Brady 38, Bengals 24: Thanks for nothing, defense
Monday, September 13, 2010
One can only assume my colleague Scott Cordischi will bask in the euphoria of New England’s 38-24 season-opening win over Cincinnati with visions of Super Bowls and Lombardi Trophies dancing in his head, so I might as well play the yang to Scottie’s ying and tell you what I took from yesterday’s game.
When you race out to a 28-point lead in the NFL, your opponent becomes one-dimensional and predictable, which, in theory, should make it easier to defend since it's more than likely going to throw on 90 percent of its offensive snaps for the rest of the game.
Everyone in Gillette Stadium from the popcorn vendors to the coaches on the sideline knew what Cincinnati was going to do once Brandon Tate opened the third quarter with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, yet the Bengals still drove up and down the field at will for most of the second half despite trailing 31-3 before they even touched the ball. Thank God for Tom Brady's Mariano Rivera impression in the fourth quarter, otherwise the Patriots might have coughed this one up faster than the three pounds of chicken wings I inhaled during halftime.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOperating primarily out of its no-huddle offense, Cincinnati scored touchdowns on three of its final four drives and probably would’ve scored on the last drive, too, if it didn’t run out of time. Quarterback Carson Palmer faced little resistance from the Patriots’ non-existent pass rush and connected with Chad Ochocinco on 10 of his 22 second-half completions, including a 28-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
A young secondary like New England’s will have a hard enough time dealing with a prolific passing attack on a level playing field, let alone when that aforementioned offense switches to a no-huddle formation. Outside of Gary Guyton’s 59-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, the Patriots did not defend well for the majority of Sunday’s game. They started out strong, but got exposed as the game wore on, which is the baseball equivalent of getting shut down by a pitcher the first time through the lineup and then teeing off on him the second time you see him once you figure out that what he's throwing isn't all that spectacular. The scary part is the Bengals actually got better when they stopped trying to establish the run, which is what we were all afraid was going to happen before the season started.
The pass rush needs to be better, whether it’s through individual performances or a more refined coaching scheme tailored toward the defense’s strengths and weaknesses. Palmer only got hit six times Sunday and was sacked once, though you could argue that was primarily by design since the Patriots didn’t appear to blitz as much as we’d expect them to against a high-powered passing offense (I’ll gladly admit I’m wrong if someone shows me the actual number of times they blitzed).
What would worry me the most if I was Bill Belichick is that this game was somewhat up for grabs (the Bengals climbed to within 14 points late in the third quarter) despite the fact the Patriots achieved the rare trifecta of scoring a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams.
Ultimately, the final outcome hinged on Brady’s ability to guide the ship offensively and execute time-consuming drives that kept Cincinnati’s offense off the field in the second half. At the end of the day, New England’s best defense was its offense; after the Bengals scored in the closing minutes of the third quarter to trim their deficit to 31-17, Brady engineered a 14-play, 81-yard drive that shaved 7 minutes, 41 seconds off the clock and ended in a 1-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski that put the final nail in Cincinnati’s coffin.
This might become a reoccurring theme if the Patriots find themselves in more shoot-outs this season, and it will put a ton of pressure on Brady to be perfect on nearly every drive, because a minor hiccup here or there could swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. Against a Cincinnati defense that looked incredibly amateurish, Brady was damn near flawless, completing 25 of his 35 pass attempts for 258 yards, three touchdowns and – most importantly – no interceptions. Credit the offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends and receivers for assists on nearly every play, too, because all those screen passes the Patriots executed successfully wouldn’t have worked were it not for a total team effort on offense.
The burning question, though, is what will happen when the Patriots face a team that can actually tackle and defend? They can mask a lousy defensive effort when they drop 38 points on their opponent, but can they win when Brady isn’t marching the troops up and down the field with ease?
What I saw Sunday was exactly what I expected to see considering the Paper Tigers were in town. I figured Brady would go off, and he did. I figured Palmer would get his, too, and he did. I expected the Patriots to win because they almost always win at home (9-1 in their last 10 at Gillette), and they did.
I’m not sure what to expect the rest of the way, but it won’t be much if this defense fails to prove me wrong.
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