Patriots pass the test against the Colts and now aim for the head of the class



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For a team that was 1-2 a few weeks ago, their standards are quite high. Especially offensive.

They won two weeks in a row and scored 38 points in consecutive games, but Tom Brady wants more.

"If you think back to the first five games, we give you too many chances to score," said Brady at Kirk and the Callahan Show at WEEI. "It's limiting our points, I thought the other night we should have put in at least 52. Maybe more."

Brady has more than held his share of the market against the Colts in the fifth week, and the notes bear witness to this. But he knows his group will have to clean up the mistakes that led to two interceptions against Indy and helped keep the New England business differential at plus-one until now, before to attack the Chiefs of high flying.

"When we play against a team like Kansas City, we have to take advantage of every scoring opportunity because we know they are," said Brady. "They have proven in five weeks that they can distribute the ball, and their players play games and enter the end zone, and we have to do the same."

Before we begin our preparations for what should be a fireworks show on Sunday night, let's see the results of the Colts game. . . .

QUARTERBACK: A-

Not much to quibble here. The second game of the match was strange, it seemed that Brady had Chris Hogan for an easy first try – Hogan was discovered on the sidelines and practically waved the ball for football – but decided to yield to James White nonprofit. . And in the first full quarter of his team in the second quarter, he kept the ball for an eternity, while the Colts played the blanket and carried short things, leading to a fast punt. But otherwise, he was great. Even Brady's choices – which should have been captured by Hogan and Rob Gronkowski – were good shots. The interception intended for Gronkowski was slightly late but exactly where Brady wanted to go with football (and exactly where he should have gone). He kept him out of danger, much like the 19-yard Brady ended up being brought to Gronkowski earlier in the game. A gap on Josh Gordon was thrown low and behind, but only because Gordon overtook what appeared to be the weak point of the Colts area. Julian Edelman was an easy money for Brady against this cover (although he dropped a good shot from Brady on the sidelines), as did James White. The Patriots did well against the Colts' zones, using directional mistakes, action games and a fake screen to get the defenders heading in the wrong direction, and Brady forced them to pay with his accuracy. For a good point of view, a quarterback was hit, which was Brady's best performance in 2018.

RUNNING BACK: A-

There has been much talk of the impact of Edelman's return on Gronkowski, but the presence of another talented player on the ground creates a domino effect for all Brady's targets. Whites have been very good all season, but with Edelman back on the field, things are opening up even more for him. His making contact came when Brady looked to the side of the formation where Gronkowski and Edelman were located, forced the defense to sink in this way, then returned to his faithful back. White's 10 receptions were a peak in the regular season. Sony Michel (on the picture) continues to do his best work between tackles. He had a 16-yard run in the second where he rode his blocks efficiently and showed patience. In his next race, he was hit three meters behind the line but still cashed three. He ran hard and won 66 of his 98 yards after contact, including a portion of his 34-yard touchdown when he armed a defensive defense to the underworld. Michel also had a timely pick-up, allowing Brady to find Gronkowski for a win of six. The only reason this note is not superior, is that there are still too many plush races with Michel on the ground. He was stopped before the goal line in second. He also had two points at the edge where he could not beat the Colts defenders. He almost did not manage to pass a defensive end in a third and a match in the red zone when the defensive end had to turn his hips to turn around. It should be a race that Michel, especially with a steamer, wins easily.

RECEIVER: B

The return of Edelman changed the game for the Brady and the Patriots attack. Having a player who understands the blanks and where Brady wants them in the mid-to-intermediate positions area was paying immediate dividends. As a group, the recipients of Brady have captured 17 of their 21 targets, which is usually a fine number, but an Edelman drop, two gutted Gordon routes and a pick that should have been a reception will go a long way towards improving this rating. The score obtained by Gordon during the exercises was proof of Brady's confidence (Pictured: Gordon celebrates his touch with Hogan), and maybe he's online to see more than the 18 shots he's played each of the past two weeks. Hogan has seen 63 shots but this number may decrease. There were two cases where it was strange that he did not see the ball: the second game of the game, mentioned above, and Gordon's touchdown. Play-Action sucked the linebacker to Hogan's side, and Brady's eyes were initially turned to Gordon, moving security to one level on that side of the field. Had he returned to Hogan, he might have had an easy score on schedule. Brady did not pull the trigger and it's rather Gordon who clinched the 500th QB career pass. This was not the best block of this group. Solid day overall, but much remains to be done.

Tight end: b

The best work of this group was done in the blocking game. (As always, we include James Develin here.) Develin and Gronkowski (on the picture) combined to punish blocks on a third and one taken over by Michel at the very beginning. Gronkowski also had a perfect "wham" block early in the second on Michel's 14-yard scamper. The blocking of Gronkowski at the touchdown, by Michel, was also of great beauty. His starting point and false start lowered his score, but his ankle looked good and he finished with 75 yards in six shots. Things will be better for him as a receiver if he is healthier and if Gordon and Edelman start to take this offense to new heights.

OFFENSIVE LINE: A-

The Colts entered the game with the second highest total of sacks in football, and they did it without blitz (they only blitzed 14% of the time ahead). But Dante Scarnecchia's unit prevented them from playing Thursday. Was it perfect? Nope. Joe Thuney, Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon all licensed the plush races. Cannon and David Andrews have been reported twice each. Thuney gave two shots and Trent Brown, one. Yet there was more good than bad here. Indoor athletics created two positive screen games, and Michel's touchdown race was a clinic. Brown and Thuney combined to dominate two offensive players left, while Mason attempted to eliminate a third. Good day against an underestimated front.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B-

First the good. Edelman (on the picture) gave the return group a little life with a quick return of 15 yards. Michel had a good punt return for 26 yards that exceeded that mark. Stephen Gostkowski scored 45 points and accumulated all extra points. Ryan Allen is getting a black punt in the first quarter at the Indy 6. The imperfections? JC Jackson cashed another penalty to clear a return that saw Edelman force three missed tackles. Nate Ebner missed a tackle when returning the Colts' 33-yard return kick in the third period, allowing a touchdown. And Gostkowski failed to place a dog deep within Indy territory after the Colts were penalized with a kick in the second quarter. He threw the ball into the end zone – for the second time this season he failed to drop one near the goal line – and Jason McCourty was incorrectly lined up. The Patriots' sideline had to boil after the Colts tried to give them a better position on the field with a good blunder.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B +

Adrian Clayborn had some ups and downs during the first month of the regular season, but the Patriots enjoyed an "up" performance by the end of the pass. He finished the match with a team record five times faster, he took a penalty kick and he managed a blow that forced Andrew Luck to be intercepted by Patrick Chung. Clayborn's partner was the tackle Adam Butler (the "T" of their "TE" stunt), who also played a good game against the pass, detecting a screen to force an unfinished, scoring a pass and creating two rushes from him -even. Malcom Brown was injured by the Patriots after only 21 clicks (on the picture), but Danny Shelton stepped up his game against the race. Deatrich Wise had a shot and was in a hurry, but was blocked a bit too easily in the passing game, just like Lawrence Guy. Trey Flowers continues to be strong, cutting the Colts line to split a bag with Chung. He had a penalty kick, but also had three pressures and he, like Brown, broke a game on the screen.

LINEBACKER: B +

Can we include Chung in this group? We will not do it, but we will explain why it's even a consideration in a minute. Of which Hightower and Kyle Van Noy (on the picture) were both very strong against the anemic race game of Indy. Van Noy, in particular, seems to be comfortable in the line of scrimmage to play the role of back defender. He had four positive games in the run and scored three pressures. Hightower had himself had a shift problem and he had also contacted Chung just before Chung's bag, apparently telling him the gap to be filled to fill Flowers' stunting in the interior. Every week, Hightower shows off his value as a traffic cop in the middle. Elandon Roberts played 41 shots, including 28 on the cover, allowing four passes for 35 yards. On a third and five in the first quarter, his fall took him past the sticks and luck hit the vacant area for a first try. It was hard to know if it was Roberts or Hightower, who was pursuing on the cover, but either way was a blow to this note for what was generally a good day.

SECONDARY: B +

In reviewing this one, some of the cover failures were not as bad as they initially appeared. Some have been difficult times while luck is well inserted into the tight windows. Devin McCourty might like to have Eric Ebron's touch, because Ebron's trajectory was not very clear, but Erik Swoope's was awesome. McCourty was right there and made a good attempt to break it. He also had a nice breakout on Nyheim Hines in the third downhill to force a punt, and he made one of the best individual games of the season to simply tear the Jordan Wilkins soccer ball. Stephon Gilmore lost Chester Rogers in a snap (which allowed Rogers to finish in freefall), but he had three ruptures and a close choice for another strong performance. Jason McCourty was also strong, despite being tested early and often in the red zone by Luck. His unique deviation has become an easy choice for Jonathan Jones. If there was a defensive back that was beaten, not necessarily because of revealing throws, but cover fouls, that is well Jones. Rogers in particular seemed to have little trouble creating a split there. Chung (on the picture), meanwhile, showed why he is so precious. He had a bag as a pass. He had a choice in the cover. And he got involved in the race at the second level as a linebacker. The Patriots performed a number of what appeared to be 3-4 (or 3-3) with Chung, one of the "backers", where he, as usual, recruited players much bigger. He had a goal from the midfield, using his speed to avoid the blocks, and later in the game he was riding a 95-pound lineman, helping to create traffic that limited Hines to a three-yard gain.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON PROGRAM

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