WEEI.com: 10 Things We Learned Last Night

[Christopher_Price]

Here's this week's offering:

Christopher Price | Ten Things We Learned Last Night: Pats Struggle In Preseason Loss

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

As I commented over at eei, Good read Chris! One correction, Wheatley recovered the Coats fumble, not Butler.

 

[farn]

Thanks for the info. Good job.

My main point of interest : I felt exactly the same way about the CBs... I really was impressed by Butler, not so much by Wheatley. In fact, though I was really thinking Wheatley would really develop in TC & pre-season, I thought I was watching Deltha for a while there... yikes.

Not giving up on him, but I think it's more than safe to say that Whilhite and Butler are well ahead of Wheatley on the current depth chart.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

How much playing time for the starters was actually planned?

Hard to see how much rythem can be achieved with 2 offensive series.

However, today's reaction is similiar to the thought process after the 2007 Titans pre-season game.

 

[JustWinBrady]

Things i learned or was reaffirmed...

- Pats still don't have a pass rush...
the biggest weakness on this team is pass rush & what i have seen this year is that they have not gotten better, maybe regressed. that is a big reason 3rd down & redzone defense was one of the worst in the league last year.

- crable can't stay on the field - was hurt again last night.

- fred taylor still has plenty of gas in the tank.

- TE - Lewis may be traded or gets cut. ventrone is more valuable to this team.

- chung - as he has been labeled a sure tackler, he had a major wiff on a bengal runner that made him look silly. muffed punt.

- maroney - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.

- kevin faulk - still a weapon for this team.

- nunn - practice squad player at best at this point.

- o'connell - still needs a ton of work.

- OLB depth stinks - no pass rush, no depth = struggling D

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Things i learned or was reaffirmed...

- Pats still don't have a pass rush...
the biggest weakness on this team is pass rush & what i have seen this year is that they have not gotten better, maybe regressed.

Huh? They had four sacks last night and several QB hits/pressures. Over a season, that translates to 64 sacks (not that every team's O-line will be as obliging as Cinci's ). Compare that to 30 sacks all last year. I'd say that's a big improvement.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Things i learned or was reaffirmed...

- Pats still don't have a pass rush...
the biggest weakness on this team is pass rush & what i have seen this year is that they have not gotten better, maybe regressed. that is a big reason 3rd down & redzone defense was one of the worst in the league last year.

- crable can't stay on the field - was hurt again last night.

- fred taylor still has plenty of gas in the tank.

- TE - Lewis may be traded or gets cut. ventrone is more valuable to this team.

- chung - as he has been labeled a sure tackler, he had a major wiff on a bengal runner that made him look silly. muffed punt.

- maroney - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.

- kevin faulk - still a weapon for this team.

- nunn - practice squad player at best at this point.

- o'connell - still needs a ton of work.

- OLB depth stinks - no pass rush, no depth = struggling D

Lewis is a TE? Double check your roster on this, your' may be out of date.

"- maroney - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless."
- Taylor - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Morris - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Faulk - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Green-Ellis - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.

Oddly enough, each of those alternate lines makes as much sense as the original.

 

[JustWinBrady]

Huh? They had four sacks last night and several QB hits/pressures. Over a season, that translates to 64 sacks (not that every team's O-line will be as obliging as Cinci's ). Compare that to 30 sacks all last year. I'd say that's a big improvement.

against weak o-lines, the pats do ok, against solid ones, the team really struggles. say as you want, but imo, olb & pass rush is the biggest weakness on this team. time will tell...

 

[JustWinBrady]

Lewis is a TE? Double check your roster on this, your' may be out of date.

"- maroney - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless."
- Taylor - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Morris - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Faulk - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.
- Green-Ellis - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.

Oddly enough, each of those alternate lines makes as much sense as the original.

- smith..lol.. he is so non-existent he might as well be a lewis...

- the other RBs know how to run between the tackles, maroney just dances around and stutter steps. he hasn't gotten any better in this regard...

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

against weak o-lines, the pats do ok, against solid ones, the team really struggles. say as you want, but imo, olb & pass rush is the biggest weakness on this team. time will tell...

Just

I can understand the concern but your arguement makes no sense. How can you project a four sack performance (and last weeks) onto a "good" line?

Who is "good"? Who is "bad"?

Sacks don't count if they are against "bad" lines? Were blitzes schemed? The sacks needed to "super sacks" to count against projected "good" lines?

 

[Jimke]

I had wondered why the Patriots cut Gutierrez and signed Walter.

Last night, I found out. O'Connell has regressed instead of progressed

like Brady and Cassell did in their second training camp. I hope

Walter can pick the system up quickly.

Wheatley is lucky to be a high draft pick or he would be getting

the axe in a couple of weeks. Between Wheatley, Crable, and

O'Connell, the lustre is coming off the 2008 draft. Maybe, we can

blame Nick Caserio.

 

[Dirk3601215]

I had wondered why the Patriots cut Gutierrez and signed Walter.

Last night, I found out. O'Connell has regressed instead of progressed

like Brady and Cassell did in their second training camp. I hope

Walter can pick the system up quickly.

Wheatley is lucky to be a high draft pick or he would be getting

the axe in a couple of weeks. Between Wheatley, Crable, and

O'Connell, the lustre is coming off the 2008 draft. Maybe, we can

blame Nick Caserio.

calm the heck down. its a pre season game. why dont you use the pats mantra? dont get too high after wins or too low after losses.

 

[Synovia]

- the other RBs know how to run between the tackles, maroney just dances around and stutter steps. he hasn't gotten any better in this regard...

Go look at Box-o-Rocks play by play. Maroney had 4 runs last night, and there were multiple blown blocks on each one.

He actually hits the hole MUCH quicker than Morris or BJGE.

 

[STUB STUB]

Last night, I found out. O'Connell has regressed instead of progressed

I really enjoyed the Shakespearean sonnet stanza structure of your post.

Also, "regression" is probably overrated. Players usually are what they are. Differences from year to year are more dramatic in football because the sample sizes are relatively small.

 

[mcgraw_wv]

I learned reading that article to extract useful information was a tough thing to do...

 

[DaBruinz]

Things i learned or was reaffirmed...

- Pats still don't have a pass rush...
the biggest weakness on this team is pass rush & what i have seen this year is that they have not gotten better, maybe regressed. that is a big reason 3rd down & redzone defense was one of the worst in the league last year.

So, those 4 sacks were figments of everyone's imagination...

- crable can't stay on the field - was hurt again last night.

- fred taylor still has plenty of gas in the tank.

- TE - Lewis may be traded or gets cut. ventrone is more valuable to this team.

You say TE, but then talk about WR. Which are you actually referring to? Or don't you actually know?

- chung - as he has been labeled a sure tackler, he had a major wiff on a bengal runner that made him look silly. muffed punt.

- maroney - he needs to get the ball in open space or he is useless.

Chung is a rookie. Missing tackles happens to ALL players. Rookies and Vets alike..

As for Maroney, if the O-line actually opened holes for him, there wouldn't be an issue.. I happened to notice that Taylor and BJGE both had to "dance" behind the line some..

- kevin faulk - still a weapon for this team.

- nunn - practice squad player at best at this point.

- o'connell - still needs a ton of work.

- OLB depth stinks - no pass rush, no depth = struggling D

We've already established that you don't understand the that 4 sacks is a sign of a good pass rush. How does the depth at OLB stink? They have Thomas, Woods, Burgess, TBC, and Ninkovich.. They've been running both the 4-3 and the 3-4 and running a vanilla defense. Unless you were breaking down individual plays, how can you get much of anything to make such determinations?

 

[DaBruinz]

- smith..lol.. he is so non-existent he might as well be a lewis...

- the other RBs know how to run between the tackles, maroney just dances around and stutter steps. he hasn't gotten any better in this regard...

The other RBs were dancing around last night. Guess you actually didn't watch the game..

 

[DW Toys]

Here's this week's offering:

Christopher Price | Ten Things We Learned Last Night: Pats Struggle In Preseason Loss

Good stuff Chris:
My weak opinion 10 things we learned last night. These are for fun and not to say any of these guys are bad men, fathers and husbands:

1-Maroney still dances. He was going to show the world how he improved. Good luck with that! He has shown nothing in the first two games other than he has not forgotten how to dance. Has anyone checked his eyesight? Not in the same league as Taylor or Faulk. If "JAG" Mr. Law Firm is not higher on the depth chart (stupid fumble non-withstanding) it is not justice. The comeback here would be "yeh, against second and third stringers". His OL blockers were second and third stringers...A wash!
Alright...Here is a new one. It is F.O. ego if Maroney gets significant carries in the season after what he has shown. He must be one hell of a practice day warrior. In games..yuk.

2-6th rounder Pryor seems to be real and a find.

3-A.Thomas must be taking crap in the film room about his backfield whiff.

4-Bodden was not mentioned and that is a good thing.

5-O'Connell has light years to go. I said Cassel rots so I have to backdown on #5 for now. I thought Hoyer outplayed him.

6-Wheatly makes us forget Hobbs on a bad day which there were a few of. Take a #27 jersey and put it on him and it's the same little guy. 6'4" WR against 5'8" DB's one on one don't work (see SB). He looked awful. Has to be on the bottom rung of the CB roster. Cousin Tyrone...4th and 16 dood!!!!!

7-I am not sold on Galloway. I don't see him as an upgrade over Gaffney and I thought Gaffney was inconsistent. Brandon Marshall? Why not.

8-S B. McGowan was all over the field. I see a keeper.

9-All you "Chad" haters who said they would not want to see Mr. Ochocinco on the Pats, eat crow or something. He was maybe the best player on the field last night. Think Moss, Welker and Chad. Even BB likes him. We could have had him at some point.

10-Sanders still does not make plays. We ought to nick name him "The Janitor" because all he does is pick up garbage after the fact tackles. He must be using Alexanders dirty pictures on someone.

Bonus "Thing". In the TE wars. Alex Smith is not used to blocking from a RB location and that is obvious. That "lookout!-block" was only matched by Kaczurs "lookout-block". Maybe Nick was pissed at Brady about something and this was an "Oh yeah?".
The QB will have to up insurance coverage if that is the case of having Smith handle RB type pass protection but then again there is Watson...... Watson belongs to the "Maroney school of booboos" and he is on his last contract year so I still say he has trade value and he goes even over "Lookout" Smith. The good news? You can't miss many blocks sitting in the trainers room, Ben
DW Toys

 

[RobertWeathers]

Good stuff Chris:
My weak opinion 10 things we learned last night. These are for fun and not to say any of these guys are bad men, fathers and husbands:

1-Maroney still dances. He was going to show the world how he improved. Good luck with that! He has shown nothing in the first two games other than he has not forgotten how to dance. Has anyone checked his eyesight? Not in the same league as Taylor or Faulk. If "JAG" Mr. Law Firm is not higher on the depth chart (stupid fumble non-withstanding) it is not justice. The comeback here would be "yeh, against second and third stringers". His OL blockers were second and third stringers...A wash!
Alright...Here is a new one. It is F.O. ego if Maroney gets significant carries in the season after what he has shown. He must be one hell of a practice day warrior. In games..yuk.

2-6th rounder Pryor seems to be real and a find.

3-A.Thomas must be taking crap in the film room about his backfield whiff.

4-Bodden was not mentioned and that is a good thing.

5-O'Connell has light years to go. I said Cassel rots so I have to backdown on #5 for now. I thought Hoyer outplayed him.

6-Wheatly makes us forget Hobbs on a bad day which there were a few of. Take a #27 jersey and put it on him and it's the same little guy. 6'4" WR against 5'8" DB's one on one don't work (see SB). He looked awful. Has to be on the bottom rung of the CB roster. Cousin Tyrone...4th and 16 dood!!!!!

7-I am not sold on Galloway. I don't see him as an upgrade over Gaffney and I thought Gaffney was inconsistent. Brandon Marshall? Why not.

8-S B. McGowan was all over the field. I see a keeper.

9-All you "Chad" haters who said they would not want to see Mr. Ochocinco on the Pats, eat crow or something. He was maybe the best player on the field last night. Think Moss, Welker and Chad. Even BB likes him. We could have had him at some point.

10-Sanders still does not make plays. We ought to nick name him "The Janitor" because all he does is pick up garbage after the fact tackles. He must be using Alexanders dirty pictures on someone.

Bonus "Thing". In the TE wars. Alex Smith is not used to blocking from a RB location and that is obvious. That "lookout!-block" was only matched by Kaczurs "lookout-block". Maybe Nick was pissed at Brady about something and this was an "Oh yeah?".
The QB will have to up insurance coverage if that is the case of having Smith handle RB type pass protection but then again there is Watson...... Watson belongs to the "Maroney school of booboos" and he is on his last contract year so I still say he has trade value and he goes even over "Lookout" Smith. The good news? You can't miss many blocks sitting in the trainers room, Ben
DW Toys

How do you know we could have had Chad Ochocinco? Just b/c BB has a man-crush on him doesn't mean he was available.

 

[DW Toys]

How do you know we could have had Chad Ochocinco? Just b/c BB has a man-crush on him doesn't mean he was available.

He was dangled last year for a price when he was at war with the team. They still had TJ then. Common knowledge. Big price of at least a #1.
DW Toys