A Few Thoughts on Yesterday

[aluminum seats]

--Whew.

--Not a great day for the secondary. I was thinking about this in the 2nd half….Colts couldn’t run, & couldn’t really throw to McCourty’s side. Meaning, to score, they had to go against Arrington (Wayne had a great day) or the middle of the field (anyone.) And still, the points came. Still work to be done. I’ve been loving Chung, but don’t see that he did a lot today.

--Mayo is a tackling machine, but I do wish he'd be more of a playmaker at times.

--Meriweather did seem a bit clueless on the (I think) Colts’ 2nd TD. A poster got barbecued recently for disparaging Brandon, but he sure doesn’t seem to be bringing much to the table these days.

--Guess we’ll have to get used to kickoffs to the 10.

--Gotta love Branch—makes a reception a couple yards short of a 1st down, and just rolls to the 1st down. Don’t think I saw Moss do that. Be fun to see a guy roll like 30 yards for a TD.

--McCourty is the man...his side of the field was basically not part of the game, pretty much. Manning did complete a pass to his side on the last drive, which was too bad, but still. When he got his pick, when Manning threw the ball, I thought, “Hmm, that’s surprising….”

--I love Woodhead, & the pain his great play must give Jets’ fans just makes it all the sweeter. He scores that terrific TD, then makes a special teams play. Thanks Jets! Ha Ha Ha!!

--Good offensive gameplan. Just a lot of different things going on, which should be the case.

--BUT….no matter how much you spread it around, etc., an offense needs to have a “go to” element, & it seems to me the TEs should be the go-tos for this offense. 4th quarter, end-the-game drive….gotta think Gronk & Co. are where you should look. Only 2 catches for the TEs.

--I’ll admit, the symmetry of the scores last year & this year in the 4th quarter stuck me, and I thought, “well, this will show how things were different.” Almost was a fiasco. But, end of the day, worked out.

--Watching Sunday Night Football, Collingsworth on Asante Samuel: “QBs must fear him…” Hmmm….yeah, I guess. But he missed that pick against the Giants, didn’t he? Sanders didn’t miss his. I know, small sample size, but sometimes in life, you just gotta do it. Sanders did it.

--The Jets. I’m living in NY. The way they win every week is comical, & it sucks in the moment. But you know what? I’m a believer in the emotions of sports. And I don’t want the Jets to be the scrappy underdogs playing the Pats in a couple weeks. Make it the Clash of the Titans, the Monday Night Game for the division, etc. Not sure the Jets & Sanchez will react so well to that. I think Brady & the Pats will.

Hey, fun season, huh?

 

[Wax Frog]

[...] I don’t want the Jets to be the scrappy underdogs playing the Pats in a couple weeks. Make it the Clash of the Titans, the Monday Night Game for the division, etc. Not sure the Jets & Sanchez will react so well to that. I think Brady & the Pats will.

Nice silver lining, if you're right. I've learned over the years that overconfidence - which this situation *might* induce - always leads to bad things,and that's something I'd savor here...

 

[BelichickFan]

--Guess we’ll have to get used to kickoffs to the 10.

I don't know if there's a kickoff guy out there but I'd be tempted to use a roster spot on him if he could do kickoffs as good as Gotti did.

--McCourty is the man...his side of the field was basically not part of the game

The main reason he dropped in the draft was he only had 5 INT in 4 years in college. He has 2 real good catches already (+ the half INT/half fumble vs. Harvin) so the "bad ball skills" rap seems be fixed. I wonder if he worked hard on his hands starting in May or if the college teams just never threw his way. I bet he'd challenge, if not pass him, to be the top drafted CB if the draft were re-done now.

--The Jets. I’m living in NY. The way they win every week is comical, & it sucks in the moment. But you know what? I’m a believer in the emotions of sports. And I don’t want the Jets to be the scrappy underdogs playing the Pats in a couple weeks. Make it the Clash of the Titans, the Monday Night Game for the division, etc. Not sure the Jets & Sanchez will react so well to that. I think Brady & the Pats will.

All these ridiculous wins for the Jets are really causing a problem. Our division winner should be the #1 seed but if they win the division we're looking at being #5. Monumental difference. Obviously we have to beat them in Gillette, then hold on for dear life. Thankfully they have @Pitt and @Chi still to come but we have zero - ZERO - margin for error.

 

[N.Eman]

--The Jets. I’m living in NY. The way they win every week is comical, & it sucks in the moment. But you know what? I’m a believer in the emotions of sports. And I don’t want the Jets to be the scrappy underdogs playing the Pats in a couple weeks. Make it the Clash of the Titans, the Monday Night Game for the division, etc. Not sure the Jets & Sanchez will react so well to that. I think Brady & the Pats will.

You forgot to put in that their luck will run out!

 

[D-Money]

I live in ny and it makes me sick to watch the jets pulled these games out.The texans are a joke.I dont know how u allowed a td under a minute even with the worse pass defense in the league.I still think it will take a big effort from our team to beat the jets even if we playing at home.Its hard to move the ball on that defense.

 

[tombonneau]

I live in ny and it makes me sick to watch the jets pulled these games out.The texans are a joke.I dont know how u allowed a td under a minute even with the worse pass defense in the league.I still think it will take a big effort from our team to beat the jets even if we playing at home.Its hard to move the ball on that defense.

Have you been watching the Jets the past month? They can't run or play D. This is a direct quote from my Jets fan friend.

 

[Synovia]

--Mayo is a tackling machine, but I do wish he'd be more of a playmaker at times.

What the hell does this even mean?

 

[ewg_gestalt]

--BUT….no matter how much you spread it around, etc., an offense needs to have a “go to” element, & it seems to me the TEs should be the go-tos for this offense. 4th quarter, end-the-game drive….gotta think Gronk & Co. are where you should look. Only 2 catches for the TEs.

I think the biggest reason we don't see more of the TE's in the passing game is their value in blocking and pass protection. Hernandez is the primary pass-receiving TE. He doesn't play a lot of snaps in games where there's a concern of a strong pass rush. Instead, most of the reps go to GRONK and Cap'n Crump. And instead of heading downfield, they spend most of their time helping to give Brady time to find the Smurfs.

--Mayo is a tackling machine, but I do wish he'd be more of a playmaker at times.

What the hell does this even mean?

I think it's a desire to see Mayo make the "big play," instead of all the routine plays: coming up with INTs and sacks rather than just tons of tackles. I'd argue that he probably doesn't get as much respect as he deserves as a result, but I think his contributions, like Wilfork's and Chung's, are already critical to the success of the defense.

 

[aluminum seats]

What the hell does this even mean?

You honestly don't know what being a playmaker on defense means? Hmmm.

 

[aluminum seats]

Have you been watching the Jets the past month? They can't run or play D. This is a direct quote from my Jets fan friend.

That's a classic Jets' fan, isn't it?

From what I've seen, their defense has slipped from last year--they can still "play D" but teams have consistently been able to score on them. On the flip side, Sanchez has played much better.

Pats got Detroit 1st, but the game against NY will be a tough one, I think.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I don't know if there's a kickoff guy out there but I'd be tempted to use a roster spot on him if he could do kickoffs as good as Gotti did.

We already have one -- the Zoltan!

 

[Deus Irae]

--The Jets. I’m living in NY. The way they win every week is comical, & it sucks in the moment. But you know what? I’m a believer in the emotions of sports. And I don’t want the Jets to be the scrappy underdogs playing the Pats in a couple weeks. Make it the Clash of the Titans, the Monday Night Game for the division, etc. Not sure the Jets & Sanchez will react so well to that. I think Brady & the Pats will.

Hey, fun season, huh?

The Jets played with a horseshoe up their asses last season, too. Games against teams that had already clinched got them into the playoffs. From there, it was kickers missing 3 kicks helping them to move one.

I don't trust that team's luck to run out.

 

[Kid~Brady]

The Bills look really scary....

 

[pheenix11]

Graham has been ok but I miss Ghost. Those kickoffs were huge.

 

[stavros27]

"--Gotta love Branch—makes a reception a couple yards short of a 1st down, and just rolls to the 1st down. Don’t think I saw Moss do that. Be fun to see a guy roll like 30 yards for a TD."

Moss doesn't need to roll when he's in the endzone :singing:

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I agree with Brady's self critique. The offense in the 4th QTR was anti-clutch. A couple 1st downs drive on either of the last 2 pathetic possessions even w/o a score would have iced the game and saved the D. This continued failure by the offense to close the game in clutch situations the last few years given the opportunity reflects badly on Tom's resume. Instead we had to rely on Manning's aggressiveness in going for the W instead of a FG tie to win Sunday. The correct strategic decision, simply lacking in execution and thwarted by 2 great contributions by the D on that play. The offense needs to make those 3rd downs when the game is on the line. Shades of the 2006 AFCCG when just one 1st down woulda...

 

[Synovia]

You honestly don't know what being a playmaker on defense means? Hmmm.

No, I just think its ridiculous that you think a guy who is making 10 + tackles every game, is calling the defense, and is clearly the best player on the field isnt a "playmaker".

 

[reflexblue]

We already have one -- the Zoltan!

Ive thought the same thing. Z has a big leg, i wonder if BB has seen what he can do kicking off.

 

[aluminum seats]

No, I just think its ridiculous that you think a guy who is making 10 + tackles every game, is calling the defense, and is clearly the best player on the field isnt a "playmaker".

You think Mayo is "clearly the best player on the field?" OK. Agree to disagree.