The San Francisco 49ers are favored to end a two-game losing streak when they host the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Under a new head coach in Jerod Mayo and with a surprise season-opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals to their name, the Patriots will be no pushovers. 

The hot topic around the Patriots will continue to concern rookie quarterback Drake Maye, who continues to wait patiently for his opportunity as Jacoby Brissett starts under center for New England. 

Ahead of the first meeting between the two teams at Levi's Stadium since the 2016 season, I checked in with A to Z Sports' Patriots beat writer Sophie Weller to get her thoughts on the quarterback situation, what's going on with the offensive line, and the players for whom the 49ers need to watch out as they look to avoid another upset loss.

---

The Patriots had a nice start, but it’s cooled off over the last couple of weeks. Do you think it’s trending towards a quarterback change and do you think there’s a chance we see Drake Maye in this game at some stage?

Jerod Mayo has said over and over again that he is 100% behind Jacoby Brissett, and based on what the team has said about the veteran quarterback, they have faith in him. 

Because of the offensive line issues, Brissett isn't being given adequate time to throw the ball or even make a play. Unless the game is a blowout or something changes with Brissett where he is the cause for the majority of the offensive issues, it is unlikely that Drake Maye will get extensive time.

---

It seems like a major issue for the Patriots has been the offensive line. What is behind the problems up front and do you see them improving anytime soon?

The issue along the offensive line is that they still don't have a set starting five. When Vederian Lowe is healthy, he will most likely take the top left tackle spot, but with him out, the depth at that position is concerning. 

It appears the team thought that Chukwuma Okorafor was going to be the starter, but his poor performance in Week 1 that led to the benching ended that conversation really quick. Lowe then got hurt, and rookie Caedan Wallace struggled. He was also shaken up in the Week 3 loss to the New York Jets. 

So now it looks like Demontrey Jacobs will get the opportunity to start on the left side. The team will get Sidy Sow back at left guard, with David Andrews, Layden Robinson, and Mike Onwenu set to remain at center, right guard, and right tackle respectively.

---

I think the Patriots player most 49ers fans fear most would be Keion White, who are the other players on either side of the ball who we should be looking out for as guys who could make life difficult for San Francisco?

Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger are two very skilled safeties who can make life very difficult. And then of course there is 2023 first-round pick Christian Gonzalez who has a good track record of locking down the top receivers.

49ers raising expectations around rookie with exciting comparison despite his pedestrian numbers in Week 3

They’ve been impressed with a small sample size.