Taking Stock of New England Patriots at Halfway Point of Season

Kristopher KnoxNov 6, 2017

The New England Patriots have played through half their regular-season schedule. While the season didn't start and hasn't gone quite as expected, the Patriots still sit at 6-2 and in position to make yet another push to the Super Bowl.

Considering New England has dealt with significant injuries, ineffective new players, an uncharacteristically shaky defense and a poor 2-2 start, 6-2 has to feel pretty good for Patriots fans. Things could easily be much worse, but the Patriots have continued to improve and push on.

So how has New England gotten to this point? What lies ahead as the Patriots look to finish out the second half of the year? We're here to discuss exactly that.

These are the biggest storylines surrounding the Patriots at the halfway point in the 2017 season.

Defense Still a Work in Progress

1 of 8

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Patriots defense was atrocious at the start of the season, and it continues to be a rebuilding process. While the unit has made improvements, it's still ranked dead-last in total defense (417.0 yards per game allowed) and against the pass (295.5 yards per game).

This was a unit that was ranked first in scoring defense (15.6 points per game allowed) and was expected to be even better on the back end with the addition of cornerback Stephon Gilmore.

Much of the problems on defense have stemmed from miscommunication in pass coverage. Players like Gilmore struggled to adjust to some of New England's more complicated zone-coverage schemes, which led to coverage mishaps and big plays for opposing offenses.

Over the first four weeks of the season, New England surrendered an average of 32.0 points per game. That's awful, especially for a franchise that emphasizes the fundamentals.

It's Now Bend-but-Don't-Break for the Defense

2 of 8

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Last year's defense was a dominant unit that smothered opposing offenses with regularity. Patriots have had to adapt to make the defense serviceable this season. Instead of being an attacking, dominant unit, the defense has employed a bend-but-don't-break strategy.

The first step was to simplify coverage schemes in order to prevent miscommunications and big plays. Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia only recently began placing some more advanced schemes into the playbook, but that's big moving forward.

"It started to move to that," safety Duron Harmon explained, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. "The idea of disguising against a really good quarterback was going to be really important. I think we were able to work some of that, and it really helped. With great quarterbacks, you can’t always give them the coverage."

The Patriots are still giving up a lot of yards, but the chunk plays and the touchdowns have been coming against the defense at a less frequent pace. It all seems to be working, as New England has surrendered just 12.75 points per game over the last four contests.

Pass Protection an Issue

3 of 8

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

Quarterback Tom Brady took a career-high 41 sacks back in 2001. That was his second year in the league. He's on pace for 42 sacks this season, which is an issue.

Brady has been sacked 21 times, six more than he was in 12 games last season. He's been hurried, hit, battered and bashed far more than that. For a 40-year-old signal-caller, this is worrisome. The Patriots cannot possibly be the same team without Brady under center.

Protecting Brady is obviously a goal for New England, as Belichick recently explained.

"We always try to, obviously, protect the quarterback, create holes in the running game and do all of the things that we try to do to move the ball and be successful," he said earlier in the season, via a conference call.

Execution in pass protection hasn't quite matched up with where the Patriots want to be. This is something that has to change moving forward.

TOP NEWS

Bleacher Report1w

Bleacher Report1w

Bleacher Report1w

But Tom Brady Is Still Awesome

4 of 8

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Life hasn't been easy for Brady this season. He's been battered around by opposing defenses, he's lost standout receiver Julian Edelman for the season and he's had to overcome quite a few deficits along the way.

Yet Brady is still having one of the best statistical seasons of his career.

Brady is completing 66.7 percent of his passes and has tossed 16 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He's on pace for more than 5,000 yards, and he is throwing the deep ball with as much zip and accuracy as we've seen from him.

New England has struggled in a few areas this season, but the passing game hasn't been one of them. If Brady continues playing like he has through eight games, the Patriots are going to remain a tough matchup for any opponent.

No Garoppolo

5 of 8

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

The Patriots had better hope Brady continues playing at an elite level, and they'd better hope they can keep him upright. This is because highly regarded backup Jimmy Garoppolo is no longer with the team.

In one of the biggest midseason developments of the entire league, New England decided to trade Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers just before the deadline.

Garoppolo was an excellent insurance policy and was widely believed to be taking the reins on offense within the next couple years. That obviously won't be the case.

"For any conspiracy theorists who believed Brady would hang up his cleats if he won another Super Bowl. Think again," Doug Kyed of NESN.com recently wrote. "There's no way the Patriots pull off this trade without knowing Brady is being serious when he says he wants to keep playing into his mid-40s."

It certainly does feel like Brady is now set to continue playing for the foreseeable future. That's good news for Patriots fans—again, as long as he continues playing at a high level.

As for the backup job, it now belongs to Brian Hoyer. He was released by the 49ers following the trade and spent his first three NFL seasons in New England.

Surviving the Early Stretch

6 of 8

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Patriots started the season 2-2, which obviously wasn't ideal. However, looking back, it doesn't seem so bad.

New England's two losses have come against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Carolina Panthers. Both of them are among the better teams in the NFL and both currently sit at 6-3. While the Patriots did have some close moments against the other teams on their early schedule, they beat the teams they were supposed to.

One of the tougher matchups on the schedule—against 2016 Super Bowl foe the Atlanta Falcons—ended in a blowout win for the Patriots.

This has New England sitting with the best record in the AFC, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Patriots can continue on their current path, they should have a good shot at a first-round playoff bye and possibly even home-field advantage.

Challenging Road Ahead

7 of 8

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

The first half of the Patriots season hasn't been a cakewalk, and there's still a tough stretch waiting ahead.

Five of New England's final eight games are on the road. The Patriots next play the Broncos in Denver and then the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City. The stretch ends with five AFC East matchups sandwiched around a road game with the Steelers.

Now, normally, finishing with so many AFC East games would be a welcome development. However, the division has actually been quite competitive this season. The New York Jets are the only AFC East team under .500, and they're sitting at 4-5 and coming off a big win against the Buffalo Bills. This stretch isn't going to be a breeze.

The fact the Steelers game is in the middle of the final stretch is critical because that game could ultimately determine who gets the AFC's No. 1 seed. With the Bills only a game back in the AFC East, both of their games are going to be huge, too.

The silver lining here is that the last two games of the season are both at home. Of course, this means five of the six before will be on the road.