Should Pats be worried?
The offense shows signs of sputtering as New England enters the time of the season it traditionally owns.
HOUSTON – Tom Brady’s frustration showed long before the New England Patriots’ 2822 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 13.
It was there when the Patriots lost 37-20 in Baltimore in Week 9. It was evident after the team squeaked by the Philadelphia Eagles 17-10 in Week 11. It was seen at a rainy Gillette Stadium when the Patriots came away with a 13-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12.
Truthfully, the Patriots’ offense hasn’t really looked like the Patriots’ offense we’ve all grown to know over the course of Brady’s historic career in New England. All season, the Pats’ defense has led the way, with the special teams unit also coming up big.
When the Patriots needed the offense to carry the load Dec. 1 inside NRG Stadium, the group came up short. They now enter Week 14 with an upcoming matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs hoping to right their offensive wrongs.
After their loss to Houston, offensive players said they had confidence but they know time is running out.
“We’re battling. We’re trying as hard as we can,” Brady said when asked whether the Patriots had enough talent on offense. “Hopefully we can make enough plays and be the best we can be. It all remains to be seen. You can make a bunch of predictions and so forth, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about going out there and doing it. A lot of guys made some plays tonight.”
The Patriots showed some life in Houston. After falling behind 28-9, Brady orchestrated two scoring drives that ended with touchdown passes to James White and Julian Edelman. But at that point, with 50 seconds left, the Pats’ chances of coming back were near nonexistent and a failed onside kick attempt proved that.
Part of the problem was several errors by both veterans and newcomers. The Patriots had eight penalties for 60 yards. At one point, penalties wiped out gains from wide receiver Jakobi Meyers of 37 and 17 yards. For every step forward, the team felt like it kept taking two back and that resulted in the offense facing third-and-longs.
“I wouldn’t say common problems,” White said when asked about the recent offensive output. “I’d say it’s everybody taking their turn making mistakes, including myself. Just can’t do that on offense. It creates a lot of negative plays and long yardage. It’s hard to convert third-and-longs every single time against good defenses.”
In two first-quarter drives, Brady seemed to grow frustrated with younger receivers N’Keal Harry and Meyers. At 2:05 of the first quarter, Brady was intercepted by Bradley Roby when the cornerback jumped in front of a Harry slant route.
The first-round pick basically vanished from the game plan after that play.
The next drive ended when Brady signaled for Meyers to run up field on a scramble play. Instead, the rookie cut back and Brady’s pass was nowhere near Meyers. Brady was so angry, he brought the receivers together on the sideline for a pep talk.
“He was trying to tell me to turn up and go. I don’t know, honestly, what I thought in the moment,” Meyers said. “I tried to come back to give him a different target. We’re just on different pages. I just remember in the middle of the play he was saying we’ve got to be on the same page.”
In the third quarter, the Patriots stalled near midfield when Mohamed Sanu couldn’t hold on to a 4th-and-1 pass. The turnover on downs resulted in a Texans touchdown just like Brady’s interception did.
“I got hit before I got the ball thrown to me,” Sanu said. “It actually threw my vision off. I saw it late and tried to grab it.”
The Patriots were able to close the gap in the fourth quarter thanks to White (79 rush yards, 98 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns) and Edelman (six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown).
Outside of those two, the Pats didn’t get much production.
That might not be great news considering the “Gronk Watch” officially ended last week, as former tight end and four-time All-Pro Rob Gronkowski didn’t return to the team by last week’s deadline to return this season.
“We have everything we need in this locker room and offense,” White said. “We know we just have to go out there and improve.”
Brady, 42, has completed 61.1% of his passes this season, and his 6.7 passing yards per attempt in 2019 is his lowest mark since 2002.
“We’re learning as we go. By no means ... we’re not 2-10. We’re 10-2,” Brady said Dec. 2 in his weekly radio interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “We have our whole season ahead of us, and we have to learn from the things we did last night and try to go out there and ... see if we can get back to winning.”