NOTE: If you want a calm and rational discussion of the Patriots' offense against the Packers, please read on. If you don't care to read someone else's opinion, you can quit reading and fire off your nasty Tweet to me right now.
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- The 59-yard opening touchdown drive that relied on a no-huddle offense to surprise the Packers and had their defenders gasping for air.
- Receiver — sorry ... playmaker — Cordarrelle Patterson ran 61 yards on 11 carries, including five-straight runs of 43 yards that notched their second touchdown.
- A 37-yard pass from Julian Edelman to James White set up their third touchdown.
- Josh Gordon was left wide-open by the Packers thanks to another deceptive play on the final touchdown.
- Edelman had two rushes for 28 yards that set up Gordon's score, and then gained the game-sealing first down.
- Football coaches — especially offensive coordinators — don't do anything accidentally. Yes, they have a section of the playsheet devoted to deceptive plays every week (NOTE: I'm using the term 'deceptive' because that's the football term -- not that they're trying to deceive/cheat. I.E., coaches will refer to a deceptive period in practice where they work on screens, reverses, trick plays — it's a catch-all term). Those plays, or versions of them, are part of the gameplan every week.
- The Patriots coaches — especially Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels — don't do anything without a very specific reason. I've never sat in on one of their game planning sessions, but I have with the next best thing: the Houston Texans with two former Patriots assistants (Bill O'Brien and George Godsey).
Quarterback (2.5 out of 5)
This was a decidedly average game for Brady where he had two long stretches without completions. Again, it's hard for me to tell how much of that is on him, or whether he's just a victim of what's around him. This wasn't a game with a high degree of difficulty, and he made as many throws as he missed. The pass where he sailed Chris Hogan was especially egregious — you don't see Brady miss that badly all that often. Brady's still not seeing the field with his usual flawlessness. That I think is caused by the lack of cohesion around him.
Running backs (4 out of 5)
Patterson did an excellent job with his opportunities because McDaniels put Patterson in a position to succeed with the fullback leading the way and short tosses, which made Patterson's runs a lot like kick returns. It's not a coincidence that Patterson had carries for no gain and 1 yard without a fullback, but was 9 for 60 on the others. Some really good blocking as well by the whole unit. That being said, sometimes it's better to be lucky and have Brady than being good. Watch this "route"
I still don't get why Kenjon Barner doesn't get more opportunities. Had a great blitz pickup against Clay Matthews, and had a solid 4-yard run that would have been for more had Trent Brown not missed his block and allowed the linebacker to make a terrific tackle (similar to Tramon Williams on White on the goal line). ... White had the two touchdowns, but not much else. In fact, he was fairly poor blocking with a sack and knockdown allowed.
Receivers (3.5 out of 5)
A solid outing for this group as a whole but everyone had some issue, whether it was Julian Edelman's drop, Dwayne Allen's poor run blocking — in fact, the blocking for this group was a bit average. ... Josh Gordon's best game as a Patriot. Love how he snatches the ball with his hands and his body control continues to improve. Mistakes are being cut down every week. ... I don't know why the Patriots don't use Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett more. The passing game would be much more effective. I think they're playing the long game with Gordon and others. But at some point, the circle of trust will be closed. ... Edelman's Mr. Reliable, but it's starting to scare me that we see something like this every week.
Offensive line (5 out of 5)
[table id=183 /]
Largely an excellent game by this group. Brady had minimal pressure and the run blocking was solid. I split the Mike Daniels sack between Ted Karras and David Andrews (little spotty) because it looked like Karras was expecting help. The other one was on White. ... In order of effectiveness: Joe Thuney, Karras, Marcus Cannon, David Andrews, Trent Brown. ... Some run game discussion, both the bad and the good, here:
DEFENSE
[table id=184 /]
Defensive line (4 out of 5)
Largely nice work by the line and it would have been even better without three missed tackles. Work on the edge was flawless but there were a few gap issues that seemed to get cleaned up. ... Trey Flowers was a beast again, and it was nice to see Adrian Clayborn play a bit better. ... Keionta Davis was actually not a detriment in this game so he's making progress after getting benched earlier this year.
Linebackers (3 out of 5)
Sure looked like Elandon Roberts, after a string of really good games, was benched for the first quarter (no snaps, but on field for first snap of the second). Might have been late for a meeting. I'm just guessing. ... Dont'a Hightower was average outside of a few late hurries (Rodgers holds onto the ball so long he invites more pressure than he should. ... Kyle Van Noy had some issues in pass coverage, including one zone cover where Brian Flores was ripped Van Noy didn't get better depth on a third-down conversion.
Secondary (4 out of 5)
Stephon Gilmore did a nice job against Devante Adams (though he got help), and Patrick Chung predictably kept the soft Jimmy Graham quiet (I put his touchdown on Duron Harmon for getting sniffed out by Rodgers). The coverage overall was excellent. ... Devin McCourty continues to play better since getting more time at free safety, which we've advocated for a while.
THREE UP
Trey Flowers: Same thing every week when he's healthy — he's the unstoppable force up front.
Cordarrelle Patterson: Executed very well and even when he screwed up, he was able to make plays.
Joe Thuney: Flawless in pass protection and with Daniels and Clark on the other side, that's saying something.
THREE DOWN
Dwayne Allen: Brady finally found him wide open and he had a few good blocks, but he and Brown were the reason why the running game didn't pop more.
It gets tougher from here on out. Really reaching.
Trent Brown: Had some really good blocks, but his lack of refinement in the run game left a lot of yards on the field.