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Patriots 17, Chiefs 10 – The Verdict

The Patriots survived week 1 (which is more than we can say for a certain team from San Diego) despite losing the golden boy. I was at the game and it’s an understatement to say that the energy completely left the house for the balance of three quarters. There are rumors that it’s an ACL tear which would mean that us football fans can hibernate for another 12 months and would be devastating to the team (but oh so fun for all the Patriots haters *ahem* Trey Wingo *ahem*). Matt Cassel came in and did a decent job – 13-18, 182 yards, TD – but we can’t judge too much from the performance considering it came against the hapless Chiefs. Here’s a look at the three questions from before the game:

1. How will Brady play? Well this is pretty obvious. Brady has started 128 consecutive games and that looks to be coming to an end. Brady did under threw a few receivers in his first drive but overall looked pretty good. The Welker fumble and Moss fumble were two big plays which stunted what could have been scoring drives. Obviously we didn’t see too much of him and we might not see him for a while…
2. What can we expect from the offensive line? The line played pretty decently as the stable the of Patriots runningbacks had decent success running the ball. Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris each had 10 carries and each had a rush average of more than five yards. Brady’s injury is tragic and blame isn’t really fair, but it was Morris who missed the block which led to the injury.
3. Can the secondary come together The secondary play was inconsistent against a mediocre team. Dwayne Bowe had a big day but he is blossoming into a big play receiver. Ellis Hobbs was beaten badly on the TD catch and the long pass play near the end of the game was terrible coverage over the top. Thankfully the Patriots secondary made another big goal line stand, capped off by a terrific defense play be newcomer Deltha O’Neal on 4th and goal play with less than a minute to go.
   

   Final Analysis

   It’s all about the Brady injury and the impact. If Brady is out for the year then get ready for Patriots circa 2001 as you’ll see a lot of dinknig and dunking all over the field and the reliance of the defense to win games. There are no definitive reports on the severity of the injury but it doesn’t look good. Hope that he’s only out for a few weeks, but it does say something for the Pats to overcome the shock loss of No. 12 and pull out the victory. Randy Moss had another good game, including a huge 50 yard catch on 3rd and long from the Patriots own goal line, a catch which extended a drive that leaded to a touchdown.

   UPDATE: It is indeed a season ending injury for Brady. Time for the leaders on the team to step up and keep the Patriots afloat in a weak AFC East.

Tags: Deltha O'Neal, Ellis Hobbs, Laurence Maroney, Matt Cassel, Patriots, Randy Moss, Sammy Morris, Tom Brady

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