On Sunday the Patriots took the field in Minnesota and played 56 minutes of solid football. I say 56 minutes because the opening drive of the game saw the Vikings marching down the field, throwing to wide-open receivers and scoring a touchdown. It was a nightmare start for the Pats who desperately needed to bounce back from a loss in Miami in week one. The nightmare was compounded when the Patriots went three-and-out and punted. However, Devon McCourty recorded an interception on the Vikings’ next possession and returned it 60 yards before stepping out of bounds just before the goal line. From that point forward it was smooth sailing for the Patriots.
The Pats did exactly what they needed to do in this game to win. Offensively they committed to the running game, handing it off 36 times for 150 yards. Comparatively, Tom Brady dropped back to pass just 22 times, completing 15 for 149 yards and a touchdown. I’m not sure Brady read my post last week, but he certainly took my advice. He went to his go-to guy, Julian Edelman seven times resulting in six completions for 81 yards and a score. He didn’t over-target Rob Gronkowski, going 4-for-6 when targeting Gronk for 32 yards. I’d still like to see him look at Aaron Dobson, Tim Wright and Danny Amendola more often though. Most importantly of all, however, the offensive line held steady, allowing just one sack and leading the way for a solid ground game.
Defensively the Patriots were dominant. Chandler Jones looked like a beast in the game with six tackles, two assists, two sacks and a blocked field goal, which he then scooped up and ran back for a touchdown. He was the spearhead of a pass rush that sacked Matt Cassel a whopping six times in the game. Logan Ryan also looked good in the game, spending most of it matched up with Cordarrelle Patterson and winning the matchup with an interception and two swatted balls. His interception was one of four for the Pats, the others coming from Dominique Easley on a deflection, McCourty, and Darelle Revis, his first interception with the Patriots. Revis did what he does best on Sunday: he matched up with Greg Jennings all game and held him to just one catch for four yards on four targets. The Pats held the Vikings to just 217 yards of total offense, and only 54 on the ground: a drastic improvement from last week. They were also great on third down, allowing just four conversions on 11 tries.
Though the game was a great rebound for the Patriots, they still have a lot of work to do. Defensively they were solid, and aside from the opening drive, they were perfect. The same can’t be said for the offense. They were given great field position all game due to turnovers and great punt returning from Edelman, but were unable to turn that field position into touchdowns for the most part. It sounds picky in such a blowout of a game, but 292 yards of total offense isn’t great. Worst of all the offense was just 5-for-14 on third down. If the Patriots want to beat better teams than the Vikings, it will take a better effort when it comes to moving the chains in key third down situations. They will also have to be more disciplined going forward. 24 penalties over two games is far too many.
Oakland Raiders
On Sunday the Oakland Raiders will come to town for the Patriots’ home opener this season. There really isn’t too much to say about the raiders other than they’re pretty bad. I believe in Bill Belichick’s determination to take no teams lightly, but inevitably the NFL will have a few teams every year that just don’t demand the respect that the rest of the league does. Oakland is one of those teams. They have a porous defense and no offensive weapons. The Patriots outmatch the Raiders at almost every position on both sides of the ball.
Offensively the Raiders will start a second-round draft-pick, Derek Carr, at quarterback. Though he has been a more solid quarterback through two games than many people expected, he is still nothing to be feared. He ranks 34th of 35 QBs this season when facing a blitz (five or more pass rushers) so look for the Patriots to throw some exotic blitzes at the rookie. Carr’s top weapon in the passing game is probably James Jones, a castaway from Green Bay, who was third or fourth on the Packers’ depth chart last season. At running back the Raiders will roll out two guys that are far past their prime: Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden. Though Carr is unlikely to throw four interceptions on Sunday, the offense is likely to look just as inept as the Vikings did last Sunday.
I’m not sure where to start defensively with the Raiders. On paper, they don’t have a chance of stopping Brady and the Pats’ offense. They’re outmatched in the running game and they won’t be able to match up with the Pats’ weapons in the passing game. Last week they gave up 30 points to a Houston Texans’ offense led by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Brady mentioned in his post-game press conference on Sunday that he thinks the offense has been out of sync so far this season. If they can’t get in sync at home against the Raiders, they never will.
My Prediction: I, like everyone else, am expecting this to be a blowout. No, I’m not worried about this being a trap game. The Raiders aren’t good enough to make this a trap game. The Patriots are 14-point favorites in this game, and I find that generous in Oakland’s favor. The Patriots are dominant at home, especially against weak opponents. Don’t be surprised if this game turns into a 50-point affair like the one against the Titans in 2009. I’ve got the Patriots 41-10.
Note: Just after I posted this, a quote from Tom Brady: “Those guys [Edelman and Gronkowski] have seen the majority of the throws, and I’ve got to do a better job of finding the other guys. There’s a lot of good routes, they’re big targets, guys are working really hard to get open, so hopefully it shows up this week in our pass game. We’re going to work hard on it this week to see if we can all be on the same page more often.” (I swear he’s reading this blog).
Conrad's Corner Sports 