After the Patriots got their wake up Thursday night against Kansas City, it’s on to New Orleans to play the Saints on Sunday. The Patriots appeared lost on offense, defense, and special teams. It was unusual for the Patriots to have a distraction get in the way.
Too much play, not enough work?
What was the distraction? The banner ceremony for one. But Brady and Bill have all the answers, right? Some players might think that this game was going to be a cakewalk but that certainly didn’t happen. Like Belichick said, “Last year was last year. This is a new year new team and everyone starts from the beginning.”
Another distraction? The Patriots missed Julian Edelman Thursday night. Fans everywhere predicted that someone like Hogan, Cooks, Amendola would step up. For some reason, Brady couldn’t connect with anyone. Or nobody could get open. I know Belichick doesn’t want to look to the past. But in 2014 when they lost to Kansas City, Belichick said the team fought to the end. Last Thursday it seemed like they just gave up. No fight. No urgency to win. Very unusual and sort of a kick in the butt that you won’t playing in Super Bowls with performances like that.
Brady and Belichick have shifted the team to only focus on this week’s opponent, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints didn’t look good on Monday night in their loss to Minnesota. The Patriots haven’t practiced all weekend. Puzzling. You would think after that performance Thursday, they would practice Sunday and Monday, off Tuesday, then practice on Wednesday. But the Patriots started practice Wednesday for the Saints.
The defensive line and the pass rush need work. Hopefully they get it together with these practices. I don’t see the Patriots going 0-2. I do think they bounce back this week and they have a better game against the Saints.