And now I jump into the All 22 review of the offense, something I’ve been putting off all day. Let’s see if it’s as ugly as I remember…
Still bugs me that the offense would go shotgun on snap one. The Raiders run defense stunk. Running on the first play of the game is almost expected. How about some play action? At least I like the attempt to get LaFell going right off the bat.
Just a gross first possession and that’s disconcerting because they literally had all week to plan it.
And we’re going to the power run game in possession two, something they should’ve done off the bat. Pretty good success until a holding penalty and they can’t get out of the hole. This sums up their problems right now, one step forward, one step back…
3rd-and-22 on the second possession, in the words of BB “not what we’re looking for.” And that’s it for the first quarter. No wonder there were boos.
Edelman slips a tackle and picks up a first down early in the second quarter. Nothing seems to be easy right now, just getting that first down required Edelman to make someone miss.
Quick WR screen to Edelman next play illustrates how the Pats can’t really run the same arsenal of screens with their four tackle OL. Cannon and Devey are not getting out in space like Mankins and Neal used to.
This lack of quickness is also generally apparent in the regular run game where Cannon/Devey just don’t get off blocks and into the second level fast enough to spring any big runs.
Again, 3rd-and-7 and Vereen has to break a tackle to pick up the first down. Because an 8 yard route is apparently asking too much right now.
This is called “not biting on play action”. Luckily Edelman draws the PI. First down. Yay.
Gronk being Gronk on his touchdown as he beats a pretty ugly attempt at a double team by Oakland. He’s certainly still the red zone weapon we need.
Gronk plowing into contact near the end of the half is a good sign. This has been a pretty good drive with some good throws by Brady. Glimpses here and there for the offense but it’s taken far too long to show something just now.
Goalline situation at the end of the half is totally FUBAR. Would’ve loved to see a power run right into the end zone but it’s not even close. Vollmer gets juked, allowing the LDE to close down. Hole’s there for a second but closes quickly as no one else gets any push.
Then the bad snap and we’re kicking a field goal. They made some plays in the first half, but nothing was easy except for Gronk’s TD.
Hard to come out of the locker room at the half much worse than this: 3 yard pass, run for 2 yard loss, false start, 5-yard loss on sack, Punt. Yikes.
Here’s that sack:
It’s 4 Raiders rushing and 5 Patriots protecting, yet both Tuck (91 abusing Devey one-on-one) and Smith (94 taking advantage of poor communication by Solder/Cannon) get to Brady. Just awful. The worst part is how down the OL look after it goes down.
Then they come out and get a false start penalty on the first play of the next drive. That one was on Gronk.
Brady finds LaFell over the middle the next play and that’s something I like. That’s the start they were looking for on the first possession of the first half.
Solder gets pushed into the backfield with one hand by the defensive tackle and he looks as lost as I’ve ever seen him look, physically and mentally. See below for the next play where he’s beaten immediately, Brady hasn’t even handed off the ball yet:
As other All 22 reviews have mentioned Khalil Mack is legit. So quick off the ball and strong. Very much reminds me of Von Miller. He beats Solder cleanly on the next 3rd down for the sack.
Tim Wright makes a grab and it’s nice to see him get involved. Plays like this give me hope, but only if they can figure out how to protect the quarterback.
Pats get to the goal line and move Vollmer over to the left side with Solder to try to get some kind of push and they get none. Ridley might’ve been the better choice than Vereen there.
Gronk drops a TD. Oh well, that rarely happens. Just another example of how off they are right now.
And now Amendola misses a TD grab, the kind that Welker used to be money at. More signs of the times.
At this rate I am not sure if Brady or Edelman could make it through the season healthy. They’re getting killed out there.
Brady finds Gronk on 3rd-and-15 and that’s a nice play with nice protection. Wow, that took all game. Must be because Stork is in there.
Look out, Tommy!! Seriously, this kind of stuff will get Brady killed this year. Note the Solder olay.
Okay, 5:18 left with a chance to seal the game. Let’s see how this goes…
Ridley 1 yard run (at least Stork planted Antonio Smith, first OL aggression I’ve seen today), coverage sack loses 8 yards, LaFell grabs one for 15 yards but it’s not enough and we’re punting. Gross.
Thank Hoodie the defense got the stop at the end to avoid overtime because that really could’ve gone either way.
This was awful start to finish and I have to say I feel a little worse about the long term outlook of the offensive line. Solder especially is depressing with how bad he played.
At least there were some flashes from some weapons and I think LaFell especially is headed in the right direction. But as I wrote on Monday everything starts with the offensive line and they were horrible in this game.
