Tough to tell if they’ve solved anything at this point – it has looked sloppy on offense and the defense has looked good, but against two rookie quarterbacks.
I always find this time of year to be difficult as someone who has to write about the team, because while there have been two games played, it’s hard to make any definitive statements about the team at this point. I can’t really dive into stats yet, because the sample size is just too small and can be skewed in any way you wish to skew it.
What do we know now? Generally how the Patriots view their personnel, and the groupings that they like and trust the most.
Really not many surprises on defense. Tommy Kelly is in for Love/Deaderick and Michael Buchanan is the designated pass rusher. After that things are pretty much status quo from last year, which is a good thing. Yay continuity.
On offense they’re just trying to survive, as they clearly don’t have the horses they’d like to. That should change in the next week or two once Gronk gets back. And when he does it takes the pressure off Amendola to tough out his groin injury.
Between Gronk and Edelman, the Pats should have plenty of threats to challenge the middle of the field. Then the focus just goes back on getting Thompkins and Dobson on the same page as everyone else (i.e. just catching the ball) on the outside.
I don’t want to put too much on him, because it could take him some time to get fully up to speed, but Gronk will have a major impact on the offense both on the ground and through the air just by getting back on the field.
As for the fourth ring, it’s way too early for that, but if these receivers continue to progress, the Pats will have one of the best young teams on both sides of the ball in all of the NFL ,for the next few seasons.