Brandon LaFell is showing why the Patriots stuck with him
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| Brandon LaFell breaks away for a TD, via Patriots.com |
On Sunday afternoon against Buffalo however, LaFell came up big. He had 4 receptions on 6 targets, for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. He showed some serious explosiveness on his second touchdown, breaking away from his defender for the touchdown, very easily.
I ripped on LaFell earlier this year, but I did mention he has the physical tools...he just needed to utilize them. It's about time we're seeing why the Patriots signed him to a 3 year, 9 million dollar contract and kept sticking with him through the early season struggles.
His criticism was certainly warranted, but maybe it should have been a little less harsh considering he's coming into a complex offense, and very rarely do receivers click with Brady immediately. In fact, new receivers more often than not don't click with Brady, so the fact that we are seeing this is a great sign.
LaFell's physical tools are impressive...he has size, strength, a great catch radius, and great speed (he ran a 4.54 at the combine, but if his second touchdown is any indication, he can break away from just about anyone if he wants to). He's the big receiver (Gronk is a TE) Brady has been missing for quite some time.
It's exciting to see this offense improve, with the emergence of players like Brandon LaFell and Brian Tyms, and an offensive line that is finally getting it together. The sky is truly the limit, as this offense continues to get better. My dad told me earlier this year that this offense will be peaking come the end of the season, and it looks like the old man may be right.
Stats via PFF
-Brian Thibodeau
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