Tag: duron harmon

Eagles vs. Patriots: Live blog and scoring drive updates

The New England Patriots (8-1) are visiting the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) in a game that could catapult the Eagles to a playoff run.

The New England Patriots (8-1) are visiting the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) in a game that could catapult the Eagles to a playoff run. Tom Brady and company are looking for revenge after the 41-33 loss in Super Bowl LII.

With kickoff just minutes away, here are your live scoring updates and play by play analysis.

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Eagles’ TE’s could have huge day vs. Patriots with Patrick Chung ruled out

Patriots rule out safety Patrick Chung vs. Eagles

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The Philadelphia Eagles were already starting to become tight end dominant in the passing game, and with Patriots star safety Patrick Chung being ruled out for Sunday, 12 personnel could be the formation of choice.

New England ruled out Chung for Sunday’s road game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to injuries to his heel and chest.

Veteran safety Duron Harmon will get the start in his place.

With the Eagles having the best tight end tandem in the NFL, Bill Belichick and company can expect to see a ton of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert on the field together.

During the last meeting between these two teams, Ertz had seven catches for 67 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles thrilling Super Bowl LII victory against New England.

With Alshon Jeffery also out of this game, it’ll be pertinent for Carson Wentz to develop a rhythm with both guys early on, helping to open up things for JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Miles Sanders.

Expect New England to dabble with a different scheme on Sunday, entrusting All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore with the job of slowing down Zach Ertz. Until Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews or Arcega-Whiteside can prove themselves as viable threats on the outside, Gilmore will likely be best served to shadow Ertz on Sunday and forcing someone else on the Eagles offense to beat New England.

That man could end up being Goedert, who has the skill level to take advantage of any mismatch presented to him.

This insane statistic puts perspective on Patriots’ lockdown secondary

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots. 

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots.

Through nine games this season, opposing quarterbacks have a 13.3 passer rating while throwing 21 yards or more in the air, H/T Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. New England has more interceptions (7) than opposing teams have completions (5) when throwing for more than 21 yards.

The second-best team in this category is the Buffalo Bills, who have kept opposing quarterbacks at a 40.6 passer rating. But, they’ve only had 20 pass attempts against them, compared to New England with 44 pass attempts. The Patriots have the No. 2 pass defense in the league currently with 150.2 passing yards allowed per game.

The secondary is primarily composed of Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Pat Chung and Duron Harmon. Devin leads the group with five interceptions and Gilmore is second in the unit with three.  New England has a league-high 19 interceptions through nine games and the second-best team has 14.

The Patriots have accumulated a league-high 270 yards from interceptions along with two touchdowns. They’ve been able to create great field position for the offense, while helping hold opposing offenses to an average of 10.9 points per game.

New England struggled against the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 9 loss, but it was mostly due to the run defense. Baltimore had 210 rushing yards against the Patriots and only 162 passing yards.

This secondary has some talented quarterbacks ahead of them with Carson Wentz, Day Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. It would be an incredible feat if the Patriots could keep these numbers up for the entirety of the season.

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