Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

I'll give Wheatley some more time, after all he's fighting for playing time against some guys playing pretty darn well.

Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

I'll give Wheatley some more time, after all he's fighting for playing time against some guys playing pretty darn well.

Originally Posted by patfanken

this should be a shorter version of my usual diatribe. This game was kind of an uneven effort. Its kind of hard to explain, but somehow this 35-7 effort left me feeling like I just ate Chinese food. The meal was good, but srangely left me feeling unsatisfied.

1. The thing that REALLY jumped out to me was the speed of our secondary. I'm talking about closing speed. Even when the DL/LBs were creased by the Bucs running attack, what used to be 10-14 yd gains were cut short to 6-8 by a fast closing secondary. Compared to what we've seen for the past recently the comparison is startling. It was also good to see Pat Chung get some playing time. Between McGowan, Merriweather, and Chung, the Safety position is fast becoming a defensive strength on this team....and makes a very serviceable guy like James Sanders a bench warmer. That's not a bad thing.

I like this secondary better EVERY GAME. Merriweather is becoming the big play guy the Pats hoped he'd be. McGowan has been a revelation, Butler is improving every game. Boddin has been like a rock, and Whilhite hasn't embarrassed himself either. Only Wheatly remains somewhat a disappointment.

Even on the TD pass, Butler was in pretty good position (though he lost track of the ball). That TD was simply the product of a good route and a perfect pass...it happens

2. Brady still hasn't regained his full form, though I don't have any doubts that he will get there by the end of the season. Like I said, the guy throws 3 TD passes and he left me wanting more. Go figure. :rolleyes

3. Here's what has me disturbed about Brady. Remember back when he was having his best years. EVERY game by half time Brady had completed passes to 6 different guys. The ball was spread around. Now it seems like he looks to Moss or Welker or..... who?. That 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th guy hasn't been getting much play, and I wonder if its all the receivers fault. Its not like we have had a who's who of WRs here, and Brady STILL managed to spread the ball around. His seemingly total reliance on Moss and Welker worries me a bit...especially if one or both get hurt. We saw the results of not having Welker in the Jet game and it wasn't pretty. Also teams are going to start FORCING the Pats to look elsewhere, and I want to be ready...perhaps we will.

He also doesn't yet seem quite comfortable in the pocket. Its not that he's less mobile, but in prior years, when he moved around in the pocket he was still able to maintain his focus down field better. Now he "seems" to have to REFOCUS when he moves and find his receivers all over again. Its only an extra second, but the D now has a better chance pressure him and react to the ball.

Maybe its me, but there is a lot less of the drop back 3/5/or7 steps and release the ball in Rhythm, like we saw in 07. Maybe its Brady, or perhaps the loss of McDaniels. The receivers aren't getting as open, or open as quickly, or the timing is somehow JUST a little bit off. Or maybe I'm just asking too much too soon.4. It was good to see Tate in the line up. I'm surprised because I was certain we was going to be red shirted this season. He didn't do anything special, but he got a KO return, a pass and a run, and didn't embarrass himself in any of them. Welcome to the NFL Brandon.

5. You know we are now very blessed with OTs. When Volmer went down, and Lavoir went in, there wasn't a drop off in play. For most teams having your 3rd string LT in the game would be a disaster. That being said, I was more impressed with Volmer's play today than in the snow vs the Titans. The results weren't as good, with the Penalties and all, but it was against faster people in better conditions. He is showing he can run with the big dogs, and will get better with more experience, but the fact remains...Matt Light is the best LT we have right now. We are fortunate to have Lavoir and Volmer in the wings.

6. We didn't do much in the running game, though I thought Moroney ran very hard. Frankly it seemed like the Pats coaching staff decided that the Passing game was the way to go, and even though they were playing against something like the 26th rated run defense, the Passing attack was where we would make our biggest impression...despite the fact that we ended up being fairly balanced (60/40) balance.

7. And Oh, I can't help myself. It was probably a good thing the they DID resign TBC. He had his best game of the season.

Finally, I'm happy we got out of this scrimmage with a win. I'm hoping that Warren just has a sprain and will be back in a couple of weeks, and the same for Volmer. The NEXT month will give us a MUCH better idea of what kind of a team we have. It will be fun.
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Originally Posted by patfanken

this should be a shorter version of my usual diatribe. This game was kind of an uneven effort. Its kind of hard to explain, but somehow this 35-7 effort left me feeling like I just ate Chinese food. The meal was good, but srangely left me feeling unsatisfied.

1. The thing that REALLY jumped out to me was the speed of our secondary. I'm talking about closing speed. Even when the DL/LBs were creased by the Bucs running attack, what used to be 10-14 yd gains were cut short to 6-8 by a fast closing secondary. Compared to what we've seen for the past recently the comparison is startling. It was also good to see Pat Chung get some playing time. Between McGowan, Merriweather, and Chung, the Safety position is fast becoming a defensive strength on this team....and makes a very serviceable guy like James Sanders a bench warmer. That's not a bad thing.

And we see BB playing to this strength, we've done a lot of 4-1-6, nickel and dime packages. Today we went heavy on nickels and dimes with safeties playing under.

I like this secondary better EVERY GAME. Merriweather is becoming the big play guy the Pats hoped he'd be. McGowan has been a revelation, Butler is improving every game. Boddin has been like a rock, and Whilhite hasn't embarrassed himself either. Only Wheatly remains somewhat a disappointment.

Even on the TD pass, Butler was in pretty good position (though he lost track of the ball). That TD was simply the product of a good route and a perfect pass...it happens

He simply didn't look back. Easily correctable.

2. Brady still hasn't regained his full form, though I don't have any doubts that he will get there by the end of the season. Like I said, the guy throws 3 TD passes and he left me wanting more. Go figure. :rolleyes

3. Here's what has me disturbed about Brady. Remember back when he was having his best years. EVERY game by half time Brady had completed passes to 6 different guys. The ball was spread around. Now it seems like he looks to Moss or Welker or..... who?. That 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th guy hasn't been getting much play, and I wonder if its all the receivers fault. Its not like we have had a who's who of WRs here, and Brady STILL managed to spread the ball around. His seemingly total reliance on Moss and Welker worries me a bit...especially if one or both get hurt. We saw the results of not having Welker in the Jet game and it wasn't pretty. Also teams are going to start FORCING the Pats to look elsewhere, and I want to be ready...perhaps we will.

Don't think we should worry about this. Bucs played a lot of man coverage and Brady exploited this by going to Welker frequently. Welker carried us on that last TD drive.

He also doesn't yet seem quite comfortable in the pocket. Its not that he's less mobile, but in prior years, when he moved around in the pocket he was still able to maintain his focus down field better. Now he "seems" to have to REFOCUS when he moves and find his receivers all over again. Its only an extra second, but the D now has a better chance pressure him and react to the ball.

Maybe its me, but there is a lot less of the drop back 3/5/or7 steps and release the ball in Rhythm, like we saw in 07. Maybe its Brady, or perhaps the loss of McDaniels. The receivers aren't getting as open, or open as quickly, or the timing is somehow JUST a little bit off. Or maybe I'm just asking too much too soon.

I noticed this and think it was part of the game plan because you want to hit the receivers right off the crosses as soon as they clear the picks. Did you see Welker use the ref as a pick? I sure as hell think that was an intentionally drawn up play

4. It was good to see Tate in the line up. I'm surprised because I was certain we was going to be red shirted this season. He didn't do anything special, but he got a KO return, a pass and a run, and didn't embarrass himself in any of them. Welcome to the NFL Brandon.

5. You know we are now very blessed with OTs. When Volmer went down, and Lavoir went in, there wasn't a drop off in play. For most teams having your 3rd string LT in the game would be a disaster. That being said, I was more impressed with Volmer's play today than in the snow vs the Titans. The results weren't as good, with the Penalties and all, but it was against faster people in better conditions. He is showing he can run with the big dogs, and will get better with more experience, but the fact remains...Matt Light is the best LT we have right now. We are fortunate to have Lavoir and Volmer in the wings.

6. We didn't do much in the running game, though I thought Moroney ran very hard. Frankly it seemed like the Pats coaching staff decided that the Passing game was the way to go, and even though they were playing against something like the 26th rated run defense, the Passing attack was where we would make our biggest impression...despite the fact that we ended up being fairly balanced (60/40) balance.

I think we have to point a little at the OL for what was basically a bad day on the job. Mankins just stunk it up, Vollmer had a banged up ankle, and Connolly moves too slow for a FB, IMO.

7. And Oh, I can't help myself. It was probably a good thing the they DID resign TBC. He had his best game of the season.

Patjew had the great suggestion to cut and resign him every week to insure he has a great season. I concur.

Finally, I'm happy we got out of this scrimmage with a win. I'm hoping that Warren just has a sprain and will be back in a couple of weeks, and the same for Volmer. The NEXT month will give us a MUCH better idea of what kind of a team we have. It will be fun.

A lot to work on for sure, and will someone please tell Brady to stop throwing on the fly. Even the Surgeon General would advise against that. But we are going in the bye which is good, and great timing. Ideally we want Miami to win vs. Jets next week because we know we will really handle them in 2 weeks, because of the strong performances by our safeties who we know are strong enough to stop the Williams power sweep or the Ronnie Brown fake handoff/sneak up the middle
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Originally Posted by Remix 6

he was picked in 2nd round. his expectation level was high and hes a healthy scratch =/

Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

I try not to get too wrapped up in "expectations." Wilhite had the advantage of playing a full season while Wheatley was lost just as he began to grasp the defense. He came into this season at a disadvantage to the guys the team has playing ahead of him, only Butler was on the same basic level and I don't think any of us are going to complain about Butler playing before Wheatley. Like I said, I'm pleased with the CB depth this season.