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Offense overcomes struggles

Print | Comments () Posted by Albert Breer October 25, 2009 09:06 PM

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By Albert Breer

Just talked to some Patriots fans here -- and one of the guys asked me, "So if this was a decent team, we'd have been in trouble tonight, right?"

Yes, and no. The Patriots' first-half performance was really as unsightly as could be imagined for having a 21-7 lead. But in the second half, the team rallied to look, well, as impressive as someone can, with the qualifier that the Bucs were the opponent.

The offense can provide a pretty good picture of the good and bad of this one.

On one hand, the unit committed nine penalties, posted four three-and-outs, struggled to run the ball, and committed two turnovers. On the other, the team consistently bailed itself out of bad down-and-distance situations (a third-and-13, second-and-20, and a first-and-16), put together sustained, 10-play drives of 73 and 89 yards, and drove the nail in the coffin in the second half.

So look at it like this: The team's still got its share of unanswered questions going into the bye. Which, for this time of year, isn't unusually.