The 49ers won Thursday night, but still lost in handling Aldon Smith | The MMQB with Peter King

Bedard on Pats alert! Bedard on Pats alert! Holy hoodie, I miss the Wet Blanket of Reason…

Despite beating the Buccaneers, 23-3, the Patriots’ offense is still out of whack. Quarterback Tom Brady has not played well to this point, partly because he’s faced three defenses (Bills, Jets and Bucs) that specialize in changing their pre- and post-snap looks. Those kinds of schemes always put doubt in Brady’s mind, where there normally is none. He’ll face another this week from Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. In games against these varied schemes, Brady has to trust (more than usual) that his receivers will be in the right places. But the Pats’ young receivers are still repeating many of the same mistakes: making cautious, rounded-off cuts at the top of routes (Kenbrell Thompkins); not adjusting routes quickly enough based on coverage (Aaron Dobson); unable to beat coverage (Michael Hoomanawanui and Zach Sudfeld); and showing an overall lack of polish in the system (Josh Boyce). With Julian Edelman commanding more double teams, Brady is running out of options. It would really help if the Patriots doubled down more on the running game. It has been impressive most of the time, and their best plays have come off hard run action. This offense must start showing gradual improvement if it hopes to be executing at a high level later in the season.