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The New England Patriots are preparing for a Week 4 matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and head coach Mike Vrabel has warned his team about its opponent\u2019s \u201cdirty\u201d strategy.<\/p>\n
During his media availability ahead of Sunday\u2019s game, Vrabel discussed the knuckle-ball kickoff strategy employed by kicker Ryan Fitzgerald and the Carolina Panthers special teams unit. When describing the challenges faced when playing against this strategy, the Patriots\u2019 sideline leader referred to it as a \u201cdirty kick.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers\u2019 opponents have the worst starting field position in the league through the first three weeks of the season, starting at their own 21-yard line on average.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impressive. I sat there and looked at for two hours last night,\u201d Vrabel said earlier this week. \u201cI mean, impressive. They\u2019ve got good players, they\u2019ve got great speed, they change the scheme up on you\u2026 That will be critical that we\u2019ll be able to protect the guy with the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts with the kicker,\u201d Vrabel continued. \u201cHe kicks a good kick – dirty kick. He\u2019s had the returner sometimes confused. When he kicks them deep, they\u2019re right at the goal line forcing you to return them\u2026 We\u2019ll have to be prepared for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitzgerald openly discussed his strategy earlier this week.<\/p>\n
“We want it to be hard to track in the air and hard to catch whenever it hits the ground,\u201d the Panthers\u2019 kicker said, via team insider Joe Person.<\/p>\n
Vrabel and the Patriots off to a 1-2 start, suffering losses to the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers. Led by some strong play from second-year quarterback Drake Maye, New England logged its lone victory of the year with a 33-27 final score over the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.<\/p>\n
The Panthers are also 1-2 to begin the year, but have some positive momentum following a 30-0 win over the division rival Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s Week 4 matchup will kickoff at 1 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The New England Patriots are preparing for a Week 4 matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and head coach Mike Vrabel has warned his team about… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":99253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n