Pats Posits: Sticking With the Posit(ives) in a Flat Preseason Loss

The Patriots’ 25-14 loss at the hands of the Carolina Panthers in Week Three of the preseason left plenty to feel blah about. The offense sputtered for most of the night. The defense looked far more like the pressureless bend-don’t-break that Patriots fans hoped went with Matt Patricia to Detroit rather than the attacking new defense producing constant pressure that they thought they had after last week under Brian Flores.

Overall, there just wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about but if you’re watching a preseason game to get you excited about the regular season you have been asleep for most of the Augusts of the last two decades. There were encouraging signs though there’s no question this team still has a long way to go, as they always do, even when they look dominant in the preseason.

As much as Week Three as billed as the “dress rehearsal” it’s still preseason and there’s no reason to overreact. Let’s blast off a bunch of Posits before I jump into taking a second look at the game.

Let’s start with my five key areas to watch from my gameplan.

— Defense vs. Mobile Quarterback: The Pats’ front had a lot of problems containing Cam Newton, though they did make him pay pretty good at least once when he got out of the pocket. We knew Newton would be a challenge and any excitement about the defense’s ability to finish quarterbacks after last week has dissipated. Not sure I noticed Derek Rivers at all, Adam Butler was his usual active self, while Dietrich Wise was held more than once. Those three guys are young and containing someone like Newton is hard for even athletic, experienced vets. So yes, it’s still going to be a work in progress. The Texans are going to really test them in Week One, but this was great experience for them, even if they didn’t do so great.

— Dorsett and Decker: Dorsett had four catches on four targets and finally started to make some plays. It wasn’t overwhelming but it was enough to feel like maybe with more playing time he’ll start to live up to his potential. He’s going to play a ton in the opening weeks. For all the talk about Dez and now Demaryius it’s going to be Dorsett. As for Decker, I think he’s lost in the playbook. He looks indecisive and it’s not helping him catch the ball either. I think he’s 50-50 at best to make the roster, though they might give him some extra time into the season to get up to speed. There just isn’t much else out there and you’ve already invested time and money in him. If his legs are done that might be the only thing that gets him cut, but I’d like to see him after more than a few weeks on the team. Maybe he starts to play faster and catch better. Maybe that’s asking too much.

— Jeremy Hill: Hill and Gillislee went head to head last night and the results were below-average for both. Despite that, I’d still give the edge to Hill and I remain excited about him. Hopefully, his late-game ankle injury won’t be a problem. He was running around afterward, a good sign. Gillislee just had far too many negative plays and those are the worst thing you can possibly do as an RB. Hill might not have gotten much, but he didn’t lose much either. I still see a Burkhead starter-White passing-Hill finisher grouping.

— Punt Returner: Cyrus Jones suited up and I was impressed at how good he looked in his first game since tearing his ACL last summer. Something about his new 41 has grown on me, and he looked bigger and quicker to me. He had a 20-yard kick return (called back) and looked comfortable in the slot. If there’s one most interesting headline for the defense and special teams from this game, it’s that Cyrus has suddenly emerged to potentially be a factor. The slot job is open. The punt return job is open. Cyrus can do both, plus back up Patterson on kickoff returns.

— Hightower continues to be moved all over the defense. He’ll play strongside OLB on early downs, then move to the middle as a nickel linebacker where he can drop or rush. He had just one tackle though and wasn’t all that effective. Still, Hightower is the last guy I’m going to worry about, especially because so much of his value lies in the Patriots’ gameplan where he can be used to exploit things. That isn’t all that useful in a preseason game like this. Despite his lack of stats, what matters most is that he looks fast and healthy. That will translate to plenty of production.

— Gilmore and Rowe were up and down, but I prefer to focus on their good plays over their bad ones at this point. Simply put, I’d rather they get those bad plays out of the way now and you know they’ll get the screws turned on them. Better now than in two weeks. Gilmore has been the best player in camp and still was in-phase with his receiver most of the night. He got beat a couple times, sure. Rowe held off Jason McCourty, who now is getting a look at safety. With the regular three-safety, two-corner contingent I expect the secondary to be far better than they were to start last season, and that all starts with Gilmore being their lockdown guy.

— I am convinced the Pats are keeping Corey Bojorquez hidden from the league. He has a booming leg and just needs some time to develop. If they can get him on the practice squad they’ll be able to help him find some consistency. Then he might take Allen’s job.

— If Trey Flowers and Marcus Cannon are out there I think the offense and defense will both get a big boost. Who knows what they’re battling but it would appear that the issues won’t magically clear up in the next two weeks. Both’s availability appears very much in question for the start of the regular season. But when they’re back, then we’ll know the true ceiling of the 2018 Patriots.

— Ju’Whaun Bentley continues to make plays, though he has plenty of rookie moments as to be expected. He won’t beat out Elandon Roberts on the depth chart to start the season, but I think he’s going to play a bunch this season and who knows how big his role will be by the end. The simple fact is the guy is a football player who’s played a ton of football. The more he plays at the NFL pace, the quicker he’ll assimilate. You just can’t ignore his production, even in these preseason games against lesser competition.

— Keionta Davis finally made a play that stood out to me, using good strength to get down the line and make a tackle inside Patriots territory early in the game. After that, I didn’t really notice him. I’ll focus on him again on the re-watch. If Flowers is going to be out for an extended period of time, Davis could find himself as a rotational early down end. He doesn’t appear to be a pass rush guy, which is what they might have Derek Rivers penciled in for.

— Find a way to keep Keion Crossen and JC Jackson. Both are long, aggressive corners who very much look the part. One of them should make the roster outright. The other will have to make it to the practice squad, but could very likely be snapped up by another team. Jackson is my slight favorite.

— Danny Shelton continues to look like a great pickup and a perfect fit for the middle of the defense.

— Could Jason McCourty at safety push Jordan Richards off the roster? I doubt it because of special teams. But it’s interesting that D-Mac lasted two years at corner before moving to safety and J-Mac lasted two preseason games. It could be a desperate attempt to see if he has any additional value if he’s not good enough to play corner here.

— Cordarrelle Patterson showed why he’ll be a good 4th/5th piece but ideally won’t be a significant piece of the every-down offense. His speed and size add a nice element, but I don’t see him on the Hogan-Edelman-Dorsett level.

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I’m sure there will be plenty of overreaction to this game, just like there is every preseason. That’s a good Carolina team and they looked like the better team last night because let’s face it, they’re more talented. In a preseason game it’s easier to look better with talent. But the Pats’ game isn’t talent, it’s the sum of the parts which last night did not include their biggest strength, Belichick’s real gameplan.

As always, the season is a process. September is an extension of the preseason and because there’s still things to figure out isn’t a sign of a floundering Patriots team. They’ll continue to stack things and improve like they always do. There might be a stinker or two in September too. That’s how it goes, yet every year losses in August and September explode into “Pats are done” overreactions, forgetting the annual lesson that this team always just gets better and better.

Most important, they look healthy and have much better depth on defense than they had last year. The focal points will be Burkhead, Hill and Dorsett. They’re the wild cards and how healthy and productive they are will determine the ceiling. We should be excited about the opportunities for them.

Just two weeks to go!