The problem with bad pass protection is the quarterback knows it’s bad and, human nature being what it is, starts to speed up his play. Tom Brady has done that. He even did it against Miami which, considering it was Week 1, tells you there had been protection problems in practice. The Patriots mostly use a short-drop passing attack, so it seems intuitive that it’s not exactly bad for a quarterback to speed up. But it doesn’t work that way. Speeding up means distorting the synchronization of route concepts. The Patriots’ passing game hinges on that synchronization.