Boomer Esiason On Toucher & Rich: 'Wouldn't Worry Too Much' About Patriots' Offense
BOSTON (CBS) - Former NFL great and current WFAN morning host Boomer Esiason joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich for the first of his weekly appearances during the football season on Monday.
The New England Patriots needed a comeback win against the Buffalo Bills yesterday, and aside from Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, it looked like Tom Brady and his new receiving corps were not on the same page. Rookies Kenbrell Thompkins and Zach Sudfeld struggled after having strong pre-seasons, so is the offense going to be a problem going forward? Boomer doesn't think so.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," said Boomer. "They did run 89 offensive plays, so I don't know if the score is indicative of just how good their offense was. If you take a look at what Vereen, Edelman and Amendola did, and the fact they got very little if anything out of the tight ends -- once Rob Gronkowski comes back that'll change -- but you could see there was some frustration yesterday. There is no question they're not all on the same page. Tom Brady said after the game it's work in progress. Any time you run 89 offensive plays that's pretty telling and that's why I don't react too much to the score."
Read: After Injury Scare, Amendola Catches On In Patriots Debut
"It was one of those things where the game was tighter than it had to be," said Boomer, noting the three New England turnovers. "The Patriots had the ball for almost 38 minutes and without those turnovers who knows how long they end up holding on to the ball. They probably hold on to the ball for more than 40 minutes and end up winning by 14-17 points. The score is not indicative of how good the Patriots played, but if you're a perfectionist, and Tom Brady is one of those, if you come off the field and feel like you had to extend yourself in the fourth quarter against a team with a rookie quarterback, I understand why he was upset after the game."
Read: After Benching, Ridley Determined To Earn Starting Job Back
Brady took a pay cut in the off-season to lower his cap hit. Did the Patriots use that free space to surround him with enough weapons on offense?
"I don't think anyone expected the Aaron Hernandez situation to take place. They all knew Gronk was coming back from back and arm surgery, and I just think it's a situation where so many things happened to them that were unforeseen. But when you get Amendola and his first game is Wes Welker-like, I think they did a good job," said Boomer. "No one adapts better than the Patriots do, though I don't know a team that had as tumultuous of an off-season as they did and responded accordingly. Once Gronk gets back and Thompkins gets used to being out there and understanding what an NFL football game is all about, they'll be fine. Offensively they'll be as good as anybody, they just don't have the dynamic athletes that Peyton Manning does in Denver."
Boomer also talks about Stevan Ridley's fumbles, Shane Vereen's big day, and the Pats' upcoming game against Geno Smith and the New York Jets on Thursday:
