Sunday's sputtering Patriots win over the Raiders was just about as poorly executed a win as could be without turning into a loss.
The Patriots managed just under 300 yards of offence and logged just 78 yards in the ground game. Their offence was blatantly skewed towards the likes of Rob Gronkowski who caught the game's lone touchdown pass and Julain Edelman who continued his trend of dominance over his opponents and his teammates. Edelman hauled in 10 receptions for 82 yards, upping his season yardage tally to 260 yards on the season.
Beyond the receivers, quarterback Tom Brady kept with his theme of mediocrity this season, throwing short passes, many swatted tosses and amassing an only slightly improved completion percentage of 64.56 against the Raiders. Also at fault for the lack of power in the passing game was the Pats offensive line who allowed two sacks of Brady as well as a monster hit to his back late in the 3rd quarter.
On defense, the run stopping core of Vince Wilfork and Jarod Mayo were consistent limiting the Raiders to 67 yards on the ground and no touchdowns. The secondary which was fraught with penalty flags a week ago sported much improved discipline against the Raiders although CB Logan Ryan was tagged for a pass interference call late that nearly cost the Patriots the win.
On the play that followed that 40 yard spot foul call, Raiders RB Darren McFadden took a hand-off up the middle for what looked to be a game tying 6 yard touchdown. The score was negated however by a hold of Vince Wilfork.
"When I turned around and everybody wasn't coming to celebrate with me, I knew something wasn't right," McFadden said.
On the next play after the holding penalty, Vince Wilfork made a rare interception off of a tip play by Logan Ryan in coverage. With the Patriots in possession with under a minute left on the clock, Brady took a knee and sealed out the disappointing win.
And lo and behold, a win coolly similar to each and every game the Pats have played this season. Edelman was dominant, Gronkowski caught a TD and the offensive line was weak. Those were the themes felt by the Patriots and their fans Sunday. And so we fear that if such trends as these continue that when games against the Broncos, Packers and Chargers roll around that 16 points just won’t cut it.
"We did just enough to get the victory," Gronkowski said. "Sometimes it's frustrating, but what we did today is not always going to get the job done."
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