By Hal Bent
The New England Patriots escaped Houston, TX and their matchup with the Houston Texans by the skin of their teeth last Sunday. This week the Patriots need to be better than that. In fact, they need to show they are ready to act like an elite NFL squad. Simply put, the New England Patriots need to blow-out the Cleveland Brownson Sunday in Foxboro, MA.
Right now, the Cleveland Browns quarterback situation is so bad they’re putting out feelers to Bernie Kosar and Brian Sipe. OK, that may be a bit of hyperbole, but the situation is not good. Their best quarterback on the Browns this season was Patriotscast-off Brian Hoyer who went on the IR early this year with a knee injury. Veteran Jason Campbell was adequate, but he is sidelined with a concussion. The default starter was twice-benched Brandon Weeden who may also be out with a concussion.
So who is left to play quarterback in Cleveland if Campbell and Weeden are not cleared to play? Alex Tanney was signed off the Dallas practice squad just last week. Tanney attended Division III Monmouth (Illinois) College and is best known for his YouTube video of trick passes. This week, the team signed former NFL backup Caleb Hanie, who was released by Baltimore in training camp and last threw a pass in an NFL game in 2011.
The Patriots are now under pressure to continue their history of strong December’s with a big game against the banged-up Browns. They cannot afford to let the Browns hang-around and be ahead late in the game like they let a bad Houston Texans team do last week. The Patriots need to act like an elite team and not play down to the competition. They need to jump out to an early lead and convert drive after drive into touchdowns.
The Patriots defense needs to start strong and help the offense get ahead of theBrowns early. This will take the pressure off New England’s depleted secondary. If New England can get ahead early in the game, the defense can settle back in the dime defense and double team Cleveland’s dynamic wide receiver Josh Gordon.
The Patriots have just four weeks to get their ragtag defense back on track....http://cover32.com/patriots/2013/12/06/the-patriots-need-to-blow-out-the-cleveland-browns/
Comments