The Patriots will need one heck of a gameplan from Bill Belichick and Co. if they’re even going to be competitive with the Chiefs on Sunday.
Peter Schrager believes this could include a surprise or two.
Schrager and the rest of the “Good Morning Football” crew on Tuesday broke down how New England potentially could beat Kansas City in Week 4. The NFL Analyst is confident the Patriots, at least to some degree, will be able to catch the Chiefs off guard, possibly in the form of an unlikely source making a big impact.
“…Belichick’s got something up his sleeve. Like, he’s got something up his sleeve,” Schrager said on NFL Network. “It’s not like he’s going to come in here and say, ‘OK, man to man, let’s go. Let’s do this, let’s go. Your team of All-Stars vs. our guys.’ I think the surprise rabbit out of the hat might be J.J. Taylor. Who? J.J. Taylor, a 5-foot-7 running back for the Patriots who came out of nowhere last week against the Raider. (He) had no impact on film the first two weeks. Last week, led the team in carries.
“…They’re finding guys that were not key players early on already and they’re making plays. This J.J. Taylor is 5-foot-7. Yes, 5-foot-7. Was Mr. Football in the state of California but was not able to get any scholarships. He was the one who led the team in carries last week and that’s what Belichick is doing right now. He has so many things that we haven’t seen on tape. He and (Josh) McDaniels are going to throw it all at the Chiefs and hope for the best here.”
In a vacuum, an uptick in touches for Taylor at Arrowhead Stadium would make sense. The undrafted rookie has made the most of his limited playing time thus far, and that’s typically rewarded in Foxboro. That said, second-year back Damien Harris, a training camp standout this summer, is eligible to be activated to the 53-man roster and make his 2020 debut Sunday. The Patriots might be eager to get the Alabama product on the field early and often, which could result in diminished snaps for Taylor.
But it’s usually a fool’s errand to try to predict how Belichick might approach a matchup with a top-tier opponent. We’ll just have to wait and see.
