Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf might truly believe New England has the pieces it needs to build a competitive offensive line.
“We’re excited about our offensive line group,” Wolf told reporters at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, per a team-provided video.
But one of the examples Wolf used to cite an “improvement” is downright delusional.
“… I think we gave up one sack the other night,” said Wolf, referencing the Patriots preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “It was Philly’s twos (second-stringers), but it was an improvement to the practice on Tuesday.”
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That’s what we’re going to go with?
The Eagles absolutely tormented quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye during joint practice last week. Philadelphia’s first and second-string defenses went against New England’s first and second-string offenses and compiled a dozen (or more?) sacks. New England’s second group allowed three sacks on Drake Maye’s final four drop backs during a two-minute drill that stood no chance.
The Patriots got dominated up front. So much so that Philadelphia clearly saw enough from 2022 first-round defensive tackle Jordan Davis, 2023 first-round defensive tackle Jalen Carter, starting defensive end Josh Sweat and others. Those three, among others, did not need to play in the meaningless preseason game two nights later.
So instead the Patriots’ top offense, including left tackle Vederian Lowe, left guard Sidy Sow, center David Andrews, right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, went up against the Philadelphia backups. They Patriots held their own in pass protection, as evidenced by the one sack allowed by Lowe, but failed to do much of anything in front of starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson averaged 3.0 yards per carry on six attempts, and the clear majority of his ground gains (18 yards) came after contact.
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It is disingenuous for Wolf to point to the Patriots second preseason game as an example of major improvement for the offensive line. It had far more to do with who they were going up against than it did any earth-shattering changes within a 48-hour timeframe.
And the Patriots obviously will not benefit from opponents playing their backups once the real season starts.
