Connolly got benched?

[BradyManny]

I was watching the game with company and was not listening to Nantz/Simms all that much, so I don't know if they pointed this out. But I did not notice it at the time:

Big struggle for Patriots' offense - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Two changes helped the Patriots’ offense at the start of the second half – replacing left guard Dan Connolly with Ryan Wendell, and going to more of an up-tempo approach. The switch at left guard seemed to settle down the left side of the line, which was victimized in pass protection in the first half.

Hmm. Maybe Mankins coming back will be a good thing.

I will say that it seemed the Chargers were at times rushing 3 and dropping 8, that the offense was doomed to fail. You can't send 5 guys out against 8 and expect to complete passes if you're QB is still under pressure. Add to that that Rodak noted that coverage was designed to flood the short and intermediate, and that they disregarded the over-the-top stuff. Maybe I was premature in my assumption we wouldn't miss Moss' deep threat that much....

Either way, that was a pathetic performance by our OL in the first half. The WRs had no chance of getting open against that coverage in that amount of time.

Back to Connolly specifically, I didn't notice him getting burnt, I thought Light was the culprit. But Mankins certainly raised his price and maybe he does come in and start right away. Perhaps Deus was right that Connolly has been masked by help all year.

 

[Steve102]

I can tell you he missed the block on Applewhite on the famous 4th and one. Crumpler and Hernandez lined up in a double TE formation, with Connolly at FB. Applewhite shed Crumpler's block, slipping around the edge. Connolly cracked down on Hernandez' man, helping in a double team. Hernandez had his man blocked. Tackled, actually. Applewhite made the play on Law Firm in the backfield. I don't know if he is allowed to read on that, or if he is just supposed to help Hernandez. Either way, it was executed poorly.

 

[BillyD123]

Regardless, how much was ever expected of Connolly in the first place?
He's a backup!
Matt Light has been a (good/sometimes very good) player, in his career as a Patriot... But it's over! The O-line is the last to get young here. It's showing it's age.

 

[satz]

We cannot run on the left side of the line which the chargers exploited. they put the bigger guys on top on Neal and Vollmer and crowd them shutting that side.

if we can run say on the left side our offence will improve alot.
cannot wait till week 12.. say 2 weeks to bring logan into the mix
and see how the line looks.

 

[The Dynasty]

Regardless, how much was ever expected of Connolly in the first place?
He's a backup!
Matt Light has been a (good/sometimes very good) player, in his career as a Patriot... But it's over! The O-line is the last to get young here. It's showing it's age.

I agree about Light. He is really getting up there in age and it is showing on the field. Nothing against the guy at all, it is just an age thing. In the Miami game he struggled against Cameron Wake, then he struggled again yesterday. It will be interesting to see how he does next week against Jarred Allen, who is one of the best in the league. I dont think it is likely, but a possibility would be to switch Vollmer to LT and move Light to RT, but this was discussed a lot last season and I dont think it will happen since Light has played his whole career on the left side, and would be very difficult to switch, especially midseason.

 

[JSn]

I dont think it is likely, but a possibility would be to switch Vollmer to LT and move Light to RT, but this was discussed a lot last season and I dont think it will happen since Light has played his whole career on the left side, and would be very difficult to switch, especially midseason.

I think Bill has made it VERY clear (in his way) that "Some guys can switch tackle spots and some can't." I'm assuming Vollmer to LT is no problem. It's "who's your RT" that's the big question. Light ain't the dude.

 

[Gwedd]

We cannot run on the left side of the line which the chargers exploited. they put the bigger guys on top on Neal and Vollmer and crowd them shutting that side.

if we can run say on the left side our offence will improve alot.
cannot wait till week 12.. say 2 weeks to bring logan into the mix
and see how the line looks.

Are you really serious? The Patriots have run a LOT to the left this year. This was a situational thing, a specific game and NOT and endemic problem with a single player, or even the O-line.

For those who haven't been paying attention, San Diego has ALWAYS played this team tough, and EVERY game against them has been a dogfight.

The truth of the matter is that they schemed well against New England and early on made more plays. After the half, though, the Patriots made the adjustments needed and came out swinging.

This was a great game, but it could have easily gone either way. That New England made the proper adjustments, took advantage of the weaknesses they found with San Diego, and played the full 60 minutes ought to be a comfort to most fans.

This morning, the Patriots are sitting nicely at 5-1, with a crippled Vikings team coming to visit. New England got the W, which is all that ever matters in this league, and will likely have another against Minnesota.

As to Mankins coming back, so what? There has been no obvious need for him so far, and anyone who thinks that, after missing all of camp and the first 10 weeks of the season he will be able to do anything useful is a nutcase. Mankins will be riding the bench, only going in as a backup or if someone goes down for the season.

New England got a great win, and still the crowd here is picking nits.

 

[patsfaninpa]

I think Bill has made it VERY clear (in his way) that "Some guys can switch tackle spots and some can't." I'm assuming Vollmer to LT is no problem. It's "who's your RT" that's the big question. Light ain't the dude.

I'll bet in October of their last college season there was nobody on earth(BB included) who thought the Pats would draft L.Mankins and S.Vollmer. Nobody was talking about either one. The Pats found each one and used a high pick. One thing to look for is position flexibility. Many people thought Mankins could play T, and Vollmer could play LT or RT. Have to be able to move. They don't draft those 350lb road graders.

 

[BradyManny]

As to Mankins coming back, so what? There has been no obvious need for him so far, and anyone who thinks that, after missing all of camp and the first 10 weeks of the season he will be able to do anything useful is a nutcase. Mankins will be riding the bench, only going in as a backup or if someone goes down for the season.

I understand a W is a W, especially on the road, and especially against San Diego, BUT...

The so-what is that during yesterday's game our 3rd string LG was just replaced by our 4th string LG. Our 2nd string LG is on IR, and our 1st string LG is going to report in a few weeks, so I do think its a big deal. I don't like the idea of Ryan Wendell being responsible for Tom Brady's football well-being. Obviously, neither does Bill Belichick. Otherwise, he wouldn't have moved Kaczur over to LG to start camp, nor played Connolly ahead of Wendell after that.

The fact remains - Belichick's FOURTH choice for Left Guard is now playing the position. That IS disconcerting, no matter the result of the game.

We let up 4 sacks against a team that hardly blitzed, and in fact, dropped more into coverage at times. That is not good. We even had to play more 2TE sets and leave extra protection in to combat, per Reiss. Meaning, there were probably times we had 6 blockers on 3 rushers, and still had protection problems. No one is going to get open then.

I'm happy for the W, and happy that the defense is playing out of its rear - but if Brady gets killed back there, then it will be a damn big deal.

 

[mgteich]

I don't think that there is much question but that the left side would be much stronger with Mankins starting.

Light was stronger with Mankins there.
Koppen was stronger with Mankins there.
There was less need for left side blocking from a TE with Mankins there.

In the end, Mankins made many positions better.

 

[capetide]

I was watching the game with company and was not listening to Nantz/Simms all that much, so I don't know if they pointed this out. But I did not notice it at the time:

Big struggle for Patriots' offense - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston



....... Maybe I was premature in my assumption we wouldn't miss Moss' deep threat that much....

What good would Moss have been if Brady didn't even have time to throw intermediate routes? NO WAY would he have time to let Moss get down the field. And no way Moss runs shorter routes over the middle. The only routes Moss would run yesterday were out routes which, as we've seen in the recent past, all the DB's would be jumping on. The problem, IMO was the line play and not the talent/skill sets of the receivers.

 

[Gwedd]

I don't think that there is much question but that the left side would be much stronger with Mankins starting.

Light was stronger with Mankins there.
Koppen was stronger with Mankins there.
There was less need for left side blocking from a TE with Mankins there.

In the end, Mankins made many positions better.

True..... however, do you honestly believe that Mankins will be able to come in and be up to speed at his position after sitting all these months? Yes he has talent, but unless he's been working out every day, and practicing with a coach or two against some other players, he may not be able to be beneficial to the O-line.

 

[IllegalContact]

True..... however, do you honestly believe that Mankins will be able to come in and be up to speed at his position after sitting all these months? Yes he has talent, but unless he's been working out every day, and practicing with a coach or two against some other players, he may not be able to be beneficial to the O-line.

he has worked with koppen and light for 5 years. if he is in shape, it should be fine after a week of practice

 

[reflexblue]

I don't think that there is much question but that the left side would be much stronger with Mankins starting.

Light was stronger with Mankins there.
Koppen was stronger with Mankins there.
There was less need for left side blocking from a TE with Mankins there.

In the end, Mankins made many positions better.

I don't think Mankins made Light stronger. He's had games like yesterdays many times before when Mankins was around. Koppen was getting over powered Last year with Mankins in there, so much so it was a big topic last year as well. Mankins wouldn't have made any difference yesterday.

The whole offensive line SUCKED in Unison.

 

[mgteich]

Let us say that we believe that the patriots are likely to make the playoffs and that Mankins would be ready for Game 11 of the regular season.

Would I expect Mankins to be able to be a better option than Wendell at LG aftrer a month of play? Is that really the question? Connolly was benched for Wendell yesterday!

I have exactly ZERO question with regard to whether Mankins could provide an improvement in the OL for the playoffs. However, it is not at all clear that he would be given the chance absent an injury. Spite is a powerful motivation.

True..... however, do you honestly believe that Mankins will be able to come in and be up to speed at his position after sitting all these months? Yes he has talent, but unless he's been working out every day, and practicing with a coach or two against some other players, he may not be able to be beneficial to the O-line.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I was watching the game with company and was not listening to Nantz/Simms all that much, so I don't know if they pointed this out. But I did not notice it at the time:

Big struggle for Patriots' offense - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston



....... Maybe I was premature in my assumption we wouldn't miss Moss' deep threat that much....

What good would Moss have been if Brady didn't even have time to throw intermediate routes? NO WAY would he have time to let Moss get down the field. And no way Moss runs shorter routes over the middle. The only routes Moss would run yesterday were out routes which, as we've seen in the recent past, all the DB's would be jumping on. The problem, IMO was the line play and not the talent/skill sets of the receivers.

+1

I find the selective memory of the fans and media to be amazing. We lost nearly every road game with Moss on the team since 2009. We would have beat the Jets without Moss, or at least made a game out of it. But in a victory on the first road game without Moss, people want to question whether having an aging distraction on the team would have helped.

Flat out we would have lost to the Chargers with Moss. No way Brady would have made it thru the game without two picks and maybe another season long injury trying to get the ball to a distracted Moss.

How about we give the new look offense another week or two to pull together and count the wins as wins just like in 2009 we counted all those losses as losses.

 

[Calciumee]

I thought this O-Line was the best it's been for years?

 

[mgteich]

So, Brady is one of the quarterbacks in the history of the nfl and should be 2010 MVP. And yet, we would have no chance if Brady has a downfield threat because Brady would have thrown two interceptions.

Some folks think it easier to defend against a team when there is no need to have your safety further back than 20 yards.

+1

I find the selective memory of the fans and media to be amazing. We lost nearly every road game with Moss on the team since 2009. We would have beat the Jets without Moss, or at least made a game out of it. But in a victory on the first road game without Moss, people want to question whether having an aging distraction on the team would have helped.

Flat out we would have lost to the Chargers with Moss. No way Brady would have made it thru the game without two picks and maybe another season long injury trying to get the ball to a distracted Moss.

How about we give the new look offense another week or two to pull together and count the wins as wins just like in 2009 we counted all those losses as losses.

 

[captain stone]

Are you really serious? The Patriots have run a LOT to the left this year. This was a situational thing, a specific game and NOT and endemic problem with a single player, or even the O-line.

For those who haven't been paying attention, San Diego has ALWAYS played this team tough, and EVERY game against them has been a dogfight.

The truth of the matter is that they schemed well against New England and early on made more plays. After the half, though, the Patriots made the adjustments needed and came out swinging.

This was a great game, but it could have easily gone either way. That New England made the proper adjustments, took advantage of the weaknesses they found with San Diego, and played the full 60 minutes ought to be a comfort to most fans.

This morning, the Patriots are sitting nicely at 5-1, with a crippled Vikings team coming to visit. New England got the W, which is all that ever matters in this league, and will likely have another against Minnesota.

As to Mankins coming back, so what? There has been no obvious need for him so far, and anyone who thinks that, after missing all of camp and the first 10 weeks of the season he will be able to do anything useful is a nutcase. Mankins will be riding the bench, only going in as a backup or if someone goes down for the season.

New England got a great win, and still the crowd here is picking nits.

Stating the obvious flaws in this aging, breaking-down, under-talented OL is not picking nits.

This unit needs a major overhaul at Tackle (LT, or RT if Vollmer switches to LT - and I'm skeptical of his ability to play the kind of Pro-Bowl-calibre LT needed to protect an immobile Brady), at Centre, at LG if Mankin$ leaves, and poss. at RG, dep. on Neal's health.

Bill has drafted only 1 OLman of consequence in the last 5 years. If Michael Vick were our QB, then it wouldn't matter nearly as much; but with the older, statuesque Brady as our QB, it matters greatly, and gravely.

 

[jbb9s]

In the end, Mankins made many positions better.

Mankins puts many positions in risk with his contract demands. If they end up paying him tackle money to be a guard, this will be apparent when a random starters get hurt and completely inept backups playing for the league minimum start blowing plays.

i'd say without the deep threat of Moss, the quicker pass plays of 10 yards or less mitigates protection issues to an extent. If they aren't setting up a bomb by TB 12, even bad protection can look OK if the pass occurs quickly enough.