McDaniels was not the problem

[Xzibit23]

I thought the offensive gameplan was pretty good for the most part. You work with what you have, and right now Cassel is not at a point where he can win games for the team, he just needs to not lose. Think Brady in 2001 and Rothlesberger in 2004. What that means is a more conservative passing game with a heavy dose of rushing, which unfortunately will limit the usage of a player like Moss.

That being said, one area where McDaniels needs to step up is finding Moss when the team is in the opponents redzone. Even though he's known as a the premier big play WR in the NFL, I think Moss is true strength is being about as good a redzone threat as we can expect from a WR. He's not perfect, but he's pretty close.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Agreed 100%. This team drove the ball most of the game, the running game looked great, and Cassel was good. It came down to execution and the various mistakes, none of which were on McD.

 

[makoute]

Belichick lost the game, those two TO where huge. It reminded me of the Ravens game last year.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Belichick lost the game, those two TO where huge. It reminded me of the Ravens game last year.

It should, the exact same thing cost them a shot at beating us (except it was the DC who called the timeout).

 

[fumbrunner]

The timeout management was awful. Even on David Thomas' penalty, a timeout could have been used on the spot of the ball thus making it first and 15 rather than 3rd and 16. Gaffney's drop was huge too. Small details, but in such a close game, it cost them.

 

[Rob0729]

If you are going to blame a coordinator, why not Dean Pees? The defense was less effective than the offense tonight. Personally, I wasn't thrilled with Pees' gameplan, but I didn't think it was big enough of a liability either to cost the Pats the game. But he called a worse game than McDaniels did.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

If you are going to blame a coordinator, why not Dean Pees? The defense was less effective than the offense tonight. Personally, I wasn't thrilled with Pees' gameplan, but I didn't think it was big enough of a liability either to cost the Pats the game. But he called a worse game than McDaniels did.

Maybe if you are worrying about fantasy football this might be the case.

Tonight the Pats defense relinquished a mere 18 points to the Colts while only managing to score 15 themselves.

The Pats defense wasn't to blame for tonight's loss.

 

[Watson's IQ]

The timeout management was awful. Even on David Thomas' penalty, a timeout could have been used on the spot of the ball thus making it first and 15 rather than 3rd and 16. Gaffney's drop was huge too. Small details, but in such a close game, it cost them.

Assuming we win that challenge. I thought he might have made it, but it was close, and something I doubt they overturn on the replay.

 

[Rob0729]

Maybe if you are worrying about fantasy football this might be the case.

Tonight the Pats defense relinquished a mere 18 points to the Colts while only managing to score 15 themselves.

The Pats defense wasn't to blame for tonight's loss.

I don't blame the defense. I am saying the Pats' offense outplayed the Pats' defense. I think the defense broke down at times, but not enough to force the offense to play outside themselves to be in position to win.

 

[fumbrunner]

Assuming we win that challenge. I thought he might have made it, but it was close, and something I doubt they overturn on the replay.

Yeah, but it was a game changer and worth the risk. 1st and 15 rather than 3rd and 16. Much more worthy of the risk than the stupid 12 men challenge.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I don't blame the defense. I am saying the Pats' offense outplayed the Pats' defense. I think the defense broke down at times, but not enough to force the offense to play outside themselves to be in position to win.

Cmon, shake your head.

Tonight the Pats offense scored 15 lousy points. That doesn't win you many games in today's NFL.

 

[DocE]

I can't say McDaniels was THE problem, but I thought he was part of it tonight. I particularly disliked the running play on 3rd and 12 in the red zone in the first half down 7-3. That's not winning football on the road against a team with a QB like Peyton Manning. I also disliked not throwing the ball to Randy Moss (or even looking in his direction) for an entire half. My final gripe is not one time in the redzone did the Patriots throw the ball in Moss's direction. The Colts have shorter DB's and I would have liked to see at least one jump ball in the end zone.

The overall strategy seemed to be ball possession and limiting the Colts opportunities offensively. In that way, the defense failed us by allowing a 90 yard TD drive and failing to create even a single turnover.

 

[fumbrunner]

Both teams seemed to play not to lose tonight. Both sides played relatively conservative on offense and played pretty vanilla defense as well. In games like that, its all about managing the clock and mistakes get amplified. The three Pats mistakes cost them the game and all were preventable.

 

[Rob0729]

Cmon, shake your head.

Tonight the Pats offense scored 15 lousy points. That doesn't win you many games in today's NFL.

And how is that the coordinator's fault. Without two player mistakes, the Pats would have scored 22-25 point which would have been enough.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

And how is that the coordinator's fault. Without two player mistakes, the Pats would have scored 22-25 point which would have been enough.

But they didn't ............

 

[Rob0729]

But they didn't ............

Well, maybe if McDaniels actually played they would have. It isn't his fault that they didn't. The Gaffney drop was the perfect play call. The worst the Pats would have done without the Thomas penalty would have scored 3 points. You can try to split hairs to look foolish to bash McDaniels all you want, but it doesn't mean you are right.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

Why all the McDaniels hate tonight? There's like 4 threads tearing him a new one. I thought the offense did a good job tonight. They seem to call running plays at the right time, and the run game looked good. Especially when you consider that BJGE was an undrafted FA. Overall, a couple dumb plays, and dumb usage of timeouts cost them the game. I fail to see why McDaniels is the latest to be burned at the stake. Every week its someone new.