Patriots: Matt Judon, Josh Uche necessary forces to disrupt Joe Burrow
After the disaster in the desert, no one is really giving the New England Patriots a chance to upend the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, even at Gillette Stadium.
How in the world can a dysfunctional Patriots’ offense led by Mac Jones and the play calling of Matt Patricia keep up with Bengals’ offense featuring Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and running back Joe Mixon? Well, they may not have to if the defense comes to play, namely the emergence of one Josh Uche and the continued dominance of Matthew Judon.
It is no secret that Judon will have to be a factor in this game, but Christian Barmore and Uche will need to also be disruptive against a top-five quarterback who finds ways to win even when he is not having his best game. Against a not-so-great offensive line, the Patriots front seven may have a chance to cause some chaos, which should help their offense.
New England Patriots due Matt Judon and Josh Uche must be disruptive
But, of course, part of the Patriots struggles this season has been not taking advantage of situations. Against a poor offensive line, Judon and Uche should have a field day in this Week 16 matchup unless Cincinnati’s offensive line who caters to the Patriots one strength in this game.
"“They have to protect up front,” Sports Illustrated’s Mike Santagata said of the Bengals’ O’Line. “The twists, the creepers, everything this Patriots does is so scary if you’re a Bengals fans because they haven’t done the best job picking those up this year. Watching those and watching Ja’Whuan Bentley run over running backs in the backfield on his way to the quarterback is like, ‘Oh, that could happen, too.’ They might not be able to get the ball downfield because they won’t be able to pick these up.”"
All Patriots fans know the Pro Bowl season Judon has been having, but the rest of the NFL is getting accustomed to the name Josh Uche as the third-year linebacker is finally coming into his own. With speed, power and tenacity rushing the quarterback, Uche has broken out with 10.5 sacks so far this season. Drawing a comparison to Von Miller, this is the type of game that might really establish his name.
If both Judon and Uche are factors in this game, the Patriots as a team may just pull off a minor Christmas Eve miracle and give Patriots fans a gift that would help them get over that nightmare of an ending against the Las Vegas Raiders a week ago.
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To keep the team’s playoff hopes alive, it is a must as Joe Burrow is capable of putting the game out of reach quickly if he gets the time to throw. In combining for 25 sacks this season, the Judon and Uche tandem will be a big part of the gameplan against the high-powered Bengals offense and Burrow knows it.
"“We know that they’re going to have a good plan for us,” Burrow said, via Patriots.com. “We’re going to have to make adjustments in-game to what we are seeing because we know they’re going to have some game plan stuff for us that we haven’t seen before. It’s going to be a challenge for us as an offense to take those adjustments and run with them on the fly because we know there is going to be some stuff we haven’t seen.”"
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The key for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots defense is playing a full game of solid defense because the Bengals have proven they can come back late in games. So basically, Judon and Uche must put their foot on the metal and keep it there for good things to happen for this football team as a whole.
So, let’s get ready for the rush. It’s game day.