With Sudfeld hobbled, will the Pats continue to struggle in the Red Zone?
It was clearly obvious that the Patriots offense was not meshing so well in their highly anticipated season debut. After a very up and down preseason, the unit performed when necessary, but failed to pull the game away when they had chances early on. Here's a quick note: the Pats were 2-for-5 in Red Zone opportunities. Not a very flattering statistics for last year's league-leading offense.
Rookie Zach Sudfeld looked really promising during training camp, showing up as one of the more pleasant surprises. With Gronkowski-like stature and ability, he seemed to be a very suitable replacement for the All-Pro tightend as he recovers from multiple offseason surgeries. We all know that Rob Gronkowski is an absolute beast in the Red Zone, but Sudfeld looked like he could pick up the slack. However, we need to pump the brakes a little, considering that the surfer-turned-tightend pulled his hamstring in his official NFL debut.
So the hope that Sudfeld would also be a serious Red Zone threat in Gronk's absence may be a little dimmer, as we don't really know the severity of his injury. By the looks of things now, he will be playing in Thursday's game against the Jets, but might not be up to the pace that the team hopes. Running back LeGarrette Blount could really come in handy this upcoming week. Especially with Shane Vereen out for possibly four weeks, Blount's large/stocky build along with his power-rushing ability could come in handy.
With Tom Brady leading the offense, points will be put up. Efficiency is the issue though, as Brady and his new receivers need to clique a lot better than they did in last weeks game against Buffalo. TB12 will get the job done, but he needs help. ESPECIALLY in the Red Zone.
Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
So the hope that Sudfeld would also be a serious Red Zone threat in Gronk's absence may be a little dimmer, as we don't really know the severity of his injury. By the looks of things now, he will be playing in Thursday's game against the Jets, but might not be up to the pace that the team hopes. Running back LeGarrette Blount could really come in handy this upcoming week. Especially with Shane Vereen out for possibly four weeks, Blount's large/stocky build along with his power-rushing ability could come in handy.
With Tom Brady leading the offense, points will be put up. Efficiency is the issue though, as Brady and his new receivers need to clique a lot better than they did in last weeks game against Buffalo. TB12 will get the job done, but he needs help. ESPECIALLY in the Red Zone.
Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
