The New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in one of the worst matchups of the 2023 season. Both teams are floundering towards the bottom of the NFL standings and fighting in the “Caleb Williams Bowl” this weekend.
The Patriots under Bill Belichick will try and win as many games as possible. However, in order to do so, they’ll need to stop one elite x-factor for the Giants.
Even as bad as the Giants are, they have more x-factor talent than the Patriots, and this week, the Patriots will have one less to worry about with Dexter Lawrence being out. However, one player the Patriots will be tasked with stopping is elite running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley is on pace for 1,000-plus rushing yards, despite the poor Giant offense. He has elite contact balance, speed and power, while possessing great hands and route-running for a running back.
The issue is the Patriots might lack the speed to keep up with Barkley out of the backfield, if they try to center the offense around him with Tommy DeVito being the starting quarterback.
If the Patriots want to stop Barkley, they’ll have to do it with what they have on defense, and Marte Mapu might see an uptick in snaps this week to do so.
If Barkley has his way against the defense, we could see a vintage performance from the star rusher that ultimately ends badly for New England.
