The weather was a minor contributing factor, but poor descion making on the part of Brady, who was locked in on Moss, was primarily to blame.
I watched the game again and I am convinced that if the weak armed Pennington could out perform Brady in the passing game, then the weather was not the major problem last Sunday.
Brady did not take available check downs and dump offs on over 50% of his drop backs, instead he locked in on Moss and had difficulty completing medium to long distance passes against the Jets coverage.
Brady needs to go back to spreading the ball around and letting the open receiver dictate where the throw is going.
Another large contributor to the Brady's poor performance was the lack of a TE in the deep seams. Without a healthy TE to sprint down the seams, the LBers were able to squat in passing lanes and disrupt Brady's timing on those few plays where he did not look only at Moss.
I hope Brady gets back to what made him great when he had less to work with. Hitting the open guy, no matter who it is.
He's having a phenomenal year, but the last few weeks, he's had several situations where he's favored Moss over an open receiver.
I'd like to see Stallworth get more action on the screens and slants.
Hopefully, we'll have a healthy TE for the next few weeks.
Great points by both of you. Brady's continued refusal to take the short stuff and insistence on forcing it downfield or to Moss in coverage is the reason the efficiency of the Pat's offense has declined. If Brady would return to the patient QB he used to be rather than this impatient version that he has become, the Pats O would be unstoppable, regardless of the weather or the defense the Pats are facing.
I don't think it's fair to say Pennington outperformed Brady in the passing game.
Yards per pass:
Pats: 5.19. Jets: 4.65
Pennington never threw the ball farther than 7 or 8 yards for the most part, and that's not the Patriots' game any more. Brady could have made better decisions, but to say the weather was only a minor factor is a bit obtuse, I think.
Your cherrypicked stat is akin to saying that Manning outperformed Brady in the 2003/2004 playoffs because he threw for more yards per pass, while ignoring important things like completion percentage, interceptions, etc.
Pennington's completion percentage (the most important stat for a QB besides interceptions) was MUCH higher than Brady's and Pennington is supposed to be an inferior QB to Brady and faced a better defense than Brady faced.
The Jet's decline in their average offensive production was far less than the Patriots decline in their average offensive production and again, the Jets were the ones facing a top 10 defense while the Pats faced a bottom 10 defense.
Your most absurd statement is that "throwing short is not the Pats' game anymore". If that's the case, and Brady seems to have bought into that absurd belief, then the Pats are going to be one and done in the playoffs because defenses ARE GOING TO TRY TO TAKE AWAY THE LONG BALL. I highly doubt that Belichick has removed the option to throw the ball short simply because the Pats now have the ability to go deep consistently. Brady, as of late, has removed that option and needs to get back to it if the Pats are not to be the laughingstock of the league two years in a row.
Come on dude, why are you so cynical and mock someone just because they pointed out that Brady didn't play well the last game?
The thread did NOT say Brady needs to throw TDs, did NOT wonder why he made to the pro-bowl, did NOT wonder if the fans have faith in him, did NOT comment on his three SB wins.
And you cite all the above to someone who made a non-critical observation backed with some analysis.
You'll get used to this typical homer response to any opinion that they cannot dispute. Create a strawman to deflect from the fact that they have nothing relevant to add to the discussion.
Other common homer ad hominen responses are "you're a troll", "you're a whiner", "you can't be a patriots fan", "you must be young", "you're a red sox fan", "it was the wind" "Belichick is playing possum", ...etc.
