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Patriots Week Ahead: Pats Head Home to Host Houston

What a difference a week makes.

With the New England Patriots sitting at 0-1, so-called ‘prognosticators’ were gleefully predicting the demise of the defending champions, and their star quarterback, Tom Brady. However, the Pats 36-20 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, proved that they still have a place among the elite teams in the NFL; much to the chagrin of those that salivate with every New England struggle.

Oh…and, as for that Brady guy, he’s still pretty good, as well.

While the Patriots earned their first win of the 2017 season in dominant fashion, it would be an exaggeration to state that their offensive and defensive problems have been completely solved. They have certainly taken a step in the right direction. However, a week’s worth of hard work lies ahead in Foxboro. Luckily, the Pats have a head coach, quarterback and a supporting cast of veterans that will not allow the team to rest on its laurels. Despite looking impressive on Sunday, the reality is that the Patriots are a work in progress.

Here is a look at some of the items on the Patriots docket for the week ahead:

“Get Well…Get Well Soon…We Wish You to Get Well.”

While that line might elicit a chuckle from Seinfeld fans, it is an adequate representation of the feelings of the Patriots organization, and its fans. With injuries to wide receiver Danny Amendola (concussion), linebacker Dont’e Hightower (knee) and special teams captain Matthew Slater (hamstring) already a concern heading into their tilt against the Saints, the Patriots now have a few more to add to the list. During Sunday’s game, the following Patriots suffered the following injuries:

Rob Gronkowski (tight end): groin Eric Rowe (cornerback): groin Rex Burkhead (running back): ribs Phillip Dorsett (wide receiver): knee

At one point, it seemed like the blue medical tent was the hot spot for Patriots players to enter on Sunday. In fact, if they had not been coming back out, one might have speculated that Pennywise was luring them in with red balloons.

The injury to Gronkowski is certainly the most high-profile of those incurred during Sunday’s win. Patriots Nation collectively breathed a big sigh of relief upon hearing that the injury was not serious and (most importantly) was not another injury to his back. Gronkowski, Dorsett and Hightower are cautiously optimistic about returning to action on Sunday versus the Houston Texans. Wednesday’s injury report may help to shed some light on the injured Pats’ playing status for Week Three. However, history has shown that their true status may not be fully known until just prior to game time. In any case, the Patriots training staff is in for a busy week.

On-Field Improvements

Injuries are not the only item that will garner attention from the Patriots coaches and players, this week. There are some improvements that must be made. Shortly after their home opener, the Patriots replaced their field turf, after deeming its previous quality to be sub-par. In addition to turf replacements, the Pats will need to make some adjustments to the action on the field.

On the offensive side of the ball, the injury-decimated wide receiver corps must put in some overtime to to get on the same page with Brady. As they approach week three, the wideouts have been somewhat underwhelming. Much of that is undoubtedly due to injury, but not all. For Sunday’s game against the Texans, Patriots pass-catchers have to work on winning one-on-one battles. Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett (if healthy) absolutely have the speed to do so. In fact, we did see the Pats put the pair of speedy wide receivers Cooks and Dorsett in motion through the backfield for jet sweeps, fake sweeps, and swing passes. This did slightly increase the productivity for both Cooks and Dorsett. However, as Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe eloquently put it, they need to be effective “without the clever window dressing of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels doing it for them.” In other words, the execution needs to exceed the expectations of the play-calling.

On defense, coordinator Matt Patricia has two main objectives: the need to address ‘big plays’ and the need to motivate what was supposed to be one of the best cornerback tandems in the league. While Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore have shown flashes of being a prolific pair, they have most often been on opposite sides of the page. As of late, Butler has looked ‘distracted’, to put it delicately. On the flip side, Gilmore has yet to show consistent dedication to finishing plays. Butler and Gilmore have both the individual talent and on-field savvy, to right the ship. Many forget that the 2014 Patriots’ dynamic duo of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner started slowly as well. Despite that fact, Patricia knows that teams are eager to test the Patriots defense in every way, and stellar play from his secondary will be essential in building long term success.

Dec 18, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler (21) in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Against the Kansas Chiefs in week one, the Patriots defense was torched by quarterback Alex Smith, who passed his way to an 80-percent completion rate. That aerial attack included a couple of eye-opening, big yardage plays to Chiefs targets Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt. There was marked improvement against Saints quarterback Drew Brees, on Sunday. The defense offered a classic bend-but-don’t-break effort, but still surrendered 429 yards and some big plays. Of those ‘big plays’, six were pass plays of 20 yards or more which resulted in two touchdowns.

Improved play from the secondary will help to remedy this, as will strengthening the pass rush. Trey Flowers and rookie Deatrich Wise, Jr., who opened many an eye on Sunday, will continue to grow. As the weeks progress, they could form quite the formidable tandem. In addition, The Patriots may also receive a boost from the possible return of Hightower to the lineup. He is their unquestioned defensive field general, and will be looking to erase the bad taste in his mouth from the last time he took the Gillette Stadium field in Week One. One things is certain, head coach Bill Belichick and the coaching staff will ensure that sour taste continues to haunt the Patriots until this Sunday’s kickoff.

Let Brady Drive

In what can only be unpleasant news for the other 31 teams in the NFL, Tom Brady still looks like a likely candidate for MVP. Brady overcame a tough performance in Week One by going 30 of 39 passing for 447 yards and three touchdowns. He joins Warren Moon as the only over-40 NFL quarterbacks to throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns in a game. Ever the perfectionist, however, Brady acknowledges a need for improvement. In his weekly interview with “Kirk & Callahan” on WEEI, he offered the following insight on his gameplay:

“Offensively, I thought I left some points out there. But it was a pretty solid effort, and it’s something to build on,”

Although he and the Patriots had a record-setting day on offense last Sunday, Brady knows that their work is far from over. It is evident that he is still adjusting to driving an offense without reliable wide receiver Julian Edelman. Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski are present, but each has had his issues with injury. And, while new additions such as Brandin Cooks, Rex Burkhead, Mike Gillislee, Phillip Dorsett, and Dwayne Allen have undisputed talent, there is always a learning curve when operating in a Brady-led offense.

Despite this, the Patriots and their fans take solace in the fact that Brady still has the keys to the car. As long as he is in the drivers seat, his passengers will get to where they need to go, and learn to become good ‘drivers’ themselves. Look for Brady to be holding his own version of ‘driver’s-ed’ in practice this week.

Don’t Mess With the Texans

Their next opponent, the Houston Texans, will make things tougher than did the Saints. For starters, the Texans have a bit of a leg up on the competition in preparing for their tilt against the Pats. They employ former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, now Houston’s defensive coordinator, and former Patriots DC Romeo Crennel, to direct their defense. One would be hard pressed to find anyone in the league with more insight on Belichick, Brady and the Pats than this coaching combo. The Texans also had a preview of the Patriots offense this past preseason, in joint practices in West Virginia and a preseason game. You can bet that this will not be a point that will escape Belichick and the Patriots as they prep for the Texans this week.

Last season in the divisional round, the Texans held Brady to the lowest completion percentage of his playoff career (47.4) and picked him off twice…and that was without defensive end J.J. Watt. With a full arsenal of weapons on the pass rush, the Texans could put formidable pressure on Brady and significantly limit the Patriots offensive attack. The Pats QB is well aware of this fact, which he also articulated on his WEEi appearance on Monday:

“It’s a challenging defense, really fundamentally sound. They’ve got great coaches. They’ll be prepared,” Brady said. “I think ultimately, it’s just going to come down to our communication and our execution, which was a lot better [Sunday] which resulted in much better production, much more efficiency, and more points than the previous week. So, we’ve got to be able to play well. We’ve got to be able to execute against a really tough, solid defense and move the ball and score some points.”

Offensively, the Texans will be starting rookie DeShaun Watson. Despite his lack of experience under center, the Patriots know that Watson can be explosive and they will need to be ready. The Texans rookie will look to be a threat with his feet, and thus the Pats will look for a defensive scheme to limit that. That’s not an easy task, but we are talking about a team that takes ‘no days off.’

Lessons Learned

Just as the learned that the sky was not falling after the loss to the Chiefs, we need to remember that all has not been cured for the Patriots. This week’s game will be a great test against a more-than-worthy opponent. After all is said and done, we will have a much clearer vision of the type of team the 2017 Patriots will become. Hopefully, this week’s homecoming will be just what the Pats needed.

  -Mike D’Abate is the Managing Editor for cover32.com/Chargers and covers the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots. He is also a National Content Writer for cover32.com. Follow @MG973024 Follow @cover32_LAC