The New England Patriots are 9-1 this season, but they still have a ton of room for improvement as the postseason creeps up.
New England defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in a hard-fought 17-10 game. Tom Brady and the offense struggled mightily in the red zone and the defense had a tremendous bounce-back game. The only Patriots touchdown came from a double-pass trick play that was thrown by Julian Edelman. The rest of the points came from Nick Folk field goals — which was definitely a positive from this game.
Brady understands that this offense needs to crank it up a notch before the postseason begins and that the Patriots are currently playing through the most difficult stretch of the schedule. The next three games include the Dallas Cowboy, Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. It’ll be a test for this defense and it’ll give the offense a playoff atmosphere to prepare for the postseason.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Tom Brady has been trending in a negative direction
Either Brady’s age or the lack of protection has led to a steady decline in production for the 42 year old quarterback. With the combination of his 21 incompletions and inability to score in the red zone, Brady has relied heavily on the defense to bail him out.
Brady started off the first five games with ten touchdowns and one interception — he’s had four touchdowns and three interceptions in his last five games. The level of competition likely played a factor, and he’s also without key offensive linemen and his critical blocker with James Develin.
He was visibly frustrated in his press conference after the game and Brady is conscious of the fact that the offense isn’t clicking right now. It doesn’t help that the rushing attack has been non-existent so far this season and that the receiving corps continues to change. N’Keal Harry had a positive debut game for the Patriots and his presence along with Mohamed Sanu should play a huge role heading into the postseason.
Whether it’s Brady’s age or the lack of protection, Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels have limited time to find a solution.
The defense has a bounce-back game
The Patriots have featured one of the best defenses in the NFL all season long, but questions arose about them after losing 37-20 to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9.
This unit gave up 210 rushing yards and Lamar Jackson had the freedom to fully play his game the entire night. The Patriots took that game to heart and they came out firing the entire game against Philadelphia. They only allowed the Eagles to pass for 174 yards and rush for 81 yards, which is similar to the season averages that they carry against opposing teams.
Philadelphia was 3-for-13 on third down conversion attempts and they coughed up a fumble. The Eagles’ wide receivers accounted for less than 80 receiving yards and the tight ends were the only offensive players to produce numbers. This defense has remained healthy and they are as good as advertised.
Jake Bailey has been a difference-maker
Many people were shocked when Belichick let go of his three-time Super Bowl champion punter Ryan Allen for the rookie Jake Bailey.
Unsurprisingly, Belichick made the right decision and Bailey has been an absolute game-changer for New England. He accounted for 381 yards with eight punts against the Eagles and he had a long of 55 yards. Six of those punts landed inside the 20-yard line, resulting in horrible field position for the Eagles.
It also helps that he has Matthew Slater and Justin Bethel to make plays after the ball is punted.
The rushing attack is not improving
The inability to rush the football is consistently becoming a problem for the Patriots. New England had 22 rushing attempts for 74 yards, with 3.4 yards per carry.
In recent years, the Patriots have added a strong rushing attack as part of their identity. Sony Michel had an incredible rookie season after rushing for 931 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season — along with 336 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the postseason. It’s difficult to make a comparison because the Patriots are without David Andrews, Isaiah Wynn and Develin this season.
With Brady’s struggles through the air, it’s a necessity for a team built like this one to have a strong rushing attack. The defense has been incredible, but they can only make so many plays before they begin to get fatigued. New England is currently ranked No. 23 with 91 rushing yards a game, and that will be an issue when the postseason arrives.
N’Keal Harry shows promise in his debut game
Although the numbers didn’t translate, Harry showed some promise in his first NFL game.
Harry had a much-anticipated debut after missing the first half of the season on the injured reserve list. He’s the only wide receiver to ever get drafted by Belichick in the first round and the Patriots will need him to get this offense in order.
He finished the game with three catches for 18 yards on four targets. New England slowly rolled him out, but he played more snaps than expected after Phillip Dorsett left the game with a concussion. He logged 32 snaps and his first reception helped New England advance on a third-and-seven.
Sanu has taken on the role of mentoring Harry and he’ll head into Week 12 with less nerves and more experience in this offense. Sanu and Harry will play a major role in turning this offense around and this debut game was a great sign for what’s to come.
