What a weird performance from Brady

[TinhWoodhead]

Did brady have zip on the ball tonight? Seem's like he was floating it out there. Was it windy?

He was just toying with the Texans and then put them to bed

 

[ivanvamp]

It just shows that Brady can do anything. Take away the short stuff and he reinvents the offense going deep and the end result is pretty much the same.
First int was in Floyd. Second was just not seeing a guy. Happens once every dozen games or so with Brady.

Yep. More than one way to skin a cat. If Brady had gotten 287 yards and the Pats had put up 34 points by slicing and dicing the Texans with a short, accurate passing attack, we'd all have been thrilled. This is a defense that gives up 301 yards and 20 points a game, and the Patriots put up 380 yards and 34 points (yes one was a special teams TD), despite not having the ball for much of the first half due to some awful and uncharacteristic turnovers early in possessions.

But the short passing game just wasn't there, but Brady torched them going deep time and time again.

Not the prettiest win. Not the way the Patriots typically do things, but they were 16.5 point favorites - one of the largest point spreads in modern playoff history - and they still covered.

I hope they don't play like this next week because the outcome could be different. But on the whole, while it was unorthodox, this was a solid win for them. And Brady really is just amazing.

 

[sb1]

Brady was a mixed bag last night for sure. Floyd blew a route which led to one pick. But wow he was as lethal as I've ever seen him throwing deep. He had more than 16 yards per completion! Was not as accurate with his bread and butter short stuff but his OL didn't help him very much either.

I'm sure he'll be better Sunday.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Brady was a mixed bag last night for sure. Floyd blew a route which led to one pick. But wow he was as lethal as I've ever seen him throwing deep. He had more than 16 yards per completion! Was not as accurate with his bread and butter short stuff but his OL didn't help him very much either.

I'm sure he'll be better Sunday.

Are we sure Floyd blew the route?

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Yeah, I was pretty surprised to log on here and see the negativity. We just dropped 34 points on a very good defense, Brady's deep ball was repeatedly connecting, Dion Lewis' performance basically confirmed that Belichick and McDaniels have been holding him back to unleash him on the playoffs, and I believe every Texan point came directly from a turnover or Rowe committing one of the single dumbest penalties I've ever seen.

Basically, if I had to grade the game the Pats played, I'd give it a D+... and we still won by 18. We're in the AFCCG, I have a hard time maintaining any negative feelings here.

I think the negativity comes from the fact they we're not used to seeing the Patriots consistently hurt themselves with TO's, bad penalties, poorly executed plays etc.
Had they been playing a better QB/offense this game could have had a very different outcome.
The good thing is this will only help the Patriots going forward.
A clean, easy blowout serves no purpose for the Patriots in preparation for the better opponents they'll face coming up.
There is lots of bad film for this team to look at and improve on and Bill Belichick has a big smile on his face right now. He will not have a problem fighting his teams over confidence and getting their attention this week.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Agree it was an odd performance because some of those deep throws were so good (as were some of the intermediate stuff). Just shows how spoiled we are with Brady, most fans would probably kill for this type of qb play given how much pressure he was under and Bennett dropping passes / Hogan missing a chunk of the game.

Definitely the pressure got to him and the Floyd INT early on both threw him off in this one. We'll need his A game next week though most likely, then again if the defense puts on another flawless performance we could get away with it... but I'd rather play it safe

 

[sb1]

Are we sure Floyd blew the route?

It looked like he just stopped. Hard to throw INTs on a dart pass like a slant unless your receiver is just not on the same page and it felt like they were off all night.

 

[DarrylS]

Despite a "crappy night" or a Unbradylike performance.. at the end of the game there were 34 points on the board against the world's greatest defense.. he took what they gave him. He and the O never really got into a rhythm..

Would Gruden have called him "pliable" last night???

 

[RobertWeathers]

It looked like he just stopped. Hard to throw INTs on a dart pass like a slant unless your receiver is just not on the same page and it felt like they were off all night.

I didn't see him stop at all?

 

[stinkypete]

I haven't seen Brady throw that many deep balls since the Randy Moss days, crazy those were the ones he connected on while the picks/near-picks were the shorter passes

Not only deep balls, but these weird, high, looping deep passes. He threw so many that I started wondering if it was part of the game plan.

 

[mosslost]

He threw into coverage on the second INT, he missed a short one to Edelman during white knuckle time, he was jittery from getting pummeled, I blame Floyd for INT one because he stopped running, but...

Brady was money downfield. Even on the passes that were dropped by Bennett and I forget who. I mean, he was throwing some great passes 20 yards downfield.

But short passes? He had a pretty bad game.

I want Mitchell back. ASAP.

Mitchell is badly needed back as you state. 4 turnovers is not going to cut it. If they are lucky enough to play two more teams BOTH games will be against very good teams (either great D good O, or outstanding O's.. that is all that is left for opponents)

The Pats get killed by all remaining teams if they play even half as bad as they did last night.

Also, you would think the Texans are the 85 Bears the way their D is getting talked up from last night. Last night is on the Pats, I would not credit the Texans much at all frankly. It's like we are not admitting we sucked, almost giving is credit for putting up 27 points at home against one of the greatest defenses of all time. The Texans suck and so did we last night.

 

[DefenseRules]

Texans lost the game but won the war. No one is happy about the win, not the team or the fans.
Some of you want to get rid of Brady. Maybe Josh should take Brady when he leaves.

 

[skinnydog]

The second pick he just missed #55 drop right into coverage. He never should have thrown that pass.

He pretty obviously missed the linebacker dropping into coverage. It happens--even to TB12.

 

[fightingirish595]

Mitchell is badly needed back as you state. 4 turnovers is not going to cut it. If they are lucky enough to play two more teams BOTH games will be against very good teams (either great D good O, or outstanding O's.. that is all that is left for opponents)

The Pats get killed by all remaining teams if they play even half as bad as they did last night.

Also, you would think the Texans are the 85 Bears the way their D is getting talked up from last night. Last night is on the Pats, I would not credit the Texans much at all frankly. It's like we are not admitting we sucked, almost giving is credit for putting up 27 points at home against one of the greatest defenses of all time. The Texans suck and so did we last night.

Who has the great d other than us?

 

[RobertWeathers]

Texans lost the game but won the war. No one is happy about the win, not the team or the fans.
Some of you want to get rid of Brady. Maybe Josh should take Brady when he leaves.

How did they win the war? They lost the game.

More like they won the battle but lost the war

 

[mosslost]

Who has the great d other than us?

I think KC has a tough defense

 

[mosslost]

How did they win the war.

More like they won the battle but lost the war

right. I don't quite see how they won the war??

 

[RobertWeathers]

Mitchell is badly needed back as you state. 4 turnovers is not going to cut it. If they are lucky enough to play two more teams BOTH games will be against very good teams (either great D good O, or outstanding O's.. that is all that is left for opponents)

The Pats get killed by all remaining teams if they play even half as bad as they did last night.

Also, you would think the Texans are the 85 Bears the way their D is getting talked up from last night. Last night is on the Pats, I would not credit the Texans much at all frankly. It's like we are not admitting we sucked, almost giving is credit for putting up 27 points at home against one of the greatest defenses of all time. The Texans suck and so did we last night.

How is Mitchell badly needed?

If you want to look for someone that could have opened up the middle of the field it was Gronk

 

[skinnydog]

Mitchell is badly needed back as you state. 4 turnovers is not going to cut it. If they are lucky enough to play two more teams BOTH games will be against very good teams (either great D good O, or outstanding O's.. that is all that is left for opponents)

The Pats get killed by all remaining teams if they play even half as bad as they did last night.

Also, you would think the Texans are the 85 Bears the way their D is getting talked up from last night. Last night is on the Pats, I would not credit the Texans much at all frankly. It's like we are not admitting we sucked, almost giving is credit for putting up 27 points at home against one of the greatest defenses of all time. The Texans suck and so did we last night.

The Pats won't play that bad again. It sometimes happens coming off the playoff bye week. In 2014 the Pats D played pretty bad against the Ravens also coming off the playoff bye week. This time it was the offense. I haven't seen anyone comparing the Texans to the 85' Bears, but their defense is good, very good and they came in with a good game plan that they executed pretty well. Despite that, the Pats put up 24 points on offense while playing an overall lousy game. I think they've got their subpar playoff game out of their system.

 

[mosslost]

Texans lost the game but won the war. No one is happy about the win, not the team or the fans.
Some of you want to get rid of Brady. Maybe Josh should take Brady when he leaves.

What war can you win by losing the play off game? Maybe if they were in our division and they broke Brady's back or something, you could say they won a long term war or something.. other than that not getting it