Watching a Patriots game this season has become similar to the morning commute to work. You have a good idea how it’s going to play out before it starts, and you’re really just hoping to avoid any accidents on the way there. The Patriots completed the predictable portion of their schedule yesterday. After struggling with Miami’s Wildcat offense for about 40 minutes (when the Pats only led 17-16), the Patriots countered with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss. A two-point conversion from Brady to Moss made it 24-17. The Patriots defense then switched to a 4-4-3, crowding the line of scrimmage to slow down the Wildcat. The final score — Patriots 27, Dolphins 17 — was just an afterthought on an afternoon when New England fans never really had a feeling their team would lose.

Jason Taylor is not interested in the result of the game. (AP)

So, with New England at 6-2, the Patriots’ morning commute has ended. It’s on to a three-game stretch that includes the Colts, Jets and Saints. No more tune-ups. Let’s evaluate the potential areas of concern leading up to the Pats’ toughest stretch of the season.

1. Brady’s well-being: From an accuracy standpoint, Brady is in much better shape than he was at the start of the season. Yesterday, he completed 25-of-37 passes for 332 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He doesn’t seem to have any trouble moving the ball in the middle of the field. However, the Pats did kick four field goals yesterday. Of course, it’s also always a little unsettling to see Brady throw an interception. He’s thrown three in the last two games. Still, his touchdown-to-interception ratio this season is 16:5, so he’s not exactly channeling his inner Jake Delhomme. From a chemistry standpoint, Brady seems to be on the same page as Moss (6 catches, 147 yards, 1 TD) and Wes Welker (9 catches, 84 yards) heading into the most important stretch. As a Pats fan, you have feel pretty good about Brady’s first eight games.

2. The Pats running game: At the start of the season, Patriots fans would have been worried about heading into this three-game stretch with injuries to Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Matt Light and Dan Koppen. Who knows if any of those four guys will be back this week? We won’t find out until Sunday evening. But the Pats likely feel fine about the situation now that Laurence Maroney (20 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD) is falling forward on nearly every run. Something clicked for him in the last few weeks. Maybe Bill Belichick told him if he didn’t make good on this opportunity, the writing was on the wall. Maybe he is just motivated by more playing time. Regardless, he’s no longer a concern. And in the case of one injured offensive lineman, left tackle Sebastian Vollmer has proven to be more than an adequate replacement for Light. Every broadcasting crew that calls a Patriots game seems hell-bent on telling us how much Belichick loves the 6-foot-8, 320-pound rookie.

3. Stopping the Wildcat: The Wildcat won’t really be a factor in the next three weeks. And the Patriots did a pretty good job of stopping it anyway. By Chris Price’s count, the Dolphins ran 10 Wildcat plays yesterday and picked up seven yards and a touchdown. They had the 1-yard touchdown pass from Ronnie Brown to Joey Haynos and a 12-yard run by Ricky Williams, but they also saw Chad Henne dropped for an 11-yard loss on a double-reverse. The 4-4-3 was effective against it. But, like I said, it won’t matter anyway because the Colts and Saints won’t run plays that involve taking Peyton Manning or Drew Brees off the field. The Jets may run a few Wildcat plays, but the Pats did well enough against it yesterday that it likely won’t be part of the game plan outside of goal-line situations.

4. Pass defense: This remains the biggest question mark. The young secondary has surely withstood the test of the first eight games. The Pats defense has held six of its eight opponents to 17 points or less. At the beginning of the year, many, including myself, thought the Pats would routinely have to win games by scores of 30-27 and 28-24. That hasn’t been the case. But they haven’t seen Peyton Manning and Drew Brees yet. We’ll see how they do.

Other notes from around the NFL …

Dan Dierdorf must have had a great conversation with Brady on Saturday. Dierdorf, the CBS analyst for yesterday’s game, spent the better part of the day glowing about Brady, regardless of what the Pats QB did. If he threw a 10-yard incompletion, “Nobody has a better feel for when to throw a crappy pass than Tom Brady.” All right, that was an exaggeration, but these words actually came out of his mouth: “The NFL is a better place with the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings around.”

It’s the same-old Eagles. The Eagles dropped the Sunday night game to the Cowboys, 20-16. There’s really nothing new here. The Eagles looked like the better team, had the game under control much of the way and then found a way to blow it at the end. Many familiar themes resurfaced. Andy Reid mismanaged the clock down the stretch. The Eagles couldn’t convert three separate third-and-1s and one fourth-and-1. Stupid penalties (excessive celebration, taunting) resulted in 30 yards of offense for the Cowboys on their game-winning drive. Asante Samuel still doesn’t want to tackle anyone. The Eagles can’t cover the tight end. An Eagles’ kick return for a touchdown was called back for a holding penalty that had nothing to do with the play. And, of course, Donovan McNabb couldn’t put together a game-winning drive in his final opportunity. In the Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era, there are at least 20 of these types of losses.

The Packers and Bears stink. Not a great showing for the NFC North yesterday. The Packers (4-4) absolutely needed a win over one of the worst teams in the league, the Bucs (1-7), and they gave the game away. Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions in a 38-28 loss. The Bucs scored on an interception return as well as a blocked punt return. That’s not your ticket to the playoffs, Packers. The Bears (4-4) also laid an egg at home, falling to the Cardinals, 41-21. Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald looked like they were connecting in pregame passing drills for the better part of the first half. Warner was 22-of-31 for 261 yards and threw touchdown passes on the first four possessions. I’m grateful the Eagles are in the NFC.

Speaking of, the Giants and Ravens are free-falling. The Giants (5-4) have lost four straight after starting the season 5-0. Yesterday, the G-Men were dealt a crushing 21-20 loss by the Chargers. The Giants secondary allowed Philip Rivers to lead an 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped by an 18-yard pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds remaining in the game. As for the Ravens (4-4), they are currently in 10th place in the AFC standings after falling to Cincinnati, 17-7, yesterday afternoon.

JaMarcus Russell and Derek Anderson get a reprieve. How is this possible? Both Russell and Anderson had a bye this week, so I had to do some additional research to find the worst quarterback line of the day. Jake Delhomme (17-for-30, 201 yards, 1 lost fumble in loss) was obviously in the running. Joe Flacco (18-of-32, 185 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs in a loss) is even in the mix. But what about Matthew Stafford (22-of-42, 203 yards, 2 TDs, 5 INTs, 1 fumble in a loss)? Congratulations, Matthew.

3 Comments for “Patriots avoid car crash in first half”

1. James Vandenburg Says:
   November 9th, 2009 at 9:21 am

   I know you don’t watch too much college football Dan. However, I came in Saturday and was slinging all over the field. 9 of 27 for 82 yards and a pick against that Northwestern secondary is doing work. And the fact I submarined my teams chance at both the Big Ten title and National title in the same half of football, pretty impressive.

   I can’t even throw a 5 yard crossing route accurately or with touch. Eat your heart out Matt Stafford.

2. TW Says:
   November 9th, 2009 at 1:07 pm

   your mamma

3. Marima Says:
   November 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am

   The Patriots never led 17-16, they were down 16-17 after that TD pass by Ronnie Brown with 4:51 left in the 3rd quarter.

   The Pats then took a 24-17 lead, 1:36 min. later, with the Randy Moss TD from Tom Brady, plus the 2-point conversion.

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