Game Thoughts - Redskins edition

[Rob0729]

1.) I felt the defense got too much of the blame for the first half. I think the offense was the bigger problem in the first half. They kept the defense on the field for most of the first half because they couldn't get a drive going.
2.) On the offense, the red zone offense was horrendous yesterday. They were 1 for 4 in the redzone yesterday. That is pathetic. The Pats have been great in the red zone this year so I will chock it up to a bad day.
3.) Props to Gronk. The way he is playing this year, he looks to be the best TE in this league since Shannon Sharpe. He might end up being better than Sharpe.
4.) I think safety play is what hurt the defense yesterday. Ihedebgo is clearly playing hurt and can barely handled contact to his shoulder. They need an upgrade there and luckily Chung will be coming back. He isn't the best cover safety (although better than some give him credit for), but an upgrade.
5.) I have heard that the Pats made Rex Grossman look like Joe Montana, but the fact of the matter is yesterday wasn't Grossman's best game this season. Not even close. He played better against the Giants, Cowboys, and Seahawks. He had 252 yards yesterday which is his fifth best game this season in terms of yards (and he didn't play three games this season). It was seventh best in terms of completion percentage. It was his fourth best in terms of QB ratings. Grossman is not a good QB, but he has been far better than most people on this board have given him credit for. Yesterday wasn't his best game of the season, not even close.

Rex Grossman: Game Logs at NFL.com

6.) The officiating was horrible yesterday. It wasn't one sided. London Fletcher didn't deserve the 15 yard penalty for hitting Brady, but the Andre Carter hitting the QB below the waist and the non-call on hitting the defenseless receiver helmet to helmet on the defender who hit Gronk in the end zone were inexcusable. The Wilfork penalty was questionable, but I blame Wilfork because it was stupid of him to dive into him like that when just touching him would have done the same thing and avoided any chance of a penalty.
7.) The third quarter is the sweet spot of the team. This is where the Pats play the best football on both sides of the ball. In the last four games they have outscored their opponents 62-7 in the third quarter. Unfortunately, the offense has been grounded in the first quarter for a lot of games this season.
8.) It is amazing that Brady can have a bad game and still throw for 357 yards and three TDs. I thought yesterday was one of the worst games he played all season and he still did enough to have stats that most QB would dream about.
9.) I am getting a little upset about the lack of commitment to the run. The Pats didn't even try to run the ball and when they did early, they were far too predictable. The outside run on 3rd and one was just plain stupid. I haven't been quick to criticize O'Brien's gameplans, but I definitely did yesterday.

 

[BradyManny]

I disagree about points #1 & point #8.

I thought Brady actually had a very underrated game yesterday. There were drops & miscommunications, but he was savvy in the pocket, avoided a lot of rush and made some impressive throws. Given the context, I thought until the pick, he was having an impressive game.

The pick was atrocious, obviously, and never should've been thrown.

But they left at least two TDs out there. The Hernandez drop, and the misfire to Welker. If Brady has a 5TD stat line instead of 3:1, it probably goes down as a great game.

As for point #1 - I'm not sure how you can blame the offense for not being on the field. It got one first down before punting, Mesko traps the Skins near the goal-line, leads to a defensive TD, which obviously takes a possession away from the O - and then 5 of the next 6 drives are scoring drives for the Pats offense.

 

[Ring 6]

1.) I felt the defense got too much of the blame for the first half. I think the offense was the bigger problem in the first half. They kept the defense on the field for most of the first half because they couldn't get a drive going.

The defense was on the field because it scored a TD and the Patriots had a 2 play TD drive.
The offense didnt allow a 50 yard pass, a 50 yard TD pass on a reverse, and 2 other drives.
The D was awful. The best argument you could make is that if the offense sat on the ball and ran down the clock the redskins would have gotten one less possession, and so would we.

 

[Rob0729]

I disagree about points #1 & point #8.

I thought Brady actually had a very underrated game yesterday. There were drops & miscommunications, but he was savvy in the pocket, avoided a lot of rush and made some impressive throws. Given the context, I thought until the pick, he was having a great game.

The pick was atrocious, obviously, and never should've been thrown.

As for point #1 - I'm not sure how you can blame the offense for not being on the field. It got one first down before punting, Mesko traps the Skins near the goal-line, leads to a defensive TD, which obviously takes a possession away from the O - and then 5 of the next 6 drives are scoring drives for the Pats offense.

Here are the Pats' drives in the first half:

First Quarter
Drive 1: 4 plays, 24 yards PUNT 39 seconds
Drive 2: 2 plays, 60 yards TD 53 seconds
Drive 3: 3 plays, -4 yards PUNT 1:20

Second Quarter
Drive 1: 16 plays, 72 yards FG 5:55
Drive 2: 8 plays, 75 yards FG 2:10

I guess I should have said the first quarter, but the Pats had the ball about 11 minutes in the first half on five drives. Other than the one play 49 yard TD pass by Grossman, all of the Redskins' scoring in the first half was in the first quarter.

Also, Brady was off a lot yesterday. Some of his connections were throws behind receivers. Yes, the receivers deserve some of the blame, but Brady was off yesterday for a large portion of the game. He overthrew some wide open receivers.

 

[Rob0729]

The defense was on the field because it scored a TD and the Patriots had a 2 play TD drive.
The offense didnt allow a 50 yard pass, a 50 yard TD pass on a reverse, and 2 other drives.
The D was awful. The best argument you could make is that if the offense sat on the ball and ran down the clock the redskins would have gotten one less possession, and so would we.

I'm not absolving the defense. They sucked in the first half (actually the first quarter), but I think the offense deserves far more of the blame for the struggles in the first half than they are getting. Probably more of the blame.

 

[JackBauer]

1.) Offensive line seemed to play well in pass protection, especially in the second half. I didn't notice much Kerrigan or Orakpo. Run blocking was still hit or miss.

2.) Our run defense is pretty "meh" without Spikes.

3.) I don't know why we bothered drafting running backs if we don't plan on using them.

 

[Rob0729]

One other thought, but this is post game. I don't get why everyone on the radio are saying "the offense put up 34 points" yesterday. They didn't. They put up 27 points. I heard Dennis and Callahan and Jon Meterperel and Boomer Easiason all say that the offense scored 34 points on several different occassions. Do these people actually watch the game? I can give Boomer a free pass a bit since he doesn't focus on the Pats' game every play and may not remember or even know that Wilfork scored a TD on defense. Dennis and Callahan and Meter have no execuse.

 

[BradyManny]

One other thought, but this is post game. I don't get why everyone on the radio are saying "the offense put up 34 points" yesterday. They didn't. They put up 27 points. I heard Dennis and Callahan and Jon Meterperel and Boomer Easiason all say that the offense scored 34 points on several different occassions. Do these people actually watch the game? I can give Boomer a free pass a bit since he doesn't focus on the Pats' game every play and may not remember or even know that Wilfork scored a TD on defense. Dennis and Callahan and Meter have no execuse.

It's rather common to attribute defensive scores to the offense. Statistically, the NFL doesn't even take it into consideration either.

That said - the defensive TD should be also be attributed to Mesko and ST.

At the same time, realize that when a defense scores a TD, it takes a possession away from the offense. Discounting kneel downs, the Pats scored 27 points on 9 possessions (their current average points per possession is 2.7 and the Packers are 3.06, for comparison sake).

 

[Rob0729]

It's rather common to attribute defensive scores to the offense. Statistically, the NFL doesn't even take it into consideration either.

That said - the defensive TD should be also be attributed to Mesko and ST.

At the same time, realize that when a defense scores a TD, it takes a possession away from the offense. Discounting kneel downs, the Pats scored 27 points on 9 possessions (their current average points per possession is 2.7 and the Packers are 3.06, for comparison sake).

I agree that Mesko and the ST have a lot of the credit for the defensive TD. But they still aren't the offense.

As for the defensive score taking away an offensive possession, that argument is kinda moot since the Pats score the defense TD on the third play of that drive. It wasn't like it happened on the 8th or 9th play of the drive.

The Pats scored one of three possessions in the first quarter and none of the possessions lasted more than a minute and a half. The Redskins scored on three possessions in the third quarter. The offense gave the defense plenty of opportunities to score because the offense kept the defense on the field. Yes, the defense needs to step up, but they didn't have any time to regroup in the first quarter.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'm goign to take issue with 8 & 9. It's easy to blame Brady when the offense sputters. too easy. I think folks to it because it's so easy to both blame him and predict he will fix it. He's been outstanding the last couple of seasons while trying to fix it and he still can't get it to perform consistently. Miscues are largely on others while the few he ever makes are blown out of rational proportion in an effort to prove it's on him... While he will occasionally over or under throw a receiver under pressure (actual or justifyably anticipated) more often than not his receivers are simply a hair out of place (remember he's throwing to a spot in anticipation as opposed to what lesser QB's do which is waiting for a guy to show open and then throwing it to him and hoping a defender didn't also notice what was happening) or they failed to anticipate coverage and adjust as they should have. We saw that several times yesterday, not to mention some clear drops. And people have to quit equating hitting a receiver in the numbers with success and putting the ball where it had to be with failure when the receiver's job is to catch all the balls in his immediate vacinity. That's why Gronk is doing so well, catch radius. Ditto Welker to whom the lowball is equivalent of the high ball to Gronk. Whom I think got his bell wrung though he will never admit it and was a little foggy for the next series...

This offense has very little margin for error. And that's because as good as guys like Wellker and Gronk are no one on this offense gets a lot of seperation except for the occasional totally blown coverage. Still, Brady has to find ways to make that work.

As for the running game, talk to the HC because he doens't seem to believe in it and isn't into banging his head against a brick wall just to try and make a point. They aren't BOB's game plans, he's just the playcaller. Bill decides what approach we will take based on what he believes we have the capacity to accomplish and what he believes they opponent can stop. We aren't going to feature the ground game other than situationally until he believes we have the capacity to execute it consistently. And that speaks to the RB and OL units. We pass to run because we can consistently manage to do that thanks largely to TFB.

 

[Rob0729]

I'm goign to take issue with 8 & 9. It's easy to blame Brady when the offense sputters. too easy. I think folks to it because it's so easy to both blame him and predict he will fix it. He's been outstanding the last couple of seasons while trying to fix it and he still can't get it to perform consistently. Miscues are largely on others while the few he ever makes are blown out of rational proportion in an effort to prove it's on him... While he will occasionally over or under throw a receiver under pressure (actual or justifyably anticipated) more often than not his receivers are simply a hair out of place (remember he's throwing to a spot in anticipation as opposed to what lesser QB's do which is waiting for a guy to show open and then throwing it to him and hoping a defender didn't also notice what was happening) or they failed to anticipate coverage and adjust as they should have. We saw that several times yesterday, not to mention some clear drops. And people have to quit equating hitting a receiver in the numbers with success and putting the ball where it had to be with failure when the receiver's job is to catch all the balls in his immediate vacinity. That's why Gronk is doing so well, catch radius. Ditto Welker to whom the lowball is equivalent of the high ball to Gronk. Whom I think got his bell wrung though he will never admit it and was a little foggy for the next series...

This offense has very little margin for error. And that's because as good as guys like Wellker and Gronk are no one on this offense gets a lot of seperation except for the occasional totally blown coverage. Still, Brady has to find ways to make that work.

As for the running game, talk to the HC because he doens't seem to believe in it and isn't into banging his head against a brick wall just to try and make a point. They aren't BOB's game plans, he's just the playcaller. Bill decides what approach we will take based on what he believes we have the capacity to accomplish and what he believes they opponent can stop. We aren't going to feature the ground game other than situationally until he believes we have the capacity to execute it consistently. And that speaks to the RB and OL units. We pass to run because we can consistently manage to do that thanks largely to TFB.

I think you may be giving Brady too much a free pass, but I agree that all the offense's problems were clearly not all his fault. Yes, his receivers were out of position on many of the plays. But Brady threw a screen pass to Woodhead that was so high that even Gronk couldn't have caught it. He also overthrew a wide open Gronk who had his defender beat down the field that would have been a TD. He threw behind Welker on a slant where Brady wasn't under pressure and Welker was open (Welker caught the ball though). OchoCinco's catch was low and he had to go to his knees to catch where if he caught it standing up he might have been able to gain ten or more yards. Brady was off yesterday a lot, but he clearly wasn't the only problem on offense.

 

[mrscruff]

The defensive TD was an excellent combination of three players hustling. Of course, Andre Carter beats the left tackle to get to the QB.
As Carter is about to hit the QB, Ninkovich who is battling with the tight end on the opposite side sees the ball getting stripped and tries to come off his block. Falling to the ground and realizing that he can't gather the ball in, he crucially gets his hand to deflect the ball depriving the Redskin who had gone to ground from getting a clean shot at the football.
As the ball was going to ground, Wilfork was actually on his knees and hustles to the ball, eventuallt pouncing and coming away with the rock for his efforts.
In the end, the seven points proved to be the difference in the scoreline.
As maddeningly inconsistent as this defense is, it does come up with the odd big play from time to time.