These aren't your big brother's Patriots
In 2007, Brady completed a league-high 31 passes on throws that traveled at least 20 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. An amazing 16 of those went for touchdowns. Even as the deep ball's approval rating has shot up in the years since, no quarterback has been able to beat that touchdown total.
But last year, Brady had just four deep touchdown passes and only 20 deep completions in total. The man is now 37 years old -- the third-oldest position player in the NFL, behind only Matt Hasselbeck and Peyton Manning -- and he no longer has the weapons or the pass protection required to chuck it deep on the regular.
And so while the Chiefs are the team here that has a reputation for utilizing their quarterback in custodian-like fashion, the reality is that New England has become nearly as conservative as Kansas City on offense.
This year, Brady has just one deep completion on 13 attempts, which ranks dead last in the NFL by a silly margin. Alex Smith has thrown deep only eight times but has three completions on passes traveling 20-plus yards.
It's not as though they've had much of a choice. In the words of H.G. Wells, adapt or perish. Randy Moss is an analyst now, Aaron Hernandez is in a 7x10-foot jail cell. Danny Amendola is a bust. Rob Gronkowski hasn't been healthy since November of 1997. Or something like that.
Julian Edelman is a valuable weapon, but until Gronkowski can pass the durability test and deliver on a consistent basis Brady will have to continue to rely on shaky options like Kenbrell Thompkins, Brandon LaFell and Aaron Dobson. His receivers dropped 53 of his passes last year. No other AFC quarterback had more than 43 from their receiving corps.
But the real problem has been the pass protection, or lack thereof. Brady's always been the king of the quick release, but there's only so much he can do.
Through three weeks, New England's offensive line leads the league in terms of hits and pressures allowed. Veteran tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer have struggled more than usual, partly due to the fact there's been little to no support from a never-ending interior rotation of flat tires named Jordan Devey, Marcus Cannon, Ryan Wendell and Dan Connolly.
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