Brian Tyms Gives Patriots More Explosive Playmaking Ability in Passing Game

Without a wide receiver who is a deep threat and a quarterback who can throw a deep ball, an NFL offense can be in deep trouble.

Patriots wide receiver Brian Tyms made one catch on Sunday, but that's the nudge New Englanders needed to go over the moon for Tyms' potential.

It took a single 43-yard touchdown catch on a deep strike from quarterback Tom Brady to highlight the fact that the Patriots may have more explosive potential than they showed early this season. Maybe because it was one of the first real signs of explosive potential we've seen all season, period.

Games	Cmp	Att	Cmp %
First 4	1	16	6.3
Last 2	4	7	57.1
Total	5	23	21.7

It was only Brady's third pass completion of the season that traveled 20 yards or more through the air, according to stats website Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Brady hit two more later in the game: one to tight end Rob Gronkowski lined up wide, and another to Brandon LaFell that sealed the game for the Patriots.

With Brady and the offensive line playing at a high level, the explosive plays should continue to come from all areas.

Tyms is another player who can add to that dynamic presence.

"He's a vertical threat," Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis said, via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. "I think that's why he's on this team. He can stretch the field for us in the passing game. He's been doing it all training camp, and it's good to see him finally get one."

The catch was a combination of play design and pure effort.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

It started with a nice play-action fake to hold the free safety, Corey Graham. Brady has mastered the play-action fake throughout his career, and he is using it as a major weapon in the passing game this season, with 28.4 percent of his pass attempts coming off play-action (sixth-highest percentage in the NFL). Brady hid the ball from view, forcing the safety to honor the run.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

With the safety eliminated from the play by his own delay, Tyms was able to split the cornerback and the safety and was left in a one-on-one matchup with cornerback Stephon Gilmore. 

"I took off, Gilmore went outside, so I pressed him more outside," Tyms said after the game. "He tried to armbar me, so I slapped it down and just put the foot on the gas."

"Brian found a way to kind of slither his way through there and get behind him, and I threw it up and gave him a chance to make the play," Brady said.

Of course, the play design, the defense's reaction to it, and Tyms' route were all prelimary to the most spectacular part of the play: the catch.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

This is one of those jump-ball situations you hear about so often but rarely see in New England—maybe because they (understandably) don't throw many jump balls to the likes of Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. LaFell has been making a big impact over the past few weeks, but he has yet to show what he can do in a one-on-one battle in the end zone.

Tyms did it on his very first play.

He has talked about his admiration for Randy Moss, who taught him how to catch a deep ball, according to Doug Kyed of NESN.com.

Tyms models his game after "The Freak," and he already wears No. 84. If he keeps making grabs like this, it will become harder and harder to tell the difference. 

"I always try to attack the ball," Tyms said, via Steve Silva of Boston.com. "I don't like to let the ball come to me. There are a lot of good players in this league that can make a play. I wanted the ball more. I'm not going to run 40 yards without [catching] the ball."

It was the only time this season that Brady has connected on a pass traveling 40 yards or more through the air. The Patriots also had four pass plays that gained 20 yards or more, tying their own season-high for the most such pass plays in a single game this year.

Tyms has only just begun to make his name in the NFL, but his combination of height, speed, leaping ability and competitiveness make him a much-needed asset to the Patriots offense.

"He's one of the first guys here and the last guys to leave," head coach Bill Belichick said. "He's really diligent with his work and preparation. Even in the time that he missed, as soon as that was over he came back, he was right here at 6:30 in the morning to watch film, work out, get back into it. ... He’s been a real hardworking, diligent, do-extra type of kid that’s been good to be around. He brings a lot of good energy to the team and to the position and just his approach to the game. I like having him on the team."

His teammates will like having him on the team, too, especially if he continues to make explosive plays and threaten a defense vertically.

Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Rob Gronkowski all had a big day catching and running with the football, and while an explosive playmaker will always be a welcome commodity in New England, the Patriots offense is always running at its best when they are in rhythm and hitting on the high-percentage throws in the short and intermediate areas of the field.

With that being said, Tyms may not put up Moss-like numbers week-in and week-out, but that's part of a quality in the Patriots offense that has served as their identity in recent years: spreading the ball around, forcing defenses to account for all areas of the field, both horizontally and vertically.

Tyms looks ready to be a part of that identity.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes obtained via team news release.

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