Tom Brady Shows Signs of New Life

Week two, vs Minnesota Vikings (win)

Tom Brady’s performance was less influential on the outcome of this game than it was in any other week. The offense had got off to a fairly strong start, while Minnesota failed to answer. Though Brady certainly needed to play efficiently in the second half, it was really his first half of play that allowed for victory.

Throughout the first half, New England’s play calling was as conservative as ever. They ran the ball play after play (with great success), making the defense more respectful of the rushing attacking, thus opening up the field for Brady. Due to the success of his running backs and the lowered awareness of Minnesota’s pass defense, Brady was able to throw the fewest amount of passes he has all year and post his best game through the first quarter of the year.

In his mere 21 attempts, Tom Brady made an effort to abuse second year cornerback Xavier Rhodes. Rhodes, being a tall, lanky cornerback, was an odd match up for the shifty Julian Edelman, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels made sure to enable Brady to expose that. On multiple occasions, Edelman was lined up on the outside and was intended to be Brady’s first read. Edelman and Brady ended the half with a handful of “wins” over Rhodes, including a pass interference call.

Thankfully, the offensive line kept Tom Brady upright more than it had in the previous week. Granted, Sebastian Vollmer was still abused, but the interior held up a bit better than would have been expected if one watched their performance against Miami.

Brady was able to “coast” through the Minnesota game and come out on top. Of course, he had a few mishaps and iffy throws, but so does any quarterback on any given Sunday.

GIF summary of week two