Move on to the next game.
Unfortunately, this is what people have been saying after nearly every game this season. Two losses and a pathetic performance in a win over Oakland (which would've been a loss if not for a late Oakland penalty). Only one game in which the Pats looked halfway decent—and I think that game might've turned out much differently had the Vikings had Peterson.
Yes, the front office failed by not spending money to get Brady some serious weapons. Yes, the offensive line is a shambles. Yes, Brady has fewer reliable weapons than usual. And yes, McDaniels is inspiring no confidence with his playcalling.
Despite all this, though, I still think we're witnessing the death of Tom Brady (the player, of course).
According to the NFL, a "deep" pass is any pass that travels at least 15 yards in the air. Before last night's game, Brady was a miserable 3 for 21 on such attempts this season, and he fared no better against the Chiefs. But that's okay, right? Because Brady's long been a master of the short pass, throwing strikes on crossing routes and consistently hitting guys in the flat. Well, he doesn't seem to be doing that too well anymore, either.
In fact, he seems to not even
want to throw
any pass to anyone besides Edelman—not even much to Gronk. And when he
does throw, he often looks ...
off. It's hard to explain, but he just looks like he's lost a lot. His accuracy's off, he's got no zip on his throws. He just looks cooked.
I know he has several young receivers, such as Dobson and Thompkins, but Belichick's not even playing those two, so how are they going to learn and improve? And what about Amendola? He's not a newbie, and he's healthy for once, so Brady really should take advantage of his availability while he has it.
On the plus side, LaFell looked pretty darn good on that touchdown reception and ended up with more than 100 yards receiving, so maybe Brady is developing something good there.
But is that enough? He's 37—old in football years—and he looks it. I'm not saying he should be benched or that Garoppolo should be starting, but I
am saying that a) the Patriots offense has gotten increasingly worse in each of the last several seasons; b) this is the second consecutive season that Brady hasn't looked good; c) the Patriots offense has been a joke the last couple of postseasons in particular; d) Patriots fans will not be happy with something like a 9-7 season and a first-round playoff exit for a team led by Brady, which is (at best) where this team is headed; and e) Drew Bledsoe didn't have a chance to grow old before getting replaced by a young buck, and look at how good that turned out for New England. Sure, Garoppolo played in garbage time, but the Chiefs defense was still trying pretty hard, and Garoppolo was throwing strong, accurate passes without hesitation. The team looked energized, and it's been quite a while since it looked like that with Brady on the field.
