The Official Patriots vs Texans Post game thread

[ausbacker]

Originally Posted by CityOfChampions

He's allowed to have an off game? Yeah sure, but he's been dropping a good amount of passes all season...

Feel free to provide the targets to drops ratio to substantiate that claim. He had an off day. They happen.

[Joker]

something HAS TO BE real bad...it just HAS TO!

[Wheelman]

I was just watching the replay of the game and I noticed Vereen could have had a 80 yard td run at the start of the 3rd quarter.

First drive of 3rd quarter. 2nd and 10. The run is going to look like a 3 yard gain with the safety coming in but Vereen makes a great cut to the left and avoids the safety then instead of looking down field he's looking at the cornerback near Lloyd and tries to juke the cornerback near lloyd for a 9 yard gain. If he would have just turned his head back downfield after he cut left to avoid the safety he could have cut back right and just run straight down the field with Lloyd sealing the cornerback off. The only player who could probably stop him is the deep safety on the right but I think he barely beats him for an 80 yard TD run. Even if he doesn't it's at least a 20-25 yard gain.

Instead the Patriots gets one 1st down before they punt and JJ watt gets to drive Brady to the ground twice with watt going down with him for added weight for the impact. Could have really broken the texans back with that run at the start of the 3rd. Fortunately our defense saved us.

[DaBruinz]

Originally Posted by Wheelman

I was just watching the replay of the game and I noticed Vereen could have had a 80 yard td run at the start of the 3rd quarter.

First drive of 3rd quarter. 2nd and 10. The run is going to look like a 3 yard gain with the safety coming in but Vereen makes a great cut to the left and avoids the safety then instead of looking down field he's looking at the cornerback near Lloyd and tries to juke the cornerback near lloyd for a 9 yard gain. If he would have just turned his head back downfield after he cut left to avoid the safety he could have cut back right and just run straight down the field with Lloyd sealing the cornerback off. The only player who could probably stop him is the deep safety on the right but I think he barely beats him for an 80 yard TD run. Even if he doesn't it's at least a 20-25 yard gain.

Instead the Patriots gets one 1st down before they punt and JJ watt gets to drive Brady to the ground twice with watt going down with him for added weight for the impact. Could have really broken the texans back with that run at the start of the 3rd. Fortunately our defense saved us.

Great 1st post and Great observation. I had seen that as well.

[Uncle Rico]

Originally Posted by Wheelman

I was just watching the replay of the game and I noticed Vereen could have had a 80 yard td run at the start of the 3rd quarter.

First drive of 3rd quarter. 2nd and 10. The run is going to look like a 3 yard gain with the safety coming in but Vereen makes a great cut to the left and avoids the safety then instead of looking down field he's looking at the cornerback near Lloyd and tries to juke the cornerback near lloyd for a 9 yard gain. If he would have just turned his head back downfield after he cut left to avoid the safety he could have cut back right and just run straight down the field with Lloyd sealing the cornerback off. The only player who could probably stop him is the deep safety on the right but I think he barely beats him for an 80 yard TD run. Even if he doesn't it's at least a 20-25 yard gain.

Instead the Patriots gets one 1st down before they punt and JJ watt gets to drive Brady to the ground twice with watt going down with him for added weight for the impact. Could have really broken the texans back with that run at the start of the 3rd. Fortunately our defense saved us.

Yes! Totally remember that play. vereen seemed focused on following his blocker.

[PatsWickedPissah]

Great stuff. Even the best players under fire make little mistakes that have huge repercussions. The margin between winning and losing is minuscule.

[Jangles]

Originally Posted by ausbacker

Feel free to provide the targets to drops ratio to substantiate that claim. He had an off day. They happen.

Doesn't Wes lead the league in drops?

Not to say he isn't still great, just that he has seemed to drop more balls than usual.

[Wheelman]

Originally Posted by PatsWickedPissah

Great stuff. Even the best players under fire make little mistakes that have huge repercussions. The margin between winning and losing is minuscule.

Yep and of course he's still learning so it happens. The plays in real time happen so fast he only has a split second to react after he avoids the first safety. I guess that's what they mean with RB's who have great vision. They're able to see the field really well and know where to go.

[PatsWickedPissah]

Originally Posted by Wheelman

Yep and of course he's still learning so it happens. The plays in real time happen so fast he only has a split second to react after he avoids the first safety. I guess that's what they mean with RB's who have great vision. They're able to see the field really well and know where to go.

And even they miss it. HOF bound Brady misses seeing open receivers. Games are closer than they appear. And further too.

[BoTown]

From WalterFootball.com (bolding the part that stood out to me):

WalterFootball.com: NFL Power Rankings, Top Fantasy Performers, Defensive Rankings

1. New England Patriots (10-3) - Previously: #2 - Here's a recap of Patriots 42, Texans 14:

- The Texans called this their biggest game in franchise history. So much for that. They certainly played like it early though. They had a 12-yard Arian Foster on the first play of scrimmage, but it was wiped out by a mysterious illegal formation. Undaunted, Foster gained 15 yards on the next play, and then New England had to call a timeout because it had 12 men on the field. The Patriots looked unprepared at that point, and it certainly appeared as though Houston would dominate this game.

But then the complete opposite happened. Tom Brady scored touchdowns on his first three possessions, while the defense limited Houston's first-string offense to just seven points. The Texans didn't even get on the board until midway through the third quarter, but by then, it was already 28-7 New England.

- The Patriots tallied 419 net yards of offense, but as Brady told ESPN's crew off-camera, his team left some points on the board. Brady, who went 21-of-35 for 296 yards and four touchdowns, was errant on a handful of passes. For instance, he completely missed a wide-open Matt Slater for a score. He also went cold in the latter stages of the second quarter and uncharacteristically couldn't do anything in the 2-minute drill.

- Two of Brady's touchdowns went to Aaron Hernandez (8-58), who had a clutch fumble recovery in the red zone when Stevan Ridley coughed the ball up. The other scores went to Brandon Lloyd (7-89), who stepped up in the wake of Julian Edelman's absence, and Donte Stallworth (1-63), who was recently signed. Lloyd found the end zone on a second occasion when he recovered a Danny Woodhead fumble that was forced by J.J. Watt. Wes Welker (3-52) disappointed his fantasy owners.

- The Patriots ran the ball well, but they didn't seem to do enough of it. Ridley (18-72, TD) and Shane Vereen (8-40) were both very effective.

- Remember that aforementioned 15-yard Foster burst? Well, he had just 31 rushing yards after that. He finished with 46 yards on 15 carries, though he salvaged his fantasy day with a third-quarter touchdown. New England's defense did a terrific job of putting the clamps on him. Vince Wilfork, who hasn't enjoyed a good year by his standards, made tons of great plays.

- Matt Schaub was a mediocre 19-of-32 for 232 yards and an interception in the end zone where he forced the ball into double coverage. Schaub had some ugly misfires, though he did have to endure a key drop by Kevin Walter on a fourth down.

- The only Texans with more than two receptions were Foster (4-39) and Andre Johnson (8-95).

- This was a very impressive victory by the Patriots. It vaults them to the top of my power rankings. The Texans, meanwhile, drop to No. 3. The last time they lost like this, they were blown out in similar fashion, and they proceeded to beat the crap out of their next opponent. We'll see if they do that to the Colts on Sunday.