The cavalry scheduled to ride in and relieve Julian Edelman’s workload hasn’t arrived quite yet. Targeted 68 times in the Patriots first seven games (and 36 in the last three), the Patriots 33-year-old slot receiver saw another 11 balls thrown his way against the Browns.
Two of those went for scores (8 yards and 14 yards), another was a fourth-down conversion on the Patriots' first drive and another was a 23-yard pickup in the third-quarter on a first-and-10 play.
It’s not breaking news that the Patriots offense is Edelman-centric. He’s been the quarterback’s most trusted receiver for seven seasons. But the Patriots would love to become less reliant on him. Seventy-nine of Tom Brady’s 309 attempts have gone to Edelman (26 percent).
Sunday, he nearly doubled-up the next most targeted player, Phillip Dorsett (six targets, three catches, 43 yards and a brilliant 33-yard hookup with Brady). James White and Mohamed Sanu saw five passes each. White had a 59-yard gain on a screen as part of his 75-yard day. Sanu had a fourth-and-4 conversion and a nice 19-yard catch from Brady on a pinpoint throw toward the sideline. Ben Watson also had a 26-yard catch in traffic.
The offense is still having its issues both on third down (5 for 16) and in the red zone (2 TDs in 6 trips). But they at least seem to have a more complementary group now that Watson and Sanu have joined the offense in the past two games.
Still, until they get to running the ball with more effectiveness (27 carries, 79 yards), they aren’t going to be able to scare teams with the play-action effectiveness they used so much to their advantage last year. It’s all interconnected. They have time to figure it out and are actually in a better spot in the passing game now than they were coming out of the Giants game. But the sooner Edelman’s load is lightened, the better.
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IN HOT PURSUIT
Jonathan Jones’ chasedown/strip of Nick Chubb would be a layup Defensive Play of the Year for a lot of teams. This year? With this defense? It’s merely in the mix. Which is a testament to the fact the Patriots have stacked up great defensive plays like cord wood.
Jones’ forced turnover is a continuation of a great season for him. The Patriots rewarded the corner with a generous extension during training camp and he’s playing better than he ever has. The strip was a combination of smarts, speed and high-end effort which brought to mind Watson’s chasedown of Champ Bailey in the 2005 playoffs.
“You just don’t give up on a play, that’s all,” said Watson.” You don’t give up on a play. You never know if your effort is going to pay off in a turnover or not. That’s what we are paid to do, keep chasing until the whistle. I couldn’t believe it because Nick had good ball security, he had it high and tight and sometimes that happens. As ball carriers you know those guys are always coming and they do a really good job of punching it out.”
Explaining the play, Jones said, “He made a good play at breaking, he was headed to the endzone and I was able to track him down. I kind of saw the ball and went for it. I was able to get it out and it raining was a key part of it. … Our coaches emphasize getting the ball out, applying pressure to the ball, especially today we knew it was going to be raining. That was a key part of it, attacking the ball over and over and I feel like we did a good job at that.”
WHAT CAN BROWNS DO FOR YOU?
The Browns receivers had a pretty pedestrian day, especially in the first half when Baker Mayfield was struggling to get his feet under him. Odell Beckham was dogged all day by Stephon Gilmore. Beckham finished with 52 yards on five catches with a long of 31.
Asked about checking OBJ, Gilmore said, “I was just trying to stay as close as I can, get my hands on him. Get the formation and try and make plays for my team. Trusting my teammates around me, I was able to make some plays.”
Late in the game, Gilmore had a shot at a pick but the throw from Mayfield clanged off his hands.
“I should have picked that,” he said. “I’m not going to sleep tonight. I’m not going to sleep. It was just a great call, a great call by Devin and we knew it was coming. I should have made that play.”
RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE
A guy who did make a play was Lawrence Guy, who had a monster game. His pick on a shovel pass was the by-product of him being unblockable on the play.
“You play every down hard and stuff like that happens,” he said. “It was a great defensive play. It was my first interception in nine years. I’ve had some fumble recoveries. I said, ’Oh man, I’m going to go,’ but I didn’t go far. That was special, I’m going to get that ball somewhere and put it in my locker.”
KICKIN' IT
Kicker Mike Nugent had one field goal blocked and hooked the hell out of another attempt. He is so far about what one would expect for a guy summoned off the street. Fine but not totally reliable and a minor concern in a closer game.
UP AND DOWN
Late in the game, there was an odd occurrence when Tom Brady was sacked and responded by throwing the ball to the Patriots sideline like a catcher discarding a scuffed baseball. … Brady’s numbers were fine and there were about a half-dozen throwaways but mixed in were some ridiculous throws. His on-the-move-touchdown pass to Julian Edelman, another one to Edelman for a 23-yard gain, the 19-yarder to Sanu, the 26-yarder to Watson and the 33-yarder to Dorsett were all the kinds of throws one can point to when anyone wants to look at the trials of the Patriots offense and talk Brady slippage.
Best & Worst from Patriots' 27-13 victory>>>>>
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