PREVIEW

On Monday, Bill Belichick pooh-poohed the notion of game-planning in earnest for the Panthers. But as the week wore on, it was clear that – while New England may not have been going over every nuance – they were in opponent-specific preparation. That’s a common practice for the third preseason game so that everybody gets in the swing of running scout team and getting into team-specific packages as they will when the real stuff starts. So the Patriots will be trying to win Friday night against Carolina, not just running stuff they need to see.

REVIEW

PREVIEW

The Panthers have a very good defensive group. Last week, New England got a ton of snaps early against the Eagles and moved the ball with relative ease. But there were some key third-down conversions in there that extended drives. The Panthers pass rush with ends Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy is top tier. Nate Solder will get a challenge at one tackle spot. With Sebastian Vollmer missing time this week, it could be Marcus Cannon toiling at right tackle. He’ll need to answer the bell. The Panthers linebacker level has the well-regarded Luke Kuechly and the underrated Thomas Davis, a player Tom Brady thinks was one of the best the Patriots played against in 2013. That will be a good challenge for the running game which got great execution early from Stevan Ridley last week and from Jonas Gray and Brandon Bolden later. Rookie James White has so far seemed to go down very often on first contact. It would be good to see a little more finish from him. We’ll also watch to see if Ridley’s snaps or role is altered this week after a ball squirted out at the end of a carry against the Eagles. The offensive line was a revolving door against the Eagles as the Patriots played people all over the place and at tight end because of the shortage there. Expect a more consistent rotation this week. Justin Jones was re-signed to take off some of the heat on Steve Maneri who was the only tight end on the roster last week. I might be the only one who feels this way, but the Patriots wideout deployment with Kenbrell Thompkins and Julian Edelman as the top two and Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola coming on for the four-wide sets looks like a tough cover. They have such complementary abilities and the quickness of Edelman, Thompkins and Amendola in particular are going to make them tough covers if DBs can’t lay hands on them. Lastly, it will be interesting to see who comes in for relief of Brady. Last week it was Jimmy Garoppolo after two Brady series. Ryan Mallett got the second half.

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PREVIEW

Cam Newton saw his first action of the preseason last week and scuffled a little at the start as he comes back from his ankle injury. The Panthers will be playing without the starters on the right side of the offensive line as Trai Turner and Nate Chandler are both out tonight. The Panthers always have a pretty good running game with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Their passing game is a work in progress with rookie Kelvin Benjamin and Jerricho Cotchery at the top of the depth chart. Tight end Greg Olsen can be a tough cover. Also, Newton is a problem when he decides to run. He’ll probably use some discretion in doing that in preseason but it’s still important the Patriots keep their contain lanes. For the Patriots, they are still dealing with depth injuries at defensive tackle so Tommy Kelly, Vince Wilfork and Will Smith may be asked to toil longer. Jerod Mayo isn’t in bad disrepair but the linebacker was limited at practice early in the week so we’ll see how much he plays if at all. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from both Darius Fleming and James Anderson at linebacker. Both have run-stopping and coverage ability and are making a case to stick and contribute. In the secondary, longer reps for Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty. We’ll see if Malcolm Butler can put in another solid showing. At the safety next to McCourty, it’s been a shuffle. Who is out there first may be an indicator of the positional leader.

REVIEW

PREVIEW

Bad week for the Patriots punt team against the Eagles. Likely an aberration and they’ll need to tidy that up. Josh Boyce, who seems to be a second-tier wideout at this point, will probably be part of the return game and needs to accentuate his value at this point. The PATs will be returned to their normal length this week.

REVIEW

PREVIEW

The third preseason game isn’t just about reps it’s about quality reps and performances. The sooner things look the way they should and results appear in line with expectations, the sooner the starters can be packed away in anticipation of the season opener. We’ve seen some shaky third game performances from the Patriots in recent years – for whatever reason – so the “just a half” workload for the starters is not a guarantee.

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PREVIEW

The Patriots defense puts a very, very impressive performance on. Two starters missing on the offensive line for the Panthers? A running quarterback who won’t want to run too much and a receiving corps that really doesn’t scare anyone? The Patriots starters have it lined up for a nice outing.

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PREVIEW

"Coach already told us we’re going to get a lot of work. What that means, I don’t know. I don’t think anyone ever knows with him, but we’ll be prepared, ready to go for 60 minutes and hopefully it’s a good 60 this week. We’ve had a couple of ‘doozies’ in the third preseason game lately and it would be nice to have a good one." – Tom Brady

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PREVIEW

"They're a team you use as a measuring stick. It is a very good offense, very good defense and very good special teams. They're a well-coached football team with really good football players. This will be a good test.” – Ron Rivera, Carolina head coach

REVIEW