Vorstellung » Coming off a hard-fought victory over the Kansas City Chiefs

Danny Shelton Jerseys 2019 , the New England Patriots need a quick turnaround as another big challenge awaits: the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears, who not only bring a 3-2 record to the table but also own top-10 units on both sides of the football. Safe to say, that this will be an interesting road contest for the Patriots.Let’s analyze it by taking a look at some of the advanced stats heading into the game (courtesy of SB Nation’s Bill Connelly; for his methodology please click here).Patriots offense vs Bears defenseNormal down and distance in the open fieldThe Patriots offense continues to improve its open field statistics and despite a bad start to the year, now ranks among the top-10 in three of the categories. On Sunday, though, a big challenge awaits in a Bears defense that has found plenty of success between its own 10 and the opposing 30: New England and Chicago are matched up evenly from a statistic perspective. That being said, the Patriots’ numbers over the last three games look much improved when compared to their first three – so one could give the edge to Tom Brady and company.Backed Up Situations Near the Goal LineNew England’s success rate while being backed up inside its own 10-yard line continues to be rather average with an interception in week one still hurting the turnover rate. The Bears, on the other hand, have also not been world beaters when having their opponent pinned deep in its own territory.Red ZoneThe Patriots continue to be one of the NFL’s better red zone teams, even though their success inside the 10-yard line has taken a slight hit when compared to last week’s advanced stats. This week White Josh Gordon Jerseys , New England’s offense will face a defense that ranks well in exactly that part of the field – so now would be the right time to show some improvements from the Patriots’ perspective. Maybe Rob Gronkowski, who has only received one target inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, will help.Third DownsWhile their third-and-medium success rate is below average, the Patriots have one of the best overall third down offenses in football. Being able to extend drives has been a key for the team as of late – just watch the last two drives against Kansas City – and it will now try to do the same versus a defense that has been quite productive in this area as well. Talk about a classic battle of strength versus strength.Blitz SituationsNew England’s offense and Chicago’s defense are both faring relatively well in blitz situations – obvious passing downs specified as first-and-18 or more, second-and-14 or more, and third-and-3 or more – with the noticeable outlier being big plays: the Patriots have failed to produce them when playing behind the sticks, while the Bears have failed to stop them in the same kind of situations.Patriots defense vs Bears offenseNormal down and distance in the open fieldNew England’s defensive inconsistency is reflected in the open field statistics. Luckily, it still matches up well against second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears. The only stat clearly working in the home team’s favor is third down success rate: New England has struggled getting off the field on third downs between their own 30 and the opponent’s 10, while the Bears have had no issues converting in such situations.Backed Up Situations Near the Goal LineNew England’s defense and Chicago’s offense match up rather evenly when it comes to backed-up situations: both teams have had some success in this area of the field – inside the offense’s own 10-yard line – which could make for an interesting battle if situations like these come along.Red ZoneThe Patriots like to use a bend-don’t-break approach when it comes to defense, which is built on strong red zone performances. This year Josh Gordon Jerseys 2019 , however, the team has had its fair share of struggles in this part of the field – although it has shown some improvement last week against the Chiefs. Now, the unit will face another one of the NFL’s better red zone offenses and being up to the task once again will be one of the keys to the game.Third DownsWhile the red area statistics clearly favor Chicago, the two teams are matched up rather evenly when it comes to third down situations: both units have their ups and downs depending on the situation. One would clearly favor the Bears, though: third-and-short. New England has been atrocious in stopping opponents with less than one yard to go.Blitz SituationsEven though the Bears have an explosive set of offensive weapons in Taylor Gabriel, Allen Robinson II and Tarik Cohen, the team has struggled when playing from behind the sticks. Getting Chicago in such situations would be big for the Patriots therefore, despite them having their own problems as well. However, this matchup still favors New England from a statistical perspective.If the advanced statistics are an indication, the Patriots and Bears are in for what could be a close game of strength versus strength (New England’s offense versus Chicago’s defense) White Jonathan Jones Jerseys , and weakness versus weakness (New England’s defense versus Chicago’s offense). For the visitors, the following questions will need to be answered to decide both battles in their favor:Can the Patriots improve in the red zone on both sides of the ball?Can the Patriots defense force Chicago to play from behind the sticks?Can the Patriots win on third down?If New England is able to accomplish most of those things, it could very well sway the outcome in its favor. New England brought the veteran linebacker back into the fold." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhitePats Pulpita New England Patriots communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpPatriots NewsOpinion and AnalysisContribute!About the SiteTopicsPatriotsOddsShopStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementFiled under:NFL Free AgencyPatriots AnalysisPatriots Free Agency CoverageWhat re-signing linebacker Jamie Collins means for the PatriotsNew,124commentsRead more: Patriots re-sign linebacker Jamie CollinsEDTShareTweetShareShareWhat re-signing linebacker Jamie Collins means for the PatriotsKevin Jairaj-USA TODAY SportsEarlier today, the New England Patriots brought a familiar face back into the fold: the team reportedly re-signed linebacker Jamie Collins, who started his NFL career as a Patriots second-round draft pick in 2013 and appeared in a combined 57 regular season and playoff games for the club. After two and a half years with the Cleveland Browns, Collins now returns to the team with which he won the Super Bowl in 2014.Let’s find out what adding the 29-year-old means, especially for a Patriots defense that appears to be pretty deep at this point in time.New England has a plan in mind for CollinsDuring his first stint in New England, the Patriots used Collins in various ways to take advantage of his outstanding athletic skills: he rushed the passer, he dropped into coverage against tight ends Jonathan Jones Jerseys 2019 , he aligned on the strong side and the weak side of the formation. It remains to be seen whether or not the Patriots will employ him in similar fashion now, but one thing seems certain: they do have a plan for him in mind and think his presence could improve the defense, or otherwise Collins would not have been brought back.Collins gives the Patriots flexibilityNew England has a versatile group of linebackers under contract: Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy are jack-of-all-trade options capable of playing on the line and in space, Elandon Roberts improved noticeably as a coverage defender in 2018, and Ja’Whaun Bentley showed promise both against the run and the pass last year. Adding Collins to this group gives the Patriots defense even more flexibility given his own versatility: he adds depth and experience behind top options Hightower and Van Noy, and takes pressure off Bentley coming back from a season-ending biceps injury.Jerod Mayo and the Patriots defense get a familiar face to work withThe Patriots’ new inside linebackers coach knows his team’s latest signing pretty well: Mayo and Collins played alongside each other from 2013 to 2015, which means that the former should have a pretty clear picture of the latter’s strengths and weaknesses — and how to best work with them. In general, Collins is an experienced option after having appeared in 57 games for New England before he was shipped off to Cleveland midway through the 2016 season. He should be able to get up to speed rather quickly given his familiarity with the scheme and its terminology.The salary cap likely won’t be impacted too muchWhen the Browns signed Collins to a four-year, $50 million contract in early 2017, they paid top dollar for one of the NFL’s most intriguing linebackers. Since then White Ja’Whaun Bentley Jersey , Collins’ status has changed quite a bit: after two inconsistent and injury-riddled years in Cleveland, he spent more than two months on the open market before getting picked up by the Patriots. Needless to say that the team likely did not overpay to get its hands on its former second-round investment once again.Last year’s trade rumors were not unfoundedAhead of last year’s trade deadline, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported that the Patriots were having internal discussions about potentially re-acquiring Jamie Collins from the Browns. Those talks did obviously not reach a point at which the club felt prompted to pull the trigger. However, today’s news pretty much confirms Howe’s report from last October — and that the Patriots have had their eyes on Collins for quite some time now.The Patriots will need to make a corresponding roster moveAs things stand right now, the Patriots have a full offseason roster: 90 men are under contract with the club, which means that it will need to make a corresponding move once Collins officially gets brought back. There are plenty of candidates to get the axe in favor of the veteran linebacker — from undrafted rookie signings like offensive linemen Tyree St. Louis or Tyler Gauthier to depth linebacker Calvin Munson.Collins is no roster lockWhile Collins is a big-name player, his status on the team will likely be a volatile one: New England is pretty strong at linebacker even without him in the fold, so the one-time Pro Bowler will need to earn his role on the team — especially considering that the Patriots’ financial commitments will likely be limited. Collins certainly has value to the organization in its own eyes, but if he fails to justify the trust put in him by Bill Belichick and company it will not be a surprise to see the club move on from him again.