Did anyone notice Brandon Lloyd dropped 4 different downfield passes ... all catchable balls ... all of which hit is hands ... against the Jets. 

FOUR DROPS!  At least one would've been a TD, and two of them could and should have been TDs.  These were big, big makeable plays that would have totally changed the whole nature of the game (and made it a blowout in the Patriots favor).

This guy is providing no downfield threat whatsoever, because anytime that Brady wants to stretch the field and go downfield, Brandon Lloyd then predictably drops the ball, or botches-up the play......and Brady is losing his confidence at the deep play. 

This is one of the reasons why the Patriots Offense is so inconsistent, and fails at critical times. Brady has no deep threat to work with, and even when the correct thing to do is to go downfield at certain times....Brady really can't trust in it, and there is no conversion ...   Brady also threw some balls way over his head too. And I think it is because he just doesn't trust him, and re-decides to throw it away to be safe.  But 4 big, big plays were out there, with the ball delivered, and were then botched-up by Brandon Bleepin Lloyd (once again) that an NFL receiver is supposed to make.

Outside of a few novelty catches along the sidelines for short yardage, this guy is no different in terms of failing the real role that he was supposed to fill (a downfield role), and in terms of his reliablity and trustworthiness than Ochocinco.   Like Ocho, he's only had just 1 single TD all season (and with more playing time), and numerous, numerous drops and botched plays that should've been difference makers.

And he has not, and cannot make a  downfield play   (30+ yards) to save his life .... period .... even when the ball is delivered to his hands.  We see this game..after..game..after..game..after game.

How many drops does this guy get, before the Team recognizes that he cannot be trusted?  


This just ain't the guy.

Why is it always so hard for this Team to get a damn wide-receiver who can catch the deep pass?

Notice also that on the make-or-break, critical game-tying drive, and also on the winning drive, Brandon Lloyd was a non-participant and non-factor.  Brady knew he was never gonna win the game ... with this guy.

At least DL2 is enjoying the Pat's struggles.

I'm going to give him a bit of a pass.  At worst, the defense needs to stay honest with the deep ball.  Not all free agent signings will be 2007 Randy Moss, who comes in and breaks season TD records during Brady's prime.  I'm assuming that he improves, but I'm fine with him for now.

If the teams with positive winning %'s were crushing us, I'd be concerned.  If we picked up a single win against the Ravens, Cardinals or Seahawks, we would be a 5-2 team.  4-3 isn't bad though.  I just want to see impovement.

Brandon LLoyd needs to get his stuff together.This offense would be much better if they had that 3rd option.

 
> "I'm going to give him a bit of a pass...Not all free agent signings will be 2007 Randy Moss, who comes in and breaks season TD records during Brady's prime."

That's a false argument.

Nobody is trying to compare him to Randy Moss level of production.  We're just simply talking about  ..... catching a damn ball when it is within your hands, and doing your job on makable plays.  

Brandon Lloyd has not made one single play downfield all season long (that is 30-yards or more). Now ironically both of the small Slot Receivers: Welker, Edelman have done so (which is a bonus, and not even their job), and .... even a 4th-string Tight-End has as well (Daniel Fells), as well as Gronk, etc..    But we got 0 (a shutout) from Brandon Bleeping Lloyd.  And (unlike the others) Brady specifically targets Lloyd deep downfield anywhere from 2 - 4 times a game ... and each time Brandon Lloyd  -- fails miserably to convert every time.  Again...there is not even one successful deep ball.

And it really matters, because The Patriots could be 7 - 0 right now.  And the big, noticeable thing that has been their problem (aside from the terrible Defensive Secondary) has been making that one extra play .. or one "big play" on Offense, that would lock-up-the-game, and put away their opponents.  

And Brady's stuck in a bad position here, because if he wants to go deep (as he should from time-to-time) he knows the play will be botched-up, and he's wasting a play (or maybe risking an INT). But if he is always just throwing within 20-yards or so, then their Offense becomes predictable, and easily defendable (by a good Defense) and can stall right out.  See the problem here?....  This is costing the Team key points, and wins.   You can't  "give him a bit of a pass"  (and besides, he'll just drop it anyways).

When you've had 10+ deep balls thrown your way...  in, or around, your hands, and then just dropped all of them throughout the season, then this guy (who is supposed to be a 'primary receiver', and the "deep guy") is a bad player. 

It's just not working out.
Mathew Slater could drop those ten+ balls too (or maybe catch one of them)...   

  
 

No one on this team has played consistently well (or in some cases: adequate) the last 3 weeks. Lloyd's drops are easier to spot, but I'm not quite ready to single him out as a flop just yet.

If he's still doing this after the bye, then yeah.

Maybe its time too look at the system !! It seems like we've had a steady stream of failures as of late. Ocho and others, the system can't be that complex, if it his maybe it should be changed. I think Brady has lost something in his accuracy and feel in the pocket, its called getting older!!!  The patriots are not the team they once were and have become middle of the road, so these losses and close wins should'nt surprise us pat fans and are becoming more of the norm.  And the secondary, well thats a whole nother deal.  This is what happens when you try get by on the cheap and use practice players as starters.

This is not to defend Lloyd but Welker has had his share of dropped balls as well. Branch had one catch as well yesterday. Gronk and Hernandez who have caught balls have also dropped balls that hit them right in the hands

Do they (Lloyd and Brady) need to get it together? Yes they do. IMO too early to call Lloyd a bust. Even Megatron up until last week only had one TD. And this isn't his first year in his system or playing with his QB. You wouldn't call him a bust would you?

Yeah.. I sure did notice that. That first long pass that hit him in the hands could have set the tone for the rest of the game!!! But no, we get another drop and here we go again. I thought that he could have redeemed homself with that last drive. Tom did throw a perfect pass but Brandon could not haul it i with Cromartie all over him.

That play was a play that HAS to be made in the playoffs. There will be tight coverage and you gotta be able to make the catch despite being shadowed.

Here's where I am when it comes to Lloyd.. The guy has proven that he can catch the intermediate route.. If he doesn't come through against the Rams by catching at least ONE deep ball..? I think this team needs to bring in a serious deep threat because we didn't get Brandon to have another possession receiver... Heck Welker has caught deep passes. However... I am cheering for Brandon to get it together, if he does, the Pats will be very difficult to stop on Offense.

PS- I will give Lloyd credit for a good catch vs the Bills but little else.

I think Ocho was a different situation. He couldn't understand the playbook. He just wasn't mentally up to the challenge.

Lloyd seems to be in the right places and seems to be getting open, he's just not finishing the plays.

Hey DL was is Lloyd a flop? Why do you think he is such a great down field threat? If you do then the blame goes on you for rating him as such. Lloyd is an average receiver with pretty good speed. He is a guy who has bounced around to a few teams because he is good not great. If you expected him to come in and catch bomb after bomb then you need to some more research or actually watch some games because that is not the player that I saw in Lloyd.

Lloyd has one season that he caught more then 3 passes for 40+ yards. He has handful of catches over 50 yards in 10 seasons. He has had two season in which he had more then 50 catches in 10 years. The guy is not a burner that you can throw the ball to deep every game. He is nice player that will get you about 3 catches a game end the season with about 600 yards and have 4 or 5 TD's. That is Brandon Lloyd. Not the ONE season he had in 2010 with Denver. If that is the player you thought the Patriots were getting then its good that you are not a scout because those numbers were the exception not the rule.

Brandon Lloyd has not made one single play downfield all season long (that is 30-yards or more). Now ironically both of the small Slot Receivers: Welker, Edelman have done so (which is a bonus, and not even their job), and .... even a 4th-string Tight-End has as well (Daniel Fells), as well as Gronk, etc.. But we got 0 (a shutout) from Brandon 

Bleeping Lloyd. And (unlike the others) Brady specifically targets Lloyd deep downfield anywhere from 2 - 4 times a game ... and each time Brandon Lloyd -- fails miserably to convert every time. Again...there is not even one successful deep ball. "
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When you see numerous WR' ends, etc. failing to catch the passes', you begin to wonder about the accuracy and quality of the passes'. For example, Lloyd was overthrown a number of times. Balls from Mr. QB were simply not catchible. (sp) Evidence the pass to an open Gronk, thrown way over his 6'7" frame.

While some may question the catchers, others may question the thrower. Something systemicaly is seriously wrong. That something continues to reside in Brady's head.

The true fun of the Patriots no longer seems to carry the intensity,  excitement or glory of a 4th quarter come back or a 35 point blow out. We saw it again yesterday. Lucky at the end. Lucky..................

Because I'm on the Left Coast, I follow games via Twitter and the GameCenter. Every week I see one of the sportswriters say at least 2 or 3 times during the game that Brady didn't even see a wide-open receiver, and either threw to tighter coverage or just threw it away. That didn't use to happen - not with such frequency.

Maybe Brady is hitting the back-side of his performance curve as he gets older. He's still better than 95% of the QB's out there. But maybe also they need to streamline things a bit so there aren't 50 zillion reads to make.

Every QB misjudges his receivers when throwing deep from time to time. Fact is.. Lloyd had a chance to catch the deep pass in the beginning of the game and dropped it point blank. He had another chance to win the game at the end on a go route when Tom threw a good deep pass. Game on the line, good accurate throw, good coverage.. Lloyd had no idea what was going on, completely out of sync. At least that's how it came across. I hope Brady keeps throwing it to him because Brandon does show some potential, let's hope it's just a matter of time.

> "While some may question the catchers, others may question the thrower"

I couldn't disagree more.

When the Quarterback, who in Brady's case is often under great pressure, puts the ball right on the Recievers hands, it is the expected job of any quality NFL Receiver to catch the damn ball and convert the play.  This is true whether we're talking about Lloyd, Welker, Hernandez, Gronk, or whoever.  That's the job description of an NFL Reciever.

To blame Brady for balls delivered to ... but which clank off of .... the receiver's hands is ridiculous.  And in case you had your eyes closed, the Game's TV Broadcasters (Boomer Esiason, etc.)  pointed it out many times very clearly where the catchable balls were.  It was obvious.  

To bring up the fact that Brady had some bad throws too is just escaping the fundamental issue.  No QB has ever had a 100% completion percentage. The game is complex, and all Quarterbacks have some bad throws and incompletions (many times because Receivers don't get open, or because of protection problems).  Now Tom Brady has completed 65% of his passes this season -- despite numerous dropped balls which were makable plays (which if made would put him at 70%).  His passer rating is in the high-90s, with an average of 300/yards-per-game.  And he is approaching Johnny Unitas's All-Time NFL Record streak for consecutive games with TD throws (broken by only Drew Brees).  He is clearly doing his job.  He's not the one with the goose-egg here:  Brandon Lloyd is!

Now if Brady had someone trustworthy (other than Lloyd) who could catch the damn ball, then his numbers would be off the charts here, and the Patriots would be scoring an extra TD or two-per-game, and the Team would be 7 - 0 right now (despite poor Defensive play).

Just convert a few of those those catchable balls, and then there would be a night-and-day difference.  This proves that Brady is not the problem.  

Lloyd had 4 downfield plays right in his hands last Sunday, and whiffed on all four (whatever other mistakes were either made or not made).  All Lloyd has to do is make one of those plays with the ball on his hands, and then it is a whole different game.  The failing is his.

And Lloyd has been whifffing all season long (not one single downfield play all season).

DL thinks Brady deserves no blame for struggling offense. Next up: scientists claim that water is wet.

>  "Lloyd is an average receiver with pretty good speed. He is a guy who has bounced around to a few teams because he is good not great."

Agree.  But even an average Receiver is supposed to catch balls that hit him right on his hands. 
Even an average Receiver is supposed to not abruptly hold-up on his routes, and keep running forward to meet the ball properly.

I never expected miracles. 
I never expected "Randy Moss".

We're just talking about basic Football skills 101.

> "DL thinks Brady deserves no blame for struggling offense"

Statistically, Brady is playing better than he did in 2001, 2003, 2004.  And he's clearly playing as well as his peers (Manning, Brees, Rodgers). And he has a very low Interception Rate (just 3 INTs all season long). Peyton Manning had  3 INTs in one game this season.

So to hold him to some standard of perfection is just not realistic. The only serious problem here is that there hasn't been that one "big play" downfield, or that extra two or three conversions.

The wideout position is the big failing there.  Give Brady someone trustworthy, and then you would not see this problem at all.......

Bring back Troy Brown!

DL, I just look and Welker has more drops this year then Lloyd.

Just goes to show how misleading statistics can be, huh?  Cuz if anyone thinks Brady has played well these last two weeks, then they are not paying attention.

There are many variables here man.. One thing that I will say is that after all the vanilla offense and inconsistancy.. Lloyd had a chance to haul in a touchdown to win the game in the 4th quarter and it didn't happen. I watch a team like the Giants etc... And those receivers make amazing catches. I'm not comparing Victor Cruz to Brandon Lloyd but man.. End of the game.. You NEED players to make plays when the game is on the line. To put Blame on Tom Brady? No quarterback is perfect, but when the game was ON THE LINE, Brady delivered accurate throws and Lloyd could have turned Gillette into a madhouse.. Ughhh.. Bottom line is that wide receiver continues to be an issue on this team, and I am still pulling for Lloyd to gain confidence and provide another hurdle for opposing teams. Hope Brandon has a huge game against the Rams.

LET'S GO PATS!!!

Brady is not seeing open guys. He's not making the right reads. Not as reliably as he used to. And it's not Lloyd he's failing to notice being open.

That said, clearly Lloyd isn't yet performing where it was hoped he would be. I'm just saying there's plenty of blame to go around this team right now. I'd love it if WR was the biggest concern. Right now it ranks 3rd at best behind the coaching and the tertiary (because they ain't playing well enough to be called a "secondary").

In fact, wasn't McD supposed to be the guy who made Lloyd the second coming of Jerry Rice? So, like, where'd that magic go, Scooter?

DerekLarsson2 wrote:
> "While some may question the catchers, others may question the thrower"

I couldn't disagree more.

When the Quarterback, who in Brady's case is often under great pressure, puts the ball right on the Recievers hands, it is the expected job of any quality NFL Receiver to catch the damn ball and convert the play.  This is true whether we're talking about Lloyd, Welker, Hernandez, Gronk, or whoever.  That's the job description of an NFL Reciever.

To blame Brady for balls delivered to ... but which clank off of .... the receiver's hands is ridiculous.  And in case you had your eyes closed, the Game's TV Broadcasters (Boomer Esiason, etc.)  pointed it out many times very clearly where the catchable balls were.  It was obvious.  

To bring up the fact that Brady had some bad throws too is just escaping the fundamental issue.  No QB has ever had a 100% completion percentage. The game is complex, and all Quarterbacks have some bad throws and incompletions (many times because Receivers don't get open, or because of protection problems).  Now Tom Brady has completed 65% of his passes this season -- despite numerous dropped balls which were makable plays (which if made would put him at 70%).  His passer rating is in the high-90s, with an average of 300/yards-per-game.  And he is approaching Johnny Unitas's All-Time NFL Record streak for consecutive games with TD throws (broken by only Drew Brees).  He is clearly doing his job.  He's not the one with the goose-egg here:  Brandon Lloyd is!

Now if Brady had someone trustworthy (other than Lloyd) who could catch the damn ball, then his numbers would be off the charts here, and the Patriots would be scoring an extra TD or two-per-game, and the Team would be 7 - 0 right now (despite poor Defensive play).

Just convert a few of those those catchable balls, and then there would be a night-and-day difference.  This proves that Brady is not the problem.  

Lloyd had 4 downfield plays right in his hands last Sunday, and whiffed on all four (whatever other mistakes were either made or not made).  All Lloyd has to do is make one of those plays with the ball on his hands, and then it is a whole different game.  The failing is his.

And Lloyd has been whifffing all season long (not one single downfield play all season).

 "> "While some may question the catchers, others may question the thrower"

I couldn't disagree more.

When the Quarterback, who in Brady's case is often under great pressure, puts the ball right on the Recievers hands, it is the expected job of any quality NFL Receiver to catch the damn ball and convert the play. This is true whether we're talking about Lloyd, Welker, Hernandez, Gronk, or whoever. That's the job description of an NFL Reciever. "
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DL2 - How in the world do you disagree with the highlight? Thats a/k/a/ six of one, half dozen of the other. Perhaps you would care to chime in on why Belichick seems to be keeping the leaguie's best receiver off the field? Or chime in on the play selections. Or chime in on the sub-par performance of Mr. QB last week. By the way DL, who was the "mystery" receiver in those intentional groundings and the the 2 point safety tossed by Mr. QB? Those guys had solid hands too. Your lecture come from basics 101?
Always a pleasure DL..................

Is Calvin Megatron Johnson is bust? Look at the amount of TD's he has currently this season. Look at the catches he had last night. 3 for 34 yards. I believe through 3 quarters he had only one catch.

Give Lloyd a chance.

So Brady was called for intentional grounding the previous week, therefore Brandon Lloyd should be dropping touchdown passes? I don't understand this argument. So I guess Victor Cruz should have dropped that game winning pass Manning threw since Manning completely missed him on a slant for a touchdown in the first half of that game??? I guess all the Patriots players should just tank this season since Brady was flagged for intentional grounding in week 6. By this logic It really is fair to say that the Pats are just a one man team. "Mr. QB" is a bum, thank god he has all these playmakers all over the field.. like Lloyd that keep bailing him out week after week.

DL once again makes an argument based on surface observations.   

Bottom line is Tommy Terrific isn't getting the job done.  Put the ball where the receiver can catch it and they more often than not will catch it.  This is not to say all the blame should be heaped on Tommy but most of it can be pushed his way.

Sorry Tommy, its been great, we had a lot of good years.

Espdemon wrote: So Brady was called for intentional grounding the previous week, therefore Brandon Lloyd should be dropping touchdown passes? I don't understand this argument. So I guess Victor Cruz should have dropped that game winning pass Manning threw since Manning completely missed him on a slant for a touchdown in the first half of that game??? I guess all the Patriots players should just tank this season since Brady was flagged for intentional grounding in week 6. By this logic It really is fair to say that the Pats are just a one man team. "Mr. QB" is a bum, thank god he has all these playmakers all over the field.. like Lloyd that keep bailing him out week after week.

ESPdemon..............You change a legitimate conversation into pure sarcasm. Logically, you are acting illogically.
" So Brady was called for intentional grounding the previous week, therefore Brandon Lloyd should be dropping touchdown passes? " Seems to be that the "hugh"?? is on you !

You began the sarcasm by talking about Mr QB throwing to "mystery receivers".. that's what started the sarcasm. Nice try to pit it on me though. While I kept with the original topic and Lloyd's inept play, you began to connect Lloyd's play with Brady's terrible terrible play this season, especially when the game was on the line against the Jets, and Tom hit Brandon with a sideline pass that bounced off his chest. Your explaination is that the passes are uncatchable. I guess it was a miracle that Brandon caught two TDs yesterday, and all the commentators were stating that he needed those catches to build some confidence. You're in the minority by thinking otherwise.

Let's keep this conversation on football, - and stay off the "personal stuff".

It was good to see Lloyd have two TD catches. He isa not the only receiver to have dropped some passes that hit him in the hands this year: Gronk, Hernandez and Welker has all dropped more than one pass that have hit them in the hands.

> "He is not the only receiver to have dropped some passes that hit him in the hands this year: Gronk, Hernandez and Welker has all dropped more than one pass that have hit them in the hands."

But the difference here is that Lloyd, unlike the others, has not made one big downfield play all season long.  His longest pass play is only 25 yards.  Every opportunity which he has had for a big play has been messed-up.

Meanwhile Gronk, Welker, even Danny Woodhead have all made their share of big plays downfield in the passing game.  But Lloyd has only been effective in the 10-15 yard area, and whiffed at every big ball play.

This is why he is singled out here....

Lloyd is on pace for 870 yards and 6 TDs.  He;s been a bit of a disappointment but hardly a flop

Im not sure Lloyd is even a flop.  He does get doubled a lot and if hes not Tommy is going to throw it to someone else. He seems to run good routes.  The only thing I can see is he doesn't jump his route if the DB's have him locked up.  Give him a little longer with Welker and Hernandez,  he'll pick it up.