3 ups and 3 downs following loss
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| No words needed to describe the loss (Jim Davis - Boston Globe) |
Ups:
1 - Julian Edelman: Continuing his success from last year, Edelman proved he was worth the contract extension catching 6 passes for 95 yards. He was Brady's safety blanket in a game where he sorely needed someone to get the ball to quickly. Thankfully Brady spread the ball around, but it just was not working for the Patriots. With no deep passing game, first downs became too far uncommon in the second half. Thankfully, Edelman was a bright spot on the offense.
2 - Rob Gronkowski: Even though he looked sluggish and struggled at times, it was good to see Gronk out there given the lack of certainty earlier in the week. He caught 4 passes for 40 yards, including an end zone touchdown, Brady's only touchdown of the day. No he wasn't 100%, but that was to be expected, and he still impacts the game one way or another. With so many negatives on the offense, Gronk staying healthy and contributing is a positive to me.
3 - No serious injuries: With so few players playing outstanding, the fact that a major injury was avoided is as good a positive as one could get out of a game like that. Where other teams lost key contributors to major injuries, the Patriots were able to walk away with no one sustaining anything serious. Yes Revis had cramps, Vollmer scared us, and Ninkovich could've tweaked something, but none of those are worth losing sleep over. In the long run health is going to determine the success of this team, and that's why this is considered a positive.
Downs:
1 - The Entire OL: Where to even begin. Brady was sacked four times, causing him to lose two fumbles, and pressured 16 times. As a pocket passer notorious for struggling when he's pressured, that CANNOT happen. If that wasn't bad enough, the run blocking was almost as bad. Edelman was second on the team with 21 rushing yards, only behind Vereen's pathetic 36 yards. Ridley barely got over two yards a carry. The coaching staff lost complete faith in the run game, causing Brady to throw the ball 56 times, another stat we should never see happen. Until Belichick figures out what he is going to do with the personnel, it could be very ugly.
2 - The Run Defense: If I could highlight individual players it would include Rob Ninkovich, Chandler Jones, and Joe Vellano, all who struggled to do much of anything in the 3-4 scheme that couldn't stop a nosebleed. Ninkovich was taken out in nickel packages and recorded only four tackles. Jones, who rarely left the field, also recorded four tackles. Vellano, who I didn't think would make the team, reaffirmed my belief after getting completely taken out of plays and only getting one tackle. Next week's matchup against AP and the Vikings will be a true test of this defense. If they cannot fix their mistakes, it may be a concern for the rest of the year.
3 - Tom Brady: Why do I have the golden boy on here? Because he made some terrible throws this weekend. To be fair, he had no pass protection and no run game to help him out, but when he did have an opportunity to make a play downfield Tom just couldn't hit his receivers. The most glaring example of this was on a corner route by wide open Julian Edelman, where Brady sailed the ball a good six feet over his head. Being 2-18 on throws 15 yards or more down the field cannot happen if the offense wants to succeed. Teams will be able to press WRs and step up in the box and take away the run unless the Patriots show they can hit targets down field. Tom will take that on himself and should improve.
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