Coming into Sunday's game against the Giants it appears there was an effort to try and make this the week that wide receiver Chad Ochocinco more involved in the offense.
At least that's how it looked while watching the veteran wideout run his routes on Sunday against the Giants.
 Ochocinco finally showed signs of progress on Sunday against New York. (FILE:Icon/SMI) |
Tom Brady threw his way five times on Sunday, with all of them coming in the second half as he tried to bring the offense alive. Those attempts appear to have come after looking at the film and noticing Ochocinco was getting separation early in the game, however, each time Brady didn't look his way.
Brady started throwing to him in the second half, including three targets in the third quarter and two in the fourth, the last of which came on a play where their drive stalled on the Giants 26 on what appeared to be a miscue between the two.
On the play, facing a 3rd and 7 at the Giants 26, Ochocinco appeared that he was going to go to the flag on a deep route, but he instead turned his route to the sideline. That lead to Brady badly overthrowing him, which considering how accurate he tends to be seemed a little strange.
Stephen Gostkowski would go on to convert a 45-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 13-10 lead with 7:13 to go in the contest, but Brady and Ochocinco were seen talking on the sidelines, with Brady clearly frustrated with the previous play.
Obviously there's still some work to be done, but several of those passes were mere inches from being completed had Brady not hesitated that extra half second to throw his way.
After the game reporters asked Brady about whether or not they're getting any closer to getting on the same page.
"Yeah, we're working at it," said Brady. "I mean, we've only played together for eight games. We're just going to keep working at it. We've got no other choice but just to keep working at it."
The good news is the gap appears to be much smaller than it's been in previous weeks. As Brady said they've had a limited time on the field together in live game situations, and today was the first time they appeared to be more on the same page.
They could certainly benefit from finally seeing him start playing like the guy who caught 67 passes out in Cincinnati last season. So hopefully it's a sign of things to come.
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