Five things we want to see in Patriots-Panthers preseason opener

Five things we want to see in Patriots-Panthers preseason opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Ya know, I could do “FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN PATS-PANTHERS PRESEASON OPENER!!!”

But in this glorified practice between the two teams with the WORST offenses in football last year, the bar is by necessity pretty low. Things like, “Watch how they get in and out of the huddle…” … “Look out for presnap penalties …” were going through my mind.

It’s the football equivalent of hoping baby makes boom-boom in the potty. Although that’s where I was at last year as well.

From my “SIX THINGS TO MONITOR” piece before last year’s preseason opener, No. 1 was:

Let’s have it look tidy, shall we?

You know how many penalties the Patriots had in the preseason opener last year? Twelve. Twelve for 89 yards. Too many men on the field (defense). False start. Illegal formation on a kickoff. Hold. Offensive pass interference. False start. Defensive pass interference. Illegal contact. Illegal use of hands. False start. Facemask. Facemask. Illegal shift. Roughing the passer.

Know how many penalties they had in the second preseason game? Twelve. Twelve for 104. With another too many men on the field, a defensive offside and four more false starts.

Way too much chaos. And it served as the precursor to what wound up being the most disorganized, dysfunctional, disconcerting season of Bill Belichick’s 23 years in charge.

Even though most of the starters won’t play, it still matters to me to observe how “on the details” the end of the roster guys — and the coaching staff — are. Quality control was a mess in 2022. Let’s see if it was a blip or a trend.

They tidied it up. Five penalties against the Texans. They also suuuuucccccckkkkeedddd on offense until the final drive of the game with Malik Cunningham breathing life into the night.

Anyway, instead of directing you what to watch for, I’m going to instead go with FIVE THINGS I WANNA SEE.

Air it out, brotha…

The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/five-things-want-see-patriots-193801370.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-08-08 19:38:01

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