Forum allgemein » CHICAGO (AP) — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots

are stacking up the victories and that’s what matters most to them.As for the aesthetics White Allen Robinson Jerseys , they’ll keep working on that.“We need to make improvements,” Brady said. “I think the more we’re on the field, the more we can practice, the more we can figure out where everyone fits and what we’re doing a good job at in general, those things start to sort themselves out. … But I’d certainly take building on the wins rather than losing games.”Brady threw for three touchdowns and the Patriots hung on to beat the Chicago Bears 38-31 Sunday when Kevin White got stopped at the 1 on a 54-yard pass from Mitchell Trubisky.The Patriots (5-2) won their fourth straight following a 1-2 start. Coming off a 43-40 win over Kansas City, New England came out on top when a swarming defense prevented White from crossing the goal line after he hauled in a heave from Trubisky on the final play.That gave Chicago (3-3) its second loss in a row after winning three straight to grab sole possession of the NFC North lead.Here are some things to know:INJURIES ADDING UPAlready missing five-time Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots might also have to get by without promising rookie running back Sony Michel.He lost a fumble and had to be helped from the field after he was twisted around while getting tackled by Bilal Nichols on the first play of the second quarter. In the previous three games, Michel rushed for 316 yards and four touchdowns.Gronkowski missed his first game because of ankle and back injuries.WILD TIMESMitchell Trubisky’s accuracy came into question, but not his feet.His career-high 81 yards rushing included a spinning, cross-field 8-yard TD run in which he initially scrambled back to about the 30. But he had two interceptions, should have had at least two more and finished 26 for 50 for 333 yards with two touchdowns.The wildness was very apparent early against Patriot blitzes.“Early on, it wasn’t just Mitch,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “Trust me. There were a lot of people that were out of rhythm.”GOING DEEPThe Patriots had been lacking a bonafide deep threat in the passing game, but recently acquired Josh Gordon is starting to make an impact. He had a 55-yard reception to set up Brady’s 2-yard TD pass to James White to make it 38-24.He now has 13 catches for 224 yards in four games with New England since a trade from Cleveland last month.“We are just going to keep developing our confidence in one another, and he’s making great plays when I throw him the ball,” Brady said. “Just got to keep doing it.”LACK MACKStar pass rasher Khalil Mack was largely a nonfactor for the second straight game.The two-time All-Pro made little impact after injuring his right ankle early in last week’s overtime loss at Miami. And it wasn’t much different going against Brady and the Patriots.Mack had one tackle, and he failed to register a sack for the second week in a row. He spent most of the time on the right side of the line of scrimmage instead of the left Allen Robinson Jerseys 2019 , where he usually plays. And he often dropped back in coverage.Chicago’s lone sack was by Roquan Smith.“I don’t know if it affected him yet,” coach Matt Nagy said, referring to Mack’s ankle.“Obviously we didn’t feel it from our team as far as just getting the overall general pressure on (Brady).”CATCH AND RUNJames White continues to give New England solid contributions in the receiving and running games.He caught a team-high eight passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns. He also led New England with 40 yards rushing.“You never know how a team is going to decide how to match up against you,” White said. “No matter who is covering me, I just try to win my match whether it’s a corner, safety, linebacker, D-ends. Just get open, man to man or find the right spot in the end zone and catch the ball and protect it.”White leads New England for the year in receptions with 45 and has six TD catches. The Falcons would be rich and deep at defensive tackle, but at what cost?"We’ve talked about what might happen if the Falcons took a defensive end, right tackle, or cornerback at 14, but we haven’t covered defensive tackle just yet. Let’s remedy that today. Who might the Falcons take?Ed Oliver is the guy if the Falcons have been gathering their ammo to move up for, but it’s probably a stretch to think that he’ll be available at 14. A freak athlete who on his best days simply hammers his way through opposing offensive linemen, Oliver would pair with Grady Jarrett to create one of the league’s most exciting young tandems on the interior, and he could be useful at end if the Falcons want to mix and match their fronts. It’s a virtual lock they’ll need to go up and get him, however. Ditto Quinnen Williams White Eric Kush Jerseys , who doesn’t have the same profile but is in danger of being underrated now given his college production and huge skill. If they’re content to wait, it’d be Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, or perhaps Jerry Tillery. Wilkins and Lawrence are big beefy run stoppers with some pass rushing punch, while Tillery is likely to fall further but has deeply intriguing upside. What does it mean for the roster in 2019?An absolutely loaded defensive tackle rotation, and the opportunity to do some interesting things on the defensive line more generally. Adding Oliver would allow the Falcons to put some sets on the field on run downs that could feature Oliver and Takk McKinley/Adrian Clayborn at end, with Grady Jarrett/Deadrin Senat/Tyeler Davison clogging up the middle. On obvious passing downs, meanwhile, the Falcons will be able to bring some combination of Jarrett, Oliver and Crawford to bear, and Jarrett and Crawford accounted for nearly a third of the team’s sacks a year ago without Oliver in the mix. That would be a fun line.If they go with someone like Wilkins, meanwhile, they will have a compelling early down rotation and the ability to have the likes of Jarrett and Davison playing end when needed. The Falcons have (wisely or unwisely) talked a lot about stopping the run, and a line with more power and size helps to accomplish that. Either way, adding a defensive tackle gives this team real talent and terrific depth on the interior, allowing them to do some creative things and keeping their best players fresh. What does it mean long-term?That the Falcons are looking to have a strong, capable set of defensive tackles over the long haul. Jack Crawford was a valuable player a year ago and the Falcons reportedly want to keep Davison around for longer than the 2019 season Eric Kush Jerseys 2019 , which is all they have him for at the moment, but there’s no guarantee either will return. If they don’t and the Falcons don’t invest at defensive tackle, they’ll have Grady Jarrett, Deadrin Senat, and potentially Justin Zimmer if he develops into a useful player after another year on the practice squad. Adding a first round talent gives this team two slam dunk starting-caliber DTs, a valuable young rotational run stopper in Senat, and whoever else they choose to add going forward. Pairing a genuine talent with Jarrett will help the Falcons solidify their defensive front while they work on long-term solutions at end, at the very least. What are the opportunity costs?Similar to cornerback, this is adding a player who could be a significant long-term addition but would be an uneasy fit this year unless the Falcons were planning to move on from Crawford to free up snaps. If the team isn’t planning to make a significant addition to defensive end, they can use their mega rotation of defensive tackles at end too, especially on early downs, which solves some of that.But adding a defensive tackle pushes an edge rusher down the board, it pushes a right tackle down the board, and it pushes cornerback down the board, and the Falcons have made it clear those are all significant needs. Adding elite talent has to trump those concerns, but again, prioritizing a position that is less of an immediate need means the Falcons need to either nail later picks or be comfortable with stopgaps at a couple of core positions. We should be clear that defensive tackle is no longer a massive need White Cordarrelle Patterson Jerseys , even if I really do want the Falcons to land a player like Ed Oliver. There’s a single-minded focus on size at defensive tackle that crowds out all other considerations, but the Falcons now have a multi-year starter in Davison who is a proven quality run stopper, the still-promising Senat, one of the league’s better young starters in Jarrett, and Crawford, who despite some uneven efforts last year managed six sacks and can legitimately get after the passer. When you consider that both Takk McKinley and Adrian Clayborn can kick inside when needed, the team is not in dire straits at the position. Should the Falcons do it?It depends entirely on the player. If you can add a player like Oliver or Williams (or even Tillery, but he may be there in the second round) who has the upside to be a great, you can talk me into it fairly easily. The Falcons only will have three veterans under contract in 2020 and one of them is Senat, who despite his promise is not a proven option just yet. I’m less sold on Wilkins, Lawrence, et al, because while they are fine players who can contribute immediately, I’m not sold on them becoming dominant in the way that I think Oliver or Williams can be. Of course, given that those are the kinds of players more likely to be available at 14, I should probably get comfortable with the idea.