New England Patriots: Brady and Belichick face toughest test yet

After a brutal Sunday in South Beach one thing is abundantly clear: the New England Patriots are in trouble. Right now there is no doubt that this season could very well be the most difficult of the Tom Brady, Bill Belichick era.

During their time together, Belichick and Brady have faced some hard times. They have missed the playoffs twice and lost two Super Bowls, both to the New York Giants and Eli Manning. But they may have never had as steep a task as they currently face.

In Week 1 the Patriots looked horrendous. For a team that is supposed to contend for a Super Bowl berth this season, a 33-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins was not the way to open the season. It wasn’t just the final score, there were so many disastrous parts of the contest for the Patriots that it became embarrassing.

The offense looked disjointed, Brady wasn’t on the same page with his receivers, the running backs couldn’t find room to move, the offensive line leaked like a sieve and the defense showed more holes than the starboard keel of the Titanic.

Brady finished the day completing 29-of-56 passes, for 249 yards and one touchdown. That works out to a woeful 4.4 yards per attempt. He wound up with one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 43.8. He was also sacked four times, fumbled twice and was harassed constantly. It was a rough day at the office for Mr. Bundchen.

Julian Edelman (six catches for 95 yards) was the only guy on the Pats offense to even record a decent day. Everyone else got a failing grade from me.

The defense was supposed to carry the Patriots this year, especially early, while Brady figured out what to do on offense. But that vaunted unit didn’t fare much better on Sunday. The defensive front allowed a slowly decomposing and recently out of shape Knowshon Moreno to gash it for 134 yards and a score, while Lamar Miller added 59 yards on 11 carries. The secondary wasn’t much better as it allowed Ryan Tannehill to throw for 178 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

It would be one thing if the Dolphins were projected to be a contender this year, but they aren’t. In fact, they don’t look much better than the team that collapsed down the stretch and finished 8-8 last year. No, this loss was far more about New England than Miami.

So where do Belichick and Brady turn now? Yes, it was only one game, but the team they spent a decade reloading finally looks like it doesn’t have any bullets left in the arsenal.

Brady’s stockpile of weapons has been depleted. Wes Welker? Gone. Deion Branch? Nope. Aaron Hernandez? He went from potential Pro Bowler to star of “Oz the home game” in the span of a few crazy weeks. Rob Gronkowski is back but he may never be what he once was. Guys like Edelman, Aaron Dobson and Danny Amendola aren’t scaring anyone.

As for his protection, Brady can’t trust it. Logan Mankins was shipped off to Tampa Bay for another draft pick the Patriots will probably trade. Nate Solder is slowly becoming a stud and Sebastian Vollmer can be solid when he’s healthy. But Ryan Wendell grades out as one of the worst centers in the league, and Dan Connolly has struggled for the past two seasons. On Sunday that unit collapsed faster than the British Empire after World War II. It made Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon look like world-beaters and showed absolutely no continuity.

The running game has two decidedly average backs in Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. Both have their uses, but neither is going to light up the league.

What you have now is a roster that looks decidedly un-“Patriots-like,” which isn’t a word, but it should be. You know exactly what I mean when I say that. A “Patriots-like” roster is one that is solid in every phase of the game, has depth and is dotted with reliable playmakers. This team ain’t that.

When it’s third and 10 in a key situation, who can Brady reliably turn to? Edelman is fine, but he’s not Welker. Dobson? Please. Danny Amendola? Every time he catches the ball Pats Nation holds its collective breath, while the rest of the league lays down bets on which part of his anatomy is about to disintegrate. Gronkowski? He’s been injured for so long it’s hard to remember how dominant he once was. Unfortunately for Brady, Randy Moss is not walking through that door.

The Patriots can certainly turn things around, but it will take some doing.

To get it done, they will have to lean on that defense. Guys like Darrelle Revis, Vince Wilfork, Chandler Jones and Jerod Mayo will have to step up and actually stop opposing offenses. The Patriots need their defense to become a shutdown unit while the offense finds an identity.

Then Brady has to do what he couldn’t last year, and that is find a receiver that legitimately complements the human short-yardage target that is Julian Edelman. I don’t care if that means spending hours after practice with the likes of Kenbrell Thompkins and Brandon LaFell, he has to find a reliable outlet on the perimeter. That will help open up the middle for both Edelman and Gronkowski.

Brady and Belichick are arguably the best quarterback/coach tandem in NFL history. You can never bet against them because of their track record. But neither of them is getting any younger and they haven’t brought a Super Bowl title home since February of 2005. For two fiercely competitive guys, that’s a long time without being at the top of the sport.

Right now the Patriots are a mess, but if there is a tandem that can figure it out and turn things around it’s Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.