It was not perfect, but the New England Patriots picked up the win against the Carolina Panthers 10-3 in Week 3 of the Preseason. Here are your winners and losers from tonight’s game.
Winner: Defense
The Patriots‘ defense looked as good as advertised. The unit only gave up 29 yards in the first half, and only 15 yards by passes and 14 yards rushing.
Mayo’s men only allowed two first downs with the Panthers going 0 for 5 on third down efficiently and five punts.
Michael Bennett showed a glimpse of what you can get in regular season, and Byron Cowart is burying Mike Pennel’s chances to make the roster.
Chase Winovich got snaps with the big boys and Kyle Van Noy is in line for a career season.
Loser: Offensive Line
The play that stuck out was the penalty on Marcus Cannon and Shaq Mason. The offensive line was responsible for too many penalties.
Sony Michel had a huge run called back because of a holding call.
The reserve group gave up two sacks in the red zone at the end of third quarter.
Dante Scarnecchia is more than capable of fixing the issues. Based off of their play tonight, there is quite a few.
Winner: Sony Michel
Even with the big plays called back, Michel looks like a whole different animal.
For the first time, it appears that the Georgia alum looks completely healthy with cleaner cuts and faster bursts.
Push: Jakobi Meyers
Based off of his play with Brady and the starters on the field, he would be named a loser.
But the undrafted rookie rebounded with some fantastic catches at the end of the first half and third quarter.
Meyers could have locked his roster spot down tonight. But after having his first blemished performance, he has more work to do to stick around.
Winner: Gunner Olszewski
The former baseball player excelled during punt returns.
On four punt returns, Olszewski had 63 yards averaging 15.8 yards per return. With a long of 28 yards.
The former Bemidji State cornerback did the job Belichick and company asked him to do. While it moves the meter a little bit, he still has one of the biggest uphill battles to be standing by Sept. 1st.
He also made a tremendous catch with just under 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.
He is a winner today, but his days are still most likely numbered in Foxboro.
