Dante Scarnecchia: Sebastian Vollmer goes down for the count again. The prospect of Marcus Cannon being a starting tackle in the NFL for an entire season protecting Tom Brady really starts to sink in. Admit it, you were ready to crank up the complaints and concerns over the offensive line for the New England Patriots yet again just a mere handful of months after the debacle in Denver.
Enter Dante’s Inferno and the Scarnecchia Storm into Foxboro (or should we say back home to Foxboro). Offensive line coach wizard Dante Scarnecchia did return to action out of retirement for this season, so what do the numbers really say about how that unit is performing?
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There are always areas where any team can improve and certainly this applies to this unit on the Patriots. At times we see a bunch of holding calls and too many pass attempts where the QB faces pressure. However, let’s look at some very basic and broad numbers:
6-1: Team Record (1st in AFC East)
12 sacks given up – 1.71/game
859 rushing yards
Blount – 566 yards rushing, 8 TDS
QB Production – zero interceptions
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Those are the numbers. Not too shabby especially given the talent on the roster at this position. Let’s also take into consideration the great work that Scarnecchia is doing with the two TEs: Martellus Bennett and Rob Gronkowski. Both TEs are doing a great job blocking and just ask Blount and he would be happy to confirm that.
Will this continue? Will the offensive line get even better with time? We shall see.
