How much will practice help the 2-3 Patriots?
For the first time in nearly 18 years, Bill Belichick’s Patriots are sitting here with a losing record in October, and all the legendary coach wants to talk about is … practice?
That’s right. New England just suffered an embarrassing home loss to Denver to fall to 2- 3, and the six-time Super Bowl winning coach is talking about practice.
Somewhere, Allen Iverson is shaking his head in disgust.
Practice, or lack thereof, was the prevailing theme of Belichick’s typically condescending press conference following Sunday’s 1812 loss — a game that had been postponed for a week. Eight of the 11 answers Belichick gave to questions
posed during his 61/2-minute video conference were practice-related ones.
To be fair, the Patriots have been dealing with some COVID-19 outbreaks — three players tested positive last week, a week after quarterback Cam Newton and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore tested positive — that limited them to just one full practice and one walkthrough last week.
The interruptions have exasperated the famously controlling coach to no end.
“Well it was a big challenge,” Belichick said of the limited time on the field recently. “Playing without guys, getting guys hurt, moving around, had some guys that hadn’t played together much, hadn’t practiced together much. So we need to get on the field, we need to practice, we need to develop some continuity as a team.”
A question about Newton’s struggles prompted another reminder about … you guessed it, practice.
“We need more time together, we need to practice together, we need to execute and do everything better. No question about that,” Belichick said.
They’ll need the field time to figure out how to deal with a suddenly resurgent 49ers team this week. And Belichick will be operating in unfamiliar territory since he hasn’t had a losing record this late in the season since Oct. 27, 2002, when Kyle Shanahan’s dad, Mike, took his Broncos into Foxboro and dropped the Patriots to 3-4.
Mike Shanahan, in fact, had made a habit out of beating Belichick in October, winning five of his first six early-season meetings with the man many call the game’s greatest coach.
This will be the first head coach showdown between Belichick and Kyle Shanahan, who’d love nothing better than to make beating Belichick an early season family tradition.
Belichick would love nothing more than just to go out and … well, you know.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to practice this week,” he said. “We certainly need it. We’ll see.”
Three reasons for 49ers’ optimism
EDELMAN’S NOT HIMSELF >> While Julian Edelman continues to battle through a left knee issue, the 34-yearold from Redwood City doesn’t resemble the guy
who won a Super Bowl MVP less than two years ago, or who last year had a careerhigh 1,117 yards receiving. The explosiveness just isn’t there. Edelman has become a possession receiver who now mostly drops to the ground after catches as he appears to be trying to protect the knee he had surgery on in the offseason.
Although he broke out in Week 2 with eight catches and 179 yards against Seattle, Edelman has just 20 catches for 302 yards in five games. Edelman’s playing time has also been reduced — he played 43 of the Pats’ snaps (75 percent) Sunday against Denver, which actually marked his second-highest percentage of snaps this year. NOREALPLAYMAKERSONOFFENSE >> Not only are the Patriots lacking the Edelman of old, they’re sorely lacking in playmakers on offense. New England’s starting wide receivers — Edelman and last year’s No. 1 pick N’Keal Harry — combined for just two catches for 8 yards against the Broncos, both by Edelman. Harry, who has just 18 catches for 166 yards this season, was targeted twice by Newton on Sunday, resulting in an interception and then a miscommunication on a last-gasp, fourth-down incompletion that ended the game.
The Patriots’ running game has been solid, but there really isn’t an established dynamic runner among the group of Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel and James White. Damien Harris, last year’s secondround pick from Alabama, may be the closest to a special runner, but he’s been inconsistent — he had 19 yards on just six carries against Denver, a week after running for 100 yards against the Chiefs in his season debut.
Also, no tight end has emerged although former De La Salle High star Devin Asiasi is an intriguing rookie who could get his shot soon. He played in a career-high 42 percent of the Pats’ snaps Sunday.
A MASSIVE SHUFFLE OF THE LINE>> Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor became the third Patriots starting offensive lineman knocked out of the lineup when he left Sunday with an ankle injury. He joined right guard Shaq Mason (COVID-19/Reserve list) and center David Andrews (injured reserve/thumb) on the sideline.
Rookie Justin Herron made his first start at left tackle, joining right guard Michael Onwenu as the second first-year player starting. Hjalte Froholdt was another backup forced into duty. The second-year
man from Denmark, who had never played an offensive snap, wound up playing nearly 80 percent of the Pats’ offensive snaps (45) at right guard when Onwenu moved to tackle. The reshuffled line allowed Newton to get hit eight times and sacked four times.
Three reasons for 49ers’ pessimism
PATRIOTS’ ELITE CORNERBACKS >> Not only do the Patriots have Gilmore in their defensive backfield, they also boast one of the league’s upandcomers in Jonathan Jones. The undrafted former Auburn standout had a marvelous game against Denver. He had an interception while earning a careerhigh 93.2 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus. Jones’ grade was the third best among corners in the league this season. He operates out of the slot a lot and shut down Denver’s No. 1 pick Jerry Jeudy, who had just one catch for 16 yards. Meanwhile, the Pats have a third solid corner in J.C. Jackson, who earned PFF’s ninth-highest overall ranking among corners a couple of weeks ago.
PATRIOTS’ RUNNING ATTACK >> Despite not boasting a top-flight back, New England has remained proficient in the running game. Some of that can be attributed to Newton’s elusiveness as a runner — he’s New England’s leading rusher with 225 yards, good for just 34th in the league, though. The Patriots are the secondranked running team with an average of 167.2 yards per game, trailing only the Browns at 169.5. They’ve also rushed for more yards than they’ve thrown in three of their five games, including a whopping 250-yard performance in a Week 3 win over the Raiders.
Still, look for the 49ers to perhaps take a page out of the Broncos’ plan of essentially daring Newton to beat them through the air. Denver limited New England to just 117 yards on the ground. DEFENSESTILLPRETTYGOOD >> One of the more surprising aspects of the Patriots’ season has been their ability to maintain a solid defense despite getting hit harder with offseason defections than any other team. New England, which is ranked ninth overall in team defense, lost six starters from last year’s top-ranked defense. The Patriots have permitted 22.0 points per game, better than all but nine teams. They didn’t allow the Broncos to score a touchdown Sunday, yet still wound up losing in what’s more an indictment of New England’s troubles on offense.