After letting this win over the Bills marinate for the last 20 hours or so I went back to take a look at the condensed game film as I usually do on Mondays. A lot to be excited about, unfortunately it’s hard to be too happy when it looks like Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley are likely done for the season.
There’s no way to find a silver lining in either of these injuries. The Pats never replaced LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Spikes or Dane Fletcher this offseason and now those decisions are going to seriously test the Pats’ depth once again.
For Ridley, the obvious personnel adjustment is using Brandon Bolden as the early-down back, but he certainly doesn’t have the ability to break tackles or power through in short yardage situations. He’ll get what is there and likely not a yard more. Maybe Jonas Grey from the practice squad is the answer, or free agent Benjarvus Green-Ellis (I’d be all for giving him a look). But if we’re riding with Bolden as the guy, I’m a little worried.
Mayo was the quarterback of the defense but luckily Hightower got good experience last year and once healthy, he should be able to fill the communication void. The problem is that Jamie Collins is not stout against the run in the base defense and now he must find a way to fix that. Deontae Skinner looked like a rookie despite picking up a sack against the Bills.
What other options do they have? Promote Darius Fleming from the practice squad, but he still doesn’t give you the kind of coverage Mayo had (obviously). Fleming is more an end of line player. So now Hightower might be headed to Mike and really, he should be named a replacement captain.
With Hightower and Collins in sub-packages the problems are manageable, though the Pats were shredded by Scott Chandler once again and it leaves me wondering how they will deal with Julius Thomas.
They made it work without Mayo last year but they’re an additional experienced cover linebacker short this year. It’s definitely a big question mark how they fill the void this year.
Alright, with the injuries out of the way let’s talk the rest of the team, because this was a performance that showed the 2014 Patriots have the kind of perseverance the 2013 had in spades.
I really believed the Pats would come out of the locker room and lay an egg. We’ve seen it too many times in recent years on the road, especially when getting hit with adversity. I wasn’t sure if this team, with all the injuries adding up, had enough gas in the tank, but the offense was almost unstoppable in the second half.
Credit that to some major developments – the protection was good, Gronk is back and LaFell is developing into a real threat. All good signs that this offense could be ready to take a major step forward. Not to mention the Moss-like deep ball catch by Tyms.
Overall, it feels like this is still the Belichick/Brady Patriots, who fight to the end. It’s the first time this year I’ve felt safe saying that.
If Connolly and Stork are back for Thursday night, it’s hard not to feel really good about the direction of this offense. But they’ll need Gronk to stay healthy, he’s the straw stirring the drink.
He might take some penalties but Alfonzo Dennard is really a key piece of this secondary. He and Arrington are excellent companions to Revis, with McCourty cleaning up the back end. Still very curious how Browner fits in, but I think we’ll be seeing plenty of Dennard even when he’s ready to go.
Not a lot to love about the ground game, but they stuck with it and that kept the linebackers and pass rush somewhat honest. I worry about someone like Bolden being able to create something out of nothing if the OL blocking isn’t better. Though with Connolly/Stork back it should be.
Tyms essentially played the old Matthew Slater WR role of limited snaps where he just runs down the field really fast. Clearly Tyms has a special skillset catching the deep ball. It was just so refreshing to see Brady complete that long pass (among others). Really feels like it’s been since 2010 to Moss that we saw those kind of completions.
Thank Hoodie for Chandler and Nink. We can make it work without Mayo, not sure we could make it work without one of them. Though the sprinkling of Zach Moore in the game is a positive sign. Curious to see if he gets more time.
Wilfork and Chung – two veterans who might get lost in the shuffle of praise this week, but both have been big factors this year. Chris Jones had another solid game while Casey Walker also did well subbing in.
Tavon Wilson and Duron Harmon could be more involved with Mayo out, but I don’t have much confidence in either yet.
Pats just have to tough out this Thursday night against the Jets, who are sure to present plenty of problems, especially for the offensive line. If you think they’re just going to roll over I’ve got bad news for you.
A win on Thursday would be so huge and then give the Pats some badly needed time to get healthy. Get ready, another football game in just three days…
3 GIFs coming later this afternoon.