Tom Brady's Preseason Struggles Not a Major Concern Without Key Offensive Pieces

It's preseason, the New England Patriots are missing many of their key players, and Tom Brady looks mortal. 

That can mean only one thing: It must be time to push the panic button.

Brady threw a pair of interceptions in the first half of the Patriots' 17-16 preseason win vs. the Carolina Panthers, which elicited the usual "sky is falling" reaction from football writers and fans across the Internet:

"

Two interceptions for Tom Brady. Sounds like somebody is nervous about Monday.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) August 29, 2015"

Of course Brady is distracted. Of course it's a good thing he won't play until after he serves a four-game suspension. 

His struggles this preseason couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he was throwing to Chris Harper (an undrafted rookie free agent) and Reggie Wayne (who just signed with the team days before this game). It couldn't at all have to do with the protection issues in the middle, where the Patriots currently have three rookies; two of them could be starting in Week 1, but undrafted center David Andrews is not one of them.

The Patriots have been without most of their key players this preseason. Brandon LaFell is still on the physically unable to perform list, and Julian Edelman has been missing from practice since August 2. Rob Gronkowski might as well be encased in bubble wrap, as the Patriots have kept him on the bench to keep him out of harm's way. 

None of that stopped Brady from firing on all cylinders inside of the two-minute warning, though. On the Patriots' final possession of the half, Brady was 5-of-6 for 71 yards and a touchdown, with three passes that picked up 15 yards or more. Those passes went to tight end Scott Chandler and wide receiver Danny Amendola. The NFL commented on Brady's performance:

It shouldn't be a huge surprise that those two are projected to be key players in the Patriots offense.

Amendola is the third receiver, and Chandler is the second tight end; with the Patriots running a lot of 11 (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers) and 12 (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers) personnel this season, Amendola and Chandler will be interchangeable, depending on which package the Patriots offense uses.

But the Patriots don't have an interchangeable part for Brandon LaFell; although Aaron Dobson is the closest thing, he's not quite there.

He made two catches for 51 yards, including one 40-yard bomb from Jimmy Garoppolo, and he was open several other times when he wasn't targeted, but he was responsible for the first of Brady's interceptions when he bobbled a catchable ball that was ripped away by Panthers cornerback Charles Tillman. 

The Patriots also don't have an interchangeable part for Rob Gronkowski. Chandler's touchdown catch was a good example of what could become the Patriots' catch phrase this season—"fade route to the big-bodied tight end in the red zone"—but Gronkowski is just a different breed. 

Amendola is close to interchangeable for Edelman, but the Patriots offense is much better off when it has Edelman on the field than when it's without him. He has become such an important security blanket for Brady over the past couple of years, the offense just doesn't look the same without him. 

Getting all those players back in the fold will make a big difference in the Patriots' offensive performance, whether it's Brady or Garoppolo behind center to start the regular season.