AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
As far as preseason games go, this one was about as perfect as it gets.
Aside from injuries to N’Keal Harry and Josh Uche, it was an ideal night for New England as the Patriots hammered the Eagles 35-0 in the second game of the preseason. The defense held Philadelphia to just 163 yards of total offense while Mac Jones (146 yards) and Cam Newton (103 yards, 1 TD) both looked outstanding, albeit against a weak Philly roster.
Rhamondre Stevenson (16/66/2 TD’s), JJ Taylor (12/93/1 TD), Sony Michel (7/34, 4 catches/37 yards) and Damien Harris (6/14/1 TD) all ran hard while the offensive line – both starters and back-ups – were dominant throughout the entire night. It may not have been against elite talent, but with opportunities for legitimate competition getting thin prior to the opener against Miami, the coaching staff will undoubteldy take it.
“We’re a better team than we were when we came down here, that’s really the main goal,” coach Belichick said following the game. “Tonight I thought we played well fundamentally. We had a couple turnovers. I thought our overall fundamentals were an improvement from last week. But we have a long way to go, there’s a lot of things we need to continue to work on. Just need to keep stringing some good days together and keep building on the things that we laid as a foundation fundamentally and continue to improve on those.”
Cam’s footwork was better than its been at any other point in the preseason and his accuracy was outstanding. Newton hit Meyers for a 28-yard TD pass in the first quarter to put New England up 13-0 before a Quinn Nordin missed PAT (we’ll get to him) and the drive was arguably his best as a Patriot. Newton was decisive, accurate and didn’t force anything during his time on the field.
“That’s one of our keys to win each and every week – to start fast. We had pretty good field position and we just had to uphold our end of the bargain,” said Newton of the early success. “Coach challenged us in the passing game just to be more efficient and that’s what we just tried to do. Throw and catch and have good disciple in the zone defenses and the man-to-man defenses – whatever they threw at us – that’s just how we tried to do.”
Defensively the Patriots continued to show just how dangerous they might be. A terrible snap that sailed past Joe Flacco just three plays into the game soon led to a Matt Judon strip sack and a Jalen Mills fumble recovery that led to the game’s first TD, a short run by Harris. All night long the pass rush was an issue for Philly, with guys like Carl Davis making his case to stick around with consistent pressure and Chase Winovich (2 sacks) even made some noise. Harvey Langi and Adrian Colbert added interceptions as well.
“It felt great. It was a lot of fun being out there with my teammates, and just the opportunity to be able to compete at the pinnacle of anything is truly a blessing,” Winovich said after getting his first game action. “To come out and have a great victory, and for so many people to do such an awesome job, it was a lot of fun. I missed it.”
Harry was injured when he missed a deep ball from Mac Jones in the first half and it was reported he later left the locker room in a sling. Jones led a 91-yard drive in the second quarter that ended with a 1-yard Stevenson run and then immediately led a nine-play, 75-yard drive coming out of halftime, again in “hurry up” mode for the second straight week. It’s clear that Cam’s the starter, but it was also clear that both guys are getting more and more comfortable by the minute, which may turn into an ideal scenario for Josh McDaniels and the offense.
The only real negative on the night was Nordin. Nordin missed one of two field goals and two of his four PAT attempts. After going perfect in Gillette Stadium aside from one missed PAT last week, it was a rough debut on the road for Nordin and it may have been enough to give Nick Folk his job back despite the veteran kicker still not being on the field.
In fairness, the Eagles sat a good amount of players, but with only three preseason games and a ton of questions still to be answered, it’s hard not to be happy if you’re a Patriots fan after what you saw on Thursday night. There are still roster spots up for grabs when the Giants visit next week for joint practices, but for now it appears the Patriots may be a bit better than we all thought as long as they’re able to put these kind of complete performances together on a consistent basis starting in September.
“I think [Cam Newton], [QB Mac Jones], all of us, I think we’re all getting better day by day honestly,” said Meyers. “It’s just that last year he got the short end of the stick, just having to be thrown into the situation with no preseason and everything. Not like I’m trying to make excuses for him or anything but, I think this year is definitely a leap forward and I think we’re all growing as an offense and we’re all working towards putting a good product on the field for [Miami Dolphins].”