6 rings: 3 matchups to watch in patriots vs. commanders this weekend
Coming off of their sixth loss of the 2023 season, the Patriots are back at it once again this Sunday as they welcome the Washington Commanders to Foxborough for their ninth contest of the campaign.
A potential matchup between Bill Belichick's current and future teams? You be the judge. Here's what Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said of the possibility on Wednesday:
Anywho - as we do every week both here at WEEI.com and on the 6 Rings and Football Things podcast, here are three crucial clashes to watch in this weekend's game:
- Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Jahan Dotson vs. Patriots secondary
When the Patriots played the Miami Dolphins in Week 2 (albeit with Christian Gonzalez on the field) they held their receivers in relative check.
This past Sunday? Not so much as Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for 233 yards and two touchowns on 15 catches.
While not at their level yet, the Commanders’ actually have a high-end pass catching trio in Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and Jahan Dotson that could be considered Hill/Waddle-lite.
“We do all the players in the draft,” Bill Belichick said on Wednesday when asked about his teams involvement with McLaurin in the pre-2019 NFL Draft process. “He’s had a great career. He’s a very explosive player, threatens all three levels of the defense, very good after the catch. Really, all those guys are. He can make plays down the field, intermediate, catch-and-run plays. He’s quick, plays a lot of different positions. They move him around. But, they get the ball to everybody. It’s not like all the targets go to him, but he’s clearly one of the top players in the league. There’s no doubt about that.”
So far this season, here’s a look at McLaurin and co.’s stats:
Terry McLaurin: 42 rec., 495 yards, 2 TD
Curtis Samuel: 35 rec., 332 yards, 2 TD
Jahan Dotson: 30 rec., 291 yards, 2 TD
It’s obviously not quite Hill, who already has over 1,000 receiving yards through just eight games, but they deserve attention.
Down Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones for the season, the room of J.C. Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones, Shaun Wade, and Myles Bryant have an opportunity to rebound against a reputable bunch.
- The fronts!
Following a busy trade deadline for the Commanders where they traded both of their star pass rushers, their front seven is now far from the feared unit it was to start the season.
Washington traded stars Montez Sweat (to the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick) and Chase Young (to the San Francisco 49ers) prior to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline and now have a much different front moving forward.
“Well, they play [Casey] Toohill and [James] Smith-Williams. They rotate them in there anyway,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick when asked about the transaction. “I’m sure they wanted to play the rookies. I don’t think they would have traded them if they didn’t feel good about the guys they had behind them, and I can see why. So, we’ll be ready for them. There’s plenty of film on Toohill and Smith-Williams.”
Best case scenario, protecting Mac Jones from these guys will be the combination of Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews, Sidy Sow, and Mike Onwenu. That is, of course, if they’re all healthy.
Trent Brown didn’t practice on Wednesday with a both an ankle and knee injury and, according to multiple reports from Miami on Sunday, could barely walk in the locker room.
Sidy Sow, meanwhile, has been awesome. Since week six, the rookie guard has taken 90 pass-blocking snaps and has allowed just one sack and zero pressures.
The line as a whole, however, hasn’t been great. They have the NFL’s worst pass clock win rate on the season at just 43.6% and despite having two quality backs in Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott, haven’t been able to help the Patriots establish a run game.
Their best way to improve on both is this weekend against Washington’s now depleted front.
- Bill O’Brien vs. Jack Del Rio
Given the now-lack of firepower on the Washington defensive line, coordinator Jack Del Rio is going to have to scheme it up on his side of the football if they want to have success on Sunday.
“Jack is obviously very experienced,” Belichick said of Del Rio on Wednesday. “Lot of success as a head coach, coordinator, player for that matter.”
Del Rio was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-2011 and then of the Oakland Raiders’ from 2015-2017. He’s also served as defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers (2002), Denver Broncos (2012-2014), and the Washington Commanders (2020-present).
Trying to dice up his defense this weekend is another long-time, reputable coach in Bill O’Brien. New England hired their former coach (he was an offensive assistant/coordinator from 2007-2011) in January to take over their offense this season after the failure that was Matt Patricia in 2022. Nicknamed 'The Teapot', O’Brien has spent time as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Houston Texans, while coordinator the Georgia Tech, Duke, the Pats, and the University of Alabama. His pre-snap, matchup-centric system was supposed to help quarterback Mac Jones excel in year three, but so far we’ve only seen flashes.
Both are, however, still respected and experienced coordinators in the league. We’ll see who can pack a bigger punch on Sunday.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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