Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Julian Edelman looms large for Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- You are a New England Patriots follower and you are mostly disappointed by what you saw in Sunday's 16-9 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

The offensive line regressed. Quarterback Tom Brady was battered. There aren’t enough viable pass-catchers outside of Julian Edelman who threaten the opposition. The offensive play calling was puzzling at times. Time management was uncharacteristically poor. The defense, while ultimately coming up with the game-sealing interception and holding Oakland to nine points, struggled for stretches against a rookie quarterback making his third career start.

If the bottom-of-the-NFL-barrel Raiders weren't on the opposite sideline, the result almost certainly would have been different, and so this one leaves a bad taste almost across the board and will obviously be analyzed, dissected and opined upon in the aftermath. (We’re handing the ball off to ESPNBoston.com columnist Jackie MacMullan to break it down after this one.)

The little bit of good news to pass along beside the bottom-line result?

It starts with Edelman, the six-year veteran who turned in his fourth career game with 10 or more receptions. On a day when little went right, Edelman shined, kind of like it used to be at times with former New England receiver Wes Welker.

In fact, that’s exactly how Raiders cornerback Carlos Rogers saw it.

“He reminds me of Welker,” Rogers said after watching Edelman be targeted 13 times and total 10 catches for 84 yards. “Tom looks to him the same way and that’s why Wes had 100 catches a year. [Edelman] is on his way [to 100] again -- a lot of short stuff where he can move in space, keep the chains moving -- and he can get in and out of his breaks very fast and he has some good speed on him.”

Edelman's 22 catches through three games easily lead the Patriots and that’s also part of the problem. Little is clicking in the passing game outside of him, as quarterback Tom Brady was 10-of-11 when targeting Edelman and 14-of-26 to everyone else. Brady is completing 84.6 percent of his targets to Edelman through three games, and 51.1 percent otherwise.

What stood out to Raiders safety Charles Woodson was how the Patriots, with little else going for them, maximized Edelman on Sunday. A 17-year veteran, Woodson reflected to his early years in the NFL when coming up with a comparable match for the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Edelman.

“He reminds me of Wayne Chrebet a little bit,” he said of the former Jets slot receiver who played from 1995-2005. “A guy they keep on the move, a smaller guy who has a knack for getting open and making big catches, especially third-down situations. They put him in position to be successful and keep him moving him around and you’re not going to be able to get your hands on him as much if you are in a man-to-man situation with him.”

For his part, Edelman knows that at his size, he has to protect himself whenever possible. He was upset with himself for attempting to hurdle a defender in the second half and absorbing a big hit.

“I’ve got to play a little smarter,” he said. “I’ve got to protect myself a little better with the ball in my hands if I’m going to be there for 16 games.”

That’s a must for a Patriots offense, of course.

Because without Edelman, it wouldn’t be much of an offense at all.

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