Last season, the Patriots had a lot of the same struggles they're having so far this season. It was a brand new offense, a pretty banged up defense, and by week 12, we had about 15 players on IR. This season, the offense is still pretty new, and learning to work together as a unit while trying to compensate for losing key players, such as Logan Mankins and LeGarrette Blount. Defense is fairly young, Big Vince is coming back from a nasty injury, Revis is still adjusting to New England and Belichick's ways, and Matt Patricia is still, well, Matt Patricia...
I put a lot of blame and focus on our coordinators on both sides of the ball, quite often. I know that it doesn't matter what plays you practice, call, and run, it means nothing if the players aren't executing well. That being said, you can't tell me that Revis and Wilfork and Mayo don't know how to execute plays in the NFL. They're vets. They've all been in the league for a good amount of time; and they've been pretty darn good, too. Or that Brady can't consistently make plays anymore. Nope, I won't buy it. So this is where the coordinating and coaching comes in. I've had mixed feelings about Josh McDaniels for a while. I don't love him, I don't hate him. I think he knows his football and could be a really good offensive coordinator...just not for the Patriots (I should point out that he's not horrible...we could have a lot worse). Maybe I'm just still not over Bill O'Brien leaving for Penn State and now being the Texan's head coach. Bill O'Brien was my favorite. An offensive whiz. Annnd when he left I was bummed, but kept an open mind about McDaniels' return. But, over the past 3 years, I just haven't seen that much from him to be totally ecstatic about. Granted, it's hard to fill the shoes of someone like Bill O'Brien.
On to defense. Matt Patricia is another one of those, "I don't hate him, but I definitely do not love him", guys. This season, I just feel like we should be dominating more than we have been. You have Revis, one of the top 5 corners in the NFL right now. You're loaded with young talent, but you still have some vets to bring the experience and leadership you need. I'll cut him some slack for last season since we did have a lot of significant injuries. This season, I see a good defense in the works, waiting to come alive. We've already seen that someway, somehow, no matter how good or bad they've been playing, they seem to step up and make plays when it really matters.
I'll do a more in depth post about these 2 later on.
Here's what I'm thinking. Good news? As shaky as the Patriots have looked so far this season, we're 2-1, tied for 1st in the AFC East. Bad news? Our 2 wins have come against 2 average teams that simply don't compare to the elite competition (ie. Seattle, Denver, Cincinnati, even San Diego). We didn't quite have the bounce back game I was hoping for against Minnesota, and we barely got past Oakland at home.
What does this mean? 2 very important things: 1) Belichick and staff have some work to do. 2) If anyone can somehow overcome this slow, very un-Patriot like start, it's Tom Brady. Don't lose hope yet. I don't think I'm the only one who's noticed that Tom Brady seems to be lacking his usual enthusiasm and excitement on the field that he normally has. I hate it. When you think about it, put yourself in his shoes. He's been given pretty much no name receivers, Gronk and Jules being the exceptions. His OLine is so bad that he has no time to look down the field and analyze the defense, and plays are rushed. He has people questioning about his ability to throw deep, but he knows that he can't even think about throwing deep because 9 times out of 10, he'll be on the ground before his receivers get a chance to run the route. He's taken too many hits this season already, and we're only 3 games in.
Can they get (back) on the right track? Of course. Simply put, yes. BUT, big changes have to be made. And I do believe it starts with the OLine. Whether it's rotating the guys you have to see who fits best where, or signing a free agent interior lineman (or 2), something needs to happen, before it's too late. The Chiefs are a "blitz happy" team. They blitz more than Matt Patricia would even think about blitzing (okay, okay, he is getting better about that). So, the main key to winning Monday night is our offensive line. If they show up and do their jobs, we should be okay. I'm not guaranteeing a win by any means, but we'll say I like our chances a whole lot better if our OLine does what they're getting paid to do, and allows Brady time to work his Brady magic.
Last season we managed to overcome injuries and differences to win our division and make it back to the AFCCG. It wasn't always pretty and I can't lie, I wasn't always confident that we would or even could win. This reassures me that if anyone can do it, I like our chances with Brady and Belichick. I know every season is different. Really when it comes to the NFL, every game is different. Anything can happen on any given Sunday. I'm hoping this season is a lot like last season, but with a different, much better outcome.
As always, Go Pats!
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