New England Patriots: 5 observations from week 8 win over Chargers
By Ben Porter
Letting them hang around
The New England Patriots need to develop that killer instinct. That mentality of stepping on throats. I’m not talking about at an individual level, but the team as a whole.
Only two of the Patriots 6 wins this season have been by more than 1 score. That’s not the Patriots that I have come to know. What I’ve come to expect is Belichick refusing to pull Brady in the 4th quarter when we’re up by 30. That’s what we need to see.
That Patriots’ offense left a lot of points on the board today. Stephen Gostkowski uncharacteristically missed two field goals today, giving the Chargers the ball with a chance to take the lead or bring the game within very few points.
"When asked about the offensive struggles in his postgame press conference, Tom Brady said “You know, we’re not scoring as many points as we’re capable of scoring. I know that…. We just haven’t done a great job finishing off the last three or four weeks, but hopefully we’re going to get back to it, and I’m sure we’ll watch a lot of tape and try to evaluate a lot of things that we’ve done and try to build on those things.”"
At this point, Tom Brady could recite that response with his eyes closed. I don’t know why that would make it any more difficult, but I think you get what I’m trying to say. He’s said it basically every week, but they haven’t seen much change. It must be frustrating for Tom by now, but I have faith that the best coached team in the NFL will fix their issues.
The offense has the power to take a lot of pressure off of their struggling defense. Even though the defense is improving, it still needs work. When the offense fails to cash in on scoring opportunities, the defense is put in a position where they need to make stops.
If the offense could give the defense some support, the defense could play more loose. Like a baseball team giving its pitcher run support. It makes everyone’s life easier.