New England Patriots’ 2014 Midseason Grade
By Nick Villano
@nick_villano
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots looked like they would finally be falling back to the pack in 2014. What a difference four weeks makes.
The season looked like it could become lost when the Patriots took a 41-14 drubbing against the Kansas City Chiefs on national television. Since then, they have won four in a row. In those games, they’ve scored 158 points.
Just four weeks ago the Patriots had a bad offense, and Tom Brady has been the catalyst for the turnaround. He has thrown for 2,059 yards and 18 touchdowns. Coming into Week 5, he only had four touchdowns, but he has been great with his accuracy, hitting close to 65 percent of his passes. He’s only thrown two interceptions, which is the least of anyone who has at least 130 attempts. The way he has played these past four weeks is MVP-worthy.
Rob Gronkowski looks like he is back to his old self. He went off against the Chicago Bears last weekend to the tune of 149 yards and three touchdowns. He is overtaking Jimmy Graham for the title of best tight end in football.
Brady is making stars of little-known receivers Brandon LaFell and Julian Edelman, as they are both on pace to have over 900 yards receiving. Brady has been throwing the ball everywhere, hitting seven different receivers for touchdowns.
The defense has been just as good. The additions of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner are really paying off. The secondary is second in the league in passing yards against. They also have had great safety play from Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung. This entire unit could arguably call themselves the best on the team.
This entire Patriots teams has been firing on all cylinders. They went from a disappointment to one of the favorites to win it all. That kind of turnaround within the matter of weeks is unheard of in the NFL. They went into a Cincinnati Bengals matchup in Week 5 that seemed like a sure loss. When the team won that game 43-17, many thought this could be a turnaround game for them. They were right.
Mid-season grade: B+
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