It's time to shape up
Off to a slow start, Patriots must exhibit better work
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FOXBOROUGH - The third exhibition game is a bit like the soft opening of a restaurant. You still might be tinkering with the menu, but your customers should know by now what kind of food is being served and whether it's any good.
The play of the Patriots in their first two games, both unpalatable losses, has been tough to digest. New England still has all the ingredients for greatness, but has struggled to find the right mix on offense and defense.
The Tom Brady-less offense has scored just two touchdowns in 23 possessions. The defense, which fared well in the opener against the Ravens, surrendered 234 yards and 17 points in the first half of Sunday's 27-10 loss to the Buccaneers.
The Patriots can ill afford to serve up another poor performance tonight against the Eagles (1-1) at Gillette Stadium because unlike an unready restaurant, they can't postpone their opening. They'll be playing the Chiefs at Gillette Sept. 7 for real, whether or not they need more time to find a winning recipe.
"I'm looking forward to pulling it together and getting guys back and just flying around out there," said cornerback Ellis Hobbs. "I think we've been on our heels, definitely, these last two preseason games. Some of us didn't play in the first one and some of us didn't play in the second one, but I'm looking forward to getting to this third one and trying to bring it together as a team and kind of get the ball rolling a little bit."
Ever even-keeled, coach Bill Belichick isn't attaching special significance to tonight's game, but he did acknowledge the Patriots are at a point in the preseason where there is less of an emphasis on evaluating players for roster spots and more focus on preparing for the season opener.
"The guys that get the chance to participate in the game, I'm sure they will be able to utilize that to help them prepare for the season," said Belichick. "Not everybody will [participate], but the guys that do, that will be good for them. The guys that don't, hopefully they will get it some other time or they have already gotten it."
There have been reasons for the Patriots' ineffectiveness, chief among them the absence of Brady, who has yet to play a snap and sat out Sunday's loss with a sore right foot. Brady practiced Wednesday, but his status for tonight remains in doubt.
Even if Brady can't go, the Patriots, who are averaging 3.4 yards per play, must show the ability to sustain drives against the Eagles' starters.
While both Baltimore and Tampa Bay came with defensive looks the Patriots would have been better prepared to counter during the regular season, the lack of overall offensive execution is alarming. Both Patriots preseason touchdowns have come long after the opponents' starters became spectators.
"Yeah, we've been practicing well, but we haven't translated it in the first two preseason games," said wide receiver Jabar Gaffney. "That's kind of a little bummer right there. We have a lot more things to work on as far as where we thought we were compared to what we've been showing."
Defensively, going against a healthy Donovan McNabb at quarterback and dynamic running back Brian Westbrook, who led the NFL in yards from scrimmage last season with 2,104, should allow Belichick to assess whether the unit has plugged the holes Tampa exposed.
The Buccaneers rushed for 114 yards on 19 carries in the first half as the Patriots failed to execute assignments and fill gaps.
Westbrook is a better runner than anybody in Tampa's backfield, and the two-dimensional McNabb is better than any Buccaneer QB. McNabb will challenge a pass defense that was picked apart by Brian Griese and Luke McCown in the first half Sunday, as the QBs combined to go 15 of 17 for 120 yards and a TD.
"As far as we're concerned - I'm concerned - not from the scoreboard, but just from the plays within, we're behind," said Hobbs. "And we need to pick it up as far as the details and the little things. Flying to the ball, [not having] missed tackles, just knowing your assignment. It's really just fundamental things that are breaking down that are affecting the big things out there. That's all we got to do is just tighten down on the fundamentals."
While veteran teams can't be evaluated based on their exhibition play, New England knows the "it's only the preseason" mantra isn't an excuse.
"You can say preseason all you want, but that's what we've shown out there, and right now we're not doing things so well," said Gaffney. "We still have a couple of weeks to get better. That's the good thing. We haven't been great so far, but we haven't been totally bad. We haven't won yet, but we have a lot of time to correct those mistakes before we open up."
That's good because there are no soft openings in the NFL.
