Antonio Brown didn’t pass the test.
He couldn’t make it with the Patriots.
Until someone derails Tom Brady and figures out a way to out-scheme Bill Belichick, the Pats remain the league’s gold standard.
If Brown didn’t make it in football’s Promised Land, he has little hope of making it anywhere else.
That’s even with a touchdown pass and a choirboy demeanor the past two weeks.
The latest Brown text scandal or another issue surfacing soon must have been the deciding factor.
He couldn’t cut it with Bill Belichick and the island of lost football stars.
If you’re a bad boy or a misguided soul, the Raiders will take first crack.
If you are and have game-breaker talent and fail the Raiders’ test, Belichick will take a shot.
He dispatched Brown even with the likes of having Brown, Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon lined up in the flat.
A few years ago, Tim Tebow took the gold standard test. A true choir boy, Tebow would be a multi-task weapon for the Pats. Like the Broncos and the Jets, Belichick quickly discovered that Tebow couldn’t play in the league.
He isn’t exactly lighting up minor league baseball either.
But, that’s another story.
Gordon is still a wild card for the Pats. Gordon left them once due to his recurring drug issue, but he has been saying and doing all the right things. He has five catches with a touchdown and truly can develop into a gamechanger if all stays straight in his universe.
Heading into their home game against the Jets, the Pats’ combination of Gordon and Edelman along with burgeoning threat Philip Dorsett could have a huge day against the jumbled Jets’ secondary that hasn’t looked good.
Sony Michel has led a modest running game that has accompanied an overall attack that has outscored its opponents 76-3 in their first two games.
The Pats’ defense once again how its devised game-by-game scheme arguably is the league’s best.
You can bet Jets’ quarterback Luke Falk will see something on defense that he hasn’t recently or ever seen.
The line at this writing was 23 for the soaring Pats and the reeling Jets.
It is a realistic one especially if the Jets sputter early.
Like most of us, Brown will be watching on TV Sunday at 1 instead of sporting the wide grin he did last week.
New England reminded us that they haven’t deviated from their typical protocol. They haven’t shown any signs of slowing down.
It looks like it will be full throttle ahead toward an eventual showdown with Kansas City in the AFC title
game.
The Jets will be just another small pothole in their path.