Back Down to Earth By Kevin Lange With a 4-1 record belying worthiness, Tom Brady and his supporting cast of young receivers have resembled a world-class sprinter in a 400-meter relay, running with three shot-putters still heaving from practice the day prior. He’s the leader of a team’s offense with no help around him, like Michael Jordan’s ’86 team he dragged to the first round only to get swept. Brady can do all within his willpower to contribute his arm, hand off, distribute, get on the same page with those other ‘three sprinters’, those other teammates flourishing in dull moderation. And as much as he feels necessary. But when it comes down to it, those other guys have got to produce. They’ve got to finish what Brady has so intricately diced and served up for them; those tight spirals, those ‘follow me’ lofts to the finish lines of routes for freshly-exposed-to-the-playbook receivers who ran the route wrong. What we’ve all gradually seen, as well, are those baby steps turning into living room scampers. The Patriots’ offense had finally started to look smoother and smoother, and Brady seemed less like that tentative walk-on freshman too afraid to sling it over 10 yards in practice. He’d finally started to seem more like a top-five quarterback of all-time, who could stick a Hail Mary bomb in between the shoulder pads of a sprinting no-namer. More like, well, Tom Brady. But until passing targets Rob Gronkowski and Matt Slater come back, receivers Danny Amendola, Brandon Bolden, and Kenbrell Thompkins actually playing at 100 percent, New England can’t expect to live up to their potential. Their offense will surely look to stay true to the spark of moving chains, new sets of downs, which lies in Julian Edelman, Amendola, and tailback Steven Ridley. He’s all about the leak out route, corralling a dump-off pass, and turning the jets upfield. All in all, conservativeness wins the race at this point. The question worth pondering after looking at who they’ve played, who they will, is of how much longer New England can get by with ‘conservativeness.’ Brady is 29th in the league in passing yards per attempt, his longest completion only going for 49 yards. That’s 21st in the league. Sure, heading into this past week undefeated, 4-0, the Patriots could get away with short completion after short completion and still manage to win. Look at who they’ve played, though! Those first four wins were against opponents with a currently combined record of 5-12. New England’s defense has been to these offenses trying to reach the end zone what sunscreen has been to sunrays trying to reach Edward Cullen. They’ve allowed only a little more than 14 points a game, good for sixth-best in the league. So here’s the question: How long is the Patriots’ offense going to be able to get away with wins once their defense has to try to hold up teams like the Saints? Broncos? Dolphins twice? Perhaps by then, the best tight end in the game, Gronkowski, will have been thrown on field so they have reliability to finally throw at. Amendola, Bolden, and Thompkins will all be healthy. Ridley’s knee, by then, will have shot confidence up to his mindset when he cuts by and through knee-hitting linebackers. Frankly, right now isn’t ‘by then.’ Right now is a test in week 5 on a rain-filled Sunday in Cincinnati against a Bengals squad tied for first in the AFC North. Coming into the game, Brady had 52 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, the second-longest streak in NFL history. He also happened to have that four-game winning streak across the top of the league’s standings. You could say those two streaks were getting pushed to the finish line of existence, just like Cincinnati’s defensive line pushing Brady’s blockers in on him, his time to get rid of the ball nearing an end. He was sacked four times. To the Patriots’ bright side, their own defense remained strong all game. It happened to be the only bright side in Cincinnati. The place made Niagara Falls seem like a light sprinkle. “I’m trying to think of the last time I’ve covered a football game where I saw it rain like this,” aged commentator Dan Dierdorf said. Through the shower, the Patriots found themselves in a hurry-up offense with under two minutes to go the length of the field. Finally against an above average defense, they met a slump. Brady threw 1-for-11 towards the end of the drive, throwing six straight incompletions amidst it. With 30 seconds left, Brady launched a spiraling 40-yard shot to the corner of the end zone. Receiver Aaron Dobson must’ve thought it was a spiraling grenade because he split his route the opposite way, heading towards mid-field for a post route. Again, another same-book-different-page play, this time highlighting the cost of the game. An offense like that of the Patriots’ cannot afford to spend precious time, precious plays on miscues and still expect to purchase a victory. A couple ill-minded flags were thrown at Cincinnati’s stellar, hardly-ever-flagged defense, giving Brady free sets of downs, no cost necessary. So excuses concerning Mother Nature’s shower of rain climaxing all within the Patriots’ slippery final drive could be disregarded. Forget the adversity. They had too many chances to convert yet still came up short. So on a 1st down and everything to work with, 26 seconds, 27-yard line, Brady took any and every remaining ‘chance’ and threw it in the trash. Well, trash happened to be the hands of Cincinnati’s Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones. Just another ball Pacman can gobble up. That play had New England’s chances end, the game end, Brady’s touchdown streak end, the winning streak end, and Cincinnati’s start. “[The rain] has stopped,” Dierdorf said. “But the damage was done.” So was the Patriots’ false stint of league superiority.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 00:30:05 +0000
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