Patriots' offense shifts into overdrive against Colts

Tom E. Curran looks at some Hard Truths of the Patriots' 38-24 win over Indianapolis.

FOXBORO -- All fixed! Or mostly.

Tom Brady had Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on the field together for the first time since midway through the 2016 season and, right away, it showed.

Route combinations and a fast-break offense on the Patriots' first drive put Brady in his comfort zone as he went 9-for-9 for 78 yards, hitting five different receivers.

Edelman wasn’t eased back in. He was dunked. He caught two passes on the first drive, returned punts and caught three of the four passes sent his way. The one he didn’t haul in was on a wheel route and it was a flat-out drop. That’s something we talked about this week and something that irritated Edelman during training camp -- drops. That aspect may take some time to return.

BEFORE THE GAME, WE SAID . . .

Edelman finished with seven catches for 57 yards. The Cover-2 that Indy played most of the night didn’t let him get untracked the way he hoped to, but the most surprising part of his performance was the speed, power and elusiveness he was able to show in his first game back.

The trickle-down effect from Edelman’s return meant way more room to roam for James White, who finished with 10 catches for 77 yards. He had nine catches for 74 yards in the first half.

The same went for Gronkowski, who, despite being questionable for the game with a balky ankle, moved very well. He had a big third quarter with consecutive 15-yard catches from Brady but cost the Patriots points when he wasn’t able to tuck away a throw from Brady at the Indy 4 and saw it knocked loose for an interception.

With both of those players chasing incentives, it was doubly painful since Gronk lost a 19-yard catch and Brady’s yardage, completion percentage and passer rating all took a hit.

Gronk finished with six catches for 75 yards.

Almost lost in the shuffle most of the game was Josh Gordon.

MORE HARD TRUTHS

It’s funny how a week can change things. Gordon was front-page news last week but he only saw two targets in the first three quarters and both fell incomplete. He made his first catch in the third quarter on a skinny post for 15 yards, then he was on the receiving end of a 34-yard touchdown pass as Brady bought time, directed traffic and threw to a spot where Gordon hauled it in between two Colts defenders.

Even though Brady went 34-for-44 and two of the 10 misfires were drops that wound up as interceptions, he wasn’t dead-balls accurate with his placement.

But as much as the passing game’s improved with the additions of Gordon and Edelman, the more remarkable improvement is probably the ground game. For the second time in five days, the Patriots were effective on the ground, especially into the middle of the Colts defense with Sony Michel. He wound up with 98 yards on 18 carries including a 34-yard touchdown run that showed a speed-power combo that makes him one of the most impressive three-down backs the Patriots have drafted in years.

It was just White and Michel active last night and Bill Belichick made specific mention of their work.

“Yeah, those guys did a great job,” he said. “Both of them did a great job. We were dependent on them for quite a bit and they came through. They both carried a heavy load and very productively. They did a great job with ball security and making the plays that were available, and also making some plays on their own. They made some guys miss, broke some tackles, gained some extra yards. I thought it was a great job by both of those guys. They really came through for us.”

Belichick did add that the Patriots didn’t get everything they could have on the ground.

“We hit a couple of big runs,” he pointed out. “Overall, we had, I'd say, probably too many runs that weren't that productive but that was offset by some big chunk runs. I think there's more yards that we could make there, but they're good up front. They have a good front. They're hard to block. They stunt a lot . . . I thought our guys hung in there, but I think we left a few out on the field, too.”