Patriots Talk: Patriots Win Over Buccaneers 19-14
The team came into Tampa Bay with the expectations of a blowout game, but instead the team kept the Tampa Bay offense to only 14 points in their 19-14 win. It was a rather odd game to see as many saw both offenses likely to play strong tonight. Instead, Tom Brady had 2 turnovers with his first interception of the year and a fumble late in the game. Regardless though, with their win tonight, Brady is now tied with Peyton Manning for the most regular season wins in NFL history (186).
I have to say though the offense tonight was not what most expected. They had a strong showing during the first half of the game, beating out Tampa Bay Buccaneers by less than a TD(13-7 by the first half). However there were several takeaways from this game that much is certain.
Tom Brady Played Bad Tonight
I know its not like he lost the game for the team, but 2 turnovers nearly cost the team their win tonight. Despite Brady having a show showing early on, he also started the game with an INT that was targeted for Brandin Cooks. Tom Brady doesn’t play terrible football unless he isn’t comfortable and it was clear tonight. He was sacked at least 2 times tonight (Nate Solder was obviously not healthy to start at Left Tackle tonight). Brady had 30 completions for 40 passing attempts tonight, with 303 yards, a TD and INT. Not the most impressive stat line for Tom Brady but the same could be said for Buccaneers QB, Jameis Winston who was 26-for-46 tonight and a TD.
Bottom line: Brady played good football, but not Tom Brady good football.
Patriots Defense Stepped Up Tonight
The Pats defense was better than usual tonight. However, that can be attributed to the Buccaneers offense playing terrible. The Bucs offense was playing DeSean Jackson on slants and inside cuts and not vertical routes which is where he is the most strongest at. (Deion Sanders pointed this out during the post game show last night) The Bucs still point up yards on the defense which was expected, but they still kept the Tampa Bay offense to a stand still.
In terms of overall play, the Bucs played bad offensively and the Pats defense capitalized on it. The pass rush was barely there, but they still kept the receivers covered. However, I could see several chances the Pats defense could have had turnovers on three different accusations in this game. Its ironic but they could have done better than what they had tonight.
If anything, the Pats nearly gave the game away to Tampa Bay on offense and the defense was trying it best to keep them out of the endzone. Of course that didn’t stop either team from receiving penalties.
Penalties Everywhere
Oh my goodness. this team had so many penalties on all three phases of the game: offense, defense or special teams got flagged hard. In fact, they got back-to-back penalties during the second quarter that nearly cost the team 30 yards downfield and could have made The Bucs be in a good position if Nick Folks didn’t completely mess up his field goal early on. That ultimately lingered into the second half and ruined the Buccaneers chances of winning this game.
The Patriots had two penalties on special teams, one came on Brandon Bolden who was off sides cost the Patriots the chance of getting the ball back on 4th downfield. It’s unbelievable how bad the flags cost the Pats defense, and the offense was equally as bad if not worse because it cost them on several drives.
At the end of the day, it’s all about winning. The Patriots won in an UGLY way. The Pats offense should get better once Rob Gronkowski gets better (especially with more than a week to recover). As of now, the team has plenty of time till their next game against the New York Jets for Sunday, Oct. 15th.