The Glass Half-Full Thread: Week 1

[BradyManny]

While I'm not one to shy away from a nice panic attack from time to time, I think the overreaction to last nite's [victory] is just that, an absurd overreaction. So here is the thread to do just that.

Frankly, and maybe I'm crazy, but after last nite, I'm more convinced that this team is still the team to beat, and has a legitimate shot at 14-2 -> 16-0 season.

Hear me out.

All the talk about the offense being rusty is laughable. The team moved the ball at will against an underrated defense with a good D-Line, decent linebackers & secondary. They simply failed to execute in the key places until the final two drives, something which is easily correctable.

441 yards, 28 first downs...If the offense moves the ball the way it did last nite, they can expect to put up nearly 40 points a game.

The defense played better than I expected them to after seeing preseason. The secondary was far, far better than it was last season. Evans and Owens combined for FIVE CATCHES.

The damage came underneath, and hopefully, that can be attributed largely to the absence of Mayo and the effect that had on putting Guyton in the middle and then Ninkovich as the OLB.

I'll say it here first - we're going to destroy the Jets this Sunday. Our corners have a much easier task, and will need much less help over the top, allowing the deficiency in the middle of the field and in the flats to be covered up, and also allowing a more aggressive pass rush.

On offense, it will look much like the MNF game last season when Cassel chewed up the Jets underneath. The Jets had one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year, and they're going to have to give up the underneath stuff, thereby rendering the aggressiveness of the pass rush useless. If they try to take away the underneath stuff, their corners are going to get beat over the top.

 

[A.C Vegas]

The jets pass rush is underrated i think but i still think that they have a rookie QB aganist BB will really screw him up espcally if Mayo is back in the line up.

the Pats are going ot be very good once everyone is on the same page and same line and same word

 

[Lazerlike42]

I agree with the OP for the most part. I think the biggest thing that is being missed by folks reporting a falling sky is that the defense didn't play half bad. In fact, they played somewhat well. The best way to demonstrate this is by looking at Buffalo's offensive possessions:

1. 0 first downs, punt
2. 3 first downs, TD
3. 1 first down, punt
4. 1 first down, punt
5. 1 first down, punt
6. 1 first down, FG
7. 5 first downs, TD
8. 1 first down, game ends

The only real sore spot was that horrible 4th quarter drive. Other than that, they had a bunch of very short, 1 first down possessions. Other than the 4th quarter drive and the 2nd drive, the Bills couldn't move the ball.

 

[BradyManny]

I agree with the OP for the most part. I think the biggest thing that is being missed by folks reporting a falling sky is that the defense didn't play half bad. In fact, they played somewhat well. The best way to demonstrate this is by looking at Buffalo's offensive possessions:

1. 0 first downs, punt
2. 3 first downs, TD
3. 1 first down, punt
4. 1 first down, punt
5. 1 first down, punt
6. 1 first down, FG
7. 5 first downs, TD
8. 1 first down, game ends

The only real sore spot was that horrible 4th quarter drive. Other than that, they had a bunch of very short, 1 first down possessions. Other than the 4th quarter drive and the 2nd drive, the Bills couldn't move the ball.

Good stuff - and to add to that, that 4th quarter drive was essentially stopped before that (putting it quite mildly) borderline call on Adalius Thomas.

 

[DarrylS]

I agree, this team has 8 rookies on its roster, and about 6 new starters on Defense... overall they made some mistakes, but they will gel and only get better.. there are those who lament the loss of Seymour and want to live in the land of what if.. there also seems to be short term memory loss of how many threads were posted that Seymour was invisible threads...

Give them time, refreshing not to see the back of Ellis Hobbs jersey...

 

[BradyManny]

I agree, this team has 8 rookies on its roster, and about 6 new starters on Defense... overall they made some mistakes, but they will gel and only get better.. there are those who lament the loss of Seymour and want to live in the land of what if.. there also seems to be short term memory loss of how many threads were posted that Seymour was invisible threads...

Give them time, refreshing not to see the back of Ellis Hobbs jersey...

Well, I'm still lamenting the loss of Big Sey. I still think he'd be the best player on the defense (and my favorite) and was underappreciated by the fans here.

That said, the improved secondary is the story of the nite for me. They held two of the better wideouts in the game to 5 catches total. I don't care who is throwing them the ball, that's pretty good.

 

[mayoclinic]

While I'm not one to shy away from a nice panic attack from time to time, I think the overreaction to last nite's [victory] is just that, an absurd overreaction. So here is the thread to do just that.

Frankly, and maybe I'm crazy, but after last nite, I'm more convinced that this team is still the team to beat, and has a legitimate shot at 14-2 -> 16-0 season.

Hear me out.

All the talk about the offense being rusty is laughable. The team moved the ball at will against an underrated defense with a good D-Line, decent linebackers & secondary. They simply failed to execute in the key places until the final two drives, something which is easily correctable.

441 yards, 28 first downs...If the offense moves the ball the way it did last nite, they can expect to put up nearly 40 points a game.

The defense played better than I expected them to after seeing preseason. The secondary was far, far better than it was last season. Evans and Owens combined for FIVE CATCHES.

The damage came underneath, and hopefully, that can be attributed largely to the absence of Mayo and the effect that had on putting Guyton in the middle and then Ninkovich as the OLB.

I'll say it here first - we're going to destroy the Jets this Sunday. Our corners have a much easier task, and will need much less help over the top, allowing the deficiency in the middle of the field and in the flats to be covered up, and also allowing a more aggressive pass rush.

On offense, it will look much like the MNF game last season when Cassel chewed up the Jets underneath. The Jets had one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year, and they're going to have to give up the underneath stuff, thereby rendering the aggressiveness of the pass rush useless. If they try to take away the underneath stuff, their corners are going to get beat over the top.

I don't think you're crazy. At least, no more crazy than I am. As I've said on other threads, I actually think this is a much better thing in the long run than if we had just blown out the Bills, bodes well for the team in the long run.

The fact is, many fans on this site had a hard time getting up for the Bills and treated this almost as a preseason game. The team certainly certainly looked a bit sloppy - perhaps they were not quite as focused as we are used to them being, perhaps it was just getting the rust off.

With that in mind, 441 yards offense is not bad, and we normally would have more than 25 points to show for it. I expected us to average around 31-32 PPG (around 490-520 for the season), and 25 points on a night when he didn't execute well is not that terrible. It was more points than the Jets generated on Sunday. And, more importantly, one more than the Bills generated Monday night.

I hope that we will see a few more things out of the offense down the way:

1. More use of the running game. It sounds like we ran effectively early on (I missed the 1st half) and then pretty much abandoned the pass. 50+ passes is not a balanced enough offense.

2. Better use of receivers not named Moss or Welker. The 2 TD catches to Watson were huge. I have to believe that Watson, Baker, Galloway, Faulk and Maroney will be a much bigger part of this passing offense than we saw in the first game.

Regarding the defense, I've always felt that the first 6-7 games of the season would be a work in progress. The unexpected Seymour trade and the loss of Mayo forced short term adjustments which obviously need to be tweaked. But, as you say, the secondary play was far better than what we saw last year, and the defense looked faster, more physical, and much fresher at the end of the game than the slow, tired defenses that couldn't stop the opponents when they had to the past few years.

I expect to see some of the following changes over the course of the next few games:

1. More use of Ron Brace both inside and out on the DL, who I think will shut down the run along with Wilfork. Mike Wright played well, but Jarvis Green did nothing, and clearly couldn't shut down the run they way we are used to seeing from Big Sey.

2. Better use of Burgess and Thomas rushing (depending on whether Thomas moves inside while Mayo is out).

3. Guyton making some adjustments at MLB/WILB while he is covering for Mayo. He did ok when thrown into the fray on short notice, but obviously it wasn't the same.

I agree with you that a 14 win season is still eminently reasonable. I also think we destroy the Jest on Saturday. BB will be on everyone's case this week, and I expect us to come out revved up and clicking on all cylinders.

 

[Patspsycho]

What are the odds that the Jets game is the first time we see the Brace/Pryor tandem on the field for the 4-3 front we throw at the Jets? Don't be surprised to see Wilfork at DE.

We force Sanchez to throw and throw and throw, especially under pressure.

 

[Lazerlike42]

Good stuff - and to add to that, that 4th quarter drive was essentially stopped before that (putting it quite mildly) borderline call on Adalius Thomas.

Actually this is a misconception that has been undertaken by many people. That call was actually on 1st down, so the drive couldn't have been "stopped"; it would have been 2nd and 25 or so. Certainly a large hole to crawl out from, but not a certain stop.

 

[Gwedd]

Almost all the games in the AFC East are dog fights. Yes, there is the occasional blowout, but anyone who takes Miami, Buffalo, or the Jets as easy pickings doesn't really follow this division.

We are blessed with a GREAT team, but right now we've got some rookies and some changes and it just takes time for everyone to get on the same page.

Buffalo brought their "A" game, and they gave the Patriots a good run for it. But New England always plays for the full 60 minutes. The Patriots keep fighting and clawing until the final tick and don't panic easily, so I have a great deal of faith that they will win whenever they play, and whomever they play against.

It's going to be a wonderful year here. I can feel it already.

 

[Patspsycho]

Buffalo brought their "A" game, and they gave the Patriots a good run for it. But New England always plays for the full 60 minutes.

I was reminded last night a bit of Bills vs. Cowboys, '07. Bills gave their all (admirably), but didn't play 60 minutes.

 

[BradyManny]

I expect to see some of the following changes over the course of the next few games:

1. More use of Ron Brace both inside and out on the DL, who I think will shut down the run along with Wilfork. Mike Wright played well, but Jarvis Green did nothing, and clearly couldn't shut down the run they way we are used to seeing from Big Sey.

2. Better use of Burgess and Thomas rushing (depending on whether Thomas moves inside while Mayo is out).

3. Guyton making some adjustments at MLB/WILB while he is covering for Mayo. He did ok when thrown into the fray on short notice, but obviously it wasn't the same.

I agree with you that a 14 win season is still eminently reasonable. I also think we destroy the Jest on Saturday. BB will be on everyone's case this week, and I expect us to come out revved up and clicking on all cylinders.

The running game in the first half was successful - from what I could see - b/c the Bills D was playing the pass. Maroney had some great runs - but still, with the box stacked, the OL isn't creating him holes. Hopefully that's something that can be corrected with a combination of creative play-calling/personnel.

1 - agreed, Green did not fill Big Sey's shoes. Going to the bigger 4-3 next week makes sense, but I'd like to see us get a lead to force Sanchez into passing situations anyway.

2 - on the play AD was called for RTP, I thought that was a beautiful pass rush up the middle that I hope to see more of.

3 - yup, one hugely underrated aspect of that game was that the Mayo injury caused not only Guyton to be out of position, but Ninko or whoever else filled in to play more than they probably were designed to. Unfortunately, ILB is definitely a thin spot, so not much we can do about that.

 

[BradyManny]

Actually this is a misconception that has been undertaken by many people. That call was actually on 1st down, so the drive couldn't have been "stopped"; it would have been 2nd and 25 or so. Certainly a large hole to crawl out from, but not a certain stop.

Fair enough.

 

[BradyManny]

Buffalo brought their "A" game, and they gave the Patriots a good run for it. But New England always plays for the full 60 minutes. The Patriots keep fighting and clawing until the final tick and don't panic easily, so I have a great deal of faith that they will win whenever they play, and whomever they play against.

I'm happy the Pats won that way. Reminiscent of the early half of the century when they just found a way to win. Granted, 07 had a few epic comebacks, Colts, Ravens & Giants (regular season) games.

 

[DarrylS]

Well, I'm still lamenting the loss of Big Sey. I still think he'd be the best player on the defense (and my favorite) and was underappreciated by the fans here.

Perhaps you did not get my gist, but many times after a game there would be the obligatory thread about how he did not show up.. and then we heard from BB about what a great game he had, I used to defend him all the time.. now he is gone, where are those detractors??? Some folks just like being oppositional, rather than intellectual..

 

[BradyManny]

Perhaps you did not get my gist, but many times after a game there would be the obligatory thread about how he did not show up.. and then we heard from BB about what a great game he had, I used to defend him all the time.. now he is gone, where are those detractors??? Some folks just like being oppositional, rather than intellectual..

Got it, OK - I see what you're saying

 

[mgteich]

The probability of our 43 starting line being composed of Warren-Pryor-Brace-Wilfork, with Wilfork as the DE is ).00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%

What are the odds that the Jets game is the first time we see the Brace/Pryor tandem on the field for the 4-3 front we throw at the Jets? Don't be surprised to see Wilfork at DE.

We force Sanchez to throw and throw and throw, especially under pressure.

 

[mgteich]

Yes, indeed. Almost losing to the pathetic Bills after making numerous mistakes will cause a really rough week for the players. The patriots WILL be ready for the jets. The patriots under Belichick do not put up two clunkers in a row.

Of course, for those who think that the offense and the defense did a fine job with a small of number of correctable errors, the situation may be somewhat different. For me, I expect Belichick to be furious over almost losing to the Bills and their rookie line in their first game (and yes the line will get much better; most of us wanted to draft a couple of them ourselves).

I don't think you're crazy. At least, no more crazy than I am. As I've said on other threads, I actually think this is a much better thing in the long run than if we had just blown out the Bills, bodes well for the team in the long run.