I won’t need a lot of space for today’s "Gresh’s Grades." Sunday's game was as bad a performance as we’ve seen this season from Bill Belichick’s team. Just remember, if the Patriots see Tennessee in the playoffs, the Titans have now shown their hand as to how they would attack New England with Mike Vrabel as head coach.
QUARTERBACK: D
Other than kicker and punter, no one is more dependent on the [...]
I won’t need a lot of space for today’s "Gresh’s Grades." Sunday's game was as bad a performance as we’ve seen this season from Bill Belichick’s team. Just remember, if the Patriots see Tennessee in the playoffs, the Titans have now shown their hand as to how they would attack New England with Mike Vrabel as head coach.
QUARTERBACK: D
Other than kicker and punter, no one is more dependent on the players around him than Tom Brady. And while he didn’t get much help, Brady didn’t help much either. Tom is mobile, just not Marcus Mariota mobile. The Titans pressure packages played into that coming after Brady from every direction. It’s as if the Tennessee coaching staff had prior knowledge of how to attack the Patriots offense.
RUNNING BACK: C
I didn’t think the play of Sony Michel and James White was bad, they just didn’t have the opportunity to run the ball very much and when they did, it was to a smattering of success. This was a confidence-building game for Michel relative to his health, and he can now go into the bye week getting ready for the stretch run.
WIDE RECEIVERS: D
I know Josh Gordon has a dislocated finger, but he has to catch the balls thrown to him on third down. Julian Edelman had a nice day in the first half, but he alone can’t beat a team. I think No. 11 is impacted the most when Rob Gronkowski isn’t on the field. And with Brady being consistently hurried, this group had little to no time to get open.
TIGHT ENDS: F
No Gronk. Dwayne Allen isn’t much of a receiver and when he gets hurt, there is no one else at this position the coaching staff can count on.
OFFENSIVE LINE: F
Worst performance of the year with a caveat. No Shaq Mason, and Trent Brown left the game with an illness. So at times you were playing with your sixth and seventh offensive lineman in the game. Combine that with a Tennessee defense that was unafraid to bring pressure from wherever, whenever, spelled disaster. I’m very confident this group will rebound in two weeks.
DEFENSIVE LINE: D+
This unit did get some pressure on Mariota, however they didn’t close the gaps in the pass rush. Mariota stepping up or out of the pocket was an option all day that the Titans quarterback took advantage of. The second half did not provide the appropriate push back against Tennessee's run game.
LINEBACKERS: F
The "looks good on paper" stats of Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts came mostly in the first half. Tennessee did a good job of challenging these guys. At times, Roberts had to play in space which is what an offense wants. And physically, Dont'a Hightower got manhandled more often than not.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: F
They gave up WAY TOO many plays of 20 yards or more, including a 21-yard pass to Mariota. And the Tennessee receivers weren’t super productive, but they gave up a ton to Corey Davis, and then a play here and a catch there to different Tennessee players. It felt like there was a lot of chasing going on.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
It wasn’t all bad. Just mostly bad. The Patriots average drive started at the 24 yard line, Tennessee at the 34 yard line. HUGE difference in starting field position. The team needed the 52-yarder that Stephen Gostkowski missed in the second quarter. That would’ve put some pressure on Tennessee at 17-13, and would have boosted the offense's confidence. Ryan Allen was average. The Patriots' return game was as good as the their kick-coverage teams were bad. There WILL be changes coming during the bye week.
THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR
1) Limited practice work this week, I think Belichick knows he needs to get in the lab and shuffle the player decks to get different results
2) Lots of street free agents coming through Foxboro the next 10 days, some with a shot to steal a spot on the team, some for updating emergency lists.
3) At worst this team will be 12-4. Let’s not panic too much over this loss.
“The Gresh Show” airs each weeknight on 99.7FM and AM 630 WPRO from 6 to 9 p.m.