Tom Brady Shows Signs of New Life

First Four Games

Week one, vs Miami Dolphins (loss)

In short, Tom Brady looked unprepared and shaken in week one. Though the offensive line was poor, much of Brady’s passing struggles root from himself.

It is tough to fault Tom Brady for locking in too often on a superstar tight end like Rob Gronkowski, but it happened, and it lead to a handful of negative plays. Brady did not seem confident enough in his other options, so he habitually stared at Gronkowski and fired at him, regardless of the coverage. On those same plays, Brady bypassed shallower check down options that could have gained first downs.

Tom Brady’s stubbornness was quite contradictory of the preparedness and superb vision that had been a staple of Brady’s game for so long. It was uncharacteristic of him to do so, even if he knew Gronkowski was easily his best weapon. Of course, the incompetency of the offensive line may have factored in to his refusal to look past his first-read in Gronkowski.

At the time, the Patriots offensive line from left-to-right was Nate Solder, Marcus Cannon, Dan Connolly, James Devey, and Sebastian Vollmer. The interior of the line was not meshing properly and they were sub-par was a collective group, but they were not the most prominent problem. Sebastian Vollmer could have been replaced by a revolving door and the game would not have been any different. Cameron Wake beat him around the edge time after time, forcing Tom Brady to move and readjust.

With pressure so quickly getting to Brady’s face, it is plausible that his stubbornness was a reaction to him not being confident enough in his offensive line to give him enough time to look elsewhere. Though understandable, Brady deserves some flak for his decisions, as some of such throws were clearly not related to pressure.

Tom Brady was playing sufficiently through three quarters, but he, as well as the rest of the offense, fell apart. The line was in complete shambles, receivers were dropping passes, and Brady missed a few throws that he needed to complete. The meltdown ultimately killed any sort of chance that they had to beat Miami in what was a close game.

GIF summary of week one