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The opening week of the NFL preseason is often a way for teams to get back in sync with one another after the long offseason. But the New England Patriots and the Washington Football Team both have higher ambitions, thanks to quarterback situations where multiple players are a factor in the team’s plans going forward. This, if nothing else, adds some serious intrigue to a preseason game where starters typically play a series or two at most.
Washington Hoping to Figure Out Backup Situation
For the Washington Football Team, this preseason game against the Patriots will get interesting once starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is off the field. With both Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke behind Fitzpatrick on the depth chart, Washington will hope to get some clarity on which quarterback should be the backup. With both players seeing live game action last year for Washington, that decision could be influenced by how both players perform tonight.
Heinicke has the lead over Allen by virtue of his solid play as a backup who was called into action in the postseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year. But he will have to prove that he has more than one good game in him to remain second on the depth chart. Fortunately, he will not be facing the best version of Bill Belichick’s defense, given the relatively vanilla nature of preseason defenses.
Patriots Begin the Mac Attack
The New England Patriots will have their eyes on their top two quarterbacks in this game, as Cam Newton is expected to start and will hope to improve on a dismal 2020 campaign. But Mac Jones will be the focus in this game for New England, as the rookie out of Alabama should see more action than the Patriots’ starter. For Jones, this game serves as an opportunity to make a first impression in game action.
For Jones, the biggest key in this game will be his decision making. In the preseason, coaches with the track record of Bill Belichick aren’t concerned with wins or losses as much as they are with identifying strengths that can be used to win more important games down the road. If Jones can prove that he has a strong pocket presence at this level and that he can get the ball to receivers who aren’t on the level of what he had to work with at Alabama, it’d be a great first step for him tonight.
Washington vs. New England Pick: Over 37
Picking a winner for this game is a difficult task, as we don’t know just how much we will see of the top level players for each side. Instead, the total is the way to attack this game from a betting perspective, thanks to what we do know about the quarterback situations.
Both of these teams have something to gain by playing their more respectable backup quarterback options for more than just a series in this game. Washington has two decent backups, while the Patriots will hope to find out what they have in Jones.
At the end of the day, there should be a little more scoring than the average preseason game here.
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