Which Patriots Wide Receivers Will Show Up On Sunday?
As we all are aware by now, the Patriots have a big game on their hands come Sunday night.
The two best teams in the AFC will be battling in Arrowhead Stadium for the right to represent the conference in Super Bowl LIII. A lot of people have been talking about different crucial factors to the game Sunday. From Tom Brady, to Patrick Mahomes, to both teams defense, etc. But one thing that is flying under the radar is which Patriots wide receivers will show up for the Patriots on Sunday. With that being said, let’s look at each Patriots wide receiver to predict who will be a significant part of the offense against the Chiefs.
Julian Edelman
This is the most obvious one. Julian Edelman is Tom Brady’s security blanket and that isn’t any major secret. Edelman recorded his 5th postseason game of having over 100 receiving yards. He was catching passes, taking hits, and being the spark plug type of player the Patriots need right now. He had a nice bounce back season after missing the entire 2017 season due to a torn ACL, catching 74 passes for 850 yards with six of those catches resulting in receiving touchdowns. The Chiefs will probably be focusing on shutting down Edelman and make Brady have to extend the field. If Edelman is involved early and often, the Chiefs is in for a long night.
Chris Hogan
Chris Hogan is almost a forgotten about wide receiver. The Patriots brought him into the fold in 2016 and has been quite productive. This season, it seems like he was a little bit lost in the shuffle as he caught 35 passes for 532 yards and three touchdown receptions. It is right around his average season for the Patriots, but it seems like Hogan hasn’t made any really big plays like he has in the past. Remember the 2016 AFC Championship game against the Steelers? He caught 9 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He was all over the field! The Patriots should consider taking some deep chances with Hogan, especially on a Kansas City defense that finished next to last in the league in total yards given up per game.
Phillip Dorsett
Phillip Dorsett has had a sudden re-emergence in the Patriots offense with the departure of Josh Gordon. Dorsett had a good game against the Chargers, catching four passes for 41 yards, one of them being a touchdown. People forget that Dorsett was a former first round pick (2015, 29th overall), so the man has some talent. Dorsett will be looked upon to play a bigger part of the offense if the Chief defense is smart enough to double team Edelman and double team tight end Rob Gronkowski as well. Dorsett has great speed (4.3 40 at the 2015 NFL Combine) to separate from defensive backs, cornerbacks, and safeties to be an under the radar contributor on Sunday.
Cordarrelle Patterson
Cordarrelle Patterson has had the duty of double dipping, being a part of the special teams unit as well as being in the offense. His 4.42 40 combine speed was a big help for the Patriots this season with everything. Consider looking at what he did against the Bears in week 7. He can be a big difference maker on the special teams, which the Patriots have not had in a long time. Granted, he only returned one kickoff return for a touchdown, but you see what he can potentially do! Don’t think that he can’t catch the ball too though!
Patterson has two ways of being a difference maker in any given game. He also can be inserted as a running back for certain plays with a running start on an end-around.
In Conclusion
The wide receivers have to be ready to step up on Sunday. Whether it is even distribution or two guys stepping up, they need to have a big game as a group. Gronk will hopefully be involved with the offense more this week besides being a blocker a majority of the time. The running game is coming along quite nicely. The offensive and defensive line look MUCH BETTER than in the early part of the season. I can’t wait for Sunday!
To close it out, here’s Devin McCourty getting the defense fired up before the game against the Chargers. Use this as a pick-me-up to get through the work week until Sunday night, 6:40 pm EST.
4 more days until gameday!
-Alan Nahigian (BigAl2793)
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