AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Former Patriots assistant Matt Patricia is now the Senior Defensive Assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles. Patricia of course was the Patriots primary offensive play caller last season. He was considered Bill Belichick’s right hand man. However after spending 15 years with the Patriots, the two sides parted ways in off-season. Now we are left  wondering if he will impact Sunday’s game in any way? The short answer is no. 

Patricia obviously has some institutional knowledge of the Patriots, after all. he was with the organization for a long time. However it will not be enough to swing the game in the Eagles favor. If the Eagles win on Sunday, it will be because they are the better team not because Patricia gave the Eagles staff his old Patriots playbooks.

Do not get me wrong. Patricia could certainly give the Eagles offensive staff some insight into what the Patriots do defensively and what calls they’ll make in certain situations. However Bill Belichick and the defensive staff know this so they will mix up their calls and use different terminology when they check in and out of fronts and coverages.

Defensively, Patricia could shed some light on individual player weaknesses but the system O’Brien is running now is different than what the team ran when O’Brien was last here in 2010. The base offense might be similar but O’Brien has brought in a lot of concepts he ran in Houston and Alabama with him.

In the end, the Eagles have plenty of film on the Patriots and  vice versa. There are no secrets in the NFL. Both teams know what they will be running and they will prepare appropriately. The game will come down to the players and their ability to make plays.

The Patriots are certainly good enough to win this game but they will need to play mistake free and execute at a high level. Especially on offense. It will not be easy.

I am not trying to take away anything away from Matt Patricia. He is a good football coach. Earlier this week, O’Brien referred to Patricia as a “great football coach.” in his virtual press conference.

“Matt is a great football coach. He has a great history in this league — winning history. A really good football mind. I learned a lot from Matt when I worked with Matt years ago,” O’Brien added. “I came in as a quality control and Matt helped teach me a lot about being a quality control coach here in New England. We have a lot of respect for Matt.

Coaching will obviously impact the game but in the end, it is the players who will determine the outcome. Not one coach. I wouldn’t worry too much about Patricia’s potential impact on this game. I can guarantee you that Belichick and the staff are focusing on Jalen Hurts and Fletcher Cox, not Matt Patricia.