The Impact of Chandler Jones

 In recent weeks the New England Patriots have lacked a certain presence on defense, that presence being their pass rush. That presence is lost in the form of DE Chandler Jones, who's been out since Week 7 when he injured his hip. The lack of an effective pass rush was very evident in the Patriots 25-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday night. Which highlighted the weakness of the pass rush and the impact Chandler Jones can have on that upon Returning. When healthy Chandler Jones is one of the most effective pass rushing defensive ends in the NFL. And having him out of the picture has severly hurt the patriots front 7. Not only is his absence affecting the front seven but also affecting the secondary as the lack of a pass rush is giving opposing quarterbacks plenty of time to find an open receiver downfield or allow the quarterback to escape and run for yardage. With Jones in the lineup the Patriots get an above average amount of pressure, with pressure on 26.4 percent of plays, while without him in the lineup the Patriots get a below average amount of pressure with pressure on 19.7 percent of plays. Going into January the Patriots are gonna need to be firing on all cylinders to move through the playoffs and Chandler Jones is essential to the Patriots playoff longevity 

How the Patriots can bounce back

                  Going into week 5, the doubts are as high as ever with the 2014 Patriots. Last week the Patriots were embarrassed on national television against the Kansas City Chiefs on MNF, with a 41-14 loss. A game in which Tom Brady and the offense could never get into rhythm. Brady and the receivers seemed to not be on the same page for the better part of the night. The only offensive weapon with an overall good game was Brandon Lafell. Brady was eventually taken out of the game and was replaced for rookie second round pick Jimmy Garropolo. The offensive line had a strong start but slowly but surely fell apart during a horrendous second half. As well as offensive woes, the Pats defense was run all over by the Chiefs offense, who finished the game with 207 rushing yards, and Jaamal Charles scored 3 rushing TD's. For multiple weeks the Patriots have struggled, and the answer for these struggled has yet to be found. But what week 5 brings is probably the toughest opponent the pats have played thus far, the Cincinnati Bengals.

                    The Cincinnati Bengals have solidified themselves as one of the top teams in the AFC, and there's good reasoning. At 3-0 the Bengals are 1 of 2 teams still undefeated in the NFL, the other being the Arizona Cardinals.  Thus far the Bengals offensive line has only allowed 10 QB pressures and has allowed no sacks. Which is what helps make this Bengals team so good, they have a handful of great offensive weapons including one of the best WRs in the NFL in A.J. Green,  when given time Andy Dalton can find any of his offensive weapons getting open. The Bengals defense also features some formidable players such as defensive lineman Geno Atkins, and linebacker Vontae Burficit.

                  With the Patriots coming off an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs, the Patriots find themselves trying to figure out how they can rebound on the national stage on Sunday night. Week 5 signals the returns of previously suspended players CB Brandon Browner, and WR Brian Tyms. Both first year Patriots players, and had both been suspended 4 games for violating the NFLs substance policies. Browner should give the defense a much needed spark, hopefully making them more aggressive. And Tyms, who had a very strong preseason, earning him a spot on the roster despite the 4 game suspension, should give Tom Brady hopefully another possible offensive weapon. The Bengals will give the pats their toughest test yet, and the only way they're going to win, and continue winning is if this team gets on the same page. Recently the offense hasn't even look like they're in the same book. The line needs to give brady enough time to go through his progressions, and find the open man.

Will the O-Line hold up?

As the New England Patriots enter week 4 2-1, they'll face a 1-2, Kansas City Chiefs team who are coming off a big 34-15 win last week over the Miami Dolphins. The New England Patriots came out of week 3 the victors of a very sloppy offensive affair against the Oakland Raiders.The sloppy offensive performance was largely due to the fact that Tom Brady had just about slim to no time to go through his progressions. The reasoning behind this is the continued underwhelming play of the offensive line. Tom Brady has struggled to get offensive weapons such as Brandon Lafell and Danny Amendola involved as much as he would like. Brady's been sacked 7 times this season through 3 games, and has been pressured on what seems to be just about every play. Is the departure of Logan Mankins from the team really the reason for the lackluster start to the season for this offensive line? They say the offensive line is the most chemistry based unit on a football field, but did the Mankins trade really destroy the chemistry the line had? Well let's say it did hurt that chemistry, why hasn't the line been able to regain that chemistry in the time they've had since the Mankins trade. Maybe the problem is the fact that first year man Jordan Devey is starting at Left Guard for the Pats. Devey was an undrafted free agent that