New England Patriots team grades vs Los Angeles Chargers

The Patriots passing game ended with some solid stats, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. While Tom Brady was efficient and had a lot of yards, he couldn’t hit on any big plays and checked down a lot throughout the afternoon.

Brady completed 32-of-47 for 333 yards with one touchdown. However, those stats are deceiving. 27 yards was the longest completion that Brady had on the afternoon, and it went to James White who did most of the work on an outlet pass to the flat. White was actually the leading receiver for New England, catching five passes for 85 yards.

Next in line was Rex Burkhead, another running back. Burkhead caught seven passes for 68 yards. If you add in Dion Lewis’ two receptions for 10 yards, Brady completed nearly half his passes and compiled almost half his yardage to running backs.

Los Angeles is no slouch against the pass, as they have great cornerbacks in Casey Hayward and Trevor Williams. It showed as Brady did most of his work underneath and with short passes.

Part of that was due to the Chargers getting pressure. Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa are arguably the best pass rushing duo in the NFL. Bosa set an NFL record recording his 19th sack in his 20th game played. The Chargers finished the game with three sacks and five quarterback hits as Brady was under pressure more than you’d like to see.

Rob Gronkowski caught Brady’s lone touchdown pass in the game. Chris Hogan got injured again late in the game, as he was seen in a sling in the locker room. The Patriots are lucky they are on bye next week as they cannot afford to lose another receiver to injury.