10 Things We Learned Last Night

Here, in no particular order, are 10 things we learned about the Patriots in last night’s 27-10 loss to the Bucs in Tampa:

1. Preseason football is a funny thing. Anyone remember last year’s Week 2 preseason game? A 27-24 loss against the Titans at Gillette Stadium. The Tennessee pass rush, led by Kyle Vanden Bosch, battered Tom Brady, and the New England offense struggled without Randy Moss and Laurence Maroney. Missing some key components, the Patriots’ offense struggled to put points on the board on the way to their second straight preseason loss. Then, they went out during the regular season and vaporized the opposition. So last night, they were missing some key components — including Brady, who reportedly stayed home because of a sore foot, and struggled to put points on the board against Tampa, posting their second straight preseason loss. Some will shift into hyperbolic overdrive, wondering aloud about the very future of the Patriots. And there are things that are still question marks that we don’t know when or if they will be resolved before Opening Day, like the health of the left tackle, right guard or the overall depth in the secondary. But don’t make too much of things. It’s only preseason. History has shown us that different teams take different things out of the preseason, and New England is rarely interested in wins and losses at this time of the year. This year is no different.

2. That being said, there were plenty of elements to New England’s game last night that weren’t good. If Bill Belichick demands a penalty lap for a botched snap, Dan Connolly and Matt Cassel might have to run for a week after their Keystone Kops routine in the second half last night where Connolly’s snap almost went over Cassel’s head, but ended up bouncing into the hands of the improbably named Sabby Piscitelli, who took it 24 yards for a touchdown. To say Cassel has struggled in the preseason would be polite — he took 23 snaps last night, and while he ended up going 6-for-10 for 57 yards, he was nowhere near as good as the final numbers looked. Through two preseason games, Cassel’s preseason numbers are as follows — 35 snaps, 7-for-14 for a team-low 68 yards and a quarterback rating of 34.2. Yikes.

3. New England’s No. 1 defense showed some holes in the first half, especially against the run. On the night, the Patriots’ run defense yielded an astounding 4.7 yards per carry, with much of the yardage coming early in the game (Tampa Bay had 114 rushing yards in the first half, including six rushes of eight yards or more) and much of it coming after the first hit was laid on the ballcarrier. For a defense that was a reasonable facsimile of the No. 1 unit that will be out there on Opening Day (Adalius Thomas and Rodney Harrison and James Sanders were the defensive notables who didn’t play), it was not a good sign. “I think it was pretty obvious we’ve got a lot of work to do, based on tonight, in all three phases of the game,” Belichick told reporters after the game.

4. Jerod Mayo continues to advance at an impressive rate. The rookie linebacker was on the field for all 36 of the defensive snaps in the first-half of last night’s game, most of the time lining up alongside much of New England’s No. 1 defense, and held his own for much of the night. There were times where he appeared overwhelmed — he was the victim of a savage stiff-arm early in the second quarter, courtesy of Tampa Bay’s Antonio Bryant — but for most of his evening, he did a very good job at the point of attack, shedding blockers and plugging holes on running plays. Few rookies have started on Opening Day for Bill Belichick (Logan Mankins was the last one), but if he continues on his current path, he’s a good a bet as any to be at inside linebacker when the Patriots meet the Chiefs in the season opener.

5. Kevin O’Connell is still the only Patriots quarterback to lead a scoring drive in the preseason. O’Connell — he of the horrific training camp haircut that was shaved into a Mohawk before last night’s game — had a rough start, but impressed down the stretch last night. He ended up with a slightly gruesome line (6-for-15, one interception on his first pass attempt of the night), but put together a second-half scoring drive of nine plays and 58 yards that culminated in a one-yard plunge from Heath Evans. There were a couple of nice connections with C.J. Jones, and he helped convert a pair of fourth-down chances. He didn’t set the world on fire, but did as well as could be expected. In the end, he played 24 snaps, one more than Cassel, and remains the only New England quarterback to lead a scoring drive this preseason (in addition to last night, there was one against Baltimore).

6. Stephen Gostkowski is having an excellent preseason. The kicker had himself another great night. Just before halftime, he banged home a 53-yard field goal that might have been good from 60 yards out, and he put one of his two kickoffs into the end zone for a touchback. After two preseason games, the third-year kicker out of Memphis is 4-for-4 on field goals, and of his seven kickoffs, three have been touchbacks. Can ask for much more from your kicker.

7. When it comes to the position battle at running back, things aren’t any clearer than they were yesterday. In a game that some had as a do-or-die contest between Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan in the battle for the final roster spot at running back, virtually nothing was decided. Morris carried the ball five times for 10 yards, and Jordan received a DNP. (As the preseason continues, this is a position battle that will bear watching. It could ultimately depend how many tight ends make the final 53-man roster, but that’s a debate for another day.) As a group, the New England running game was less than impressive, managing just 56 yards on 22 carries.

8. If the Patriots do go out shopping for a veteran backup to Brady, they could do a lot worse than Brian Griese. Griese was razor-sharp last night, putting together an excellent opening drive of 17 plays and 80 yards that consumed almost 10 minutes. The 33-year-old finished an easy 9-for-10 for 44 yards. “It was a good opportunity for us to go against a quality defense,” Griese told reporters afterword. “I know they had some guys out, but this team is a really good team. And for us to come out and put a drive together to start the game was good for our confidence.” Luke McCown also had a nice night for the Bucs, but if Tampa Bay doesn’t make him the No. 2, there’s something seriously wrong with Jon Gruden.

9. Right now, this year’s Patriots team could have as many as five draft picks make the 53-man roster. With August more than halfway done, Mayo, cornerback Terrence Wheatley, linebacker Shawn Crable, O’Connell and defensive back/return man Matthew Slater all have an excellent chance to make the 53-man roster. (Defensive back Jonathan Wilhite has struggled with injuries, while Bo Ruud might simply be the victim of a numbers game at linebacker.) While their body of work at the NFL remains limited, it is nonetheless impressive. Quite a change from last season, where Brandon Meriweather and Mike Richardson were the only two draftees to survive the final cuts.

10. If five draftees make the 53-man roster, that doesn’t bode well for many of the offseason free agent pickups. Through two-plus weeks of training camp and two preseason games, the veteran pickups like Marcus Pollard and Victor Hobson have done little to distinguish themselves. Pollard had two passes thrown his way last night and failed to come up with either one, while Hobson (who has now been fully supplanted at inside linebacker by Mayo) ended up with one tackle on defense and another on special teams.

Christopher Price has covered the Patriots for Boston Metro since 2001. His book, “The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower” is current available from St. Martin’s Press. He can be reached at christopher.price@metro.us.