Patriots go 1-0: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the win

Football is back with a bang. And isn't that great? Especially when the New England Patriots win week 1. As long as that W is in the standings when the clock hits the triple 0's, we can all be pretty happy. However, there were a lot of issues during this game, which will come to light very soon.

However, let's firstly look on the bright side:

The Good - Tom Brady

Now, you might think "Tom Brady was good? You might as well copy and paste that every week". Which is a fair point. But you have to realise just how important this guy was in this win. Yes, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman will get a lot of headlines, but who held them together?

Apart from a failed snap on 4th and 1, Brady was completely faultless today. I will never get tired of watching this guys movement in the pocket, his movement to buy time, his stepping up, heck even when he left the pocket, it was all just done so well. With a disappointing offensive line performance, Brady still managed to find time to get his man.

And he always put it on the money. Zach STudfeld Sudfeld basically palmed the ball to the Defensive Back on the pick, and Kenbrell Thompkins (an undrafted rookie in his first NFL game, before we jump all over him) wasn't at his finest despite Brady's accuracy. It was only Amendola and Edelman who he could throw to, and he made it work.

He made it work when it counted. Typical Tom Terrific. Stayed calm, took advantage of some poor decision making by the Buffalo Bills and worked his way down the field to win the game. Remember early last year when people were saying Brady wasn't clutch? Well they won't be saying that this year.

The Bad - The Secondary

New year, same story. It's all been said before. Blown coverages were once again the order of the day, and if that wasn't a rookie QB out there for the Bills, the 2 point lead wouldn't have been enough. Against Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan or Drew Brees (all upcoming opponents this year), we're in trouble. Big trouble. Especially when you consider the weapons those guys have to play with. The run defense was its usual self, generally solid but they still allow big plays and the tackling wasn't great. But it's the secondary I'm a lot more concerned about.

I think Patriots fans might have kidded themselves into believing the defense would be a lot better just to cover up offensive frailties.Well time to snap out of it. The same issues are still here.

Speaking of which...

The Ugly - Stevan Ridley

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Stevan, I thought we had this fumble issue sorted? I thought you only dropped the ball when you got physically knocked out? Apparently not. On his first carry of the year, he fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Patriots. Which is at least a bit excusable, a bit of rust is OK.

But then came the second one. Takes the ball, green grass to run into, cuts, slips, doesn't hold onto the ball tightly enough, it pops out, he sits on his knees and watches the Bills recover it and take it all the way for 6. That is not good enough. Simple as. He was sent to the proverbial Doghouse, never to be seen again, replaced by the ever impressive (and on my fantasy football bench...) Shane Vereen.

All those who took Ridley early in drafts might be a little worried right now. Bill Belichick isn't the most patient of coaches and with a good performance by Vereen and LeGarrette Blount, there's no hurry to bring Ridley back.

Bearing all that in mind, a win is a win, and that's what counts on opening day. The early season rust should be gone now, just in time to destroy the terrible, messed up franchise that is the New York Jets on Thur- Wait, they did what?

You can find me on Twitter @BrendanAnnely