2018 Week 3 Patriots Power Rankings The 2018 fall season from 黄剑's blog

 officially began September 23 Authentic Stephon Gilmore Jersey , in more ways than one.Sunday night’s debacle in Detroit tumbled the Patriots down the power rankings ladder, falling six spots on average and hitting a close-to-the-bottom rung of 24th, (Nate Davis of USA Today).Ouch! Might need some ice on that.The negatives are legion and descriptors such as ‘lost, bad, crazy, insane, doomed, dud, porous, whippings, ‘lack of elite talent’, ‘slow and shorthanded’, etc... are sprinkled throughout as expected.But all hope is not lost — of the 20 comments collected below, most aren’t willing to declare the team all dead just yet.To paraphrase Miracle Max from A Princess Bride, The threshold for ‘all dead’ apparently is losing three in a row.Let’s hope we don’t have to worry about crossing that one.The successful addition of Josh Gordon and return of Julian Edelman are only small pieces of what needs to happen for these Patriots to right the ship. Injuries to Rex Burkhead (neck) and Ja’Whaun Bentley (undisclosed) severe enough to put them on IR certainly don’t help. My new approach starting with Sunday vs. Miami will be to take just one game at a time and try to watch each one a little more dispassionately.Will I be able to do it, especially as game time approaches, is the real question. As Miracle Max would say http://www.newenglandpatriotsteamonline.com/elandon-roberts-jersey , “It’ll take a miracle.”Or an early lead. Patriots win by 6.GO PATS!Around the AFC East:New England (1-2) vs. Miami (3-0)Buffalo (1-2) at Green Bay (1-1-1)NY Jets (1-2) at Jacksonville (2-1)AFC Matchups:Kansas City (3-0) at Denver (2-1)Tennessee (2-1) vs. Philadelphia (2-1)Cincinnati (2-1) at Atlanta (1-2)Baltimore (2-1) at Pittsburgh (1-1-1)Cleveland (1-1-1) at Oakland (0-3)LA Chargers (1-2) vs. San Francisco (1-2)Indianapolis (1-2) vs. Houston (0-3)************************************************6th - Experts (ESPN): The Patriots rank 31st in receiving yards from WR (230). New England has just one catch this season that went for 30 yards, a 30-yard reception by TE Rob Gronkowski in Week 1. Is this bad start different from others?.6th - Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): A quick note on the order this week: It’s insane to try and logically order this madness right now. I know we say “The NFL is crazy this season!” every year, but it really feels wild after the first three weeks. If you’re ranking teams you can’t make a reasonable argument to me the Dolphins, for example, are one of the five or six best teams in the NFL. The same can go for the Ravens, Bears or plenty of other 2-1 teams. I’m just going to assume the craziness of the first three weeks settles down and some normalcy returns. That’s why the Patriots are still here.6th - Christopher Price (BostonSportsJournal): Since 2012, the Patriots are 18-9 in the first four games of a season, which is tied for the second-best record in the NFL. In the next four games, they’re 21-3, three games better than any other team in that span. This week: vs. Dolphins.7th - Expert Consensus (Bleacher Report): This ranking will no doubt rub some folks the wrong way. Despite losing back-to-back games in decisive fashion, the Patriots remain in the top 10—ahead of teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos, who each have two wins, and ahead of the undefeated Dolphins. ... However, if New England loses a third straight in Week 4, it will justifiably be time to panic. It’s true, the Patriots haven’t looked much like the big bad bullies of the AFC in losing to first the Jaguars and then the Lions. The defense has been porous. The offense has been hit-or-miss. Here’s the thing Authentic Jeremy Hill Jersey , though. It’s the Patriots. They are like Freddie Kreuger. The first nine times you think they’re dead, it turns out not so much.9th - Tyler Lauletta, Scott Davis (Business Insider): One thing to know: The Patriots’ lack of elite skill players has shown during the first three weeks. The team looks slow and short-handed at times. Asking Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon to fix these problems on offense is asking a lot.9th - Lindsay Jones (The Athletic): September slip-ups are nothing new for the Patriots, and it would be crazy to write off a New England team this early. And yet, it’s fair to wonder if the things that doomed the Patriots in convincing road losses at Jacksonville and Detroit — lack of playmakers at receiver, a porous run defense and a non-existent pass rush — can be fixed this time around.10th - Staff (AP Pro32).11th - Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): What was that? The Patriots seem to be in a holding pattern until they can get Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman in their offense together. Neither can help a struggling overall defense, however.11th - MMQB Staff (SI): And the Patriots have fallen “all the way”—by their standards at least—down to 11.11th - Mark Maske (Washington Post): The Patriots were 1-3 in 2001 and won the Super Bowl. They were 2-2 in 2003 and won the Super Bowl. They were 2-2 in 2014 and won the Super Bowl. They were 2-2 last season and reached the Super Bowl. Maybe the rest of the league should just give up now.12th - Rebecca Toback (SB Nation): What’s going on in New England? Bill Belichick watched his former defensive coordinator beat the Patriots, 26-10, as Lions head coach Matt Patricia got his first win. The Patriots are now 1-2 and will need more than Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman entering the lineup to get back to winning.13th - Elliot Harrison (NFL.com): Watching the Patriots on Sunday night, you got the feeling that Lions coach (and former New England defensive coordinator) Matt Patricia provided his team with a Power Point tutorial and a BMI assessment on every last player on New England’s roster. Meanwhile, the Patriots could not make life uncomfortable for Matthew Stafford. Anytime they dedicated more personnel to the back end to play coverage, the Lions ran the rock -- effectively, too. With recently acquired receiver Josh Gordon in the mix, defensive end Trey Flowers presumably coming back and receiver Julian Edelman set to return from suspension in two weeks, this is not time to panic. (Well, not too much, anyway).14th - Adam London (NESN): There’s not much to be excited about with the Patriots at the moment. If they turn in another dud against the Dolphins this Sunday Womens Dont'a Hightower Jersey , it might be time to start worrying in New England.14th - Joe Giglio (NJ.com): The Patriots have lost back-to-back games by double digits for the first time since 2002. That year’s team went 9-7 and missed the playoffs.14th - John McClain (Houston Chronicle): The Patriots have lost consecutive road games by double digits. They’re two games out of first place for the first time since 2002.14th - Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): “On to Cincinnati” apparently doesn’t apply in Michigan.16th - Bryan Fischer (Athlon Sports): It’s not time to panic yet given the team’s penchant for slow starts but that effort against Detroit show there’s a long ways to go with both sides of the ball. Everybody keeps wondering about Tom Brady’s age but he’s clearly not the most glaring issue with this group right now.16th - Dave Birkett (Detroit Free Press): The buzz: I don’t think the dynasty is crumbling yet, but they need Julian Edelman back.18th - Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): It’s way too early to bury this team. Haven’t we learned that lesson already?.24th - Nate Davis (USA Today): After two whippings, on pace to miss playoffs ... for what would be first time since 2002 in terms of a season when Tom Brady wasn’t injured.AVERAGE RANK: 11.5 (-6.1) The New England Patriots offense showed some encouraging progress over the last three games. Scoring 38, 38 and 43 points during their current three-game winning streak, Tom Brady and company appeared to have finally found their rhythm after an inconsistent start to the season. Today, however, the unit will face its biggest challenge since the Jacksonville Jaguars defense in week two: a Chicago Bears team that ranks fourth in the league after allowing just 19.2 points per game so far.New England – shorthanded due to injuries suffered by starting right tackle Marcus Cannon and tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Jacob Hollister – therefore needs to play its best football. In order to do that and come away with a victory, three things need to be done.Keep Tom Brady cleanMaking sure that quarterback Tom Brady is given space and time in the pocket is something that needs to be high up on the Patriots’ list of priorities every single week. However, against a defense like Chicago’s, this rings especially true. After all, the Bears are one of the NFL’s best clubs when it comes to pressuring opposing passers and taking them down for a loss of yardage: only two teams average more sacks per game than Chicago’s 3.6.After some questions earlier this week when it comes to the availability of star pass rusher Khalil Mack, the unit will be at full strength today: Mack, who leads the team with 5.0 sacks and is coming off an ankle injury, is expected to be active against the Patriots. New England, meanwhile, will be without stalwart right tackle Marcus Cannon who has already been declared “out” on Friday after suffering a concussion during last Sunday’s game. In Cannon’s place, LaAdrian Waddle will start at right tackle and go against Mack.Naturally http://www.newenglandpatriotsteamonline.com/deatrich-wise-jr-jersey , this matchup favors the Bears. The ex-Oakland Raider is far from the only player to worry about from New England’s perspective, though: defensive tackle and ex-Patriot Akiem Hicks is one of the NFL’s most productive interior rushers, while the rest of the front seven has also shown tremendous ability to get after the quarterback. After allowing only two sacks over the last three games, Dante Scarnecchia’s unit therefore needs to bring its A-game not just when it comes to slowing down Mack.Don’t get greedyThe Patriots and especially Tom Brady have a tendency to try to make something out of nothing this season with oftentimes negative results: at multiple points over the first six games, the greatest quarterback of all time tried to force a play when the better decision would have been to just throw the football away or take a sack. This, in turn, led to an increased number of Patriots turnovers this season.Now, New England has to go against one of the NFL’s premier squads when it comes to taking the football away: the Bears defense registered a league-best 14 takeaways so far this season. Chicago came away with 10 interceptions and also recovered four fumbles. All in all, 24.1% of the team’s defensive drives ended in a takeaway, which is clearly the best number in all of football.Taking care of the ball is therefore imperative for New England. One way to do that is by limiting the risk of negative plays through smart decisions and not trying to get greedy when no chance to gain yards presents itself.Use misdirection to gain an advantageOne of Chicago’s defensive strengths is the athleticism of its linebacker corps. Led by the aforementioned Khalil Mack, former first-round draft picks Roquan Smith and Leonard Floyd, and veteran Danny Trevathan, the group has been able to play aggressively against both the run and the pass and so far held its own in both areas.But while this approach has yielded very good results for the Bears defense this season, New England could try to take advantage of it by challenging the linebackers’ instincts and quickness through misdirection plays. Whether it is classic play-action passes or more elaborate schemes like jet sweeps or reverse runs, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels should try to put pressure on Chicago’s hyper-athletic linebackers early and often.Why? Misdirection counteracts defensive aggressiveness by forcing players to trust their eyes and knowledge of an opponent over their athleticism and instincts – and the Patriots have the right personnel to attack the Bears’ hyper-athletic linebacker group that way. Don’t be surprised therefore to see Julian Edelman or Cordarrelle Patterson carry the football, or to see Sony Michel get regular carries early on against one of the best run defenses in the NFL.