New England Patriots receiver Mohamed Sanu and quarterback Tom Brady aren’t clicking. When New England traded a second-round pick for Sanu, the team needed help at receiver. That need grew more severe when the Patriots parted ways with Josh Gordon. But Week 17 was yet another example of Sanu’s inconsistency — along with struggles for the entire offense.
Sanu had some issues with separation and a drop on a first-and-10 in the first half on Sunday. Brady also didn’t look Sanu’s way when he created separation. And then there was Brady’s overthrow to Sanu in the end zone in the second half. Sanu was breaking to the deep corner of the end zone, but Brady threw the ball well over the receiver’s head.
“Certainly, yesterday was not one of our better performances in any phase of the game, so we’ll try to improve on that,” Bill Belichick said when asked about whether Sanu is clicking in the offense.
Why have his performances been so up and down?
“It’s not like we’re trying to throw a certain number of passes to a certain number of players,” Belichick said.
Players have to earn their targets. Apparently, Sanu has struggled to do so. Surely, his ankle injury played a part in his diminished role. That has probably hampered his abilities on the field during game day, but it has also likely hindered his acclimation to the offense. If he’s limited in practice, he misses valuable snaps with Brady.
It seemed like Sanu had turned a corner with 10 catches, 84 yards and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. But perhaps because that game plan suited him best — and the more recent ones have been more challenging to grasp. Whatever the season, he had just three catches for 35 yards in Week 17. It was his sixth consecutive game with three catches or fewer.
The playoffs have arrived, with the Patriots slated to play the Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. There’s still hope Sanu can contribute, and because the Patriots gave up significant draft assets to get him, they must still have faith he’ll be a big part of their playoff run. But teams have been doubling Julian Edelman, which has killed the Patriots offense. And they’re going to keep doing that until the Patriots prove they can make consistent use of their other pass-catchers.
Someone needs to step up in the playoffs. Sanu is a leading candidate.
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