FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The last time Tom Brady started a full season at quarterback, the New England Patriots’ offense struck terror in the hearts of opponents with an NFL-record 589 points.
Brady still inspires such fear in opponents, but he is coming off a season in which he played only a part of the first game before suffering a season-ending knee injury. In addition, the Patriots’ offense in the first two games of 2009 has yet to click the way it did in 2007, as New England needed two touchdowns on its final two possessions to defeat Buffalo 25-24 in Week 1 and then failed to produce a touchdown in Sunday’s 16-9 loss to the New York Jets.
New England still ranks ninth in total yards, averaging 370.0 yards per game, but they are tied for 22nd in scoring at 17.0 per game.
Coach Bill Belichick acknowledged in a conference call that the Patriots’ offense is not functioning as expected.
“I just think overall as a team we’ve got to do a better job than we have in the first two games offensively in every area: coaching, playing, running, passing, scoring,” he said. “We’ve just got to do a better job on everything. I don’t think it’s any one thing or any problem. Just collectively we’re not where we need to be. And I’m sure Tom feels the same way about it as I do.”
Patriots tight end Ben Watson, a University of Georgia product who caught both of those final two touchdowns against Buffalo, called the offense “a work in progress.”
Against the Jets, Brady posted an uncharacteristic quarterback rating of 53.1. Regardless, Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith respects him as one of the game’s best.
“One thing that all the upper echelon quarterbacks have is they have good decision making, the process they go through,” Smith said. “They’re always getting the ball out of their hands on-time and they’re getting it to the open receiver. He is a very accurate thrower.”
Brady is completing 62 percent of his passes, one percent lower than his career average, but he completed only 48.9 percent (23 of 47) against the Jets, who lead the league in total defense.
Falcons safety Erik Coleman, who formerly played with the Jets and saw Brady twice a year, called Brady a “brainiac” for his knowledge of the game.
“I’d be trying to disguise a coverage and he’d know where I was going,” Coleman said.
Brady’s weapons include one of the league’s top receivers in Randy Moss -- Coleman said the 6-foot-4 Moss causes defensive backs to lose sleep -- and dangerous slot receiver Wes Welker (knee), who missed last week’s game and did not practice on Wednesday.
In addition to personnel, the Patriots present game-planning dilemmas for opponents. Brady leads the NFL with 50 passing attempts per game -- the Patriots rank 26th in the league, averaging only 78 yards per game rushing -- but Smith said it would be nothing for New England to completely retool what they do from week to week.
“Through the first two games they’ve been throwing it a lot more than they’ve been running the football,” Smith said, “but I would anticipate we could very likely see a change this week. That’s something Coach Belichick will do. One week they may come out with two tight ends and then they may come out with a completely different personnel group and have a completely different plan attack.
“That’s what makes them so diverse is that you’ve got to prepare for everything.”
Asked if that makes the coaching staff’s task that much harder, Smith laughed.
“It complicates things and it makes things a little bit tougher,” he said.
INJURY REPORT: Running back Jerious Norwood (head) did not practice on Wednesday. Smith said Norwood was “day to day.” Place kicker Jason Elam (hamstring) also was limited in his participation in practice.
For New England, linebacker Jerod Mayo, who did not play on Sunday against the Jets, did not practice.
Smith was asked if defensive tackle Peria Jerry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday, had had his surgery yet. He said Jerry would wait a while, as wide receiver Harry Douglas, who tore his ACL about seven weeks ago, just had surgery last week.
Smith said Jerry had no timetable for his surgery.
For more, visit the Piedmont Healthcare Injury Report.
NOISY CROWD: Since the Falcons have not played on the road since Aug. 21 in a preseason game at St. Louis, Smith decided to have crowd noise pumped into Wednesday’s practice.
“It’s our first time going on the road and it’ll be a lot different than the two preseason games,” Smith said. “We wanted to acclimate our guys to the noise and in our team period we pumped it in. They did a nice job today and we’ll continue to use it this week.”
Coleman said Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play is one of the loudest in the NFL.
