Grading the Patriots

Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots offense bottoms out vs. KC, but there is a path to keep Super Bowl hopes alive

POSTED: 1:30 PM Wednesday

As we touched on yesterday, the biggest problem(s) with the Patriots offense this season is that the offensive line has been terrible — pass and run blocking — for the...

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Bedard’s Breakdown II: Questioning the aggressive defensive playcalls on Houston’s 3rd-quarter TD drive

POSTED: 5:43 PM December 4, 2019

We gave our major takeaway from the loss to the Texans — that Tom Brady was not to blame for the offensive shortcomings in Houston — but there are a...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: How much was Tom Brady at fault for passing games woes? Not much

POSTED: 8:24 AM December 3, 2019

Everyone wants to know how much of the offensive woes in the loss to the Texans fell on Tom Brady, so let’s go over the key plays, some with videos, and...

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UPDATED – Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots embarrassed Jason Garrett, Cowboys on special teams

POSTED: 1:12 PM November 26, 2019

This is a bit of a rarity. I don’t have a ton to add big-picture wise from the Isaiah Wynn/Shaq Mason column I wrote after watching the TV copy of...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: It’s time to give Kyle Van Noy his due as Patriots’ most valuable defender

POSTED: 9:00 AM November 20, 2019

He doesn’t get the opportunity to lock down an opponent like Stephon Gilmore. He doesn’t have the athleticism and flair of Jamie Collins. And he doesn’t have the game-turning plays...

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Bedard’s Breakdown II: Mohamed Sanu’s productive night was fine, but just leave it at that for now

POSTED: 2:36 AM November 7, 2019

Sanu did fine catching 10 of his 14 targets for 81 yards (8.1 yards-per-catch average) and a touchdown. Considering it was his first real game action and the opponent, it...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots’ defensive lapses vs. Ravens correctable, but offense more of a worry

POSTED: 1:04 PM November 5, 2019

A second viewing of the Patriots’ loss to the Ravens didn’t do much to change the original thinking that the Patriots suffered a handful of assignment lapses and that largely led...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots offensive line bottoms out against Browns

POSTED: 1:07 PM October 29, 2019

Dante Scarnecchia looked miserable when he met with the media on Monday. Everyone’s favorite offensive-line curmudgeon looked like he hadn’t slept much, and appeared pretty frustrated with the state of...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: There’s finally something for Belichick to harp on the defense about, and it’s perfect timing

POSTED: 6:23 AM October 23, 2019

It took until the seventh game, but Bill Belichick finally has something to get on his defense about in film sessions. He's probably smiling inside about it. If you thought...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Yes, the Patriots’ offense was that bad vs. Giants – Ranking the issues that don’t include OT, RB

POSTED: 4:50 AM October 13, 2019

Holy hell. That’s really all I had left to say after re-watching the Patriots’ offensive performance in their 35-14 victory over the Giants. It was as bad as you thought...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: First half proved Patriots don’t need a running game for effective play-action passing

POSTED: 5:12 AM October 8, 2019

If you're one of those people who screams that the passing game isn't working this season because the Patriots can't run the ball as well as last season (you probably...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Not to excuse his performance, but Tom Brady might have his own agenda in target selection vs. Bills

POSTED: 10:51 AM October 1, 2019

it was poor. And it started with Tom Brady. From very early in the game, in fact on three of his first throws, Brady showed some questionable decision-making that was...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots’ offense is sluggish right now, but the reasons can be worked through

POSTED: 9:23 PM September 24, 2019

It didn’t take a football genius to recognize that the Patriots’ offense wasn’t exactly dominating in the 30-14 win over the Jets. Take away a few coverage busts by the...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: If the Patriots want to be all in on Antonio Brown, Phillip Dorsett should request a trade

POSTED: 10:08 AM September 17, 2019

Not to mention, it's going to screw over Phillip Dorsett. Again. He dealt with it last year when Josh Gordon arrived and, if Antonio Brown continues to play, Dorsett is...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: A few defensive wrinkles stood out in Patriots’ decimation of Steelers

POSTED: 7:45 AM September 10, 2019

The Patriots’ title defense largely started the way the last season finished: with the offense searching for offensive consistency and an identity (despite the 33-3 final — you can thank...

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Road to 53, v.19.5 – Some old-reliables sneak back in, while one makes way for future

POSTED: 12:57 PM August 26, 2019

Having already dealt with the returns of Demaryius Thomas and Josh Gordon in the last version, we had already done most of the heavy lifting and bloodletting when it comes...

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Bedard’s Breakdown (Defense): Mike Pennel comes to play; is it too late? (Update: Apparently)

POSTED: 3:48 PM August 25, 2019

UPDATE: Mike Pennel has been informed of his release, according to Mike Reiss. Pretty much said my piece on the defense, especially the starters, after Thursday night’s game. And with...

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Bedard’s Breakdown (Offense): Jarrett Stidham provided evidence for and against him being Patriots’ lone backup QB

POSTED: 5:57 PM August 23, 2019

If Bill Belichick went with rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham — and not Brian Hoyer — behind Tom Brady against the Panthers in order to gain more evidence as to whether...

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Defensive 1-on-1 totals and awards: More evidence Michael Bennett should be rush upgrade over Trey Flowers