FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Renowned author (and tortured soul) Sylvia Plath once noted, "If you expect nothing from anybody, you're never disappointed." Perhaps that's how the New England Patriots should eyeball the 16-9 victory they eked out at home against the winless Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon.

Surely, the victory, which was in doubt until the final seconds, wasn't the way coach Bill Belichick drew it up. Judging by the way a measured yet clearly disappointed Tom Brady approached his postgame comments (think Mount Vesuvius with pockets of lava bubbling to the surface), the quarterback is far from satisfied with the way his offense performed.

Tom Brady hasn't been perfect, but he certainly needs more help from his teammates on offense to get the Patriots clicking. Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports

It most definitely was not what antsy Patriots fans were counting on, as evidenced by the fact that they already were booing their beloved football team at the 1:22 mark of the first quarter, when Brady, on second-and-25 from his own 26-yard line, handed the ball off to Shane Vereen for a 3-yard gain.

The Patriots' offense was disjointed, disarmed and dismayed for huge chunks of the game. Once again, Brady favored the redoubtable Julian Edelman (10 catches, 84 yards) over all others. It's hard to blame him. Edelman continues to find ways to get open and hold onto the ball. His teammates should take note.

Brady targeted so-called "deep threat" Kenbrell Thompkins only once, which was one more time than Aaron Dobson, who was a surprising healthy scratch and left many wondering what the kid has done to endure the humiliation of watching the game in street clothes.

The strange saga of "Where's Danny?" continued, with Danny Amendola being targeted just once for zero catches, though what would have been a nice 20-yard grab by the maligned receiver was called back on a holding penalty against Brandon LaFell.

Give Amendola credit. At least he executed his blocking assignments while he was out there. Even so, there's a disconnect between Amendola and Brady that is hurting this team.

Brady found the end zone only once, on a 6-yard strike to tight end Rob Gronkowski, who shook off another layer of rust and appears as though he might be rounding into form.

The same cannot be said of the corps of Patriots running backs who submitted a combined 76 yards and averaged 2.4 yards a carry.