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1. Actually this is my 3rd attempt at a post this week. The first one I did right after the SD game, and for some reason, it disappeared overnight. The second time was on Wednesday, but when I tried to submit it, it got lost and I was too discouraged to start again. I'm hoping the 3rd time is the charm.
2. Just a few parting thoughts on the SD game.
a. BJGE blew the 4th down play. If you look at the replay they did from behind the QB, you will see that if he had followed Connolly he'd have made the yardage. Instead he took it out too wide, where there was no blocking.....hence the result.
b. The only one I heard that agreed with this opinion was very surprisingly, Tony Mazzarotti, a guy with so LITTLE football credibility, he makes me ashamed I'm also a Tufts grad.
c. I think that one of the reason's BB went for the 4th down play, was the condition of our safety situation. Chung was out and Merriweather got dinged in the series just before that play. Thus with having to play Sanders (not generally a good pass defender) and a completely inexperienced Sergio Brown, BB didn't have much of a choice. With over 2 minutes and 3 TO's time wouldn't have been an issue for SD. With the talent he had out there, he'd HAVE to play safe, especially if the Pats had a long field to defend. If that Pats HAD punted, do you really think that it would have taken Rivers long to get from his 15 to the 50 against a soft Pats Defense? I don't, so what did he really have to lose, compared to what he had to gain?
d. I read a lot that the last SD FG attempt would have been good if they hadn't gotten the procedure penalty. I don't think so. In fact the extra 5 yds helped the kid. It was hooking right to left. It it had been shorter, it wouldn't have even hit the upright.
e You know that is a pretty good SD team. Their stats back that up, but all the mental errors aside, you can tell that they are good. The good news is that we got the win. The better news is that Jets still have to play them.
3.Any one who thinks that Pats offense is "better" without Randy Moss is delusional. What it is, is DIFFERENT. Whether it ends up being better, only time will tell.
4. Brian Baldinger opined that it was being changed specifically to beat the Jets. I disagree Its being designed to be more efficient in bad weather of the NE. Its designed to be more ball control and eat up time to protect a young defense. Its being designed to better fit their QB, who in my opinion has never been an accurate deep passer, while being VERY accurate up to 20-25 yds. Its being designed to fit a QB who thrived when he knew exactly where every receiver was supposed to be and had receivers who hit those spots.
Again, only time will tell if this change in both personnel and philosophy in mid-stream will end up being a good thing. Still I can't help notice that compared to the rest of the league, where 6'3+ WRs are now common place, our WRs "don't measure up".
5. Speaking of big receivers, I'm wondering just when will the Pats start to incorporate the Gronk in some deeper routes....and not just have him as a GL specialist. Between Hernandez and him, it would go a long way to mitigate our smurf WRs situation.
6.There was a great thread about the disturbing nature of some defensive stats, especially 3rd down conversions (32nd in the league). Since I'm usually one who sees the upside of things, allow me to put it in some kind of perspective.
I thought it was pretty much conventional wisdom that the defense would start slow, and we'd all hope that by the last third of the season, it would start to get better in time for the playoffs. And this was BEFORE Warren and Boddin were IRed, Butler slipped, and Wheatly "crabelled...again" I thought the general consensus was that we HOPED that the offense would carry us to a good enough record that when the defense started to gel, it would be in time for a real playoff run. The Jets showed last year, anything can happen, once the tournament commences.
What IS surprising is that our offense suddenly is now in kind of a similar situation. Its an offense in transition. Its an offense that is going to take a few weeks to find it self. AND what is the most surprising is that, despite the fact that the best is yet to come for this team for BOTH the offense and defense; NO ONE in the NFL has a better record than we do.
Think about that....and the poor stats won't bother you.....as much
7. ESPN's continual BJ of Bret Farve is really starting to annoy me. I mean several "experts have publicly stated that Farve's "broken" foot, while technically a fracture, it is nothing more than a sprain. Yet ESPN doesn't mention his name without mentioning the Fracture, as if ONLY Farve would be capable of playing with such an injury.
This kind of reminds me of all the adoration ESPN gave Steve McNair, because every time he got a bruise he announced it to the world. When you compare it to Brady's refusal to even mention injuries when he played through several, it just pisses me off.
8. That being said, I'm pretty sure Farve will play. And I'm also sure that he is still capable of torching the Pats. Think about his performance 2 years ago. Several TDs and NO TO's in that Thursday night game. Granted its now MORE likely that he'll turn it over a couple of times, but not a certainty
9. Plus you have to add the fact that he has Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, and the TE whose name I won't even attempt to spell, let alone pronounce. If that set of skill players don't scare you, especially against our suspect D, they you aren't being realistic. Yet I keep hearing from local media that they expect this game to be double digit win. God I hope they are right.
10. The good news is, when I look at our schedule there isn't a game there they we are not capable of winning. The bad news is that if we don't play our A game; there isn't a game there that we aren't capable of losing as well.
BOTTOM LINE - So far, so good, in what looks to be a VERY interesting and entertaining season. Enjoy the game.
2. Just a few parting thoughts on the SD game.
a. BJGE blew the 4th down play. If you look at the replay they did from behind the QB, you will see that if he had followed Connolly he'd have made the yardage. Instead he took it out too wide, where there was no blocking.....hence the result.
b. The only one I heard that agreed with this opinion was very surprisingly, Tony Mazzarotti, a guy with so LITTLE football credibility, he makes me ashamed I'm also a Tufts grad.
c. I think that one of the reason's BB went for the 4th down play, was the condition of our safety situation. Chung was out and Merriweather got dinged in the series just before that play. Thus with having to play Sanders (not generally a good pass defender) and a completely inexperienced Sergio Brown, BB didn't have much of a choice. With over 2 minutes and 3 TO's time wouldn't have been an issue for SD. With the talent he had out there, he'd HAVE to play safe, especially if the Pats had a long field to defend. If that Pats HAD punted, do you really think that it would have taken Rivers long to get from his 15 to the 50 against a soft Pats Defense? I don't, so what did he really have to lose, compared to what he had to gain?
d. I read a lot that the last SD FG attempt would have been good if they hadn't gotten the procedure penalty. I don't think so. In fact the extra 5 yds helped the kid. It was hooking right to left. It it had been shorter, it wouldn't have even hit the upright.
e You know that is a pretty good SD team. Their stats back that up, but all the mental errors aside, you can tell that they are good. The good news is that we got the win. The better news is that Jets still have to play them.
3.Any one who thinks that Pats offense is "better" without Randy Moss is delusional. What it is, is DIFFERENT. Whether it ends up being better, only time will tell.
4. Brian Baldinger opined that it was being changed specifically to beat the Jets. I disagree Its being designed to be more efficient in bad weather of the NE. Its designed to be more ball control and eat up time to protect a young defense. Its being designed to better fit their QB, who in my opinion has never been an accurate deep passer, while being VERY accurate up to 20-25 yds. Its being designed to fit a QB who thrived when he knew exactly where every receiver was supposed to be and had receivers who hit those spots.
Again, only time will tell if this change in both personnel and philosophy in mid-stream will end up being a good thing. Still I can't help notice that compared to the rest of the league, where 6'3+ WRs are now common place, our WRs "don't measure up".
5. Speaking of big receivers, I'm wondering just when will the Pats start to incorporate the Gronk in some deeper routes....and not just have him as a GL specialist. Between Hernandez and him, it would go a long way to mitigate our smurf WRs situation.
6.There was a great thread about the disturbing nature of some defensive stats, especially 3rd down conversions (32nd in the league). Since I'm usually one who sees the upside of things, allow me to put it in some kind of perspective.
I thought it was pretty much conventional wisdom that the defense would start slow, and we'd all hope that by the last third of the season, it would start to get better in time for the playoffs. And this was BEFORE Warren and Boddin were IRed, Butler slipped, and Wheatly "crabelled...again" I thought the general consensus was that we HOPED that the offense would carry us to a good enough record that when the defense started to gel, it would be in time for a real playoff run. The Jets showed last year, anything can happen, once the tournament commences.
What IS surprising is that our offense suddenly is now in kind of a similar situation. Its an offense in transition. Its an offense that is going to take a few weeks to find it self. AND what is the most surprising is that, despite the fact that the best is yet to come for this team for BOTH the offense and defense; NO ONE in the NFL has a better record than we do.
Think about that....and the poor stats won't bother you.....as much
7. ESPN's continual BJ of Bret Farve is really starting to annoy me. I mean several "experts have publicly stated that Farve's "broken" foot, while technically a fracture, it is nothing more than a sprain. Yet ESPN doesn't mention his name without mentioning the Fracture, as if ONLY Farve would be capable of playing with such an injury.
This kind of reminds me of all the adoration ESPN gave Steve McNair, because every time he got a bruise he announced it to the world. When you compare it to Brady's refusal to even mention injuries when he played through several, it just pisses me off.
8. That being said, I'm pretty sure Farve will play. And I'm also sure that he is still capable of torching the Pats. Think about his performance 2 years ago. Several TDs and NO TO's in that Thursday night game. Granted its now MORE likely that he'll turn it over a couple of times, but not a certainty
9. Plus you have to add the fact that he has Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, and the TE whose name I won't even attempt to spell, let alone pronounce. If that set of skill players don't scare you, especially against our suspect D, they you aren't being realistic. Yet I keep hearing from local media that they expect this game to be double digit win. God I hope they are right.
10. The good news is, when I look at our schedule there isn't a game there they we are not capable of winning. The bad news is that if we don't play our A game; there isn't a game there that we aren't capable of losing as well.
BOTTOM LINE - So far, so good, in what looks to be a VERY interesting and entertaining season. Enjoy the game.
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