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....There is an old football adage that states: You are never as good as it looks, or as bad as it seems. I'd like to think that the last 2 weeks have confirmed this old saying.
After the the loss to Denver it was painful to read the threads that seemed to put Brady on a downward spiral, mark the end of Lawrence Moroney's career, and sound the death knell to BB's greatness. Actually some of us sounded like delusional Jet fans in our overreaction. (Note:Jet fans are not only delusional when they win...No one gets off the bandwagon, faster than a Jet fan. Yesterday's loss sent calls for Sanchez's benching and Rex's firing.
) Its is much more comforting to see that many of us understand that Yesterday's win doesn't mean we will now roll over the rest of our schedule. BUT it does go a long way to our hoping that the season is now far from over.
At any rate here are a few thoughts that I hope are worth discussing. I'll try not to go over covered ground, but bear with me if I do.
1. I can't understand the threads where people are trying to figure out if we are still in position to get a bye or not. For God's sake, we aren't even half way through the season. Those threads are MEANINGLESS. No one knows how the rest of the season will go. We can wind up 14-2....or NOT. The same can be said of the rest of league. If the Oakland and Bill wins can teach us ANYTHING....you cannot count on ANY win in the NFL...or loss.
2. I have to scratch my head when I read a thread that opined that Boddin was done as the starting CB. Boddin has CONSISTENTLY been the best CB the Pats have had post-Samuel. The fact that Butler got more playing time on the outside means nothing. The same for Springs, who was listed as questionable, and didn't play.
Both will be back and BOTH will be likely starters. Rather than question the vets, we should be happy with the apparent continuing development of Butler, Chung and Wilhite. This only bodes will for the rest of the season.
3. Speaking of the defense, I wonder if it is widely known that the Pats beleaguered defense is FOURTH best in the league in scoring, @ 15.2 p/g. I don't know, but THAT seems pretty good to me. Especially when you consider that until yesterday, the Pats hadn't played a team who had lost a game going into their battle with the Pats..
More suprprising to me was the fact that we are SIXTH in total yards given up and 7th in passing. The ONLY black mark is the 20th in rushing D, but as we showed vs Atlanta, when they have to shut down the run...they can.
BOTTOM LINE here, the only stat that has any real meaning is the scoring one, and for a defense that was supposed to be our Achilles heel, its been pretty good thus far....and here is the GOOD NEWS.... looks to get better as the year goes along.
4. I know there has been a thread about our Safety play, but I can't help myself. We are getting the best safety play we have seen in the BB era. Though Rodney was the BEST S to play, the combination of McGowan and Merriweather is. IMHO. better than Wilson and Harrison. My only concern here is how long McGowan can survive his reckless style. Beyond that, with Chung's development and Sanders' (when healthy) steady play, we have DEPTH, positional flexibility, as well as talent in our safety unit. It will only get better as the season wears on.
5. IMHO, Matt Light was performing at a VERY high level before his injury. He STONED John Abrahams, and WAS stoning EDummerville before he got hurt. Supposedly these are just the kind of DE's who give him trouble, but somehow they DIDN'T. Yes it is nice to see Volmer do well in his debut on the left side, but I think we should all take that giant step back to reality and understand that the Seabass era is still a ways away. Let me see him swallow Dwight Freeney up in a Dome setting before I anoint him the second coming of Jackie Slater. Most OTs will look good playing against DEs in the snow. The fact is that when he gets healthy, Matt Light will be the starting LT for the Pats...and that will be for the BEST.
In the same vein, Nick Kazcur CONTINUES to be undervalued by fans. We continue to ignore the fact that he is going to be here for the long run. Fans might not value him, but the coaching staff CLEARLY does. Maybe its time to give them some credit....and Nick too.
The real story is how the Pats might start to use the OL talent they have on down the road. Mark Levoir is also someone who has to be reckoned with. Maybe as Seabass develops (as in NEXT year) either Light or Kazcur moves to RG to replace the oft injured Steve Neal, who I don't think will be be back next year. I remember years ago reading a scouting report that opined that while Matt Light can be a good LT (and he has been), he had the potential to be an All Pro G. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. That being said, I believe that nothing will drastically change in the OL rotation THIS YEAR
5. There is nothing much to say about the offense, except its good to see Brady hitting the open man again, and Welker and Moss...GETTING open.
6. I'll leave the Moroney question to continue to fester in other threads. Suffice it to say that we saw a glimpse of what we all hoped he would be on a consistent basis...and hasn't. With the injuries to Morris and Taylor, he certainly will have the chance to prove all his detractors WRONG.....or right.
7. Now to the dark side. The rise and fall of AThomas is scary. I thought his good but not dominant performance in his first year could be laid at the hands of him being in a new system and continued positional changes. His second year, I thought he played very well...until he got hurt. THIS year I thought he was doing well, but he just wasn't being put into the position to make big plays. Well clearly I was wrong. His healthy scratch HAS to be troubling, and his response to the benching will be interesting to see.
Over the years, we haven't had many unhappy campers. With Galloway and Thomas, 2 vets with solid resume's, being benched; it makes for an interesting week trying to read between the lines of what is really going on behind the scenes in Foxboro.
One of the things I have always admired about BB's administration is that they aren't afraid to make mistakes...and god knows they have made their share. On the plus side, they don't LIVE with them. OConnell and Jackson are 2 that come to immediately to mind. In the end, this season, we have already wasted 2 picks on Smith and Lewis...and perhaps 3 if Burgess continues to fail to make an impact (more on that later). But the mantra down in Foxboro has been that you have to EARN your position EVERY week...and they seem to hold to it.
We, as fans, sometimes forget how important the team concept is to a winning football team. We only have to look at the comments coming out of Denver to recognize how so often in the game of football, "less is more". Many of these comments are the ones we have been hearing for the past 9 years. That the TEAM is ALWAYS greater than the sum of its individual parts. The very fact that these players continue to see that, "past performance is not a guarantee of future results". That EVERY player is held accountable...EACH week. This mentality binds them more into a UNIT, fully accountable to themselves, their coaches... and to us. AND in the long run makes them a better TEAM. A team worthy of our our continued support...even when things aren't going well in the short run.
9. That being said, what do we do with them? I think we keep both. Thomas, when his head is right, is a very competent versatile LB. He might not be worth the money he's getting, that doesn't mean he isn't a good player. Same with Galloway. Unless we get an "offer we can't refuse", keeping him would be the best choice. Who knows when down the road we might be glad to have him. Take the TE from East Boston, who had NO impact during the regular season and came up big during the 2001 playoffs. Or JR Redman as another example.
10. While I continue to think that the Burgess trade has been a bust, I have to wonder how badly he REALLY was doing if the coaching staff thought enough of him to play him over Thomas. Maybe he is doing the OTHER things the coaches are looking at, besides the pass rush, better than we know. I don't know. All I do know is that the Pats are getting more pressure on the passer than we saw last year, and the results have been pretty good. Burgess has been a part of that defense. Maybe he HAS been earning his keep...in a quite way.
11. Finally as one of those who was singing the praises of Ron Brace all through training camp, his lack of playing time this late into the season, has to be troubling. I thought he'd at least be a key factor on GL and short yardage D, but Pryor has seemingly flown right by him on the depth chart.
After the the loss to Denver it was painful to read the threads that seemed to put Brady on a downward spiral, mark the end of Lawrence Moroney's career, and sound the death knell to BB's greatness. Actually some of us sounded like delusional Jet fans in our overreaction. (Note:Jet fans are not only delusional when they win...No one gets off the bandwagon, faster than a Jet fan. Yesterday's loss sent calls for Sanchez's benching and Rex's firing.
) Its is much more comforting to see that many of us understand that Yesterday's win doesn't mean we will now roll over the rest of our schedule. BUT it does go a long way to our hoping that the season is now far from over.At any rate here are a few thoughts that I hope are worth discussing. I'll try not to go over covered ground, but bear with me if I do.
1. I can't understand the threads where people are trying to figure out if we are still in position to get a bye or not. For God's sake, we aren't even half way through the season. Those threads are MEANINGLESS. No one knows how the rest of the season will go. We can wind up 14-2....or NOT. The same can be said of the rest of league. If the Oakland and Bill wins can teach us ANYTHING....you cannot count on ANY win in the NFL...or loss.
2. I have to scratch my head when I read a thread that opined that Boddin was done as the starting CB. Boddin has CONSISTENTLY been the best CB the Pats have had post-Samuel. The fact that Butler got more playing time on the outside means nothing. The same for Springs, who was listed as questionable, and didn't play.
Both will be back and BOTH will be likely starters. Rather than question the vets, we should be happy with the apparent continuing development of Butler, Chung and Wilhite. This only bodes will for the rest of the season.
3. Speaking of the defense, I wonder if it is widely known that the Pats beleaguered defense is FOURTH best in the league in scoring, @ 15.2 p/g. I don't know, but THAT seems pretty good to me. Especially when you consider that until yesterday, the Pats hadn't played a team who had lost a game going into their battle with the Pats..
More suprprising to me was the fact that we are SIXTH in total yards given up and 7th in passing. The ONLY black mark is the 20th in rushing D, but as we showed vs Atlanta, when they have to shut down the run...they can.
BOTTOM LINE here, the only stat that has any real meaning is the scoring one, and for a defense that was supposed to be our Achilles heel, its been pretty good thus far....and here is the GOOD NEWS.... looks to get better as the year goes along.
4. I know there has been a thread about our Safety play, but I can't help myself. We are getting the best safety play we have seen in the BB era. Though Rodney was the BEST S to play, the combination of McGowan and Merriweather is. IMHO. better than Wilson and Harrison. My only concern here is how long McGowan can survive his reckless style. Beyond that, with Chung's development and Sanders' (when healthy) steady play, we have DEPTH, positional flexibility, as well as talent in our safety unit. It will only get better as the season wears on.
5. IMHO, Matt Light was performing at a VERY high level before his injury. He STONED John Abrahams, and WAS stoning EDummerville before he got hurt. Supposedly these are just the kind of DE's who give him trouble, but somehow they DIDN'T. Yes it is nice to see Volmer do well in his debut on the left side, but I think we should all take that giant step back to reality and understand that the Seabass era is still a ways away. Let me see him swallow Dwight Freeney up in a Dome setting before I anoint him the second coming of Jackie Slater. Most OTs will look good playing against DEs in the snow. The fact is that when he gets healthy, Matt Light will be the starting LT for the Pats...and that will be for the BEST.
In the same vein, Nick Kazcur CONTINUES to be undervalued by fans. We continue to ignore the fact that he is going to be here for the long run. Fans might not value him, but the coaching staff CLEARLY does. Maybe its time to give them some credit....and Nick too.
The real story is how the Pats might start to use the OL talent they have on down the road. Mark Levoir is also someone who has to be reckoned with. Maybe as Seabass develops (as in NEXT year) either Light or Kazcur moves to RG to replace the oft injured Steve Neal, who I don't think will be be back next year. I remember years ago reading a scouting report that opined that while Matt Light can be a good LT (and he has been), he had the potential to be an All Pro G. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. That being said, I believe that nothing will drastically change in the OL rotation THIS YEAR
5. There is nothing much to say about the offense, except its good to see Brady hitting the open man again, and Welker and Moss...GETTING open.
6. I'll leave the Moroney question to continue to fester in other threads. Suffice it to say that we saw a glimpse of what we all hoped he would be on a consistent basis...and hasn't. With the injuries to Morris and Taylor, he certainly will have the chance to prove all his detractors WRONG.....or right.
7. Now to the dark side. The rise and fall of AThomas is scary. I thought his good but not dominant performance in his first year could be laid at the hands of him being in a new system and continued positional changes. His second year, I thought he played very well...until he got hurt. THIS year I thought he was doing well, but he just wasn't being put into the position to make big plays. Well clearly I was wrong. His healthy scratch HAS to be troubling, and his response to the benching will be interesting to see.
Over the years, we haven't had many unhappy campers. With Galloway and Thomas, 2 vets with solid resume's, being benched; it makes for an interesting week trying to read between the lines of what is really going on behind the scenes in Foxboro.
One of the things I have always admired about BB's administration is that they aren't afraid to make mistakes...and god knows they have made their share. On the plus side, they don't LIVE with them. OConnell and Jackson are 2 that come to immediately to mind. In the end, this season, we have already wasted 2 picks on Smith and Lewis...and perhaps 3 if Burgess continues to fail to make an impact (more on that later). But the mantra down in Foxboro has been that you have to EARN your position EVERY week...and they seem to hold to it.
We, as fans, sometimes forget how important the team concept is to a winning football team. We only have to look at the comments coming out of Denver to recognize how so often in the game of football, "less is more". Many of these comments are the ones we have been hearing for the past 9 years. That the TEAM is ALWAYS greater than the sum of its individual parts. The very fact that these players continue to see that, "past performance is not a guarantee of future results". That EVERY player is held accountable...EACH week. This mentality binds them more into a UNIT, fully accountable to themselves, their coaches... and to us. AND in the long run makes them a better TEAM. A team worthy of our our continued support...even when things aren't going well in the short run.
9. That being said, what do we do with them? I think we keep both. Thomas, when his head is right, is a very competent versatile LB. He might not be worth the money he's getting, that doesn't mean he isn't a good player. Same with Galloway. Unless we get an "offer we can't refuse", keeping him would be the best choice. Who knows when down the road we might be glad to have him. Take the TE from East Boston, who had NO impact during the regular season and came up big during the 2001 playoffs. Or JR Redman as another example.
10. While I continue to think that the Burgess trade has been a bust, I have to wonder how badly he REALLY was doing if the coaching staff thought enough of him to play him over Thomas. Maybe he is doing the OTHER things the coaches are looking at, besides the pass rush, better than we know. I don't know. All I do know is that the Pats are getting more pressure on the passer than we saw last year, and the results have been pretty good. Burgess has been a part of that defense. Maybe he HAS been earning his keep...in a quite way.
11. Finally as one of those who was singing the praises of Ron Brace all through training camp, his lack of playing time this late into the season, has to be troubling. I thought he'd at least be a key factor on GL and short yardage D, but Pryor has seemingly flown right by him on the depth chart.
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