New England Patriots: Five Takeaways From 41-14 Blowout Loss To The Chiefs

Sep 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Cooper (31) breaks up a pass intended for New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

2. Receivers Can’t Separate, Tom Brady Struggles

I am going to talk about the offensive line shortly, but I wanted to touch on the wideouts, and Mr. Brady first.

First of all, I am in no way saying all of the blame for this season should be placed on Brady. Not even close. The Patriots have done a terrible job of surrounding him with the necessary talent to win games over the last few years, and it manifested itself last night. But with that said, number 12 played a pretty bad game.

When he had decent time in the pocket, Brady seemed nervous and jittery, and missed open receivers all night long. He forced a couple late interceptions, and was technically benched in favor of Jimmy Garoppolo to close out the game. But to me, his body language throughout the contest was a bigger story. From the first quarter on, Brady seemed down on the offense, and never even tried to get their spirits up. I know he is frustrated, but if he wants to help his offense improve, he needs to stay upbeat early, and try to make a few plays.

As for the receivers, they were pretty damn bad, which makes you question Belichick’s decision to sit Aaron Dobson, and Kenbrell Thompkins even more. Julian Edelman was uncharacteristically mediocre, dropping a few passes, and even miscommunicating with Brady on a big play. Rob Gronkowski was invisible for most of the game, and Danny Amendola…well, he was hard to find as well.

The Patriots’ receivers need to consistently get open for Brady, otherwise this offense will never improve. Hopefully this was a wakeup call for the Pats, and they will try to get Dobson involved from here on out.