Short and general: I saw a B-grade team face off against an A-grade team and hold their own, even putting up 11 points to zilch on them. New England came in with their 3rd string QB and a mix of various level players, and managed to knock the opposing team's QB out of the game, and basically take on all comers.
Once the lower-tier guys started to get more playing time, it was more difficult and the Eagles started to score. I don't see it so much as bad technique on the Patriots side (though that was there) as much as a high-level of motor from players on each side trying to make a play so as to make the team.
I always dampen my criticisms (as well as my praise) by understanding that we fans don't know what each player's assignment was on any given play. True enough, we might be able to make an educated guess, and there's certainly times when it's obvious that someone messed up big time.
Having said that, however, it's hard to be to judgmental when you don't know actual assignments for each play, and when you don't know WHY certain plays were called. Knowing how much Coach Belichick stresses situational football, it's very likely that some plays were called to see how players reacted, how well they understood their assignments and executed them, rather than how well the play worked against the opponent.
Overall, I'm not in any way panicking, and I feel a LOT more comfortable with Mallett than I did earlier. I also feel pretty well overall. If this group could put up 11 points with all of our A-list players (or most of them) sitting things out, then how much better when it really matters?
V/R