Halftime notes for Patriots' preseason Week 3 game vs. Panthers

The Patriots did some things well against the Panthers but certainly have a lot to improve upon before they matchup against the Steelers in a little more than two weeks.

The New England Patriots' Tom Brady-led offense really struggled to get going tonight against the Carolina Panthers. They at times looked sluggish, undisciplined, lethargic, and disconnected. Here are some notes following the first 30 minutes of play. 

- Sony Michel had some beautiful runs called back due to holding calls. He looked great and confident on his knee. 

- Brady looked a little sloppy tonight and missed on a couple throws. 

- Both the starting and backups struggled to move the ball on offense. The ground game had some highlights. Passing game had very few noteworthy plays.

- The offensive line struggled with penalties and the backups struggled to protect much of anything. 

- Starting front seven has a strong first half tonight. They put a lot of pressure on and sacked a quarterback who is very hard to get to. 

- The Patriots' defense used a lot of creepers on third down plays. Normally only had one down lineman in these situations. 

- Jarrett Stidham played with the twos tonight and saw action before Brian Hoyer. While this could be meaningless, it might also mean that Hoyer's job is in jeopardy. 

- Byron Cowart has made some highlight worthy plays in the opportunities he has had this preseason.

- Both Chase Winovich and Cowart saw time with the ones tonight.

- Philip Dorsett has been rumored to be on the bubble this offseason. He certainly helped his case to stay here in New England by making it obvious that he was Brady's most trusted target on the field tonight. 

- Jake Bailey puts a lot of hang time on those punts of his. Just beat out Ryan Allen for the starting punter spot. 

- Gunner Olszewski had a strong half returning punts. He had a few very nice run backs. He made something out of very a little a few times tonight. 

- Kyle Van Noy, Damien Harris, Brandon King, and Ben Watson all went down with ailments tonight. These are all players that the Patriots certainly do not want injured. We will continue to monitor their individual statuses.