My Thoughts from the Denver game

[KillEM]

-Meriweather with another deep INT. That's 3 this season already. With Rodney injured, Meriweather will finally get to shine as a full time starter. It could be a blessing in disguise for this defense. Rodney's leadership was great but he (and Bruschi) was the slowest player on our defense.

-The game was over on the first play of the game... When Cutler injured his finger. To make things even worse, their RB gets injured a few plays later and his back up loses 2 fumbles shortly after.

-Mayo had 8 tackles. He's all over the field. Had nice pursuit and tackle on Brandon Marshall. Looks physically bigger than he did in pre-season.

-Cassel had a good game BUT don't give the guy TOO much credit. He completed 18 passes for only 185yards. Nothing amazing. Denver also has one of the worst defenses in the entire league. Cassel also started most of the drives with GREAT field position due to the fumbles. He's still holding on to the ball WAY too long and looks hesitant/unsure of his reads. The injuries to Bailey and Bly sure helped a lot too.

-Benjarvus Green-Ellis looked good. I know he was picking up yards in clean up time and Denver was probably taking those plays off. I was still impressed. I like his style. Morris was a BEAST in the first half. Faulk did his thing as usual. It's mostly due to Denvers inadequate defense though. I was still glad to see us running it up their gut. Let's hope Morris is not injured too much.

-Best game from James Sanders so far. Looks like he's got a little swagger now.

-Correct me if I'm wrong, but Randy Moss cannot be f**ked with on Monday Nights. He has 16 TD's in 14 career MNF games.

-Mayo, the rookie, was the only guy who made a smart veteran play and dove onto the ball instead of trying to pick it up on that fumble.

-Adalius Thomas not getting much of a pass rush at all.

-We didn't play a perfect game. Our QB got sacked WAY more than he should have.

 

[CheerforTom]

I think it's safe to say Meriweather has cured whatever problem he had with his hands. I don't know if I've ever seen somebody improve a single aspect of their game so much in a single offseason.

Cassel played well and made some great throws, but the reality is 2 of his TDs were passes to the line of scrimmage. It was a good challenge by BB to overturn the pick, but that ball should have been picked off. Cassel also very badly needs to stop going catatonic whenever the pocket collapses on him.

Mayo is arguably the most consistent player on our defense overall. The fact that he's only going to get better scares me. At this point he deserves some real consideration for DROY.

Green-Ellis had a very good game and looks to be a good fill for Jordan being out. I don't think he's a fair substitute for Maroney, but you do what you can with injuries.

 

[dakevdude]

Cassel also very badly needs to stop going catatonic whenever the pocket collapses on him.

LMAO....funny but true...

 

[KillEM]

I think it's safe to say Meriweather has cured whatever problem he had with his hands. I don't know if I've ever seen somebody improve a single aspect of their game so much in a single offseason.

Meriweather had good hands in College and made some picks at Miami.

I'd attribute his dropped INTs last year more to nervousness/rookie jitters rather than a lack of ability to catch.

 

[CheerforTom]

One thought I forgot about... Slater returning the kick (I didn't actually see his jersey but I'm assuming that was him). He didn't find much of a whole but HOLY CRAP can that guy explode. He looked like he was shot out of a cannon! If he can find some gaps in the coverage he's going to be gone every time.

 

[vandergraafgenerator]

And there was me thinking we'd turned the corner and developed a running game. Is it OK for me to think that for a while longer?

 

[Jodi]

-Meriweather with another deep INT. That's 3 this season already. With Rodney injured, Meriweather will finally get to shine as a full time starter. It could be a blessing in disguise for this defense. Rodney's leadership was great but he (and Bruschi) was the slowest player on our defense.

-The game was over on the first play of the game... When Cutler injured his finger. To make things even worse, their RB gets injured a few plays later and his back up loses 2 fumbles shortly after.

-Mayo had 8 tackles. He's all over the field. Had nice pursuit and tackle on Brandon Marshall. Looks physically bigger than he did in pre-season.

-Cassel had a good game BUT don't give the guy TOO much credit. He completed 18 passes for only 185yards. Nothing amazing. Denver also has one of the worst defenses in the entire league. Cassel also started most of the drives with GREAT field position due to the fumbles. He's still holding on to the ball WAY too long and looks hesitant/unsure of his reads. The injuries to Bailey and Bly sure helped a lot too.

-Benjarvus Green-Ellis looked good. I know he was picking up yards in clean up time and Denver was probably taking those plays off. I was still impressed. I like his style. Morris was a BEAST in the first half. Faulk did his thing as usual. It's mostly due to Denvers inadequate defense though. I was still glad to see us running it up their gut. Let's hope Morris is not injured too much.

-Best game from James Sanders so far. Looks like he's got a little swagger now.

-Correct me if I'm wrong, but Randy Moss cannot be f**ked with on Monday Nights. He has 16 TD's in 14 career MNF games.

-Mayo, the rookie, was the only guy who made a smart veteran play and dove onto the ball instead of trying to pick it up on that fumble.

-Adalius Thomas not getting much of a pass rush at all.

-We didn't play a perfect game. Our QB got sacked WAY more than he should have.

Agreed, Morris kicked some butt tonight; I hope he keeps it up.

Also, Moss, granted shorter passes was killer. He wants to win; no he has to win otherwise I'm not 100% confident we are going to see the Moss we want to see. Now, maybe I am wrong because I think him being designated captain has probably helped him alot, but I still a little bit leary about seeing Raider Moss. I love the guy but winning is everything to him and I can't really blame him.

 

[Nunchucks]

I thought the defense really stepped up and did a good job of creating turnovers. The Patriots desperatly need turnovers to win games and hopefully the defense can keep that ratio on the good side.

Morris ran very well, I know it is the Denver defense, but he still had some nice moves out there to really get the most out of those runs.

Receivers looked fantastic.

Cassel finally did something I had been yelling at him to do for the last 5 games, he threw the ball away! I really wish he could do a better job reading defenses and keeping his eyes downfield.....he has improved slightly over the last game, too many sacks, too many opportunities missed...but...maybe......

Ben Watson...hey look the patriots have a TE, too bad he dropped that pass right in his hands.

Mayo really stands out, he is all over the field, he is a sure tackler and I suspect he is gonna be a difference maker down the stretch.

Bruschi is a step slow and we saw that on the long run pay to the outside.......

Ellis Hobbs played well.

 

[captadamnj]

One of the most positive signs from Moss was that even after not being very involved early on, he was active on the sidelines, slapping the o-line hands on the bench after one of their early rushing TD's. He was really into the game, even before he got into the game statistically.

 

[JSn]

That game made me think about this article.

Broncos open up offense : Top Stories : Boulder Daily Camera

And I grinned.

 

[DaBruinz]

In regards to Cassel getting sacked, 4 of those sacks were the fault of someone OTHER than an O-lineman. 2 were the fault of TEs letting their man in clearn and 2 were the fault of the RBs not making their blocks properly.

The Pats REALLY need TE who is a good blocker and a mediocre receiver. Someone like Robert Royal.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

Also, Moss, granted shorter passes was killer.

One thing that makes the use of Moss in the screen plays work is that he has Wes Welker blocking for him. Moss needs to get some pointers from Wes on blocking. The dude is half his size and takes guys completely out of the play on those screens.

 

[bostonia3333]

FG KICKERS
I don't think we should take Gostkowski for granted guys, he might be our MVP this season. If he's injured we don't make the playoffs.He nailed his FGs again which helped relax Cassel and bailout NE's 1st quarter red zone ineptitude. He had some nice kickoffs too.

A- for Ghost

RUNNING BACKS
Sammy Morris was the MVP of this game no doubt. He is a fantastic running back but he needs to stay on the field. I have my doubts about his health, I figure BB plans to use him against tough opponents: IND, PIT and sit him against the weaker teams. The Ellis rb had some nice running yards too, I liked his style too. I think he looks a bit undersized to take on NFL hits on a consistent basis, but at least he's not afraid to hit the holes.

Running backs get an A

QB
Cassel looked horrible. I have NEVER seen a qb hold the ball that long and win a game so decisivelly. I guess football can be a strange game like baseball can. Cassel had good protection on those playaction fakes. It seems like if he can't find his 1st receiver he just takes off and starts running. I would give this guy an F for pocket presence, and that's being kind. I think the screen pass to Moss in the 4th? was a very shaky looking play. I was like wtf and then oh yes!! I think Cassel's best pass was the touch pass to Welker, which caught him perfectly in stride. He had a nice semi big play pass to Watson across the middle of the field.

Overall I will give Cassel a D+, he did make some positive plays, so he passed the exam.

WRs:
Their patience was tested again and they were very supportive of the playcalling . Great to see Moss happy, he got his 2 Tds on MNF. Some nice blocking and timely catches. The WRs made some nice plays when the ball came their way and made the most of their opportunities.

WRs get a B+

DL
Defensive Line looked decent actually. There were some people in Cutler's face at times. Adalius Thomas continues to be an enigma. Good to see Seymour break out a bit. That's encouraging to see when you are going up against a top 10 qb. Hopefully they will be ready for Indy in Indy in 2 wks.

DL gets a B-.

SECONDARY
The secondary is not the key to making the playoffs, but it will be the key to getting far in the playoffs against the upper echelon qbs. Hobbs played very well at last, almost had a pick 6. Merriweather seemed to be in perfect position on the throws over the top. Knowing that Colvin is gone, our DL can only do so much with the pass rush, especially against qbs with quick releases.

Secondary gets an A- tonight.

 

[Jimke]

I was really proud of the Patriots last night. I thought that Denver

would complete passes all over the field and clobber them. Once again,

the Pats rebounded from a one sided defeat and beat a favored opponent.

They are still in a position to compete for a playoff spot.

 

[emoney_33]

I was really proud of the Patriots last night. I thought that Denver

would complete passes all over the field and clobber them. Once again,

the Pats rebounded from a one sided defeat and beat a favored opponent.

They are still in a position to compete for a playoff spot.

It should have been expected that the Patriots would stop the pass... Shanahan was smart and was running a lot early, but those fumbles ruined his plan.

 

[tombonneau]

FG KICKERS

QB
Cassel looked horrible. I have NEVER seen a qb hold the ball that long and win a game so decisivelly. I guess football can be a strange game like baseball can. Cassel had good protection on those playaction fakes. It seems like if he can't find his 1st receiver he just takes off and starts running. I would give this guy an F for pocket presence, and that's being kind. I think the screen pass to Moss in the 4th? was a very shaky looking play. I was like wtf and then oh yes!! I think Cassel's best pass was the touch pass to Welker, which caught him perfectly in stride. He had a nice semi big play pass to Watson across the middle of the field.

Overall I will give Cassel a D+, he did make some positive plays, so he passed the exam.

I pity any athlete who has to be subjected to the Boston media & fans. Kid puts up a 130+ rating and you want to give him F but can't justify it since he ACTUALLY WON THE GAME.

Yes, Cassel has flaws. He holds the ball way too long. He gets jittery too soon under pressure. He isn't fast enough in his reads.

In fact, the way he plays sometimes, you'd think he has only started something like 5 NFL games.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Meriweather had good hands in College and made some picks at Miami.

I'd attribute his dropped INTs last year more to nervousness/rookie jitters rather than a lack of ability to catch.

Actually he worked on the Jugs machine extensively in the offseason to improve this aspect of his game. So he did have bad hands in his rookie season. It certainly looks like it paid off.

 

[QuinielaBox]

Denver played a horrible game and deserved to get routed.

Patriots took care of business at home against a weaker opponent and kept their WC position in the standings.

Good to see the power running game comeback. Those two 4th down off tackle plays were go to plays.

Denver really stinks this year and I would not be shocked if they finished 5 and 11 down.

 

[NEPatriot]

This game is the BEST game which we played so far. Remember that we blew Redskin 52-7 last year? As long as we play like this, we will win the SB. Welker and Moss were happy about Cassel's performance.

We played good D and O. I'm really happy.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

James Sanders stood out to me, making plays I've never seen him make:

- the hit on the RB running wide to the far side - he got there on time and he crushed the guy with authority - you could Rodney's influence there

- his INT charging toward the ball and making a good catch as he did it.

In both plays he showed a decisiveness that he's lacked in the past. Maybe Sanders has turned the corner. He looked like a quality NFL safety last night.