Besides the overwhelming majority of analysts predicting the Patriots would lose their divisional round matchup against the Texans, fans expected the offensive line to struggle against the best defensive line they had faced all season. And unfortunately, that was mostly true last Sunday afternoon.
It wasn't a shocking development, given that rookies are holding down the left side of the line, but it did prompt many questions about their readiness for the playoffs, particularly regarding Will Campbell.
His performance has been under scrutiny for much of the week since the win, as concerns continue to mount going into the AFC Championship. The left tackle isn't disregarding his struggle-filled game, though, and acknowledged he needs to be better and will have to fulfill that promise this week, or risk the Patriots losing the biggest game of the season.
Will Campbell needs a better game against the Broncos for the Patriots to have a real chance
In his efforts against Will Anderson Jr. last week, Campbell allowed a team-high of two sacks and four pressures, equating to a 16.5 pass blocking grade by PFF. The strip sacks on Drake Maye also came from the left side, pointing back to Campbell, who did recover two, as well.
While reflecting on his game, Campbell admitted he has things he needs to improve on and shared that he holds himself to a higher standard than the performance we saw in this game. Now he will have to prove it against an equally dominant defensive line in Denver.
“Whenever you’re going against good players, the margin for error is very small, and there’s just some stuff I got to clean up, and it just takes more practice.
...I need to play better. I hold myself to a higher standard than what I put out tonight.”
To some, Campbell's humility is great to hear, but at the same time, it would be an understatement to say that he has things to clean up, and that would be a fair comparison.
We're now getting to the point of analysts and even Patriots fans revisiting pre-draft takes suggesting that Campbell is more suited to be a left guard than a left tackle, and his performance against the Texans' defensive line is the latest proof.
But at the same time, he's a rookie and still has things to learn and get better at, just as any other rookie in his posiiton would. So, he shouldn't be so harshly criticized for having a bad game against some of the best linemen in the league today.
Unfortunately, he doesn't have that much time to improve his skills before it's time for the AFC Championship, and the team will need him at his absolute best to give Drake Maye and the offense the best chance ot succeed and keep their path to the Super Bowl alive.