New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is running out of players on offense, but he's not letting that affect his accuracy. Well, not entirely.
Brandon LaFell is dangerous on the left sideline
It seems that the Patriots receiver has found a way to perfect the comeback and out route along the left sideline as he and Brady have connected multiple times with perfect timing, most notably on the field goal drive to force overtime. While LaFell's success as a deep threat is still a work in progress, there's no question that he's working the sideline with tremendous efficiency.
Scott Chandler is endangered on the right sideline
There was a span of time where Brady threw six out of eight passes in Chandler's direction, with four of those registering as "deep right sideline" and one called back due to a penalty. They were all incomplete, and three of them were just way overthrown, but Brady liked the match-up with Chandler and a linebacker. While the idea of Chandler going for a jump ball against a linebacker is nice in theory, the tight end doesn't generate enough separation and is always still engaged with the defender instead of jumping for the ball.
Brady's throwaways were in the second half
A week after running for his life against the Bills, Brady was able to enjoy a relatively relaxing first half, with only one throwaway- the clock killing final pass of the opening half. Brady started to run for his life in the second half and had four throwaways, which was far more similar to his Buffalo pace. Josh Kline and Shaq Mason struggled in pass protection in particular.
Brandon Bolden is emerging as the top receiving back option
While he's still getting outsnapped by LeGarrette Blount and James White, Bolden is apparently the most reliable back whether he's running or catching the ball. Maybe he'd get more time if he improved his pass blocking, but Bolden has given the Patriots at least the semblance of a receiver out of the backfield.
Brady's accuracy ratings didn't change
Even without Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, and even while overthrowing Scott Chandler on multiple occasions, Brady's accuracy at all levels of the field remained constant. He did seem to be throwing more prayers deep down the field, but LaFell actually could have gotten his hands on a few in better elements. Brady throws bullseyes on roughly a third of his deep passes, hits strikes on another third, and then completely misses on the final third.
Chandler's utility means Brady is throwing more to his right
This isn't necessarily a good thing. Brady is far more accurate to his left side and involving Chandler means that Brady is going to be throwing lower chance passes more often. Chandler's usage with Rob Gronkowski sidelined is something to monitor.