short-yardage).
Then, you cap off drives from in-close by scoring touchdowns. The emphasis here is to score touchdowns, not settle for field goals.
These were two critical components of success on the football field the 2020 New England Patriots just could accomplish, absent the absolute heroics of one Cam Newton.
When necessary the scrupulously accurate pin-point passing of Jones will do the rest to keep drives alive for running scores or finish them himself with needle-sharp accurate passes.
He will be able to so finish off drives with scores due to a much much better supporting cast than either he had in the pre-season or Cam Newton had all last season.
Alternatively, Jones will execute on screens and dump-offs from quarterback Mac Jones flawlessly, and when necessary, he’ll rip a 20-yarder on third and long to keep a drive going.
The end result is time/clock management and eight, nine, and 10-minute drives spearheaded by a New England offense that will leave Brady and the Buc’s vaunted offense on the sidelines.
No Brady, no offense, and no points are exactly how the Patriots will outmuscle and outfox the defending champions on the way to the win.
The New England Patriots offensive line and titanium armored defense steps up
The “outmuscling aspect” will be delivered by the Patriots widely acknowledged top-five offensive line.
Their task, of course, will be keeping Mac Jones clean in the pocket and gouging gaping gorge in the defensive front for the running backs. From left to right they are quality players.
Musket Fire
Left guard Isaiah Wynn is a master craftsman of footwork. Right tackle Michael Onwenu is a road-grading massive presence outside, with the versatility to play inside.
Center David Andrews is a Pro-Bowl level player without the accolades. Right guard Shaq Mason is an unsung plowing menace of a run blocker.
And finally, a favorite in this space, Trent Brown is an immovable, massive immovable force who is like the Great Wall on whatever side of the offense he happens to be.
Brown (who this writer would prefer played on the left with Onwenu) will not only lock down any defensive lineman or edge but will open holes for the backs as wide as the Ted Williams Tunnel.
This group both opening running lanes and protecting Jones when he has to pass will be the key to the entire Patriots strategy to topple the reigning kings from their perch.
Then, when the Bucs actually do get the ball after the Patriots have scored (or maybe once or twice on a punt perhaps), that’s where the top-five defense comes into play.
The defensive line is much improved with Davon Godchaux, Henry Anderson, and Christian Barmore joining established veterans Lawrence Guy and Deatrich Wise Jr.
Led by returnees Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy, newcomer and Pro-Bowler Matt Judon, and pass-rushers Josh Uche and Chase Winovich the second level is ironclad.
And, a defensive secondary led by the incomparable Devin McCourty, ballhawk par excellence, J. C. Jackson, and tough-as-nails Adrian Phillips will make life difficult even for the GOAT himself.
That’s how the New England Patriots will achieve the seemingly unattainable and take down the defending champions on October 3.
It will be a great day for Patriot Nation, a shock to the NFL, and a new beginning for the home team.
This Patriots team may also achieve far more than just this important yet symbolically truly special win.
Watch for this author’s season-long prediction to follow. It will be shocking, to say the least. How do you think the Mac Jones and the Patriots will fare against the Bucs?
Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear your views.