patfanken

.... Lets get started and see if I can fall asleep before 2 am

1, With NO Mankns, NO Volmer, NO Gronk, NO Jones, plus an iffy Hernandez and playing at home, on a short week, the Jets must have known they would NEVER get a better shot at beating the Pats, than last night for the rest of the Brady Era.

2. What makes it even more delicious was that it must have looked SOOO sweet when they forced the Pats into a bad looking 3 and out and a FG miss in the Pats first 2 drives. It looked like Donald Thomas might not be able to ever block anyone after the his wiff on the first play of the game, and the 3rd down play looked like everyone missed their blocks and Brady just got rid of the ball. The Jets were moving the ball. The Pats looked confused and ineffective.... THEN it simply just fell apart in the 2nd quarter

3. Am I the only one who noticed that Brady had a rather inaccurate game for him.(56%) He missed a LOT of open guys last night. If he'd actually been hot, it could have been much worse for the Jets. Isn't that freighting. I mean he barely used Hernandez (2 catches). He missed 6 open guys that I can think of off the top of my head, so it could be more. Plus all the Jet turnovers for TD's and the safety gave the Jets 3 extra possessions, limiting the number of time he would have to move the ball.

So when Brady winds up with another 330yd game with 3 TD's (and it should have been 4. if not for a bogus push off call), and no picks or fumbles; it makes you wonder how good this kid could be if he finally "puts an entire game together".

4. Can you say enough about Dante Scharnnechia. Once again he managed to scrape together an offensive line with 2 starters missing and have them working at a high level of effectiveness. Can you imaging how good this OL could be if it had all the starters available for a few games in a row.

5. Marcus Cannon shut up a lot of people who were still hating on him for his perceived failings back in preseason. Dante told everyone not to be worried even then, and as usual, Dante was right. . Now granted Cannon didn't have to face an elite edge rusher like Volmer has of late. The Jets have no one the caliber of Mathis, Freeney, Miller. Dumerville. or others that Volmer has tamed this season, but in his first extensive playing time at RT, Cannon was nigh on to perfect, and was very effective as run blocker.

Many of us thought Cannon was going to be a real "road grader" as a RG coming out of the draft, well it turns out he a pretty good "road grader" as a RT as well, though I still think his best position will be ultimately be at RG, its nice to know that he can fill in at RT in a pinch.

6. The Pats have a LOT of very good young OLmen all well under 30 to go along with 2 seasoned vets in Mankins and Connolly, neither of whom can be considered "old", just no longer young

7. With each passing game that he see's significant snaps and looks, Julian Edelman is showing us that he's more than just "a Welker clone" as a WR. We can start to understand what Brady was talking about on WEEI about how Edelman has different skills than Welker.

Its a real shame that, once again, just as it looks like he's turning a corner, he gets nicked up again. Hopefully it will turn out that over the next 10 days he won't have lingering concussion effects and can play next week

8. On the refs:

* The call on Hernandez was bad. There was only one quick replay, but I didn't see a push off worthy to take away that TD.
* I have no concept of what Dennard could have done to avoid hitting the receiver in the head. The guy was coming straight at him and about 2 feet off the ground. His only alternative would have been to let him score.
*What's not getting enough play from the Lion fiasco was how all those officials missed seeing the Houston runner was down and blow the whistle in the first place.
* The problem with the penalty when they threw the flag when it was unneeded, was not the rule, but the severity of the punishment. It should be a 5 yd penalty IMHO, but give him 15 if you must. What you CANNOT do is have a penalty that allows for an illegal play go unreviewed. Schwartz's immediate penalty for cold ****ing an official would have been less damaging to his team, than the unremarkable crime of throwing a flag when it wasn't necessary.
*there was one other call that really bothered me during the game, but I can't remember it now (senior moment)

9. Not a single one of the 6 teams that played on Thanksgivng threw for under 300 passing yds. It might leave one to conclude that playing on a 4 day week might affect your chances of defending the pass. Just a thought

10. Does anyone but me feel that we should have more passing plays where the primary receiver is the RB. We rarely throw to RB's outside of screens where they are the primary target. I'm hoping that Vareen's TD will spark a turn to this strategy, because too often I think Brady doesn't look for his RB's enough.

On one of the passes he missed to Hernandez deep on a 2nd and 4, he had Ridely all alone with no one within 15 yds of him in the flat. Sometimes I think Brady ignores those guys because it would be unsporting. But the fact is that if he threw to the RB's more often, it would open up the middle more for the TE's and slot guys

11. Ever since Rex Ryan has come into the league, BB's offenses have gotten better almost every game at deciphering Ryan's arcane defenses. The only time Ryan's defense bested BB in the last 3 years was the Playoff game in 2010. And that IMHO was more a matter of TB's impatience, and BB's unwillingness to stick with the run more.

12. I find it positively hypocritical for teams pr their fans who are getting blown out to complain about the "other" team for "running it up" in a meaningless situation, when their own QB gets to keep throwing it on every down and trying to score.

13. The raw stats won't show it. The Pat's D still gave up close to 450 yds of offense. But if you couldn't start to see this defense take a big step forward, then you weren't watching the same game I was. And I'm not just talking about the takeaways. About the only thing I saw that concerned me was, despite the 2 sacks, the Pats didn't create the same kind of pressure they did against Colts. I saw very little creativity. Very rarely did they blitz, and very rarely did they do any do any DL stunts or stuff designed to confuse the offense. Too often (IMHO) there was straight 4 man rushes. Not enough hits and hurries

14. Did anyone hear the name of Quintin Coples called last night. It seemed to me that he was just about as productive as Chandler Jones was. According to the NFL.com, Coples recorded zero stats. That was gratifying.

15. I also didn't hear Aqib Talib's name much....and that's a good thing. Whether by design or luck, the Jets seemed to stay away from him most of the night. He wasn't tested much.

16. Its hard to pay for a FA in just one game, but Steve Gregory came pretty close last night.. To call a forced fumble, interception, fumble recovery, TD, and 5 unassisted tackles a big night is an understatement.

Gregory is NOT an all pro talent, but he's a asset at the position, and with Chung there to take the majority of the run coverage safety role can be a solid contributor, and a big upgrade over what was playing there last season.

17. I think when we break down the Jets big runs, we will find that on most of them, Spike committed himself to a gap, and it was the wrong one. don't get me wrong, with 11 teackles and being a force in the running game, I just want him to wind up in the wrong gap less.

18. Donta Hightower showed me a spark of life last night. His sack was a realy heads up play. I was disappointed we rarely saw him rush again. And I'm still not seeing much of the "suddenness" I saw in the highlight films from the draft. Not what I want, but still better.

19. I know we aren't supposed to look ahead beyond the next appoint. But I almost hope the Dolphins come up with an impressive win on Sunday, so I can take them seriously for the next game. But the truth is told that I can hardly wait for the Texan and Niner games to test ourselves against the "real mettle" of the league.

I know its not the Patriot Way, but I can't help myself.

20. All I can think about now for the next 10 days is for this team to get healthy. I really want to see what we have with all hands on deck.

21. BTW- I wonder who is going to be smart enough to have 53 "Gronk Who?" t-shirts made and passed out to everyone. THAT would keep Gronk grounded and motivated during his down time. The good thing about this that by the time he comes back most of those "minor" injuries will be healed. SO the Gronk we get back for the Playoff run will be a healthy one.

Night all.

slash83

In regards to Talib, Rex did say earlier in the week they likely weren't going to throw at him.

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Joker

TALIB CONTINENT!!! OG OG OG!!!

just kill me now before I see any of that Jet-like crap....

Ghost of Ben Dreith

I like the effort and thought you put into the post.....but i didn't see a direct reference, or GIF, to the Sanchez butt plant.....unforgivable....for shame

Gumby

There fixed that for you.

Dante is the man. I cannot ever get enough of seeing or posting congrats to him. Normally, you might hesitate to give props or draw attention to a guy that every other team in the league would love to promote and have. But Dante is so 'SELF-CENTERED' and comfortable with what he does, where he does it - You have to Love a guy SO GOOD, who also loves his work so much that he doesnt go seeking illusionary greener pastures.

All up to the "independent physician" and Edelman. but if he has to sit to get better; you have to take the long term view AND it is great that he has either 10 or 17 days to rest rather than 4,5,7 or 14.

They SUCK. The level of inconsistency and idiocy just keeps expanding under Go-to-hell. At some point you have to ask...Who is in charge? ...oh forget it, ... we just gave him an extension.
agreed; OR maybe it's just that our RBs are too small and TB can't see them. (unlike all our tall WRs).

either way (whatever the reason) - a little variety in attack (speaking of which; did we not run another quick snap-single back in backfield- HANDOFF TO Ridley move again. talk about a lack of variety.) would help make opponents game planning a little tougher.

Enough folks said before the game, that is the BB traditional approach to the 3 step drop attack [jets typical], so I am not surprised.

How much did they do anything BEFORE THE 2Q? After that 21 pt ANNIHILATION; I can see/justify playing a bit more contain & drop into coverage as you already know Sanchize will start throwing desperately. I still need to watch 2nd half - had to go to bed at 4am & get up at 6am as it was.
on at least one memorable (to me) one; it was actually (IMO) Mayo who failed to scrape off the block and didnt fill his gap responsibility. In his defense I don't know sometimes if these are player recognition or OL is getting away with little holds the refs dont see. But it sure looked like Mayo was just going wrong way - bunching up with guy next to him and leaving his gap to his right open. I didn't notice spikes doing that - I DID HOWEVER SEE SPIKES CAUSE THE 4th down Green FUMBLE.!!!
You have to enjoy the moment. I think a win next week might "officially" clinch the division - so a hat & t-shirt game (particularly this early) is still worth getting up for.

Great read as always. thanks ken.

DarrylS

You validate my admiration for how great a coach Dante truly is, he flies under the radar unassumingly.. and has always shown tremendous developmental ability for these young guys..

Cannon is a great example.. when he retires, he should not wait for the Pats HOF.. just put him right in and maybe even name a parking lot after him.

Edelman is a unique player, and not a Welker clone, he has two speeds kick azz fast and stop.. beginning to like him more and more as time goes on.. I hope his injury is not significant.

Our D is getting better, and more intimidating.. it may not show up in the numbers, but they are playing tougher and there were no obvious "error repeaters" (thanks Tedy).. and Talib, even though he does not show up in the box score, is noticeable..

Have contended for a while that this D backfield is not about talent, but more about leadership and veteran experience.. as a group they seemed to have settled down, Arrington is playing much better... they are all playing much better.

Sanchez is a poor excuse for an NFL quarterback..

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

ausbacker

I'm still in awe of the bodysnatching job Ronnie Lott did on Steve Gregory.

Gwedd

It was gratifying to listen to the stadium-wide chants of TEBOW! TEBOW! coming through my speakers. Lovely sound, that, especially couple with the rounds of boos and Bronx Cheers.

I'm going to make a fresh pot of coffee and relax until it's time for Joe Benigno on WFAN this morning. Ought to be a fun show.

And Ken, thanks again for your thoughts. Always a pleasure to read.

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Fixit

Great thoughts as always, Ken. However, Brady completed 65% of his passes.

mayoclinic

Great stuff, Ken. Detailed comments below.

The Jets had their backs to the wall, they were playing at home, the Pats were banged up, and it was a short week. Perfect scenario for the Jets. I didn't expect it to be nearly as close as the "experts" predicted. As SMY noted in an article yeseterday, every 2nd game in the 4 years that BB and Rex Ryan have met has been a Pats blowout: 31-14 in 2009, 45-3 in 2010, 38-17 last year. Probably a combination of the Pats peaking in the second half of the season and BB making adjustments. When Vollmer was called out for the game, I had even more of a feeling that it would be a rout.

What's really impressive to me about this team is it's mental toughness. Tons of distractions and excuses to have a flat game, but they didn't let any of it affect them. The missed FG by Gost just got the team fired up. They are very, very focused and mentally tough, and I get the sense that they have the mental makeup to handle any adversity.

It's also impressive how physically tough this team is. Even Pat-hater Chris Collinsworth commented that the level of physical hitting that was going on was some of the best he's seen all year, and most of it was on defense and special teams. Every play was contested, the defense swarmed. The OL did a great job, too.

It's impressive how easily this team can put up 35 points in a quarter. They did it without breaking a sweat, and Brady missed a wide open Lloyd for what could have been another score. When they are on, it's the closest thing to fast break basketball that I've ever seen in the NFL.

The Pats seem to almost welcome adversity as a tool to develop the team, in comparison with other teams. The OL is a case in point. The Pats lost Light and Gallery to retirement and Waters was a no-show (I can't remember seeing a Brian Waters thread in a while). Mankins has been beat up all year. Vollmer's been playing like a Pro Bowler despite his back issues. Meanwhile Solder is playing at a near Pro Bowl level and Thomas, Wendell and McDonald have stepped it up. And now Cannon. And the Pats have added 2 more young guys with potential in Mitch Petrus and Markus Zukevics.

Edelman is emerging as a tremendous weapon - he reminds me more of Randall Cobb of Green Bay in terms of his open field and breakaway capability than of Welker. The other guy deserving of mention is Shane Vereen, who is a similar devestating open field/breakawy threat. Edelman had something like 171 yards from scrimmage and 2 TDs in the last 2 games (not including 2 more ST TDs), and Vereen had 184 yards from scrimmage and 2 more TDs.

Imagine the Pats' offense at full strength with a healthy OL and Gronk, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, Ridley and Vereen all available. [/QUOTE]

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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