The New England Patriots are off to one of their more impressive starts of recent memory, pounding the Jags and moving to 3-0 as they enter their early bye week of the 2015 season.
The Pats’ often look a little choppy early in the year but this season they’ve come out of the gate picking up right where they left off winning the Super Bowl last season. Now the comparisons to 2007′s 16-0 squad are starting to pour in and I think it’s another case where we need to Ignore the Noise.
A lot can happen over the next four months and I don’t need to tell anyone how the NFL season is as much about attrition as it is about talent. Yes, the Pats have looked like the AFC favorite through three games, but there’s just such a long way to go and so much can happen.
Honestly, 16-0 was exhausting for the the 2007 team and had they broken the pressure with a loss, like one they should’ve lost in Baltimore, it might’ve had them a little fresher once they got to the Super Bowl. Put it this way, we’ve been there, done that with 16-0 and I don’t really have much interest in doing it again. Let’s just worry about homefield advantage in the playoffs and the rest will take care of itself.
On to the Posits…
First, congratulations to Tom Brady on TD pass number 400. I haven’t missed a single game since 2005 so I’ve seen the vast majority of his TDs and I feel lucky as a fan to root for a player who has been so dominant. Now if we can only understand what Danny Amendola was thinking giving the ball away to a random fan. And to think he almost looked ready to launch it into the 300s after he initially scored.
I just don’t know what else to write about Dion Lewis, has there ever been a player who’s kicked around the league and then suddenly looks like the best third down back in football? He’s incredibly slippery and almost always makes the first defender miss. Not to mention he always gets at least two more yards than he should. Such a fun player to watch and if he can stay healthy for all 16 games he’ll be the perfect addition to the Gronk/Edelman aspect of the offense.
One of my bigger concerns (and it wasn’t even a major one yet) was the run defense and I thought they looked a lot better yesterday against the Jags. Simply put, guys were getting off blocks and winning one-on-ones. Encouraging to see them make progress in this area.
Thank Hoodie they benched Bradley Fletcher (it was much deserved), but they also gave Tarrell Brown the day off which meant Logan Ryan saw a lot of snaps and rookie Justin Coleman made his debut. Ryan continued to look up and down as he has throughout his career but Coleman stepped right in and didn’t look out of place in is first action of his career. I’d expect to see him get some time in the slot over Ryan after the bye.
A lot of the lower end guys on the depth chart saw action yesterday and none impressed me more than Jordan Richards who was active and physical in his first extended snaps on defense. I always laugh at those who think the Patriots had a guy rated too high on their board. The simple fact is that a thinking defense like the Patriots’ needs thinking players and sometimes when you merge the two you see a player who is much better than he was in college where itâs more about physical talent.
Dominique Easley was once again flying off the ball but watching live I felt he was almost more effective against the run, though he had his moments against the pass. A strange problem is that sometimes Easley is so fast off the ball it creates creases in the running game and leads to big runs. But can you really tell a guy to not get into the backfield so fast?
Easley has been incorporated in a very useful way, generating disruption on early downs. The Pats used to get killed when teams tried to pass on 1st and 2nd down because their linemen were two gapping and got no pressure. Now they put Easley in there and he offsets that problem. Meanwhile on third down they’re now going with all linebackers to rush the passer. Only thing I wonder is why it took Belichick this long to go pass-rush happy. It should pay dividends.
The picture is a lot clearer to me now as far as the run game goes. The short passing game with Lewis and the slot receivers is now the early-down running game equivalent.
LeGarrette Blount is instead the hammer to bring in once the lead is established. But I don’t think we’ll see a lot of Blount early in games unless the Pats really think the opposition’s run defense stinks.
Malcolm Butler had one bad play yesterday but otherwise continues to look like a top flight NFL cornerback. I kind of enjoy that he keeps making one inconsequential mistake per game that will keep the pressure on him. The job he’s done stepping in as a starter has been remarkable and far above what even the most positive Patriots fans might’ve expected.
Big question right now is what happens to David Andrews once Bryan Stork returns and I’m trying not to spend too much time worrying about it. But I’m very curious to see if Andrews can play some guard after working there a bit this summer. If he can make that switch the Pats suddenly have four very, very good young interior offensive linemen, a spot they badly needed depth in recent seasons.
