Nice to come out with a win, and hopefully no long-term injuries.
The first quarter was rough - looked like more of the same. Then they played their best quarter of the season. Brady's passes were perfect. Receivers getting open. Converting third downs, stopping third downs.
Very nice to see the offense able to run the ball in the fourth, in a situation where the other team knows the run is coming. They clearly haven't trusted the rushing offense in the red zone attempts through the first few games. It would be nice not to have to throw every time they are inside the 20. That could be a good sign.
Still hard to get a read on this defense. Shutting down Buffalo, NYJ, and Tampa Bay doesn't really answer many questions - especially when those offensively-challenged teams are missing key pieces. They did what they were supposed to do - stop a weak offense. Can they slow a good offense? We don't yet know.
On defense, this is probably the least substituting we've seen in the past decade or so. Vellano gets a number of rotations. But through the first three quarters of these games we aren't seeing the third-down package -- the TBC/Mark Anderson pass-rushing specialist, the Roman Phifer coverage linebacker. There is some Buchanan very late in games, some late Logan Ryan. Surprising. Is there a real concern with the depth on this defense?
All in all, defense looks a bit better than last year, and offense took a step forward in the second quarter. Nice to start 3-0 -- there was a stat on the game that when they start 3-0 they've gone to the Super Bowl.