Grading the Patriots offense after an ugly win over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
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The New England Patriots (9-1) defeated the Philadelphia Eagles (5-5), 17-10, to keep their spot up top in the AFC playoff picture. Here are the grades for the Patriots offense.
Quarterback
Tom Brady was clearly frustrated during and after the game. His performance — 26 of 47, 216 yards — says it all.
Most of the problems stem from an inconsistent offensive line and mistrust in the revolving door of wide receivers other than Julian Edelman. But some of Brady’s throws and throwing decisions (a near end zone interception comes to mind) have clearly been shaky.
Whatever the issue, you can bet that New England will find some form of success on offense down the stretch.
Grade: C-
Running Back
Sony Michel had just 33 yards on 10 carries, furthering New England’s incompetence in the running game this season.
Rex Burkhead added 34 yards on two catches, which included a nice effort on a screen pass in which he bounced off a defender and got downfield.
But I must point out the misgauge and underage of James White, (36 total yards).
Grade: C-
Wide Receiver/Tight End
One thing that was noticeable on Sunday was that the lack of consistent pass blocking has forced the Patriots to resort to more screens and gimmick plays on offense — such as the one that worked when Edelman found Phillip Dorsett for the team’s lone touchdown.
If Brady were supplied more time, he’d notice guys Phillip Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers and even N’Keal Harry (on Sunday) getting open downfield occasionally.
Instead, he’s looked often to Edelman.
Things with Mohamded Sanu (2 catches, four yards) are still a work in progress after Sunday’s performance. But he should be fine going forward. That stat line wasn’t really his fault. It was an ugly day overall for this unit.
Grade: B-
Offensive Line
Rushing for just 74 yards, and failing to provide Brady with ample time to throw to his receivers running downfield routes, the offensive line again showed some inconsistency.
Some of it is just Brady’s mistrust in the offense as a whole, but this unit can play better, and they should starting this week with the return of Isaiah Wynn at left tackle.
Ben Watson had a hand (or two hands) in making Tom Brady’s most beautiful throw happen.
Tom Brady and Ben Watson have a long-standing connection. The quarterback and tight end first linked up on Sept. 9, 2004. They’re still at it.
During the New England Patriots’ Week 11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Brady and Watson connected for the quarterback’s prettiest throw of the night. And unfortunately for Brady, he didn’t have many.
On a second-and-12 from the 23-yard line in the second quarter, New England lined up in 22 personnel (2 TEs, 2 RB, 1 WR) with both tight ends Matt LaCosse and Watson on the right side of the formation. They were bunched with running back Brandon Bolden, who was basically set up as a wing back. The funky formation looked a little like the grouping of three wideouts know as “Trips-Bunch.” It applied the same concept: create a crowd at the line of scrimmage to create separation down the field.
And it worked — sort of. Watson managed to get enough separation for Brady to find a window for a completion. But it was an impressive display of ball-placement. With Watson running up the seam, just a stride ahead of Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox, Brady fired the ball toward the middle of the field, which forced Watson to go to the ground to make the catch. That’s likely by Brady’s design. He threw the ball to the inside to avoid the defender in-tow, and underthrew the ball to make sure Watson didn’t get absolutely hammered by safety Rodney McLeod, who was coming in to defend the pass from over the top.
The result? A beautiful 19-yard pitch-and-catch that put the Patriots on the 4-yard line.
This was Tom Brady's best throw in an otherwise tough game for the QB in Week 11.
I'll have more on this play in the morning tomorrow, including some thoughts from Bill Belichick. pic.twitter.com/SkuC7bcGWX
“[Rex] Burkhead went in motion, and again,” Bill Belichick asked on the conference call on Monday. “It looked like there was a little bit of a (miscommunication) – the Eagles had to kind of slide over and adjust to that. And when the linebacker went inside to take LaCosse, then Ben was able to kind of work up the field on Maddox.
“Tom made a good throw. It was too far outside for the safety to get it and too far up the field for Maddox to get it, so it was really a good throw, a good catch. … That was kind of the tight coverage play. The other one was the third-down conversion.”
When Belichick is willing to admit Brady made a good throw, you know it was noteworthy.
The return of left tackle Isaiah Wynn could be just the boost the Patriots needed to awaken their offense.
While the NFL world remains on Rob Gronkowski watch, the New England Patriots continue to struggle with the reality that their offense isn’t good enough, and returning left tackle Isaiah Wynn is the only one left to save it.
Wynn-ing is the only way out of this dystopian hellhole, where an offense led by quarterback Tom Brady is the glaring weakness on the football field.
The Patriots’ left tackle is slated to make his long-awaited return for Sunday’s match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. Brady will be ecstatic to see him after he was clotheslined and body-slammed in the pocket by the Philadelphia Eagles’ ferocious defensive front.
At this point, fill-in left tackle Marshall Newhouse is probably happy to see Wynn back on the field as well after serving as the proverbial punching bag for criticism during the Patriots’ struggles. There is enough film of Newhouse getting blown up on the line to piece together a feature length movie.
Cue the Superman theme as Wynn swoops in to attempt to save the day.
Before going down with an injury, Wynn flashed serious talent in protecting Brady’s blindside. The 42-year-old quarterback threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was the last full game Wynn played in.
He was only in for 12 snaps against the Miami Dolphins before going down with a toe injury.
It’s no mere coincidence the Patriots’ struggles started the moment the offensive line took hits. For all of the jokes about the Patriots defense making New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold see ghosts, Brady is experiencing his own poltergeist issues in the pocket as well. It’s a natural occurrence when protection breaks down and the quarterback is left on an island at the mercy of 250-plus pound pass rushers.
Wynn’s return should serve as a domino effect across the entire offensive front. Not only will his mere presence increase Brady’s confidence in his blindside being protected, but it will also be a significant boost to the run game. The ability to consistently run the football is the reason why the Patriots won the Super Bowl last season.
An argument could be made their current receiving corps looks better on paper than the group they had back in 2018. The only difference this time around is the team’s inability to get the ground game going. They are too one-dimensional as a unit, and Brady lacks the requisite speed weapons on the outside to run a Patrick Mahomes-style offense. This is why he was so adamant about All-Pro wideout Antonio Brown being on the team.
He won’t say it publicly, but Brady knows the Patriots can’t win a seventh Super Bowl with the offense in its current state.
The second-year lineman is the reason the team was willing to move on from Trent Brown, who signed a record-breaking deal in the offseason with the Oakland Raiders. He’s the reason Coach Bill Belichick was willing to shell out a first-round draft pick for the left tackle position in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Of course, it would be naïve to assume he can fix all of the problems for the Patriots. He’s simply a missing piece of the puzzle that should help get the run game going, which would enable the offense to strike the same balance it had last season.
The trade deadline is over, and any current free agent is probably unsigned for a reason.
Gronkowski seems to be enjoying his time as a FOX Sports NFL analyst. Even if he did return, there are no guarantees he’d be a significant help to the team. He missed all of training camp and half of the season. There is also no hiding the fact that he’s dropped a considerable amount of weight in his transition to life after football.
It’s time to accept the fact that Gronkowski’s football playing days are over.
Wynn is the cavalry the Patriots have been waiting for this season—not Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, A.J. Green or Stefon Diggs. He’s the last hope to rouse a sleeping giant that would suddenly be paired with a historically great defense. Leave everything you think you know about the offense at the door on Sunday. The real season for the Patriots starts now.
Here are five takeaways from the Patriots’ hard-fought win over the Eagles.
The New England Patriots are 9-1 this season, but they still have a ton of room for improvement as the postseason creeps up.
New England defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in a hard-fought 17-10 game. Tom Brady and the offense struggled mightily in the red zone and the defense had a tremendous bounce-back game. The only Patriots touchdown came from a double-pass trick play that was thrown by Julian Edelman. The rest of the points came from Nick Folk field goals — which was definitely a positive from this game.
Brady understands that this offense needs to crank it up a notch before the postseason begins and that the Patriots are currently playing through the most difficult stretch of the schedule. The next three games include the Dallas Cowboy, Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. It’ll be a test for this defense and it’ll give the offense a playoff atmosphere to prepare for the postseason.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Tom Brady has been trending in a negative direction
Either Brady’s age or the lack of protection has led to a steady decline in production for the 42 year old quarterback. With the combination of his 21 incompletions and inability to score in the red zone, Brady has relied heavily on the defense to bail him out.
Tom Brady threw 21 incomplete passes vs. Eagles. Before Sunday, Brady threw 21 or more incompletions in a regular-season game only 15 times in his career. Patriots were 4-11 in those games.
Brady started off the first five games with ten touchdowns and one interception — he’s had four touchdowns and three interceptions in his last five games. The level of competition likely played a factor, and he’s also without key offensive linemen and his critical blocker with James Develin.
He was visibly frustrated in his press conference after the game and Brady is conscious of the fact that the offense isn’t clicking right now. It doesn’t help that the rushing attack has been non-existent so far this season and that the receiving corps continues to change. N’Keal Harry had a positive debut game for the Patriots and his presence along with Mohamed Sanu should play a huge role heading into the postseason.
Whether it’s Brady’s age or the lack of protection, Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels have limited time to find a solution.
Here are the winners and the losers from the New England Patriots’ 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Stadium on Sunday.
Winner: The Patriots secondary
Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz almost doubled his passing yards in the final five minutes of the game, but while those drives finished with significant yardage, the Patriots allowed no fourth-quarter points. That was thanks in large part to New England’s secondary.
Wentz finished the game 20-of-40 for 214 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots secondary, particularly Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson, were impressive in keeping the Eagles’ pass-catchers at bay. (It helped that their receiving corps looked depleted without Alshon Jeffery.)
Safety Terrence Brooks also played in Patrick Chung’s role while he was out with an injury. Brooks finished tied with a team-high seven tackles, but also added two pass breakups and a pair of quarterback hits; he has been a pleasant surprise since joining the team with the apparently-unfair label as solely a special teams standout.
Even on the Eagles’ second-longest play of the game, a 25-yarder from Wentz to Zach Ertz in the fourth quarter, the quarterback had to zip the ball into an incredibly tight and dangerous window. It was remarkable (and perhaps lucky) to complete the pass. Wentz tried something similar on the following play and McCoury got a hand on it, which nearly resulted in an interception.
Loser: Jason McCourty, CB
There was one exception to the strong play among New England’s defensive backs: Jason McCourty. He made a costly mistake in the first play from scrimmage by committing a pass interference that cost the Patriots 49 yards. Wentz later targeted receiver Mack Hollins down the right sideline on a double move, which fooled McCourty. J.C. Jackson took over for McCourty as the team’s second cornerback. That said, in the fourth quarter, McCourty got redemption with two crucial fourth-quarter breakups.
Tom Brady gets his shot at vengeance on Sunday when the New England Patriots go head-to-head with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The quarterback match-up that never was can finally come to fruition when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots travel to Lincoln Financial Field to take on Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brady has already admitted he never got over the 41-33 loss to the Eagles nearly two years ago at Super Bowl LII. Coming off a bye week after getting ramrodded by the Baltimore Ravens, there’s a good chance we finally see the emergence of “Psycho Tom” on Sunday.
A simple stroll by Nick Foles’ erected “Philly Special” statue at Headhouse Plaza should be more than enough to flip the on-switch for the 42-year-old quarterback’s destructive alter-ego.
Of course, that’s assuming there’s also an on-switch for the Patriots’ patchwork offensive line.
The Eagles are coming off consecutive wins over the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears. Don’t expect them to bend the knee to the might of Brady and Bill Belichick. Eagles coach Doug Pederson out-coached Belichick at Super Bowl LII, and he’s hell-bent on doing it again in a regular season game with significant playoff ramifications. A loss to the Patriots would put his team further behind the Dallas Cowboys in a tight NFC East divisional race.
Brady threw for 503 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles defense at Super Bowl LII, and the only play everyone remembers is him dropping a wide-open pass on a brilliant trick play called by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Months of relentless trolling after a play like that does something to a man.
For an ultimate competitor like Brady, it lies dormant until he finally gets an opportunity to deliver his explosive on-field response. Aside from the revenge factor, there’s also the reality factor that the Patriots are simply the better football team right now.
The Eagles are an injury-riddled team missing several key offensive weapons. Star receiver Alshon Jeffery has already been ruled out of the game with an ankle injury, and running back Jordan Howard’s availability is in such doubt the team picked Jay Ajayi up off the streets after placing Darren Sproles on injured reserve. All of that movement comes over a week after the Eagles’ only deep threat receiver, DeSean Jackson, was also placed on injured reserve.
It’s a weakened offense ripe to be feasted on by a Patriots defense that has spent the last two weeks listening to talking heads call them overrated.
Even after getting run into the ground by the Ravens offense, the Patriots are still holding opponents to 10.9 points per game and 249.3 average total yards, which tops the league in both categories.
Why you should pick the Eagles
One thing you can count on is Pederson coaching to win.
The Eagles aren’t afraid of going for it on fourth down, and they are gutsy enough to call up every trick play at their disposal in hopes of catching the Patriots off-guard. It’s a resilient football team that typically responds well in high-leverage moments.
For as much motivation as Brady should have coming into this game, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz should be equally motivated. If not for a season-ending knee injury that ruined what would have been an MVP year, the historic, franchise-altering moment that featured Foles as the centerpiece would have been Wentz’s moment.
This is his shot at stepping into the primetime spotlight in a head-to-head meeting with Brady. It’s the Super Bowl moment he never received.
On the defensive side of the ball, the secondary is getting healthier with the return of corners Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills. There is also that fearsome defensive front that bedeviled Brady in the Super Bowl with Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett.
Things are even worse now on the offensive front for the Patriots than they were in the previous meeting. The run game has subsequently turned into a quicksand pit with limited production.
Pederson should also find solace in retired tight end Rob Gronkowski spending his Sunday afternoon as an NFL analyst instead of the biggest offensive mismatch on the field.
Eagles are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after giving up less than 250 total yards in their previous game.
Patriots are 36-16 ATS in their last 52 games after giving up more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
Patriots are 46-21-1 ATS in their last 68 games after a straight up loss.
Prediction
The smart pick is the Patriots and the over on Sunday.
Belichick with extra time to prepare for a game is usually bad news for the opposing team. The Eagles obviously defeated him in the Super Bowl, but he also wasn’t wielding the Mike Tyson of NFL defenses during that run.
This will be the week when the Patriots offense levels the playing field with their defense.
Patriots fans were hoodwinked into believing first-round draft pick rookie receiver N’Keal Harry would be making his long-awaited debut against the Ravens. He traveled with the team after being brought up from injured reserve to the main roster. There’s a good chance he gets on the field on Sunday and finally brings the explosive element the offense has been missing.
I’m not saying he’s going to suddenly morph into the next Randy Moss, but if he could make a couple plays, it will give the defense another threat to take into account. Along with Harry getting up to speed, recently acquired receiver Mohamed Sanu had extra time to delve deeper into the playbook and continue to build chemistry with Brady. He was one of the few bright spots in the loss to the Ravens after racking up 10 receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown.
The Eagles have been stout against the run all season, but they’ve shown considerable weaknesses on the backend of their defense. They also haven’t had as much success in generating pressure and getting after the quarterback. If they can’t turn the pocket into an oven, a calm and cool Brady will cut through them like butter.
There are also too many key injuries on the offensive side of the ball for the Eagles to overcome.
Tight end Zach Ertz will get put on an island by the Patriots defense, and Wentz will struggle to find open receivers. The combination of Howard and Ajayi would have sounded promising two years ago. But not in 2019. Not against this defense.
I’d take the Patriots at -3.5 and the over.
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Three keys for the New England Patriots to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11 of the 2019 season.
The New England Patriots (8-1) will look to rebound after their pre-bye loss, in a Super Bowl LII rematch in Philadelphia versus the Eagles (5-4) on Sunday. Here are three keys for New England, in hopes for a victory.
1. Shore up run defense
After appearing to have no weaknesses during the first half of their season, the Patriots defense has allowed 184.5 rushing yards per game over their last two contests.
The Eagles have one of the NFL’s better offensive lines, and their two-back attack of Jordan Howard and rookie Miles Sanders poses problems for a defense that sometimes struggles against offenses that efficiently run the inside zone out of the shotgun and spread-shotgun formations.
Stopping the run is a top priority here, even if that means New England has to go back to tinkering to four-man defensive lines consistently for the first time this season. Can this year’s personnel play well in that?
2. Limit passing game out of two-tight end personnel
With DeSean Jackson out, the Eagles have relied heavily on 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) with both tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert on the field at the same time.
In this formation, the Eagles not only have a beefier lineup the can block for the running game, they also have the personnel to run RPOs and find mismatches with their athletic pass catching tight ends.
“The RPOs – there’s a couple different versions of them – they use both and they have,” Bill Belichick said recently. They incorporated it into their offense several years ago and continue to use them.”
In Ertz, the Eagles have what is basically a very effective big inside receiver. It’s worth wondering if New England will either double cover him on third down, or place Stephon Gilmore on him, with the injuries and play of the Philadelphia’s depleted wide receiving core.
“Yeah he’s pretty good. He’s really good at everything,” Belichick says of Ertz.
“In the passing game, man routes, he can get open against a variety of defenders. He’s a tough guy to match up against. Until they come out of the huddle, it’s hard to really know where he’s going to be. He lines up in the tight end traditional location, but not a high, high percentage of the time. He’s in different spots.”
Ertz — seven catches, 67 yards, game-winning touchdown — was a handful in Super Bowl LII, and Goedert, their second-round pick following their Super Bowl win, poses a whole new set of problems.
“I think they play two tight ends more than any other team in the league,” Belichick says.
“Those two guys combined play a lot. “It’s usually Ertz in 11-personnel but not always. Goedert plays in there a decent amount too, and obviously they’re both on the field when they go to 12. They’re, I would say, interchangeable. They’re able to move guys around to different spots. I’d say he plays probably a little more tight end than Ertz does, but they both play it and they can both extend outside and in slot, play off each other as well as.”
3. Switch up approach on offense (if needed)
The Patriots had gotten buy with less-than-stellar play from their offense as of late, but with their schedule heating up, that’s not longer viable.
The team showed some success versus the Ravens with a hurry-up approach, and that may be something the Patriots need to revisit on Sunday, if necessary.
Then again, Philadelphia has been so poor in stopping the pass, that this may be the turning of the tide for Tom Brady, who is due for a 45-plus pass attempt game in which he meticulously picks apart a defense with supreme pre-snap reads.
With rookie first-round pick N’Keal Harry probably making his debut, he could also be a factor.
Regardless, the Patriots may need to veer a bit from what they’ve done so far this season on offense.
A deep dive into the topics New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick avoided.
Ahead of the New England Patriots’ (8-1) Week 11 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4), Bill Belichick didn’t mind talking about Super Bowl LII, a game which he admitted was a prominent memory.
How could it not be? It’s one of the New England Patriots coach’s three Super Bowl losses.
Belichick also seemed open to praising some of his opponent’s top players, like quarterback Carson Wentz, linebacker Brandon Graham and tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, among others. (Belichick is always ready to kill his opponent with kindness.)
But there were some substantial issues that Belichick didn’t want to address. Let’s make sure to broach those topics, even if The Hoodie elects to deflect on them. Here’s what Belichick wouldn’t say this week.
1. Is Carson Wentz playing well this season?
What Belichick said: “He’s a good quarterback. He can throw from anywhere. The longer the play extends, the harder it is to cover, but he can make all the throws in the pocket too. I think that’s an issue.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: What’s really the issue? Wentz is averaging 2.7 seconds before his throws, which is 27th worst in the NFL, according to ESPN. Belichick will make that an issue for Wentz. In part, his slow release is probably because his receivers have struggled this season with separation. But whether the blame falls on Wentz or his receivers, he’s leaving himself vulnerable to the Patriots’ pass-rush, which has 32 sacks, fourth-most in the NFL. They may not bring much pressure (Wentz actually thrives against blitzes). But they’re going to try to fool him with their amoeba defense to generate pressure with three- and four-man rushes.
2. What similarities are there between Belichick and Eagles coach Doug Pederson?
What Belichick said: “I don’t know. Good question for somebody else.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: There are a few similarities. For a time, Pederson was an aggressive decision-maker, who was building innovative and trendy schemes. The biggest difference? The Patriots excelled after winning Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI and LIII. Pederson, meanwhile, is struggling to keep Philly over .500. That’s the most substantial difference. Oh, and the Eagles “have some fun” but the Patriots don’t — or whatever.
3. Any thoughts on Myles Garrett’s bout of blind rage?
What Belichick said: “We’ve addressed that multiple times. … We can go back and look at 50 of these through the years, some type of fighting or ejections or whatever. They’re all a little bit different. I wouldn’t say that it’s – like offside penalties, there’s a lot of – different things happen, different situations, so forth and so on. But yeah, fundamentally, I tell players what we should do in those situations, how we should handle them, and I think they’ve done a good job of it.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: Tom Brady told reporters that Belichick used Garrett’s outburst as a coaching moment for players on Friday. And while there seems to be a narrative that the Patriots are immune to such behavior, retired tight end Rob Gronkowski was suspended for a dirty, late hit on Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in 2017. (But Belichick would never remind the media of that PR nightmare.) Something similar happened in New England — though not quite on the insane scale of Garrett’s violent behaviors. The helmet attack was fairly close to unprecedented.
4. By way of Alex Guerrero, Tom Brady mentioned he might play until he’s 47. In the context of history, that’s a pretty wild idea, right?
What Belichick said: “I’m really just trying to focus on getting our team ready to go against the Eagles and trying to get myself ready to do a good job down there. So, we’ll leave all of that for another day.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: It would be remarkable, but it ain’t happening. Brady is not falling off a cliff, but he’s also not the same player he was in 2007, in part because of aging and in part because of personnel. It would be shocking if Brady made it to 47. Considering Brady’s contract expires after this season, it would be fairly surprising if Brady made it 45, his original target age.
5. So… Is N’Keal Harry playing on Sunday?
What Belichick said: “We’ll activate the players that we feel give us the best chance to compete against the Eagles.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: He wasn’t ready for the game against the Ravens, who the Patriots clearly respected as one of the best teams in the NFL. New England couldn’t afford to test the waters with the rookie — they needed proven players they could trust. Against the Eagles, perhaps the Patriots see avenues to getting Harry involved. And while Mohamed Sanu’s reviews of Harry were positive this week, Phillip Dorsett told Patriots Wire that Harry, the 2019 first-round pick, is still figuring things out. It’s probable that Harry plays. It’s possible he doesn’t.
6. What does he remember about Colin Kaepernick’s game from 2016?
What Belichick said: “I don’t really have any comment on that. We’re trying to get ready for the Eagles. That’s really where my focus is.”
What we think Belichick’s thinking: Belichick let defensive end Michael Bennett skip the national anthem during his tenure with the Patriots. So Belichick will allow a level of disclosed protest. But it’s fair to question whether Kaepernick might see that as repression. Regardless, Kaepernick would provide an intriguing option to replace third-string quarterback Cody Kessler, lately because the Patriots face a handful of mobile quarterbacks in the coming weeks. Kaepernick has the skillset to be an asset on the scout team. But maybe that value doesn’t outweigh the political dialogue and media attention that Kaep brings.
