Patriots Offensive Report Card: Week 14
In a 23-16 loss for the New England Patriots, which was a game filled with poor calls made by the referees, it is difficult to point out which players should be discussed in this week's offensive report card. Overall, the Patriots offense is still struggling. The run game is nonexistent and Tom Brady is still not finding a connection with his receiving core outside of Julian Edelman. As the regular season continues to progress, these problems become even more nerve-racking.
Here are the grades:
Tom Brady: B+
Tom Brady is not at fault for any of these issues. He is doing his part, week in and week out. In the game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, the referees didn't help whatsoever. Brady finished 19-of-36 for 196 yards, with one touchdown and an interception. If N'Keal Harry's score doesn't get ruled out of bounds, then Brady's stats would've looked much better. The low pass to Jakobi Meyers on the final drive should have also been caught, as Meyer's timing seemed to be a little off.
Brady is very open about the issues the offense is experiencing. However, he is not ready to quit. Brady will try all his tricks before he officially gives up.
Julian Edelman: A
Amid all of the Patriots offensive issues, Edelman is putting together the best season of his career. With three games left to play this regular season, he has 90 catches for 1,010 yards and six touchdowns. Edelman is on pace for career highs across the board. Against Kansas City, Edelman was on the receiving end of the flea-flicker that went for a TD, and ended the night with eight catches for 95 yards and the touchdown. Brady knows Edelman is his guy this season, and that connection has been the lone consistency throughout the year.
Sony Michel: F
It is officially time to talk about Sony Michel. What is going out there with him?
Michel showed so much promise in the postseason last year and so many people projected Michel to have a breakthrough sophomore season. Every single game, Bill Belichick makes it a goal to get Michel going early, and every week, Michel fails and gets benched. Against the awful Chiefs run defense, Michel finished with eight yards on five carries. He looks so slow and confused with the ball that James White has started to take most of the carries, but that's not his style of play. Michel's run-game issues have negatively effected the entire Patriots offense. The Michel experiment could officially be over.
N'Keal Harry: C
Where is Harry?! Why is he not playing more?! This is a weekly question that people are beginning to lose their minds over. He is healthy, he is capable of producing and the Patriots took him with their first round pick, PLAY HIM! Meyers and Phillip Dorsett are not the answer, Harry needs to play more, it is that simple. Two snaps isn't enough. A touchdown saves him from receiving an F.
