As much as I love Tom Brady, this season could be a difficult one for himself and the New England Patriots.
Tom Brady is an amazing quarterback. He is the best to ever play the game, but this season could be difficult for him and the New England Patriots.
The cards seem to be stacked against Brady and the Patriots. Julian Edelman is suspended for the first 4 games and Tom Brady lost some of his favorite players in the offseason.
The Patriots will make the playoffs and maybe even the Super Bowl, but it definitely won’t be easy. So here are 3 reasons Tom Brady could have a down season.
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Lack of Weapons
The New England Patriots lost some great players in the offseason. Danny Amendola was one of Tom Brady’s favorite receivers. Now he is on the Miami Dolphins. Dion Lewis could be relied upon to make a key 3rd down catch out of the backfield. Now he is with the Tennessee Titans.
To make matters worse there is virtually no talent at wide receiver. Julian Edelman will be missing the first 4 games of the season. That means Brady will only have one person to rely on, Rob Gronkowski.
After that, the Patriots offense may make you shutter. Phillip Dorsett, Riley McCarron, Chris Hogan, and Braxton Berrios aren’t the most frighting offensive weapons.
Defenses will be all over Gronkowski in the first 4 games, and with Edelman coming off a torn ACL I don’t expect him to excel right away. Brady could easily have a rough start to the season.
We have seen Tom Brady perform miracles, but this mountain may be too tall for the G.O.A.T. to climb.
A late start
OTA’s may not be the most talked about portion of the season, but they definitely are important. The foundation is laid for the rest of the season. Rookies are trying to build chemistry with veterans and the vets are getting ready for another long season.
Now even though the “O” in OTA’s stand for optional, basically every Patriot usually attends. So when Tom Brady decided to skip the practices it caused a bit of a ruckus.
If Brady starts to struggle early on this will be the first thing that his opponents point to. With the roster turnover being so great, Brady’s presence at OTA’s would have been great.
Hopefully, Brady won’t stumble out of the gate. The Patriots need him to be at the top of his game. If Brady struggles it will not be fun to watch the Patriots offense. Especially since they have such a tough schedule.
A rough schedule
The New England Patriots schedule definitely isn’t easy. The Patriots could easily start the season with a 2-2 record or even start below .500.
The Patriots start the season facing two tough defenses in the form of the Houston Texans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then the Patriots head to Detroit to face off against the Lions and former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. After that, the Miami Dolphins head to New England. The Patriots will probably win but the Dolphins defense has been known to cause some problems.
I don’t think the Patriots will be running away with the top seed. Home field advantage throughout the playoffs isn’t guaranteed. The last time the Patriots entered the playoffs without home-field advantage throughout the postseason, it didn’t go as well.
All of these factors could add up to Tom Brady taking a step back at 41. I sure hope that he ends up proving me wrong and has yet another dominant season.