Pats Preview: Pats Vs. Texans

As the New England Patriots prepare for a quick turnaround and a Thursday night showdown with the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium, here are some thoughts about leading into the match up.

He's Not A Doctor, He's A Coach- As Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made abundantly clear during his Tuesday press conference, he is only a football coach, not a doctor. That statement was made, of course, after being repeatedly peppered by reporters about the availability of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder Sunday. Reports have been all over the place, when it comes to Garoppolo's availability for Thursday. The overwhelming belief is that the Pats are looking for Garoppolo to be back next week, as long as he can tolerate the pain, as the injury is one that other players, including Tom Brady, have played with before. With the likelihood of any available quarterback coming in and learning the playbook enough to actually help the team being slim, expect for the Pats to pass on other options and keep Garoppolo on the active roster. There's been a wealth of debate about whether Garoppolo will be in pads Thursday night, at least as a backup option. It wouldn't be shocking if the Pats at least have Garoppolo dressed, but don't expect him to play a role on the field.

Bringing Up Brissett- After being fluxed into emergency duty in the second quarter of Sunday's win over the Dolphins, rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett is poised to be the Pats' second starting quarterback this season. With the complexity of the New England offense being a factor, Brissett is a better option than any of the free agent quarterbacks currently looking for a job in the league. While he had spent limited to no time throughout the preseason and first two weeks of the regular season working with the first team offense, the 2016 third round pick didn't seem to be shaken by the moment on Sunday. In fact on nine attempts, Brissett completed six passes for 92 yards, with two incompletions coming on drops by top wide out Julian Edelman who seemed to be a little off timing with the young quarterback. Brissett did get sacked twice for 22 yards and took some unnecessary hits that came from some miscommunication with the line's blocking assignments, but his poise in a rather stressful situation didn't go unnoticed. As if it's not hard enough to be thrown into the fire early in Week 2, the quarterback also has the tall task of a quick turnaround for Thursday Night Football against a team that lives by its defense. Looking for a Garoppolo-like outing out of Brissett would be unfair, but if offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can put together a game plan that lends itself to Brissett's strengths and is heavy on the run, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect the rookie to play sound football.

Leaning On LeGarrette & Co.- Given the circumstances surrounding this game, look for the Patriots to rely heavily on the offensive line and power running back LeGarrette Blount on Thursday. Blount is the only true "between the tackles" running back on the roster and saw a huge boost in his role after Garoppolo's injury Sunday. With that boost in role, Blount performed well. On 29 carries the power back rushed for 129 yards and a score, including an impressive fourth quarter drive that saw him put the team in position to put the game on ice with just over a minute remaining. If not for a rare Stephen Gostkowski missed field goal, Blount's final drive might be heralded as the game winner. With all that being said, part of Blount effectiveness was definitely that the offensive line gave him room to work with, especially on the left side where starting left tackle Nate Solder returned after missing Week 1 and got a consistent push in the running game. If the New England offensive line, which still has plenty of room to grow but has been better this year under veteran coach Dante Scarnecchia who came out of retirement, can engage an d move the Houston front seven off of the ball, Blount could put up big numbers again this week. Look for the coaching staff to help out there by keeping at least one extra blocker on the line most of the night. Backup tackle Cameron Fleming has been utilized a lot over the past couple of seasons as a blocking tight end in the run game and veteran tight end Martellus Bennett showed he can be a real force as a blocker in the team's first two games this season. Plan on seeing both of them, along with tight end Clay Harbor and fullback James Develin attempting to assist the starting line with opening wholes for Blount throughout the night.

Quick Transition- Because of the NFL's hunger for as much money as possible, Thursday Night Football has become a fixture of the league schedule over the past couple of seasons. For the league, it's just another night to rake in the ratings and cash, but for it's teams its a tough transition and a quick turnaround. Playing in another game just four days after their previous one allows the team's little time for game planning and recovery from the past week's action. New England is surely in a tougher spot than Houston, heading into Thursday, but the Texans have little prep time as well.

Time To Step Up- Heading into the regular season, the Patriots' defense was considered to be among the top such units in the league. Despite that popular belief, the defense has yet to really play to their full potential and dominate a game. If there was ever a time to do so, it would be Thursday night. With the third string quarterback under center and coming off of an extremely short week, the Pats must rely on the defense to carry them through the night. In the team's first game, the defense was so-so. In last week's win over Miami they appeared to get off to a strong start, until Garoppolo suffered his injury. After that, the defense lost a little bit of life and gave up 24 points over slightly more than two quarters of play. The secondary got torched but a suspect quarterback in Ryan Tannehill and the front seven, with the exception of defensive end Chris Long, barely got any pressure on the young QB. Luckily for New England, offense isn't the strong part of the Texans' team. In fact, the Houston offense ranks 20th in the league with an average of 347.5 total yards from scrimmage and just three offensive scores through two games. With those less than stellar stats combining with a defense due for a strong outing, it could be a perfect storm for a Patriots offense in need of some support.

Stopping The Rush- While the Houston offense is less than daunting, the team's defensive front is one of the top such units in the league. Anchored on the ends by multi-time defensive player of the year J.J. Watt and former top pick Jadeveon Clowney and bulky up the middle with former Patriot Vince Wilfork, Houston's front line presents issues for any offense in the league.  With that being said, a lot of pressure will fall on New England's front line to try and not only get a push up front to run the ball consistently but to also give the quarterback as much time as possible to find receivers on passing plays. As it currently stands, the line will be protecting either a quarterback making his third career start with a sprained throwing shoulder or a rookie quarterback who has just over two quarters of play under his belt. They were better this past week, but they will need to be at their best Thursday, against some of the best competition they'll see all year.

Gronk A Go?- It is still a huge uncertainty as to whether top tight end Rob Gronkowski will play Thursday. Gronk has missed the first two games this season, dealing with a hamstring injury, and the initial overwhelming thought was that he would probably not be a go for Week 3. He did, however, come out to the team's latest practice, which was a walk through, in full pads. After the joking stunt, he talked to the media about how he has been feeling increasingly better as of late and that he wanted to get back accustomed to the pads. If he is healthy enough to return, Gronkowski's ability to command double team's and his skills as a blocker could help the team work through the difficulty of having an inexperienced quarterback leading the team.

Prediction- With all things considered, it's been proven again and again that you just  shouldn't doubt the Patriots and Bill Belichick, especially when they're playing at home. Even playing on a short week, against a tough defense, with a third string, rookie quarterback expected to start and the top tight end not assured to be on the field come game time, it's tough to count them out. If you haven't made a habit of doubting the Patriots yet, you shouldn't start now. Expect the defense to finally begin to live up to it's preseason billing and expect Brissett to show more ability than many people believe he might have at this point in time. The game will probably be low scoring, but look for the New England offense to find a way to put just enough points on the board to stay undefeated.

Patriots 17, Texans 9