I’m sure New England Patriots fans are tired of the whole they haven’t played anyone yet argument. The idea is that the Patriots 3rd ranked defense is just a paper tiger and isn’t as good as its ranking because they’ve faced the Browns 5th string quarterback and Landry Jones and Carson Palmer is now terrible.
Well, fans are going to have to wait to settle this argument because the Patriots apparently aren’t playing anyone of note for the rest of the season.
When we look at the quarterbacks the Patriots have faced this season, Bengals QB Andy Dalton is the only one with a good passer rating. In fact, every other quarterback the Patriots have faced has either been a back-up or below the league average starter.
We can look forward, too, and see that Seahawks QB Russell Wilson is the best quarterback the Patriots are expected to face for the rest of the year, and Wilson has the 18th best passer rating in the NFL. Everyone else is pretty much a bottom 10 quarterback, if they manage to hold on to the starting job until they face the Patriots.
- Cardinals: Carson Palmer, 87.9, 20th
- Dolphins: Ryan Tannehill, 87.4, 22nd
- Texans: Brock Osweiler, 73.1, 30th
- Bills: Tyrod Taylor, 87.2, 23rd
- Browns: Charlie Whitehurst, does not qualify
- Bengals: Andy Dalton, 98.0, 8th
- Steelers: Landry Jones, does not qualify
- Bills: Tyrod Taylor, 87.2, 23rd
- Seahawks: Russell Wilson, 91.5, 18th
- 49ers: Colin Kaepernick, does not qualify; (alt: Blaine Gabbert, 69.6, 31st)
- Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick, 67.6, 32nd
- Rams: Case Keenum, 77.2, 28th
- Ravens: Joe Flacco, 76.0, 29th
- Broncos: Trevor Siemian, 86.2, 24th
- Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick, 67.6, 32nd
- Dolphins: Ryan Tannehill, 87.4, 22nd
Kaepernick is the 3rd back-up quarterback on the Patriots 2016 schedule after Browns QBs Cody Kessler/Charlie Whitehurst and Steelers QB Landry Jones, and it’s very possible that Fitzpatrick, Keenum, and Siemian (half of the Patriots final opponents!) could be benched.
We can all predict how the Patriots are going to defend these quarterbacks. Don’t let Wilson or Kaepernick or Fitzpatrick or Tannehill scramble. Force Flacco and Keenum to lead 10+ play drives. Make Siemian connect on the deep throw.
None of these strategies involved a serious pass rush against the quarterback. Head coach Bill Belichick will either play contain on the line of scrimmage or drop seven into coverage, but his goal will be to take advantage of errant throws because these are bad quarterbacks that will make bad throws (other than Wilson, who is currently held together by duct tape and chewing gum).
So fans that want the Patriots pass rush to exist will probably be disappointed by the end of the regular season. Fans that want the defense to prove itself against a good offense will probably also be disappointed.
The reality is that the Patriots defense could very well finish the year in the top 5 or 10 in points allowed and everyone will be annoyed with the outcome for some reason or another.