Former NFL player offers interesting take on Tom Brady's struggles

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady isn't having one of his best seasons, but the recent hot takes surrounding his alleged struggles are a bit misguided.

Here's a look at his stats through 14 games during his MVP season in 2017 and this year.

2017: 342 for 516 (66.2%), 4,163 yards, 27 TD, 7 INT, 98.4 rating.
2018: 338 for 513 (65.9%), 3,979 yards, 24 TD, 9 INT, 97.6 rating.

They are pretty similar, and one of them was good enough to win his third career AP NFL MVP award. So, if age isn't an issue because Brady still is putting up very good stats, why is the Patriots offense struggling to score (particularly on the road)?

Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN NFL analyst Trent Dilfer offered an interesting take on the latest "Dual Threat" podcast with Ryen Russillo on The Ringer. He still thinks Brady can make just about every throw, but there's a schematic change(s) that he noticed while watching film of the Patriots.

“It’s been a different Patriots offense,” Dilfer said. “It’s been more two-back, run-centric, play-action, extended drops downfield stuff. A lot of perimeter throws. More perimeter throws being outside the numbers than I’ve ever seen by the Patriots. Again, none of this is bad, it’s just different. If you go back and you put on — pick a year — when (Brady) is on fire, one of his stretches where he throws 13 touchdowns, no interceptions, he’s throwing for a 75 percent clip. There’s countless stretches of offense he’s had like that. It’s different than what they're doing this year. It was more spread out, almost always single-back offense with three receivers and a tight end on the field or multiple versions of that. Formationally, spread you boundary to boundary, more motions and shifts to create matchups and more of him at the line of scrimmage in five- and six-man protections directing traffic, exposing a defense that was going to try to attack them in some new flavor of the week. And his M.O. was he’d kill you by 1,000 cuts in the middle of the field, throwing the ball short to intermediate, getting out of his hand in 2.3 or so seconds.

“So, they’re not doing that as much this year and I think it’s not allowing him to at this age and with his skill set to be the best he can be. I think their approach to start the season was, ‘Let’s play this model to protect our defense a little bit. We’re going to have to protect our defense and have longer sustained drives and be more physical in the run game. We have bigger offensive linemen than we’ve ever had before so let’s utilize that personnel.’ And again, it hasn’t been bad, but I don’t think it suits Tom Brady the best. Where he is the greatest of all-time is in what I said: Getting the ball, making the quick decision and accurately throwing to a guy in the 5- to 12-yard area in a position where he can run after the catch. I’ve seen less of that this year than I think I’ve ever seen, except for maybe his first couple of years in the league when that was kind of their M.O. They want to dumb it down and make it simpler. More James White, more (Rob Gronkowski) spread out, more (Julian) Edelman, (Chris) Hogan, (Josh) Gordon on the field at the same time. Do that and you’ll see the old Tom Brady here down the stretch.”

A lot has been made of Rob Gronkowski being less dominant than he's ever been, but the Patriots have had success without Gronk in the past. Remember, he didn't play in the 2016 playoffs and the Patriots still won the Super Bowl. That was just two years ago.

The Patriots offense ranks No. 7 in points scored per game and No. 6 in passing yards per game. They aren't a bad offense -- the potential is there. New England just needs to find out how to execute better on the road. The Patriots offense scores 33 points per game at home, compared to just 21 points per game on the road. 

If the problem really lies in the scheme of the offense, as Dilfer laid out, then Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick should be able to find a way to turn things around before the playoffs begin.

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