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....1.Let me start by stating the obvious. Matt Cassel had his best game as a Patriot and the much hoped for continued improvement we all were looking for was found….and then some. Granted he didn’t have to face the 85 Bears Defense, but as far as it goes, Cassel was almost flawless, even though he had 2 picks and only one TD.
2. The irony is that he was much more effective IMHO than he was when he won the AFC offensive player of the week vs. Denver. He threw the ball downfield more often and more accurately. Neither of the 2 picks were his fault. In fact if his receivers didn’t have such an uncharacteristically bad day, he would have had his first 300+ yd game of his career
3. Despite having what might have been his worst catching day as a Patriot, the latest Randy Moss myth that was debunked as a Patriot is the one that states he “won’t go over the middle” Randy had a 100+ yd game and MOST of his yards came from “going over the middle”. Randy did drop at least one ball out right and IMHO should have 2 more catches that you would expect from an elite receiver. But then again even Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk EACH dropped passes that would have netted over 15+ yds in the second half.
4. I haven’t been as concerned about the secondary as some because I felt that before the end of the year our secondary would be playing very well. I thought that the ONLY real loss was that of Samuel, and that would be made up for by the increased experience of Merryweather, Sanders, and the development of the 2 rookie CBs (Delta ONeal has been a bonus pick up)
Well mark me down as one of those who is NOW officially CONCERNED. I’m now concerned about keeping our best DBs on the field and the consequences of all the injuries that have been cropping up. Ellis Hobbs is just coming into his own and any injury to him will greatly decrease our efficiency in the secondary. The worst consequence will be in LIMITING the flexibility of the number of looks we can give the offense,
5. BTW- the worst thing about the long TD pass that was given up, wasn’t the fact that he got open, or caught the ball. The worst thing was that he wasn’t tackled at the 20 instead of getting into the end zone. Sanders not only over ran the play, but he knocked off the CB who was trying to slow Avery down.
6. Among the things I would like to know is what the Pats did that essentially shut down the Rams WR Avery, in the second half. This was unmentioned by any of the pundits . I though the kid looked like the ROY in the first half, yet he wasn’t much of a factor after half time
7. The defense is really starting to come along the last 2 weeks, especially the front 7. The only disconcerting thing is the consistent tendency of it to allow long plays (40+yds) at least 3 or 4 time a game. Some how I think BB will mention this fact a few times over the next few days.
8. Interesting thing about the national media. While they constantly noted the absence of Steven Jackson, it was barely noted that the Pats were missing their top THREE RBs, having to rely on just Kevin Faulk and some guy with 4 names.
9. The Colts are VERY vulnerable to the run. I sincerely hope that we get back at LEAST one of Morris or Jordan for that game. We would be playing to the Colts strength if we came into that game with a pass first game plan because of a lack of RBs. IMHO the Colts front seven will be weaker than Denver’s against a power running attack.
10. OK Josh I think we can now scrap the sprint out passing attack. Not only has it been embarrassingly uneffective, as of now it doesn’t look to me that Cassel throws well on the run. HOWEVER, I’d love to see some kind of bootleg action especially in short yardage situations. On the 4th down play that failed, BOTH the offside DLmen slanted hard to our left side, effectively blowing up the play, but left the bootleg WIDE OPEN.
11. Time to give some kudos to our RT. La something - The fact that I can’t remember his name means it wasn’t brought up during the game as someone who was holding or being beat on pass rushes. I can only infer that he has been doing a good job. Perhaps good enough that I’ll know his name by next week.
12. Jim Hasslett should be given a permanent contract this week. His team played hard and he coached them well. The onside kick was a great call. They had that scouted well. The Pats didn’t have anyone within 5 yds of the recovery spot. It was great execution. Also Chris Long looks like a player worthy of a top 5 pick
13. I think Tedy Bruschi had his best game in a couple of years, while Jerad Mayo was pretty much invisible for much of the game.
14 Just a general football question. I know the pro game has the 45 second clock between plays, but what is the time in college. I know it used to be much shorter, has it changed???
As usual, pardon for any redundant comments.
2. The irony is that he was much more effective IMHO than he was when he won the AFC offensive player of the week vs. Denver. He threw the ball downfield more often and more accurately. Neither of the 2 picks were his fault. In fact if his receivers didn’t have such an uncharacteristically bad day, he would have had his first 300+ yd game of his career
3. Despite having what might have been his worst catching day as a Patriot, the latest Randy Moss myth that was debunked as a Patriot is the one that states he “won’t go over the middle” Randy had a 100+ yd game and MOST of his yards came from “going over the middle”. Randy did drop at least one ball out right and IMHO should have 2 more catches that you would expect from an elite receiver. But then again even Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk EACH dropped passes that would have netted over 15+ yds in the second half.
4. I haven’t been as concerned about the secondary as some because I felt that before the end of the year our secondary would be playing very well. I thought that the ONLY real loss was that of Samuel, and that would be made up for by the increased experience of Merryweather, Sanders, and the development of the 2 rookie CBs (Delta ONeal has been a bonus pick up)
Well mark me down as one of those who is NOW officially CONCERNED. I’m now concerned about keeping our best DBs on the field and the consequences of all the injuries that have been cropping up. Ellis Hobbs is just coming into his own and any injury to him will greatly decrease our efficiency in the secondary. The worst consequence will be in LIMITING the flexibility of the number of looks we can give the offense,
5. BTW- the worst thing about the long TD pass that was given up, wasn’t the fact that he got open, or caught the ball. The worst thing was that he wasn’t tackled at the 20 instead of getting into the end zone. Sanders not only over ran the play, but he knocked off the CB who was trying to slow Avery down.
6. Among the things I would like to know is what the Pats did that essentially shut down the Rams WR Avery, in the second half. This was unmentioned by any of the pundits . I though the kid looked like the ROY in the first half, yet he wasn’t much of a factor after half time
7. The defense is really starting to come along the last 2 weeks, especially the front 7. The only disconcerting thing is the consistent tendency of it to allow long plays (40+yds) at least 3 or 4 time a game. Some how I think BB will mention this fact a few times over the next few days.
8. Interesting thing about the national media. While they constantly noted the absence of Steven Jackson, it was barely noted that the Pats were missing their top THREE RBs, having to rely on just Kevin Faulk and some guy with 4 names.
9. The Colts are VERY vulnerable to the run. I sincerely hope that we get back at LEAST one of Morris or Jordan for that game. We would be playing to the Colts strength if we came into that game with a pass first game plan because of a lack of RBs. IMHO the Colts front seven will be weaker than Denver’s against a power running attack.
10. OK Josh I think we can now scrap the sprint out passing attack. Not only has it been embarrassingly uneffective, as of now it doesn’t look to me that Cassel throws well on the run. HOWEVER, I’d love to see some kind of bootleg action especially in short yardage situations. On the 4th down play that failed, BOTH the offside DLmen slanted hard to our left side, effectively blowing up the play, but left the bootleg WIDE OPEN.
11. Time to give some kudos to our RT. La something - The fact that I can’t remember his name means it wasn’t brought up during the game as someone who was holding or being beat on pass rushes. I can only infer that he has been doing a good job. Perhaps good enough that I’ll know his name by next week.
12. Jim Hasslett should be given a permanent contract this week. His team played hard and he coached them well. The onside kick was a great call. They had that scouted well. The Pats didn’t have anyone within 5 yds of the recovery spot. It was great execution. Also Chris Long looks like a player worthy of a top 5 pick
13. I think Tedy Bruschi had his best game in a couple of years, while Jerad Mayo was pretty much invisible for much of the game.
14 Just a general football question. I know the pro game has the 45 second clock between plays, but what is the time in college. I know it used to be much shorter, has it changed???
As usual, pardon for any redundant comments.
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