Brady, Offense Still Not on Same Page

The Patriots won but Tom Brady is still trying to get in sync with his receivers

Tom Brady didn't sound much different after the Patriots' 16-9 win over the Raiders than he did in the days leading up to Sunday's matchup. Specifically, the offense remains an issue, particularly the offensive line, which leads to problems everywhere else -- including Brady's chemistry with his pass-catchers.

And before you say, "Well, Logan Mankins certainly would've helped," know this: It's more than one player, and if we've learned anything, coach Bill Belichick would much rather get rid of an aging player a year early instead of a year late. Either way, Brady knows there's work to do.

"It was a tough win," the quarterback said after throwing for 234 yards (24-of-37, 1 TD, 0 INT). "That’s a good defensive group. They’ve got a lot of experienced players who have played a lot of football, won a lot of games and won championships, so it was going to be a dogfight. We need to do a better job getting the ball in the end zone. We settled for field goals down there on the 1-yard line and then another play at the half where we had opportunities. We just have to be able to ultimately score more points because if we don’t, we’re going to get beat. That’s what it came down to. ...

We left some chances on the field and certainly scoring opportunities," Brady said. "That’s something we’re going to have to obviously get a lot better at, so we’ll keep working at it."

Belichick was slightly more upbeat but his underlying message was the same.

"Offensively, we were able to score enough points," he said. "We missed some opportunities down in the red zone, which we have to convert more of those, but all in all, I thought it was a hard-fought game, like most of them are in this league. I think our players hung in there and kind of ground it out. Good to be 2-1."

As Brady builds a rapport with his other wideouts, Julian Edelman continues to be his go-to target. Edelman has 22 receptions through three games, which leads the team. And he's caught the attention of the opponent.

“He reminds me of Welker,” Raiders cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “Tom looks to him the same way and that’s why Wes had 100 catches a year. [Edelman] is on his way [to 100] again -- a lot of short stuff where he can move in space, keep the chains moving -- and he can get in and out of his breaks very fast and he has some good speed on him.”

The Patriots are now back in familiar territory atop the AFC East, even if they haven't yet hit their stride. That's good news for New England and bad news for everybody else.

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