Idle thoughts.....instant reactions

[patchick]

Throwing a couple more thoughts on the pile:

- Ever seen anybody become a legit NFL linebacker faster than Dane Fletcher? Two seasons ago he was a Big Sky defensive lineman, and now he's all over the field as a Pats ILB.

- The media folks seem determined not to believe it, but Danny Woodhead is a heck of an all-around RB. While the announcers were going on and on about how Reggie Bush is ready to be The Man running the ball for Miami, and how cute-little-Woodhead hides behind his o-line, the two of them were putting up these rushing numbers:

Reggie 11 ATT 38 YDS 3.5 AVG
Danny 14 ATT 69 YDS 4.9 AVG

OK, that's just one game and Bush caught the ball more. Let's look at last year:

Reggie 36 ATT 150 YDS 4.2 AVG, 34 REC 208 YDS 6.1 AVG
Danny 97 ATT 547 YDS 5.6 AVG, 34 REC 379 YDS 11.1 AVG

Woodhead can play football.

 

[borg]

Nice job Ken.
My take:

1) Henne was great...and I believe he made this quantum leap because Parcells is gone and so is that entrenched mentality of power football that lived in the 80s. Look across the NFL...QBs are chuckin it 400 yds + while the teams with the $100 million dollar RBs are 0-1. Back to Henne...his passes in that 1st series were bold and the WRs made amazing catches. Not much any CB can do when the QB drops it over the top a foot from the sideline.

2) I too wished the Pats ran the ball more....but here's why I think they didn't try. New RG, new RT, C getting injured. The O line couldn't get creative with traps and pulling because they haven't worked together...plus the TE game plan had Gronk and Hernandez moving down field. BJGE's game is straight ahead...but upheaval at RG and C dictated that the Pats avoid running at the stout Miami line. I did find it interesting that the Pats preferred to run to the right side....Faith in Solder and Waters......And finally, Brady stayed clean. Those first 2 drives, Brady had all day and went 8-8. Textbook.

2B) I'm not a big Koppen....but when he went down, I was sick to my stomach. Ranking who that Pats could least afford to lose, Koppen is not far behind Brady. How will BB supplement the roster to add a C right now.....trade?....remember that the Pats don't have picks 5,6, and 7 in the 2012 draft

3) Where was the blitzing up the middle? There was pressure on Henne...but again I'll pat the guy on the back because he stayed composed and made good decisions. I suspect the aura of Reggie Bush prevented BB from using a LB as pass rusher. I once read a quote from a Saints coach that said defenses usually assign two guys to keep tabs on Bush. If BB constructed a similar Bush D, then I suspect the LBs will see more leeway in non Bush games

4) Our kicker is not that accurate....and BB rarely trusts him on long kicks. Worth watching.

5) Ocho is awful....talk amongst yourself.

6) Woodhead gets 8 yards every rush...that slippery SOB

7) Can't wait for next week's shootout....1100 yds passing offense... total....the new NFL

 

[DarrylS]

It is Mayo's 4th season, 2 of which he was the Defensive rookie of the yr, and last yr he led the entire NFL in tackles...he's pretty damn good, solid, proven leader, and the future of our defense. I think you are referring to his 'big play' lack, but that may come this yr. Mayo is one of the premiere ILB's in the entire NFL.

He is also being asked to do things differently in this defense.. there were several qb pressures he was involved in.

While some teams highlight their defensive stars, this team plays to the strengths... overall he played well last night.

Overlooked in this conversation was the play of Edelman.. he played like someone possessed last night..
2 Kick Returns for an average of 32.5
5 punt returns for an average of 11.5

Thought Guyton struggled in TE coverage..

 

[Jack Handy]

Was Ridley inactive?

 

[Spiral]

I haven't had a chance to read every post in the game thread or in any of the post-game threads, so maybe this is redundant. But I just re-watched the replay of Brady's interception. At the time it happened, my first reaction was "that's pass interference" because the Dolphin CB (Sapp?) clearly hit the receiver (Edelman) before the ball got there. It was that jarring that prevented Edelman from getting to the pass.

See: NFL Videos: Patriots vs. Dolphins highlights - start at the 2:02 mark for the highlight.

Obviously there was no PI called. Was that because it was ruled a lateral? Or because Branch was making contact with Sapp and they felt that Branch pushed Sapp into Edelman?

There was no explanation given for what was a no-call on obvious PI.

There is no PI behind the line of scrimmage.

 

[NEP4Life]

- The media folks seem determined not to believe it, but Danny Woodhead is a heck of an all-around RB. While the announcers were going on and on about how Reggie Bush is ready to be The Man running the ball for Miami, and how cute-little-Woodhead hides behind his o-line, the two of them were putting up these rushing numbers:

Reggie 11 ATT 38 YDS 3.5 AVG
Danny 14 ATT 69 YDS 4.9 AVG

OK, that's just one game and Bush caught the ball more. Let's look at last year:

Reggie 36 ATT 150 YDS 4.2 AVG, 34 REC 208 YDS 6.1 AVG
Danny 97 ATT 547 YDS 5.6 AVG, 34 REC 379 YDS 11.1 AVG

Woodhead can play football.

I'm going to go ahead and label it unmitigated racism. The media doesn't like to see a white guy who is near feature-back quality, so they respond by downplaying and disparaging his accomplishments.

And I think the media's implicit hostility will motivate Danny even more.

 

[Gumby]

I'm going to go ahead and call label it unmitigated racism. The media doesn't like to see a white guy who is near feature-back quality, so they respond by downplaying and disparaging his accomplishments.

And I think the media's implicit hostility will motivate Danny even more.

I seriously doubt the racism charge. SHORTISM now; that is a valid accusation.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

MAYO froze up on Chad Henne's run in the endzone on the first drive.

I dont know wtf he was doing. He definitely hesistated.

 

[Metaphors]

- Hard to draw conclusions from this game since the Fins were completely ill-equipped to deal with the Pats offense. It was such a bad matchup that the Pats did things (throw 50 times, empty backfield in the endzone, pass on the clock-killing drive, etc.) that won't translate to other games.

- Also hard to draw many conclusions about the overall Pats defense since the game was obviously going to be a track meet and that changes the defensive context.

- While I agree with everyone that Dowling was a pleasant surprise, an unsung hero was Ninkovich. Very active in applying outside pressure (don't just look at the stats) and was always around the ball. Looked very much like Vrabel during his prime years.

- While Belichick isn't the pathetic sideline cheerleader like Rex and Sporano, he clearly appreciates history. His reaction to the Welker 99 yd TD was more about Brady/Welker doing something truly historic and less about taking a commanding lead in the game. Side note...seeing Sporano on the sideline shot as Welker broke away was priceless.

From other games...

- Jets/Cowboys: While the Jets luck has been well documented, there were a couple of instances that I haven't seen mentioned. Before the Romo fumble, there were questionable spots (4 yd line should have been closer to the 2, 2 yd line should have been closer to the 1) that likely affected the play calls after that. Also after the Revis pick, Dez Bryant allowed Revis to gain 10 extra yards when even a minimal effort would have knock him out of bounds. Considering a 50 yd FG won the game, that was huge.

- What does Revis have to do to get called for a penalty?

- When playing the Jets, opposing teams should get a message like the Emergency Broadcast System when they get to a point in the game where having the QB just fall down in the fetal position 3 times and then punting successfully will win.

- If the Raiders played in a 4-team league made up of just the AFC West, they would never lose. If the Raiders played in a 29 team league made up of teams outside the AFC West, they would never win.

- If the Chargers don't run away with the AFC West, Norv Turner should not only be fired....he should be retroactively fired from every job he has held since childhood. I use the term "dumpster fire" to describe bad teams without hope, but it just seems inadequate for the Broncos, Chiefs and Raiders.

- Bad, bad losses for Atlanta and Cleveland. The Falcons are expecting big things but you can't lose like that against a key conference foe. The Browns have an amazingly favorable early schedule. Losing to the Bengals at home may have already ended their hopes of a surprise playoff run.

- The Eagles seem a little full of themselves considering Vick was under 50% and it took multiple injuries to put the Rams away. On the road against an angry Falcons team next week is a much better test.

- Much discussion over the last couple of years around Indy's slide into oblivion. People didn't realize that it was only Goober's enormous melon that was keeping that window open.

 

[reflexblue]

MAYO froze up on Chad Henne's run in the endzone on the first drive.

I dont know wtf he was doing. He definitely hesistated.

Cut him, Cut Him NOW!!! How dare he hesitate once during a game.

 

[Urgent]

My reactions:

QB
Terrific accuracy. Tom was very good in diagnosing the defense, and made some terrific throws. Agree, one of his best games. The INT I didn't like from the formation - when the receiver ran in motion. Then two receivers bumped into each other. Too bad. If you take away the one 99-yard play to Welker, however, the two QB's had the following numbers:
31 of 47, 418 yards, 3 TD/1 INT
30 of 49, 416 yards, 2 TD/1 INT

RB
Woodhead continues to impress. He was suprisingly good as an inside runner. On second-and 10, which is so commonly a run down following a missed pass, he still seemed to pick up six or seven yards. BJGE is a good north-south runner. I was hoping to see Ridley.

WR
Branch just picked up like this was 2005 or something. Great game for him. Slater is a more effective downfield threat than Tate. Who would have thought the first reception of 2011 would go to Slater? Another terrific game for Welker. Great to see it in Miami. It's like Tom bringing his supermodel wife by the guy who broke up with her. I don't mind the inactivity from Ocho; it's the stupid penalties I don't need. Lining up over the tight end is sort of a Byzantine rule, but it's a rule, and you've been playing football for 20 years. It negated a nice play. There were several plays where Brady had 20 or 30 seconds in the pocket, and no one came back to bail him out. If the line is going to block like that when the defense drops seven in coverage, the receivers need to adjust and come back.

TE
Hernandez has Welker hands. He just has been catching everything since preseason. What a great option. And nice blocking off the line by all three tight ends. G1 had a long reception called back on a penalty.

OL
Again, Wow. Brady had so much time he was bouncing up and down in place, surveying receivers. The time he had was amazing, especially watching Henne get hit so much. The television coverage focused on Solder a lot - just perfect technique. He adjusted to RT immediately. Connolly and Brady didn't miss a beat, and Brady was right in the shotgun. Didn't see Light as much, but a quiet night from the LT is a good thing.

DL
Hot and cold. It looked like Love was in two or three plays for every one with Haynesworth. It looked like Wilfork played all night, while Haynesworth played a dozen snaps. Probably wasn't that dramatic. The Patriots didn't blitz much, and didn't generate a ton of pressure with just four in the first half. They definitely got better. Saw absolutely nothing from Ellis - not sure how much he played. Ninkovich is a great tackler, but is sort of overmatched at DE. I think he is a far better SOLB in the 3-4 than a RDE. Anderson was on the field a lot, and was rewarded late with a garbage time sack. Late in the game Henne was getting pounded, and was pretty impressive with this throws with the DL a tenth of a second from plastering him.

LB
Sort of a quiet night. As excited as we were to see Mayo at OLB, he had a quiet night. Fletcher impressed, tackling and rushing and covering. No Spikes, huh? Healthy scratch - that's troubling. Fletcher looked better than Guyton to me.

CB
Up and down night for McCourty. He had the dirtiest uniform in Miami by the fourth quarter, and had some terrific break-ups, and got beat by a good receiver a number of times. Not a shut down night when your #1 corner leads the team in tackles downfield. Dowling was surprisingly effective, looked good in coverage, had a huge pass defensed in the end zone. He played a lot more than Bodden.

S
Chung had one big hit on Fasano, but wasn't around the ball a lot. Barrett and Brown didn't contribute much. Bit of a weakness. Hopefully they can improve.

 

[JackBauer]

I also felt that the inside pass rush from Miami was more than apparent when Koppen went down.

Truth be told, I did not see what you saw.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

I saw exactly what I'd thought I'd see from #85, (which is fine)..but I wonder how long he will be able to deal with not being looked at as often as he expected? All we need him to do is be the real #4/#5 WR, considering Welker, Branch, Gronk, and Hernandez are the top 4. I do wonder how he will handle that though? I am sure he will get more looks as the season progresses, but it's more than obvious who Brady's most comfortable with. I am fine with Chad all yr long in his role tonight (if needed), but it does make you wonder if his salary is worth being used as a decoy? I realize that we'll see him used more and more as the yr progresses, but there's no way that he should be the top earning WR, when Welker/Branch/Gronk/Hernandez are all going to be getting 80%+ of all the catches. 6 million+ seems a bit extreme. It's certainly something to keep an eye on.

Personally I do not think 85 will last here.

There was one occasion where Brady was sitting on the sidelines watching the game, and 85 just goes and stands up infront of him. Kind of a "I need attention" thing.

When Brady threw the 99 yard pass to Welker and everyone was happy and celebrating, 85 walked up to Brady and said something. It seemed like he was a buzzkill for Tom.


How long until BB and Brady get tired of his attention whoring? They are not babysitters.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

McCourty is a damned good competitor. You could tell he WANTED the challenge, unlike our previous CB's who played scared (Butler, Weatley, Wilhite).

Even if he got beat a few times, that's fine. It was against one of the best WR's in the league. What I was impressed about was his attitude and willingness to come back and fight the next play.

 

[NEP4Life]

Personally I do not think 85 will last here.

There was one occasion where Brady was sitting on the sidelines watching the game, and 85 just goes and stands up infront of him. Kind of a "I need attention" thing.

When Brady threw the 99 yard pass to Welker and everyone was happy and celebrating, 85 walked up to Brady and said something. It seemed like he was a buzzkill for Tom.


How long until BB and Brady get tired of his attention whoring? They are not babysitters.

Galloway played 3 games and got flushed after week 6. What's the over/under on #85?

 

[patchick]

I seriously doubt the racism charge. SHORTISM now; that is a valid accusation.

Ah, I completely disagree! The perception that Woodhead is tiny IS the racism.

He's the same size as Kevin Faulk, Ray Rice, Leon Washington. Bigger than Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren Sproles. A perfectly normal size for his job. But everybody's used to seeing that pasty complexion on bigger, slower guys like OLs and QBs, so they look at Woodhead and just register "small." Whereas they look at the other backs and register "athlete."

It's unfair on both sides, IMO. A guy like Faulk doesn't get credit for what he accomplished given his size, and Woodhead doesn't get credit for his elite athleticism.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

I'll add some random thoughts here as well (as good a place as any).

1) Didn't one of the Dolphins WRs have a drop on 3rd and 6th that went for a first down? I think the dolphins were around the patriot 35-40 yard line at the time. That could have stalled the first drive.

2) I think Haynesworth forced 2 (called) holding calls on the offense. These are big plays.

3) OL play was tremendous and if this is a top 5/10 D, it's a good sign. Still, we need could use some quality depth.

4) Did you recall the play where Brank & Brady had some type of signal and Brady threw the sideline pass (though about 3-4 yards over the line of scrimmage) and Branch didn't seem to know what to do because there was nobody around him. That or he just took a second to size up where he wanted to run. Then they seemed to do a similar pass the next play.

5) To think that this is probably the floor of their Potenial. (IF) Chad gets in sync with Brady by about week 8 and Haynesworth gets in better condition and the D really learns the new style, this can be a rough year for other teams. I guess the question will be how much each team improves incrementally.

6) Right now, I think our TE package needs to be used to kill the Jets. The Jets seem to have issues over the middle and it can really open the game up fopr the rest of the Offense. And this can pretty much be appled to every team out there. Let's hope they stay healthy.

 

[Bigatrop]

A few thoughts I had on the game:

First off, where was Shaun Ellis? I saw him one time on the field and that was it. I wonder if this is a case of easing him into the lineup or his abilities not being up to par.

Tom Brady - absolutely stellar night. Nothing more can be said about his game. That pass to Welker for the 99.5 yard run was an absolute beauty. It was the Perfect Pass.

Branch - for all the pre-season worrying, Branch was electric, open, and right in sync with Brady. I loved it when he was killing the safety/CB and just kept demanding the ball from Brady.

Dowling - impressive first game. This kid might prove to be another steal, if he can keep himself healthy. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about our potential CB starting core.

Wilfork - I cringed when he destroyed Henne on that sack. It must have felt like getting hit by a car. Especially considering he had another sack of bricks holding him down in Pryor. Yikes.

Hernandez/Gronk - If I was a team that was nervous about getting burned by TE's, I would pray I don't have to play the Pats. These two dudes are nightmares.

Prevent Defense - I hate you.

 

[SanAngeloState]

Magnificent performance by Brady, he's like a fine wine. Inexplicable that pic though, talk about throwing it into a tight spot, very bad decision.

Pats need to develop a WR, hopefully Price is it, but it shows how much their game is about thinking rather than just speed. Ochostinko is lost in the tall grass, unfortunately. Hopefully he will figure it out, but I'm not sure he will.
His biggest play was a -40 yarder on the gronkowski grab.

4th and 1 with 2 minutes left and we punt...thought they should have gone for it there to ice the game and end it. Have brady throw for the record even, I think he was within 35 yards or so.

I'm liking the defense more, at least they create some havoc out there instead of the passive bend and give up 8 yards at a time stuff last year.

 

[shmessy]

......4)Our kicker is not that accurate....and BB rarely trusts him on long kicks. Worth watching.......

You were doing well until that one, Borg;



New England Patriots: Stephen Gostkowski

"•Entering the 2011 season, Gostkowski has hit 103-of-121 career field goal attempts, and his 85.1 percent accuracy rate is the highest in Patriots history........
....Gostkowski kicked the longest field goal in Patriots playoff history when he nailed a 50-yard boot at San Diego (1/14/07).
•Gostkowski's 52-yard field goal against Chicago (11/26/06) was the longest field goal in Gillette Stadium history."