Monday, September 9, 2013

Brady shoulders team at winning time...

Tom Brady yelled sharply at one of his receivers and pointed emphatically to where he was supposed to be.

Clearly, Brady had become frustrated on Sunday afternoon, and had seen enough of his receivers lined up in the wrong spot, not gaining separation, not making the plays when they were called upon to make them - so when that happens, the one that many call the Greatest Of All Time, he goes to his happy place...

...no, not the one that the fictional Happy Gilmore goes to with the babe, bucks and beer - rather, to the slot where a familiar face teamed with a hobbling replicant to not only save the day in the New England Patriots' 23-21 nail biter over the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, but also to build a little momentum going into their Thursday night showdown with the hated New York Jets.

The Patriots offense couldn't get out of it's own way in the first half, never sustaining a drive of any substance - in fact, of their 10 possessions in a sloppy first 30 minutes of play, the longest drive was for 37 yards and ended in a punt.

Four punts, a lost fumble that was returned for a Buffalo score - and earned Stevan Ridley a seat on the bench - an interception and a kneel down to the end the half is how seven of them ended, the other three were short field touchdown throws to receiver Julian Edelman after gaining turnovers and then a Stephen Gostkowski field goal...

...and it looked like more of the same and the end of the line when the Bills took the opening kick of the second half and drove down the field effortlessly to find paydirt and the resultant lead - but Brady put together a fantastic response, driving his offense 79 yards in 15 plays, and although he mishandled the snap from center on a 4th and goal from the one yard line and lost the fumble, but the offense had finally found it's stride.

The drive didn't end in the desired result, the momentum had started to shift - shifted so subtly that it hardly made a ripple in the minds of the result-oriented fan, but Brady and his receivers had begun to click.

The next drive found them pinned back at their own two and made no head way at all, counting on rookie punter Ryan Allen to get them out of that jam - but the Patriots defense forced a three and out of their own - and, as it turns out, Buffalo really had no chance after that point.

Because what was happening to the Patriots for the first three quarters of the game were largely by their own hand - woeful execution and turning the ball over to be blamed - but that's when Brady scrapped everything else and went to his known quantities in the form of running back Shane Vereen and receiver Danny Amendola.

When it came to winning time, Brady fed the Bills' defense a steady dose of those two - Amendola, Vereen, Amendola again, Vereen again, an Edelman sighting sprinkled in to keep the safeties from cheating too far to one side, then Amendola, then Vereen...

...and by the time Gostkowski kicked his third field goal with five seconds left on the clock, both players were over the century mark in total yards, the offense had put together three sustained drives and the Patriots had a scrappy come-from-behind win that was much more than just a win - it was a learning experience.

And what we learned - and the players, too - is that this team has a lot of heart.  And a lot of talent as well. 

It may have looked ugly from the outset, and it was, but digging just a bit below the surface of the win revealed what the Patriots offense needs to be successful - and that's Tom Brady going to his Happy place: the slot.

And that's an excellent place to build this offense around, since that's way it's been for years now - and once the other receivers start to become more integrated into the scheme, and particularly when tight end Rob Gronkowski is back on the field, this offense will look like it always has - with the slot and the power running game as it's bread and butter and everything else as gravy to dunk it in.


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