Breer: Tom Brady leaving exposes Patriots' roster deficiencies

Share

The last couple of weeks have been a disaster in Foxboro.

An 18-12 loss to the lowly Denver Broncos and last Sunday's blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers have exposed the New England Patriots' glaring issues on offense. While quarterback Cam Newton hasn't been good by any stretch, he's only part of the problem.

Meanwhile, former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 5-2 and looked outstanding in the team's Week 7 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The 43-year-old racked up 369 yards and four touchdown passes.

Curran: Newton has a case of the yips, so now what?

The clear contrast has put a spotlight on the roster deficiencies Brady often covered up over the course of his 20 years in New England. Albert Breer of The MMQB joined Boston Sports Tonight to discuss the topic further.

"Over the last 20 years, what we've seen here is a program that can withstand almost anything, whether it's attrition, injuries, roster deficiencies, missed draft picks... whatever it is, they've always been able to manage it because they have superior coaching and superior quarterbacking," Breer said. "And I think what we saw on Sunday, we've known the quarterback advantage is kind of gone now -- even when Cam was playing really well, it's not what it was before -- and on Sunday you saw what happens when a really well-coached team comes in here, and that's gone too.

"And now all of a sudden, I think the roster deficiencies were just there in plain sight for everyone to see. And so I think these two major advantages they've had forever are now really down to one, and when there's a coach on the other sideline who maybe isn't of Bill's caliber, but is at least in his league, the Patriots are in big trouble because their roster's just not good enough."

Patriots Talk Podcast: We're seeing what Tom Brady warned everyone about | Listen & subscribe | Watch on YouTube

One NFL executive even went as far as to say the Patriots have "the worst group of skill players" in the league, and that was before they got their doors blown off by the 49ers. It's hard to argue right now, as the wide receiving core and tight end group have been virtually non-existent.

The Patriots are 31st in the NFL in points scored (115) and 27th in total yards (2,113) through the first six games of the season. They'll look to improve on those lackluster numbers Sunday when they take on the Buffalo Bills.

Contact Us