10 things we now think about the 2018 Patriots, starting with an offense that needs polish

CHARLOTTE — The Patriots wrapped up the competitive portion of their exhibition season with a 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers in their third preseason game on Friday night.

The starters, including Tom Brady, played the first half ... and it wasn’t exactly a Picasso on either side of the ball for New England.

“Their team played well in all three phases of the game, and outplayed us across the board for four quarters,” said Bill Belichick. “We have a lot of work to do, it really wasn’t any part of the game that was very competitive. We just have to go back to work, and see if we can find a way to do a few things better than we did them tonight.

“Obviously, (we) have a lot of work to do," he added. "(We) weren’t able to accomplish much tonight (and) didn’t play well in any three phases of the game. We just have to go back to work, and do a better job than that.”

Wasn’t a great night, but there are 10 things that we now think about the 2018 Patriots — from the lack of big plays, the vanishing pass rush, that Stephon Gilmore probably hates the Panthers to thoughts on some corners and Eric Decker — that we'll share. But first, we'll start with the sloppy offense.

1. Offense wasn’t great, but it’s no time to panic: Brady had a 81.2 passer rating, and the Patriots were outgained 203-130 in the first half. But it wasn’t a total loss.

Right now, you’re seeing an offense that wasn’t challenged a whole lot in training camp, and has some new parts to fit in. That takes time, and it probably didn’t help that Brady missed largely nine days of training camp with a back injury. The offense just lacked rhythm, polish, and their execution was not good.

For example: the first drive stalled when Trent Brown missed a cut block (pass was deflected), and then, he started to block down instead of out. That caused a pressure where Brady had to get rid of the third-down pass to James White early.

The second drive might have ended in a touchdown if LaAdrian Waddle didn’t have a mindless personal foul penalty, and the drive stalled when Brady missed Rob Gronkowski breaking open in the end zone. A 3rd-and-goal pass to James Develin is not what they’re looking for there.

The third and final drive for Brady stalled thanks to two drops by Edelman, and Will Tye — out of a timeout — couldn’t come up with a contested ball. In the regular-season, that’s a Gronk play.

2. Another not great sign from the offense: The Patriots had just two plays over 20 yards, and they were both from Brian Hoyer to Riley McCarron. The longest plays for Brady were two swing passes — Phillip Dorsett (16 yards) and James White (14 yards).

3. So much for the pass rush: A week after terrorizing the Eagles’ to the tune of eight sacks and 32 total quarterback pressures, the Patriots had zero sacks and one official quarterback hit (we’ll have pressure tomorrow) against the Panthers. And that wasn’t exactly the Great Wall of China on the offensive line. The Panthers used three former CFL players on their top offensive line — Greg Van Roten, Blaine Clausell and Quanterrius Eatmon. And you still didn’t hear a lot from Adrian Clayborn, Deatrich Wise and Derek Rivers.

4. Stephon Gilmore should never join a team in the NFC South: The cornerback’s first season in New England bottomed out with a terrible performance against the Panthers last year, and it wasn’t that much better on Friday night. They went right after him early in the game, as he lost coverage of Torrey Smith, but the former Raven couldn’t find the ball over his outside shoulder. On the first third down, Gilmore lost track of Jairus Wright for a first down. Gilmore did contribute to a third-and-goal incompletion when he muscled first-round pick D.J. Moore off the line and caused some timing issues with Cam Newton’s pass, which was poorly thrown. There was also a 28-yard pass to Curtis Samuel, and Eric Rowe and Gilmore didn’t look happy with each other when they allowed a first down on third-and-5 with 1:22 left.

5. Eric Decker’s days are numbered: The former Bronco got the Reggie Wayne treatment when he played deep into the game. He couldn’t haul in a contested ball, and watching from the press box it was clear he couldn’t get any separation down the field. Unless the Patriots are utterly desperate, it’s hard to see Decker making this team

6. Jason McCourty’s move to part-time safety might save his job: McCourty played safety for the first time in his football career in this game, and if the coaches like what they saw, it could earn him a place on this team. If he’s just a cornerback, his spot could be in jeopardy because the Patriots have some younger (and cheaper players) would are viable options. Gilmore and Rowe are the top two corners, with Jonathan Jones and, likely, Duke Dawson (if healthy) as the next two. The team spent a draft pick on Keion Crossen, Cyrus Jones can return kicks, and there’s one more player that deserves a spot…

7. J.C. Jackson should be on this team: Spent a lot of the second half watching Jackson and Cyrus Jones in coverage and one thing is abundantly clear — Jackson deserves a spot on this team. He’s big (6-foot-1, 198 pounds) and he can move. He covers very well down the field, he tackles well and has good instincts. Jackson also had a great tackle on the opening punt. He looks like he has serious upside.

8. Big step for Phillip Dorsett: That Phillip Dorsett caught all four of his passes, and Brady looked to him on fourth down for a conversion were huge developments for the former Colt. Up until this point, he’s sort of been a spot player who contributes a play here or there. For these Patriots to do big things, starting with Edelman’s suspension, he’s going to need to be a viable threat. Tonight, for the first time, he was. No one’s going to confuse him with Randy Moss, but it was a meaningful step.

9. What’s the deal with Dont’a Hightower?: Love me some High, but now that his preseason action is probably done … did he make one play in any game? I can’t remember one. Part of the issue is I think the Patriots coaches aren’t really sure what to do with him. On one play he’s on the line at strong-side linebacker. The next he’s standing up and dropping into zone coverage. On the next he’s a defensive end. Didn’t we run into this problem last year? It’s time to let High be High. Just put him into the middle of this defense and let him run the thing next to Ja’Whaun Bentley.

10. If the Patriots defense DeShaun Watson like they did Cam Newton, it’s going to be a rough opener: Newton basically toyed with the Patriots’ pass rush and escaped to make plays whenever he wanted to. Obviously, the Patriots will gameplan for Watson and the Texans and spend basically two weeks getting prepared — but we said that about Kansas City last year and look what happened. Patriots have to tighten up the rush and sync up the coverage before the opener.