3 Keys to a Patriots Victory in Week 11 vs. Eagles

The Patriots look to bounce back off the bye week against a banged-up Eagles squad.

The New England Patriots are back and refreshed off the bye week. The bye week always seems to feel long, especially with the Patriots coming off a loss. This week New England heads into Philadelphia to face the Eagles, who are also coming off the bye week, for a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX and Super Bowl LII. Get ready for a lot of highlights of the Philly Special and a rehash of Malcolm Butler talk. But for now, let’s get to three keys for a Patriots victory.

1) Doug Pederson vs Bill Belichick

The last time these two head coaches met, the Eagles were able to do whatever they wanted to on offense. It was arguably the worst defensive game ever for the Patriots under Bill Belichcick. Nick Foles was the quarterback at that time for Philadelphia and he went up and down the field to the tune of 373 yards and three touchdowns. He even caught a touchdown off the famed Philly Special play.

Doug Pederson is a disciple of Andy Reid. New England has historically struggled against Andy Reid type offenses, which are offenses with a lot of motions designed to get explosive players into space. Philadelphia and quarterback Carson Wentz are going to look to exploit the mismatches. It is up to Belichick to limit those.

2) N’Keal Harry

Is this the week we finally see N’Keal Harry? Tom Brady and the offense sure hope so. The Patriots miss Rob Gronkowski in many ways, but they miss the threat of him in the red zone the most. Even if Gronk wasn’t Brady’s intended target he would always draw double and sometimes triple coverage.

Harry is 6-foot-4, so he and Mohamed Sanu give Brady big targets to work with down around the goal line. Too many times this year Brady has had to squeeze the ball into tight windows around the goal line. Those aren’t high percentage plays. Don’t be surprised to see a package of red zone plays for Harry vs. Philadelphia.

3) Contenders or Pretenders

The Patriots have faced a slew of subpar quarterbacks and they took full advantage and raced out to an 8-0 start. Then they faced the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson and were dominated. The defense could not get a stop when they needed and gave up 37 points.

This week New England faces another good, legitimate quarterback in Wentz. There have been many questions raised about the Patriots and their defense. Is their record a byproduct of facing back quarterback or are they actually for real? We will find out Sunday at 4:25pm.