THOUGHTS REGARDING THE PATRIOTS' OFFENSE AND THEIR 42-20 VICTORY OVER THE COLTS

Jonas Gray shows that he can spike the ball with the best of them.

In no particular order, here are some of my thoughts from Sunday's victory.

TOM BRADY - To say Tom Brady didn't play well in the first half would be an understatement.  I put the blame of both interceptions on Brady's shoulders.  Pick number one was unnecessary.  We had just converted our second third down in style with a 20 yard gain by Gray.  Once the play wasn't there, Brady should have just thrown it away.  Instead he tried to connect with Tyms who was 50 yards away and surrounded by Colts players.  The second one was also a bad decision and execution by Brady.  Initially, I wanted to put more of the blame on Josh McDaniels for the call, but Brady is the one who made the final decision at the line of scrimmage.  With it being 3rd and real short the Patriots should have just played it safe and kept it on the ground.  What makes the decision to run it even more obvious at this point was the fact that the Patriots had gained ground on every single running play up to that point.  As a matter of fact, the Patriots were averaging around 9 yards per carry at that point.  I think every person except McDaniels was aware of that fact heading into the half.  During the second half Brady played quite well and did a fine job managing the game and making plays when needed. Fun fact- at this point in the season Brady has ALL of the Patriots' turnovers.

JOSH MCDANIELS- McDaniels did a pretty decent job calling plays once he committed to running the ball first.  Hearing the announcers on TV talk about how great of a job he does made me ill.  

GRONKOWSKI- What's not to like about his bulldozing touchdown run and forceful push out of bounds.  Four solid catches for 71 yards and a touchdown combined with a ton of punishing blocks.

JOJO LAFELL- Three solid receptions for a total of 62 yards, each of which was a first down.  Once again he showed his ability to adjust to the ball and he has incredibly strong hands.  Hmmm, I think that was my prediction in March.  

OFFENSIVE LINE- They did a great job opening up holes for the running game.  Great plan and execution all day long.

JONAS GRAY- What's there to say that hasn't been said already.  201 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.  Hitting the holes and keeping the ball secure and his feet moving forward.  Total bulldog who took his opportunity and ran with it.  Now I'm not going to be like every third person on twitter and lie to you all and say I had him on my fantasy football roster.  I will however give you an actual time-dated link proving that I pictured him on the Patriots' 53 man roster before Belichick :) 


GENERAL- 9/12 on third downs and 501 yards is always a good thing.

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