Now that the Patriots have finished off Houston to begin the season 1-0, I’ll let you guys in on a little secret.
I was VERY nervous about this game. Not because I thought if the Pats lost it would’ve been a big deal, because in reality it wouldn’t have been. I was nervous because Deshaun Watson is a good, young quarterback and in his first game back from injury I wanted him to be able to have fun.
He had none of that Sunday, though, because the Patriots defense was swarming all day. It started early as the Pats defense was suffocating, especially in the first half.
On the Texan’s first offensive possession of the season the defense was immediately in the backfield to take advantage of a Watson fumble.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1038837128497520641
Not too shabby a way to start things off. The defense continued to look good while Watson continued to struggle as Gilmore picked him off towards the end of the first half.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1038855741694603264
It wasn’t all perfect as the Texans were able to run for 167 and a TD on under 40 carries. With that being said, it was a very predictable strategy from the Pats on defense to attack Houston. They took away the passing game and said beat us on the ground. And it worked. Go figure, Bill’s right again.
It was business as usual on the offensive side of the ball. We’ll start where all things start in the Patriots offense, and that’s with Tom.
Tom Brady's Stats from today:
•3 TD Passes
•1 interception
•277 Passing Yards
•66% Completion Percentage
•And a Patriots Win
Oh… and he did it at 41 Years Old.
Brady is STILL torching defenses at 41 fucking years old.
BEST QB IN THE LEAGE!!— BRADY HAS 7💍💍💍💍💍💍💍 (@TB12HAS7RINGS) September 9, 2018
The ageless wonder didn’t miss a beat coming off his third MVP season with one interception being his only blemish on the day. There’s really not much to say about another standard Sunday from Tom, but what was promising was who was on the receiving end of Brady’s 277 passing yards.
Eight different players caught a pass from Tom today proving the Pats don’t need a deep wide receiving corps to throw all over a team. In particular, Dorsett balled out.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1038859308539076608
Dorsett finished his Patriots coming out party with 7 receptions for 66 yards and a TD. Not too shabby. Even better, he was 7 for 7 on targets. With Brady’s trust comes great responsibility and success. Catching everything thrown his way Sunday was a huge step in acquiring that trust.
Inside the numbers, Gronk was a menace, as he always is, grabbing 7 receptions of his own for 123 and the first Patriots touchdown of the season.
https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1038837263130607617
As if the catch, reach and spike wasn’t impressive enough, it also came following a false start that backed the Pats up to tough 3rd and long that led to the touchdown. Great offense will always cover up bad mistakes like that.
Other things to note from what was a satisfactory Sunday was Brian Flores’ debut in the spotlight and a punt (seriously).
It feels like Flores has been with the Pats for no less than 2 decades, just sitting in the wings soaking up all the knowledge possible as he rose up the coaching ranks in Foxboro. Today was his first regular season game heading the Patriots defense and he executed the game plan to perfection. He has not yet been named the defensive coordinator as the position remains vacant on the team, but this game was a great stride forward for Flores.
Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The game-sealing punt.
RYAN ALLEN ICING THE GAME #FORTHEBRAND pic.twitter.com/UtXupFOj9D
— 🅿️at McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 9, 2018
Punts aren’t generally all that exciting and are usually a sign that things have gone wrong for the offense. In the case of this one though, Allen had a real shot of effectively ending the ballgame or giving Houston a chance at tying it up.
Allen opted for the former as he dotted a beauty on Houston’s own one yard line leaving them with no where to go but straight to the bus and back where they came from.
God damn it’s fun being a Pats fan. If you’re not, try it sometime. It’s awesome.
We’re on to Jacksonville.