Random Game Thoughts

[Rob0729]

1.) Cassel did a good job managing the game and not make mistakes. If he can keep this up, this team can still contend as long as the defense plays like it has.
2.) On that subject, this defense played the best I have seen it since maybe the 2004 season. They forced the Jets to play their game. Favre looked like the guy who hasn't started since high school nine years ago, not Cassel. Favre only sporatically got to down field and he was forced to throw a lot of short passes that went nowhere.
3.) Special shout out to Seymour. He is definitely playing like the All Pro he is. Rumors of his decline were greatly exaggerated.
4.) What happened to the Pats' supposive suspect secondary? Other than a play or two, they didn't give up much.
5.) Gostkowski had an amazing game. He might shatter the touchback record at this point.
6.) Why has Lamont Jordan been burried deep on the depth chart. Right now, he is arguably the Pats' best RB. He's got a lot of Corey Dillon in him. He is a bowling ball.
7.) I think the Jets being a trendy playoff pick is a little premature. Even before today, I thought they were the third best team in the division.

 

[mgteich]

I agree with all your points.
8) AT was awesome
9) Mayo and Bruschi make a great pair inside.
10) The OL seems fine, when our best runners are running.

 

[CheerforTom]

1) Bruschi had a very good game, he seems revitalized
2) Gostkowski was ridiculous, I don't know where that came from
3) Jordan needs a lot more attention, now
4) Moss and Gaffney must really have been limited in practice judging from the attention they got
5) Cassel was solid but he needs to stretch the field more

 

[Metaphors]

- If Eli Manning's jersey held together as well as Favre's, the Pats would be defending champs.
- I've never seen someone false start on a kneel-down play. Spach can't be cut soon enough.
- Two weeks in a row, Meriweather with under coverage leads to a key interception. Think we might see more of that this season.
- Cassel lesson of the week: You can't overthrow Moss.

Without nitpicking, it is hard to say much negative about this game. Even the O'Neal coverage that led to the Coles big play was a reasonable read and gamble. Big ups to the Pats for circling the wagons in a tough situation.

 

[DSal]

It seemed Cassel got a little jumpy just prior to halftime-prior to when he hurt his knee. Other than that I thought he did a good job. Seymour was a beast and the cornerback play was very good. I also thought Mayo had a good game. He was caught out of position a couple of times but was overall in the game all the way. My favorite play was AT sacking both Favre and the running back.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

- I've never seen someone false start on a kneel-down play. Spach can't be cut soon enough.

I did enjoy the 10 second run off.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

the one criticism I do have is that the defense playcalling seemed to take the pedal off the gas when the Jets drove for their touchdown. The jets were rapidly converting first downs and the corners gave a cushion.

but overall the defense was championship caliber.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

It seemed Cassel got a little jumpy just prior to halftime-prior to when he hurt his knee. Other than that I thought he did a good job. Seymour was a beast and the cornerback play was very good. I also thought Mayo had a good game. He was caught out of position a couple of times but was overall in the game all the way. My favorite play was AT sacking both Favre and the running back.

I'd agree on the Cassel assessment, he seemed rattled a bit but worked through it. It might have been because they got away from throwing the short patterns.

Ventrone given the opportunity will prosper with these shorts routes.

 

[Metaphors]

I did enjoy the 10 second run off.

How stupid was that whole episode. The Pats commit a penalty and the refs allow the clock to run AND take 10 seconds off just for good measure. The ref wanted to start drinking before it got too late.

 

[zoostation]

- If Eli Manning's jersey held together as well as Favre's, the Pats would be defending champs.
- I've never seen someone false start on a kneel-down play. Spach can't be cut soon enough.
- Two weeks in a row, Meriweather with under coverage leads to a key interception. Think we might see more of that this season.
- Cassel lesson of the week: You can't overthrow Moss.

Great points. I really wish he connected with the wide open Randy on that play! He will learn. Not many reps in pre-season with Randy on the field.

 

[old 55]

Cassel managed the game well. He made some good throws and didn't have an INT.

He cost us a TD on the under throw to Moss. That's a TD if he gets it off sooner or longer.

The Dave Thomas deflection/miss in the endzone is a result of not dropping over the D, but trying to pass through the coverage. He needs to remember if our guy will be in the corner of the endzone to throw it there on a high lob so it will drop to our guy. Passing through the D is just too risky. Next time the defender could pick the ball rather than just tipping it.

He does lock onto his targets too much at this point. He needs to look off the D rather than telegraphing where he intends to go with the ball.

I thought McDaniels had an up & down day. He was too vanilla at times and too easy to defend. Other times, he mixed it up well and the O ran better when he used screens and quick hitter type plays.

On some of the plays I wasn't sure if the play was too long developing or if Cassel was being indecisive.

Gost - what a game! He was killing the ball today.

I think we'll see Cassel mature as the season progresses, but I was glad he got the win and had some plays called to boost his confidence.

The D was very good today. The first drive of the game was troubling and then they settled down and started to make things work better. Merriweather held onto the pick which is great since last year he tended to get to the spot and then drop the pick.
Kudos to Hobbs for playing tough when they were really going after him early in the game. I do wish he'd stop the excessive posturing when he makes a play though. It irritates me to watch.
I loved A Thomas tossing Favre and the RB around like dolls. I was impressed when I saw it in live action and ever more impressed on the replay.

 

[Rob0729]

One more thought, for those of you who love to trash McDaniels, try being a Jets or Vikings fan today. People who trash McDaniels sometimes don't realize what our play calling could be.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

How stupid was that whole episode. The Pats commit a penalty and the refs allow the clock to run AND take 10 seconds off just for good measure. The ref wanted to start drinking before it got too late.

I assume you're saying this just for humor value, but just to clarify for anyone who isn't aware: in the final minute of a half, if the offense commits a penalty, the defense may choose to enforce, in addition to the yardage penalty, a 10-second runoff of the clock. [If the offense has a timeout remaining, they may use the timeout to prevent the runoff. Also, the defense may choose to let the play stand, take the yardage penalty only, or take the yardage + time; they can't take the time alone.]

Basically, the rule is there to prevent an offense from "eating" penalties to give them a better chance to win the game.

 

[ScottieC]

1. Bruschi dropping the F-Bomb at the end of the game when calling for a flag on the dumb ass that threw his helmet.

2. Welker's obvious happiness at catching that 3rd and 6 ball.

I'm happy today.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

1.) Cassel did a good job managing the game and not make mistakes. If he can keep this up, this team can still contend as long as the defense plays like it has.
2.) On that subject, this defense played the best I have seen it since maybe the 2004 season. They forced the Jets to play their game. Favre looked like the guy who hasn't started since high school nine years ago, not Cassel. Favre only sporatically got to down field and he was forced to throw a lot of short passes that went nowhere.
3.) Special shout out to Seymour. He is definitely playing like the All Pro he is. Rumors of his decline were greatly exaggerated.
4.) What happened to the Pats' supposive suspect secondary? Other than a play or two, they didn't give up much.
5.) Gostkowski had an amazing game. He might shatter the touchback record at this point.
6.) Why has Lamont Jordan been burried deep on the depth chart. Right now, he is arguably the Pats' best RB. He's got a lot of Corey Dillon in him. He is a bowling ball.
7.) I think the Jets being a trendy playoff pick is a little premature. Even before today, I thought they were the third best team in the division.

Great points. I agree all around. Gostowski... wow!

 

[Metaphors]

I assume you're saying this just for humor value, but just to clarify for anyone who isn't aware: in the final minute of a half, if the offense commits a penalty, the defense may choose to enforce, in addition to the yardage penalty, a 10-second runoff of the clock. [If the offense has a timeout remaining, they may use the timeout to prevent the runoff. Also, the defense may choose to let the play stand, take the yardage penalty only, or take the yardage + time; they can't take the time alone.]

Basically, the rule is there to prevent an offense from "eating" penalties to give them a better chance to win the game.

I understand the rule, but it really only applies in the last 2 minutes of a game if the offense is playing from behind. Since the 10 seconds were taken off the clock, you have to assume that the penalty was accepted. If it was:

a) Why would the Jets choose to take 10 seconds off the clock? They were losing. I know the game was basically over but it still doesn't make sense.

b) On a penalty on the offense, the clock shouldn't restart. You would have to assume the Pats were given a new play clock so they had 40 new seconds to run off the clock. Thus the confusion about Cassel taking a final snap to end the game.

If the game was always called this way, you could never lose if you had a lead and the ball in the last 2 minutes. Just false start every play, take the penalty, run 40 seconds off the running clock, repeat. Not saying it made a bit of difference, but that doesn't diminish the stupidity.

 

[mgteich]

I think #4 is the answer to #5. Cassel can only stretch the field if Moss and Gaffney are more available. I expect Cassel to open up more after the bye.

1) Bruschi had a very good game, he seems revitalized
2) Gostkowski was ridiculous, I don't know where that came from
3) Jordan needs a lot more attention, now
4) Moss and Gaffney must really have been limited in practice judging from the attention they got
5) Cassel was solid but he needs to stretch the field more

 

[neuronet]

5.) Gostkowski had an amazing game. He might shatter the touchback record at this point.
6.) Why has Lamont Jordan been burried deep on the depth chart. Right now, he is arguably the Pats' best RB. He's got a lot of Corey Dillon in him. He is a bowling ball.

Spot on. I think they were the main factors, frankly, in giving us the win. We consistently started with great field position. Jordan the bowling ball. Hilarious analogy!!!

 

[SVN]

How stupid was that whole episode. The Pats commit a penalty and the refs allow the clock to run AND take 10 seconds off just for good measure. The ref wanted to start drinking before it got too late.

what are the chances BB was exploiting this rule ?

 

[NYCPatsFan]

AT's sack was the best play of the game for me.

Another nugget:
Towards the end when we had less than 3 mts and were at fourth and three, I was very impressed with call - and our execution - of throwing to Welker who dragged at least one defender as he crossed the first down marker. That got us the first down and enabled us to run the clock down. Though moot, because even if we missed the first down, it was highly unlikely that the Jets could have scored a TD and a FG within 2.30 mts given the way they were playing. But still, loved the call and the execution.

GO PATS!!