FOXBORO — Tom Bradyis not quite ready to channel his inner John McKay, but yesterday, no one could have blamed him if he had.

For three weeks, Brady has come out after games looking like someone stole his dog. The cause of his peevishness has not been that he’s also looked like he’s been sparring with Mike Tyson for the previous three hours after being knocked down, tipped over and laid out far more often than his offensive line knows is wise. Although irksome, Brady accepts that as a hazard of the job, at times, he will be left in the supine position.

What he has a harder time accepting is when his offense plays foolishly, recklessly, ignorantly or, worst of all, mindlessly. Too often that is what has been happening, and yesterday was a prime example — a 16-9 victory over the winless Oakland Raiders in which the offense was 1-of-4 in the red zone, including failing to score a touchdown with six shots from inside Oakland’s 3.

On those six plays, the offense gained 1 yard. One yard? Really?

Brady and his teammates have spoken incessantly about the need to improve their execution. It is a word they’ve used more times the last three weekends than the hangman.

Yet after yesterday’s shoddy performance, two things come to mind. The first is McKay’s response in 1976, when he was head coach of the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and was asked what he thought of the execution of his offense after a particularly hapless performance.

“I’m in favor of it,” McKay said, straight-faced.

“We’ve got to handle our business and do our job, whether it’s situationally, whether it’s scoring when we need to score,” Brady said. “We’ve just got to score more points, especially getting down in the red area and having opportunities to score and not being able to do it.

“It’s tight throws, tight windows. We’ve got to throw it and make the play. We have first-and-goal from the 11⁄2-yard line (21⁄2 to be precise) and settle for a field goal. You just can’t do that. You know, our execution needs to be a lot better all the way around.

“Our red area hasn’t been very good. We’ve got to try to run it in. If we can’t run it in, we’ve got to hit the tight throws and make the tight plays. We had plenty of opportunities today and didn’t do it.

“It’s not one person. It’s not one thing. It’s everybody doing a better job because it’s tough to get in. There are a lot of bodies down there. We have to make the right plays and the execution has to be at a high level in order to get the ball in there.”

The execution of many of his receivers has not been at a high level, and in some cases, it’s been at such a low level it’s worthy of execution. How many more times, for example, is Brandon LaFell going to run over a defensive back on a pick play as if he was John Hannah and cost the offense a long completion? He did it in the season opener in Miami, costing Danny Amendola a 26-yard reception. Considering that Amendola has mustered only three catches all season, he can ill afford having someone else wipe out the few times he gets open.

Yet there was LaFell on a third-and-5 midway through the fourth quarter, running over a defensive back to negate a 19-yard Amendola reception for a first down. To put this into starker context, Amendola has 16 receiving yards this season (all against Miami). LeFell has 46. But LaFell has cost Amendola and the Patriots 45 yards in receptions and another 20 in penalty yardage, meaning he’s cost them three more yards with his thoughtless play than he and Amendola have mustered together.

That’s a whole different take on execution. It’s the kind that usually comes with a final meal because it kills your offense.

The second issue is even more alarming because it speaks to things that perhaps cannot change.

Are guys like LaFell, Amendola, Kenbrell Thompkins and the oft-absent Aaron Dobson capable of altering their execution? Perhaps this is the best they can do. Which, if true, is a fatal flaw.

Julian Edelman remains Brady’s most reliable target. He gets open, reads coverage with an understanding of where the open space will be, and senses where Brady wants to go with the ball. That is why of Brady’s 36 completions to wide receivers, 22 have gone to Edelman. The next closest is Thompkins . . . with six. That means Edelman has 61.1 percent of the completions to wideouts.

Some have tried to argue that’s because Brady has too quickly abandoned open receivers. Go study some tape and find them. But be sure to bring with you the guys who found Whitey Bulger, because that’s how long it’s going to take.

Why the rest so seldom create separation, and too often end up in spots other than where the play directs them is difficult to fathom, but its truth is clear. Brady doesn’t throw almost exclusively to Edelman and Rob Gronkowski (49.2 percent of the offense’s 67 receptions) because he thinks that’s how best to play offense, nor does he do it because he thinks Edelman is his most dangerous target. He does it because they are where they should be when they should be.

There is another element of execution here that cannot be ignored. That is the execution of a mix-and-match offensive line that got Brady sacked twice yesterday, officially hit six times and unofficially hit several other times. You cannot set yourself to throw unless you have time to. To be fair, there were moments when Brady did, especially on third-down throws in the second half to Edelman for 10 yards and Gronkowski for 22 one play after LaFell’s penalty.

He also didn’t take advantage when he had all day on a throw down the middle in the fourth quarter intended for LaFell that Charles Woodson got a hand on and nearly intercepted. That was on him and there were a few others like it, so it’s not like Brady has been perfect. But in comparison with the weapons around him, he’s been Annie Oakley.

Which brings us to the last point. As weapons go, does this offense simply have too few? If Edelman and a tight end recovering from major knee reconstruction are the Patriots’ only threats, what does that tell you? Too early to know, but Brady already knows one thing and his teammates better take it to heart.

“We just have to be able to ultimately score more points because if we don’t, we’re going to get beat,” Brady said, his shoulders slumping. “That’s what it comes down to.”