The Monday Night Football matchup for Week 11 on the NFL schedule puts together two hot teams in the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers and they will meet at Bank of America Stadium in a game that will start at 8:30 pm on ESPN and streaming online from the WatchESPN website.
The game puts together two big name quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Cam Newton and the Panthers are the hotter team coming in, as they have won five straight games and the last two have been against NFC playoff teams from last season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers I'm consecutive weeks. The team defense has been excellent and they have held every opponent to less than 30 points this season, something that could be very tough against a Patriots squad that dropped 50 on the Steelers the last time they played. The Patriots are finally coming together at the right time and they have a decent stretch coming out of their bye before things get a little easier for the final games, as they finish at home against the Buffalo Bills after starting there on the road this season.
Check here for the Monday night football coverage for the Patriots and Panthers.
The Patriots offense has been getting better each week and the returns of both Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola has been a huge boost for Tom Brady and now the team faces a tough and fast defense led by linebacker Luke Kuechly, who won defensive rookie of the year last year and has been one of the best players in the league this season. The Patriots back stretch includes two road games in the final three weeks and three away from home over the last five and the team really needs to win this game to keep the gap wide in the AFC East, as the Jets lost last week while everyone else won.
The team plays Denver next week and hosts the Broncos at Gillette and then they play the Texans in Houston, a game that once looked tough but now does not after the team lost eight straight this season and the Pats have beaten them twice already in the past year, including in the postseason. Brady comes in having a mediocre season by his standards, but he has never had to play with so many rookies and now things are starting to settle and it couldn't come at a better time for the Patriots, as they are 7-2 and still working out kinks. The defense has been able to recover from some big injuries and now the team will have to try and keep a lid on Cam Newton on Monday night, as he could break out for a huge game depending on how things play out.
Brady comes into the game with over 2,200 yards passing and 13 touchdowns and the rushing attack should get a boost from Shane Vereen, while Stevan Ridley is leading with over 500 yards rushing. Julian Edelman and Aaron Dobson are tops in receiving after stepping in for Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola and now Brady has his team healthier than he has in weeks and maybe even the entire season. The Patriots have a tough matchup coming up next week and now they play one of the top ranked defenses in the NFL. The Panthers will host the Patriots on Monday night football starting up on ESPN at 8:30 pm and will be streaming online live.