New England Patriots: Fans should panic after 2-1 start
By Stephen Ur
The New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans on Sunday to improve to 2-1 on the season. Tom Brady threw for yards and five touchdowns. All is right again in the northeast, right? Wrong.
While the New England Patriots appear to have everything back on track. But in reality, they don’t. This is one of the worst Patriots teams, if not the worst, in the last 20 seasons through three weeks.
In their first game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the defense got burned by a rookie running back and Brady couldn’t connect with his receivers. Fans got excited when they dominated the New Orleans Saints. Defeating the Saints defense isn’t that big an accomplishment. Even Sam Bradford looked good against them Week 1.
Against the Texans in Week 3, the Patriots once again played mediocre football. They only rushed for 59 yards, gave up two defensive/special team touchdowns and they should’ve lost.
Brady Almost Blows It
On the last two plays before Brady threw the game-winning touchdown to Brandin Cooks, he had two miscues. First, he fumbled the ball after being hit. Luckily for him, the ball recovered by an offensive lineman.
On the next play, a deep pass intended for Cooks was almost intercepted. The defender dropped the pick at the last second to make it an incomplete pass.
Not all of it is on Brady, of course. The defense has had their part in all this. They have given up 95 points in the first three games. They need to do a much better job at shutting down offenses. Brady and the Pats offense can only do so much.
Their next game won’t prove much either, even if they do win. The Patriots will host the Carolina Panthers this Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Carolina is a mediocre team and Cam Newton continues to show that he is not the great quarterback everyone thought he once was.
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In fact, New England’s big challenge on the season is to come Oct. 22. That’s the night the Patriots will face the Falcons in a rematch of Super Bowl LI. The game will be played on Sunday Night Football on NBC.