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Archives for November 2, 2013

New England Patriots Rookie, Free-Agent Midseason Progress Report

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New England Patriots Rookie, Free-Agent Midseason Progress Report

My B/R column from yesterday…

The New England Patriots have reached the midpoint of their 2013 season and sit at an impressive 6-2. Most years this record wouldn’t be a surprise, but now, given the Pats’ injuries and sloppy performances, it’s surprising the Patriots are once again atop the AFC East.

The Pats experienced a good deal of turnover this past offseason, especially at the tight end and wide receiver positions, and coupled with significant injuries to a number of starters, the result has been numerous rookies and free agents have had to step up.

Let’s take a look at the new additions to the Patriots this season and how they’ve fared through the first eight games.

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Ravens, Texans and Colts will define seasons coming off byes in Week 9 | The MMQB with Peter King

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Ravens, Texans and Colts will define seasons coming off byes in Week 9 | The MMQB with Peter King

Tough critique from Bedard, but I think the pieces are in place to turn it around. Nothing is clicking right now, but with guys finally getting healthy that can change in a hurry. Still, rough reading below…

Everyone, especially the rabid fans in New England, wants to know what’s wrong with the Patriots’ offense. After watching film this week, here’s my quick synopsis: they stink. All of them. It’s not just the receivers. It’s not just the pass or run blocking. It’s not just Tom Brady’s inaccuracy. It’s a combination of everything. Basically, there isn’t one thing they do well. It looks like the Patriots coaches think that as well, because the game plan against the Dolphins last Sunday was bare bones. The Pats won, 27-17, but there wasn’t a whole lot of motion or variety. They stuck to a few basic runs, a handful of different pass concepts.

The Patriots looked like they were saying, “We aren’t doing anything well at this point, so let’s dial it back and start from the basics.” The problem is, they couldn’t even execute that game plan. The first half was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in some time from the Patriots’ offensive line, both run and pass. Left guard Logan Mankins, normally the stalwart, struggled mightily in all phases of the game. He might be toughing out some sort of lower body injury. That said, the run blocking was much cleaner in the fourth quarter, so that may be something to build off of. Although I have no clue why the Patriots aren’t playing Stevan Ridley more. He’s by far their best running back. It’s not even close.