5 takeaways from the Patriots’ preseason win over the Detroit Lions

UH OH, EDELMAN

There was a lot to like from the Patriots’ first-teamers Friday night – but it could all be negated if New England gets bad news on Edelman.

Tom Brady’s favorite target went down with an injury after his third catch of the first quarter, his knee appearing to buckle as he tried to cut sharply on his right foot. Edelman reached for the back of his knee as soon as he landed on the turf, and while he didn’t stay down for long, then limped off the field, he was quickly taken to a medical tent on the sideline. From there he was put on a cart and driven to the locker room, his night finished.

The offense hummed along without Edelman, turning each of their first three possessions into touchdowns. And the receiving corps is adequately equipped to absorb his absence even if he’s forced to miss a significant chunk of the regular season. But the concern is bigger than that.

If reports from ESPN and the NFL Network are accurate, and further tests reveal that Edelman’s ACL is torn, reconstructive knee surgery would deal a major blow to the Pats’ aspirations for this immensely promising season – and there’s also a chance it could conceivably mean the end of his days as a focal point of the Patriots’ attack. Edelman is 31 years old. He’d return to the field at 32, though history suggests (with Wes Welker and others) it can take at least another year before a quick-twitch player like Edelman is ready to get back to being himself. At 33, there’d be major questions about whether that would even be possible for a player with as much wear and tear on his body as Edelman has endured from the slot.

OFFENSIVE DEPTH SHINES

As impressive as it was for the New England offense to score on each of its first four offensive series, and post 21 points in the opening eight and a half minutes of action, maybe even more striking was the way those drives highlighted the depth of the Patriots’ playmaking corps.

It’s one thing to ogle at the names on paper, as many did over the spring and summer. It’s another to see it come to life on the field with the season opener less than two weeks away. Brady was typically sensational, finishing the first quarter 10-of-11 for 157 yards and two touchdowns, the only incompletion coming on a ball Brandin Cooks let slip from his bread basket. Edelman had three catches on the first series before he was hurt, though after he left the focus turned to Hogan, who subsequently scored on consecutive offensive plays.

The first (a seven-yarder) was aided by the presence of Rob Gronkowski, who left a vacancy near the goal line by taking two defenders with him into the end zone. The second (a 32-yarder) was all Hogan, as he turned his route up the field, shook off contact from a defender, then he elevated to win a contested ball and he crashed to paydirt. In Hogan’s breakout last season, a two-TD, 180-yard effort in the AFC championship, his biggest plays came on wide-open catches and on a couple he seemed to double-catch the ball. There were no indications that Hogan’s hands could be a concern on Friday night, which he finished with xx catches for xx yards.

Ever-dependable Danny Amendola made a pretty catch, too, for 31 yards. James White and Dion Lewis both ran the ball effectively early. As did newcomer Mike Gillislee, whose bullish two-point conversion was harder earned than the three-yard touchdown haul that preceded it.

Before they were finally forced to punt five minutes into the second quarter, the Patriots had amassed 235 yards while facing third down only four times. They were averaging nearly nine yards per play. They had scored 24 points, including a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. Nobody would suggest the Lions defense is among the league’s upper echelon. And this was just a tune-up – but with the starters on the field, at least, the Patriots already look every bit like the well-oiled machine they’re expected to be.

NEW NORMAL FOR GOSTKOWSKI

When he missed a point-after in the 2015-16 playoffs, it was considered a freaky aberration. When he experienced struggles throughout 2016-17, there were questions about whether it was a confidence issue or perhaps a year-long slump. But with another errant kick Friday night, instead of trying to explain Gostkowski’s misses it might make more sense at this point to simply change our expectations.

For years, Gostkowski was about as automatic as they come in the kicking game. He set the NFL record for consecutive extra-point tries made, and established himself as the most accurate field-goal kicker in Patriots history. Last year he missed a higher percentage of field goals than he had in any season since 2012, and including the postseason he was wide with a total of five extra points.

But he still converted 34 of 39 field goal tries, and his success rate of 93.9 percent was actually a tick higher than the league’s regular-season average (93.6 percent) on PATs. So, is Gostkowski the same player he was in his prime? It doesn’t appear so. But if the expectation is lowered from elite and automatic to adequate and generally dependable, is he still an asset? Absolutely.

MIXED BAG FOR BUTLER

If the Lions’ approach was the result of specifically gameplanning for how to attack the Patriots, it was clear that Detroit didn’t want to attack Stephon Gilmore. Matt Stafford appeared to prefer his receivers’ matchups with Eric Rowe – though he also wasn’t shy about going at Malcolm Butler.

Butler did some good things. He threw a punch the caliber of which Conor McGregor could use Saturday night, and forced a fumble in what’s becoming his signature fashion. Then he was in tight coverage, deflected a wild Stafford throw, and helped create a Rowe interception.

But for the second straight week, Butler was also burnt for a touchdown. Beating single coverage, Marvin Jones Jr. got a step on him, and when Butler slowed himself by turning his head to prematurely try and find the ball the cornerback had no chance of getting to Stafford’s well-placed throw. Following a play where he tripped when trying to stick with a receiver in Houston, it marked the second straight week in which a quarterback saw Butler on an island and opted to go at him – and, especially with Gilmore as the alternative, that may be a strategy teams continue to employ until Butler can find a way to dissuade them.

DEFENSIVE DEPTH REMAINS UNSETTLED

Last week the Patriots kept the Texans to five yards or fewer on nine of Houston’s final 10 drives, an encouraging step forward for New England’s defense. Fridaynight, however, the Pats allowed the Lions to go 80, 88, 62, and 60 yards en route to the end zone on four of five possessions.

Only the first of those came with starters on the field, so it’s not a major concern – however, New England has roles to fill along the defensive line and among its linebacker corps, and with just a week until the roster is trimmed from 90 players to 53, the exhibition games have yet to see any particular players step up and seize those opportunities. Veterans like Kony Ealy and Lawrence Guy were on the field deep into play Friday, while the Pats did some experimenting with on-the-bubble safety Jordan Richards spending a lot of time near the line of scrimmage.

With that, next Thursday’s preseason finale is shaping up as an important one, particularly at those positions where players currently fighting for roster spots could find themselves with prominent responsibilities once the games begin to count for real.