Credit has to go to Mike Zimmer’s defense and the Bengals offense for being the one that could put together a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The Pats were flat on offense today. Given the expectations of recent seasons, it was as bad as it’s been in these parts in a long time.
Here’s what is concerning to me. Even when Brady is finding receivers in stride, they’re often either double-catching it, catching it with their chest, or dropping it altogether. Most of the time they look like they’ve been launched from a cannon and have to awkwardly contort to make the catch in mid-air. Rarely is anyone hit in stride, outside of Edelman.
After two weeks of good progress, this was no question a half-step backwards. The early pressure certainly didn’t help the offense get off to a good start.
Despite the thorough shutdown on offense they still had a chance to tie it right at the end. This is the mark of a good Patriots team. They don’t get blown out even when they’re dominated.
And the better news is the defense put together another solid outing, despite not getting much help from the offense.
The defense tackles well, rarely have breakdowns and continue to force turnovers. We can only hope that they will do the same against Drew Brees and the Saints.
This will be an excellent test on both sides of the ball. If they were saving up Gronk, now might be a good time…