There's been a lot of hype about Brady throwing long, having as good of an arm as ever, and having a lot of weapons. Granted he was missing Edelman and Amendola but it sure looked like Brady was pressing for huge gains rather than "managing the clock" through short pick-ups as has been typical. When Brady is going out there trading bombs with Alex Smith, something is wrong. It looked like he missed a lot of shorter 3-4 yard pick ups.
I honestly have no idea how Berry was covering Gronk. Holding or not, just throw it over his head. Gronk has to have an 8" height advantage.
I do also wonder if the Pats view these early games as extended preseason--it's not that they are not focused on winning, but the nature of the beast is that they are still going to be working things out at full speed, particularly with many new players. It seems like every year it takes a while for them to rev up and click. That doesn't excuse the atrocities we saw last night, but rather amplifies them.
I honestly have no idea how Berry was covering Gronk. Holding or not, just throw it over his head. Gronk has to have an 8" height advantage.
I do also wonder if the Pats view these early games as extended preseason--it's not that they are not focused on winning, but the nature of the beast is that they are still going to be working things out at full speed, particularly with many new players. It seems like every year it takes a while for them to rev up and click. That doesn't excuse the atrocities we saw last night, but rather amplifies them.