The good news is the New England Patriots will be wearing the throwback red uniforms everyone loves in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The bad news, however, is the team is playing some bad throwback football, eerily similar to what they looked like before Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s dynastic run.
This week, the Patriots will be playing a Chargers team distraught without their best defensive player in Joey Bosa. They are a poorly coached defensive unit allowing 23.5 points per game. Meanwhile, the Chargers offense is putting up 24.5 points per game, which is why their record is what it is.
A slightly better defense would have this team at 7-4 as opposed to 4-7.
The reason for the offensive success is partly because of Justin Herbert, but it’s truly owed to the weapons he has around him, specifically running back Austin Ekeler, who is this week’s x-factor the Patriots must stop.
Ekeler is a dual-threat running back that is second only to Christian McCaffery in the NFL. He is a dynamic playmaker with elite route-running, hands, speed, agility and vision.
Ekeler has more receiving yards and catches than all of the Patriots’ active receivers this week. He is a tough player to contain, but the Patriots will need to stop him before they even worry about other elite players, like wide receiver Keenan Allen.
This Patriots’ team doesn’t really have an answer for Ekeler. They might actually have a better shot at mitigating the effectiveness of quarterback Justin Herbert than they would at limiting one of the most underrated running backs in football.
Regardless, the Patriots will have to show some fight and find a way to slow down the Chargers’ explosive offense, if they have any hope of pulling off an upset.
