Corey Dillon? Curtis Martin? After Sunday’s victory over
the Miami Dolphins
Womens Dont'a Hightower Jersey , I posed an open-ended question to Twitter. I didn’t give much guidance because I wanted to see how people would
interpret the question. I simply asked asked people to fill in the blank: The
Patriots haven’t had a running back like Sony Michel since ______.Now my
intention was with regards to Michel’s running style. I think Dion Lewis is the
most talented running back the Patriots have had since Corey Dillon in 2004, but
I don’t think many people would confuse Lewis’ running style with that of
Michel. Where Lewis would make twenty tacklers miss, Michel flashed an ability
to use patience behind a blocker and then lower his shoulder to get yards after
contact.But 10 people offered Lewis’ name as the blank, the most of any opinion.
Six people offered Dillon and Curtis Martin, while four said Robert Edwards.I
said Stevan Ridley and three people agreed with that sentiment. Perhaps Michel
can develop into a receiving back, too, but so long as James White is on the
roster I have a hard time seeing Michel being the all-around back of Curtis
Martin, the player responsible for three of the four best running back seasons
in a Patriots uniform over the past 30 years.Michel only has 5 targets on the
season and none of them came last week against the Dolphins. But perhaps they
just wanted to preserve Michel after Rex Burkhead’s injury, and I could see the
Patriots trying to have a more defined role for Michel and White.Expectations
for Michel were extremely high after the Patriots selected him in the first
round of the 2018 NFL Draft and he’ll have to match his production against the
Dolphins multiple times over the coming weeks in order to satisfy the fans. But
out of all rookies, Michel ranks fifth in yards from scrimmage with 202 and
that’s even after missing the season opener. He likely won’t catch up to Saquon
Barkley (453 yards from scrimmage), but the door is open for Michel to be one of
the most productive players in the entire rookie class.Michel had a 23-yard gain
and a 14-yard gain against the Dolphins, showing a mix of patience behind his
blockers, explosion in traffic, and power at the point of contact that makes me
think he’ll continue to improve each week as he settles into the New England
offense. He’s a one-cut slasher like Stevan Ridley, but where Ridley sometimes
crashed into the backs of his blockers, I think Michel shows an ability to wait
for a crease to open. I also think Michel shows a little more athleticism in the
open field.But until Michel starts getting involved in the passing game,
Ridley’s 2012 season with 1,263 rushing yards and a mere 14 targets is the
likely trajectory- and that’s an incredible season, especially if that’s the
future for Michel’s rookie year.As for the expectations around Michel as a first
round pick, the way teams win through the draft is by getting players that
outperform their rookie contracts. For example, the New York Giants made Saquon
Barkely the 2nd overall pick, which makes him the fifth-highest paid running
back in the league (sixth-highest once Le’Veon Bell returns to the field). It’s
incredibly difficult for Barkely to out-perform his contract
http://www.newenglandpatriotsteamonline.com/deatrich-wise-jr-jersey , so even as he’s ranked fifth in yards from scrimmage for all running backs, the
Giants are just getting market value.Michel, on the other hand, ranks 30th in
average contract for running backs, behind James White (t-18th) and Rex Burkhead
(25th). For context, White ranks 14th in yards from scrimmage and Burkhead is on
the injured reserve. Michel ranks 32nd in yards from scrimmage, but he’s missed
a game and is trending up. Ultimately, a top-20 season from Michel sounds pretty
reasonable and would also be a major win and a solid return on salary cap
investment.But I’m getting ahead of myself. Michel’s had one strong game and two
replacement-level appearances. He’s by no means a lock to be the next Corey
Dillon. But I haven’t hoped for any Patriots running back to be the next Dillon,
until Michel came along.Because if Ridley’s 2012 season is the projection for
Michel’s rookie season, Dillon’s 2004 season- with 1,635 rushing yards and only
21 targets- could be on Michel’s horizon. After turning over half their roster,
it's not surprising the New York Giants are losing.The defending Super Bowl
champion Philadelphia Eagles are another story. They were expected to make a run
at being the first team to repeat since the New England Patriots won title games
after the 2003 and 2004 seasons.The Eagles (2-3) head into Thursday night's game
at MetLife Stadium against the Giants (1-4), looking to avoid their first
three-game losing streak since the 2016 season. A fourth loss would be more than
they had last season.While some might point to a Super Bowl hangover, it's also
a combination of having a target on their backs, injuries and bad play."We know
we're going to get everybody's best and we've seen it already this season,"
Eagles coach Doug Pederson said."I've addressed the team that way. It doesn't
mean we have to; it's not about panic mode or anything in that nature, it's just
a heightened sense of urgency. The mistakes we're making are self-inflicted and
it's keeping us from possibly winning a game or two here or there, and we
understand that."So do the Giants. They have not played horribly in coach Pat
Shurmur's first season. They are not making enough plays, and too many
mistakes.Odell Beckham Jr., who caught a touchdown and threw another in the
Giants' 33-31 loss to Carolina last weekend, is glad this is a short week and
the Eagles are the opponent in the weak NFC East where no team has a winning
record."Defending Super Bowl champs coming in here, Thursday night
game
Authentic Cordarrelle Patterson Jersey , but right now the focus is more on this just one game, and not putting so much pressure on what it could do for
us," Beckham said. "But this is a game that we need to win against a division
rival."The Eagles have won the past three against New York and seven of
eight.Beckham doesn't care."There's always a team each and every year where
everything is right for them," Beckham said of the Eagles."Even watching them
last year, there was third downs, third-and-7s — they got all of them. It's just
the little stuff that was going on for them all year that was happening that
allowed them to win each and every game. I don't know if I've seen that in the
past games."Here are a couple of things to watch:STOPPING ERTZEagles tight end
Zach Ertz has at least 10 catches and 100 receiving yards in each of his past
two games. He is looking to become the fifth player in league history to record
three consecutive 10-catch, 100-yard games. The Giants have the league's
eighth-best pass defense, and that's with only six sacks this season. New York
safety Landon Collins also does a good job in slowing down opposing tight ends.
Expect to see him go against Ertz.SCOUTING SAQUONEagles defensive end Michael
Bennett compared Saquon Barkley to a combination of Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy
and Jamaal Charles. Linebacker Jordan Hicks said the defense has to make sure
it's aware of Barkley on every snap. Philadelphia had the NFL's best run defense
last season and opponents are averaging 66.4 yards this year, with 42.4 yards by
running backs."He's a dynamic player," Hicks said. "He's used in many ways, he's
a strong, physical runner and can make every cut. We have to contain
him."STERLING EFFORTGiants wide receiver Sterling Shepard has played against the
Eagles four times and caught a touchdown in every game. He had two big games
last season, catching a total of 18 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns.
Shepard might have something to prove this week. He ran the wrong route Sunday
and it led to an interception. The third-year pro took out his frustration on a
bench and a garbage can. "I really wanted to win that game. That's the bottom
line. I felt it kind of slipping away right there."WHERE'S THE RUSH?The Eagles
only have 12 sacks this season and the inability of the front four to bring down
quarterbacks has hurt because coordinator Jim Schwartz doesn't like to blitz and
relies on the linemen to get sacks. As a result, the pass defense has suffered.
Eli Manning gets the ball out quickly, but he's been sacked 16 times this
season."We can rush better, we can get to the quarterback more," three-time Pro
Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. "The defensive line drives this team.
We have to do better."KICKING GAMEJake Elliott of the Eagles has made seven
straight field goals. He also beat the Giants with a 61-yarder last season.
Coincidently, Graham Gano beat New York with a 63-yarder last weekend. Aldrick
Rosas of the Giants has been perfect this season making all 11 of his field
goals and seven extra points. He has an injured quad and his status is
uncertain. Marshall Koehn, who was in training camp, was signed to the practice
squad Tuesday. He has kicked in one NFL regular-season game.AP Pro Football
Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this story.
