BSJ Game Report: Panthers 25, Patriots 14 -- Brady and Gronkowski return, but ill-timed errors hamper offense

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ 25-14 loss to the Panthers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

HEADLINES

Brady and Gronk in the lineup together: It was the first time on the field (in game action, anyway), for the quarterback and the tight end. The two were out there for the first quarter-plus — Brady played the entire first half, while Gronkowski was done by late in the second. With them out there, alongside the likes of James White, Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan, the offense came into a nice focus. The only real problem? After an early 3-and-out, New England got some offense cranked up with White and Edelman, but it had a hard time ultimately finishing drives. There were multiple drops from Edelman. On their second offensive series, the Pats got down to the Carolina 4-yard line, but a bad personal-foul penalty from LaAdrian Waddle and a pair of incomplete passes forced them to settle for a field goal. They reached the Carolina 27-yard line on the next drive, but ended up with a missed field goal from Stephen Gostkowski. And that was it for the starting offense.

"We really didn’t execute very well in certain situations," said Edelman. "I had two key drops that could’ve extended the drives a little better. But a penalty and a bunch of stuff – it wasn’t our best performance, so we’re going to look at the film and see what we could do better and go back to the practice field and work on things."

In all, Brady was 12-for-18 for 102 yards, while Gronkowski had one target and no catches. The best news of the night for the Patriots? They both stayed injury-free, which means they’ll be healthy for the regular-season opener against Houston.

Good red-zone D: The defense gave up a lot of yardage between the 20s. A lot of yardage. Carolina had nearly a 10-minute, 16-play drive to open the game, and added a six-play drive and a nine-play drive later in the first half. (A lot of that was because they couldn’t contain Christian McCaffrey, who had 61 yards from scrimmage in the first half, including an average of four yards per carry. More on him in a second.) But the New England defense was stout in the red zone in the first half. Carolina was 0-for-2 in red-zone chances in the first half, as the New England defense stiffened when faced with the challenge, keeping the score close over the first two quarters.

Receiver spot coming into focus? Phillip Dorsett (four catches) is trending in the right direction, while the fact Eric Decker (two catches on five targets) didn’t see any time with Brady in the first half probably isn’t a great sign. Meanwhile, Riley McCarron was all over against the Panthers, working as part of a four-receiver set with the starting offense in the first half, but also getting some run late into the second half with Brian Hoyer. (McCarron finished with a respectable four catches on five targets for 49 yards, as well as some valuable punt returner reps.) And Coradarrelle Patterson was pretty much all over the map, showing some terrific short area quickness but also looking unsure of himself in some other facets of the game. If the season started today, the Patriots would likely have a receiving corps of (in no particular order) Dorsett, Patterson, Chris Hogan, and two of the three: Decker, McCarron and Braxton Berrios.

Shifting in the secondary: Jason McCourty lined up at safety on Friday. There was some good and some bad, but given the fact we hadn’t seen that before, it certainly caught out attention. In addition, Jonathan Jones was on the field for the first time this summer as the slot corner, and appears to be good to go for the regular season. (Although Duke Dawson, who was out injured, could still make a late push for playing time in the slot.) That should lock down the top of the cornerback depth chart. But the McCourty move is certainly intriguing. The truth is it could be a one-off thing, and nothing might come of it. It could also make another safety expendable. Regardless, it’s something to keep in mind moving forward.

THREE UP

WR Phillip Dorsett: Dorsett was the best and most consistent part of the New England offense, finishing with four catches on four targets for 36 yards. The biggest moment came when he made a fourth-down grab to keep the chains moving and keep a second-quarter drive alive. It’s still the preseason, so take it all with the FDA-regulated amount of salt, but just the fact the quarterback went to him with a drive on the line speaks volumes about the level of trust Brady has in Dorsett. Needless to say, he’s earned a spot in the Brady Circle of Trust.

RB James White: He had just two catches for 17 yards, but his toughness when it came to fighting for a pass that was over his head (he was crunched after making the reception) on one play and delivering a chip on a defensive end before making a third-down reception on another is pretty much who he is in a nutshell. He’s going to be an invaluable part of the offense all year long, but he should have a ton on his shoulders over the first four games as they try and make do without Julian Edelman in the lineup.

CB Keion Crossen: We’ll give the rookie some credit — after struggling against the Eagles where he allowed multiple pass plays of 20-plus yards and ended with three penalties, he had a nice bounce back week with one tackle, a team-high two passes defensed and no penalties. He’ll need to continue stacking success if he wants to secure a spot on the final 53-man roster, but he showed some character with his performance Friday.

THREE DOWN

OT LaAdrian Waddle: Waddle is one of the most chill guys in the New England locker room. Of the 88 guys in there, he’s probably at the bottom of the list when it comes to him potentially losing his (bleep). But that appears to be what happened in the first half when, with his team on the doorstep of a touchdown, he took a bad unnecessary roughness call. It took the Patriots from the Carolina 4-yard line back to the 19. He was yanked after the flag, and while he got back in shortly after the infraction, it was a bad look for the usually mild-mannered veteran. (With the shifting sands along the offensive line, it’s worth noting the Patriots went with Ulrick John at right tackle after Waddle was removed, and Matt Tobin at left tackle after Trent Brown left the game. Our guess is Waddle is still the first option at backup/swing tackle, but John and Tobin might be capable of pushing him this week.)

Defense on Christian McCaffrey: To be fair, he’s going to make a lot of good defenses look bad this year, but the Patriots had absolutely no answer for McCaffrey in the early going. The Stanford product had 48 rushing yards on 12 carries, and was as elusive a back as they’ve faced in recent years. The yards per carry evened out over the course of the night — Carolina averaged just 3.2 yards as a team for the game, which is respectable if you’re the New England run defense. But the Patriots got gashed on the ground early, when it mattered. That’s something that needs to be firmed up between now and the start of the regular season.

The running game: Six of New England’s 19 carries either went for negative yards or no gain, as the Patriots ended with 60 rushing yards. Granted, there was no Sony Michel or Rex Burkhead, but that’s simply not sustainable, especially if New England is going to have to make do without Edelman over the first month. Whether it was a miscommunication between fullback James Develin and Jeremy Hill (which appeared to be the case on this first-half carry that resulted in negative yardage), poor run blocking or simply subpar team execution on the part of the Patriots, it represented a downer after two good performances earlier in the summer (4.7 yards per carry and 140 rushing yards against Philly and 3.5 yards per carry and 135 rushing yards against Washington).

INJURIES

RB Jeremy Hill (ankle): Left and did not return, but was seen jogging on the sidelines late. Said he was fine in the locker room after the game.
OL Luke Bowanko (leg): Limped off in the fourth quarter. Left locker room with an ice bag on left knee.
WR Riley McCarron (unknown): Took a shot to the shoulder late in the game but did return.

THREE TAKES PRICE WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Mike Gillislee still might have a spot on this team: The running game wasn’t all that great, but the fact Hill went down late in the game, as well as the continued health issues around Michel and Burkhead, might cause the Patriots to keep Gillislee around as an insurance policy. Some of it could come down to whether or not the Patriots could come across a motivated buyer on the trade market, but I wouldn’t count him out just yet.

Score a TD.
Hand the ball to your O-Lineman.
Spike the ball.@mikescogilly | @Jason72King | #NEvsCAR pic.twitter.com/5twwhx9cQG

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 25, 2018