This Year's Road Woes

[chasa]

Do we as fans have any insight into why the patriots have struggled this year on the road?

It's been a pretty rough year, and in my opinion incredibly odd.

Players haven't been out.

The stadiums we've lost at don't normally cause a big problem, outside of Miami, but the Miami losses normally happen during the early fall, but early December.

it's not like there has been bad weather either, the titans game was perfect, Detroit is a stadium, Jax might have been a bit hot, but Miami was perfect conditions.

Outside of the Miami game, the patriots basically didn't show up. so what gives?

 

[Kontradiction]

They've looked like a mentally weak finesse team and that usually materializes on the road in football more than at home.

 

[signbabybrady]

 

[Sicilian]

It's hard to win on the road in the NFL, and what the Patriots have done in the past has been remarkable. For every other team, that is the exception, but the Patriots made it the rule, and this year they came down to Earth.

 

[Nunchucks]

It looks like a lack of focus and that has lead to pre-snap penalties and technique issues, which is why the DL is getting pushed around.

 

[VectorPrime]

Mental fragility and mediocre talent is a dangerous combination.

 

[203Pat]

Brady’s play has slipped. Gronk is a shell of himself. We have the worst front 7 in football. We’re very sloppy.
If I had to pick one reason I would say Brady’s play. He used to be a band-aid for any issues the team had. No running game? Brady throws his way out of it. Bad defense? Brady outscores them. Injuries? Brady makes the fill-ins good. With Brady struggling we have fell back to the pack and we are just one of the dozen inconsistent teams.

 

[Hyped]

A look at our road losses:

@Jacksonville: We got smoked...plain and simple. When Blake Bortles has 4 TD's...it just ain't your day. We competed enough to pull within 24-10 late in the 3rd before the game broke open.

@Detroit: I can't explain this one. But we were competitive and closed the deficit to 13-10 before going dead in the 4th.

@Tennessee: We closed it to 17-10 in the 2nd quarter then they scored a TD to pull ahead 24-10 at half time. Then we went dead in the 2nd half.

@Miami: We scored a lot of points and gave up a lot of points in the 1st half...then the offense went dead in the 2nd half and we got killed by one ST play.

@Pittsburgh: Outside from hitting Hogan for a BIG play...we were only within FG range twice in the game.

Common threads:

- We aren't getting off to fast starts on the road (outside of Miami and Pittsburgh). In Jax, Det, and Ten we were down 21-3, 13-3, & 24-10 at half time.

- Our offense stalls for a long period. Whether it be timely penalties, turnovers, and etc...we simply don't move the chains on early downs.

 

[pats_premi]

Defense is what it always been. Unfortunately, offense is not able to bail them out this season. In 3 loss’s the offense only scored 10 points. Passing TD’s in the red zone are non-existent. QB automatically gets the blame when it has anything to do with passing game. Gronk is being handled by single DB covering him. Edelman still doesn’t have his pre-injury quick and then the drops. Develin is only FB/RB capable of scoring a goal line touchdown. None of the RB’s capable of breaking tackles and get 4/5 yards after contact. Hogan has regressed and not a treat in the zone. Missing Amendola. Dorrsett’s speed not put to any use. Brady’s favorite receiver is longer the one that is open. Patriots had worser WR/TE/OL /RB when Brady was at his peak.

 

[FCB02062]

It rests on the quarterback shoulders...his offense has only scored 16 tds on the road and only SEVEN in the 2d half....that's a recipe for losing football...that's evidence of the quarterbacks lack of mental toughness, cognitive ability, and physical ability..he's an average qb now, and below that on the road.

 

[captain stone]

Bingo, and Bingo.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2018 New England Patriots:

They've looked like a mentally weak finesse team and that usually materializes on the road in football more than at home.

Mental fragility and mediocre talent is a dangerous combination.