The New England Patriots continue to be the hottest team in the NFL, but Jonathan Taylor and the Colts are also rolling. Taylor is the hottest running back in the league, he is 300+ yards ahead of the second rushing leader this season, he’s also scored 16 touchdowns this season.
The Patriots have been holding opposing offenses to about 10 points a game during this win streak. This is set up to be a great game. Two teams both coming off of their bye weeks, the Colts have won 4 of their last 5, the one loss coming in a close game to the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Both the Colts and Patriots are well rounded teams, solid on both sides of the ball. Lets see how they matchup.
Rushing Attack
The Colts have the advantage here. They would have the advantage here against any team in the league. Jonathan Taylor has just been unreal this season. Taylor has rushed for almost 1,350 yards this season. That is while only hitting 100 yards once in the first five weeks of the season. Taylor is also a talented pass catcher, he has 8 games with at least 3 receptions.
Now that’s not to say that the Patriots rushing attack is bad. Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson have shared the load in the backfield and produced solid numbers. As a team the Pats have rushed for over 100 yards 11 times this season, 8 of those times going over for 125+ yards.
There will be a lot of running the ball this game, each team likes to balance out their offense.
Wide Receivers
The Patriots have the advantage with their wideouts. The Colts have a decent receiver core, but Michael Pittman Jr. is the only one who has been putting up numbers this season. He has 67 receptions for 882 yards and 5 touchdowns. TY Hilton and Parris Campbell are both under 200 yards receiving and one touchdown each.
The Patriots have a very talented group as well, lead by Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, and Jakobi Meyers. They spread the wealth in New England, Bourne and Meyers have both gone for over 600 receiving yards, Bourne and Agholor both have at least 3 touchdowns (5 for Bourne, 3 for Agholor, 1 for Meyers).
The Patriots ability to spread the ball to all their receivers makes them a very tough team to cover.
Defense
The Patriots are one of the best defenses in the NFL, they have a clear advantage in this matchup. The Patriots have allowed 100 yards on the ground 6 times this season. They are also one of the best teams defending the pass, just five times allowing over 200 passing yards.
Led by JC Jackson and Matt Judon, they will look to hold the Colts and Taylor in check.
The Colts defense have been solid this season. They are top 12 in points allowed, top 12 in yards allowed, 19th in sacks, and top 5 in interceptions. They will be looking to force Mac Jones into making mistakes.
Quarterbacks
Coming off a three-pass attempt game, Mac Jones will be looking to throw the ball a little more this week. Jones has been a 70% passer all season, going for 2800+ yards and 16 touchdowns. He has thrown 8 interceptions this season, but just two of those have come during the Patriots win streak. Jones has played himself into the best odds to win offensive rookie of the year.
Carson Wentz has quietly been having a really strong season, he has been overshadowed by Jonathan Taylor. Wentz has thrown for close to 3000 yards, as well as 22 touchdowns. The most impressive stat for Wentz this season is that he has only thrown 5 interceptions this year.
Pats Colts Preview
This is most certainly going to be a good game. The Patriots have been rolling, and the Colts are fighting to get to the playoffs. I would expect Jonathan Taylor to go for over 100 rushing yards but it will not be an easy 100. He is going to have to fight for those yards against the Patriots defense.
I predict the Patriots offense will lean more heavily on the run to start the game and then expand the playbook to include more passes. They will see if they can carry the smash mouth style game from week 13 against the Colts this week.
This most likely will not be a high scoring affair, both defenses are solid, but it won’t be a defensive battle. either.
Predictions
Mac Jones – 285 passing yards – 1 touchdown
Carson Wentz -245 passing yards – 1 touchdown
Jonathan Taylor – 110 rushing yards – 1 touchdown
Damien Harris – 65 rushing yards
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