- Joined
- Nov 14, 2006
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- 49,596
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Here we go:
- Interesting how little the secondary gets exposed when you pressure the QB. No this isn't the best mix of secondary players the Pats' have yesterday, but the fact they pressured Bradford consistently made it look like it. Excitement needs to be tempered since this is the Rams with a horrible o-line with their best WR out and second best one hobbled, but it is something to build on.
- A fact that may only interest me: Chandler Jones' sack was for a loss of more yards (17) than Stephen Jackson's biggest play (14 yards).
- This game reminds me of the KC game in 2002. At halftime in that game, the Pats scrapped their conservative, vanilla defense that they were running all year to mediocre effectiveness and dialed up the exotic looks and pressure and sparked the defense. We will see if this was game specific yesterday or Belichick and Patricia "unleashing Hell".
- This was the first game that Gronk looked healthy and like himself. Hopefully, the Season of Gronk has begun just a little late.
- Props to the o-line. Much maligned all season, they have been pretty solid this year. Solder has made us not miss Matt Light at all. He has been solid after a scary preseason. Even without Mankins, this line opened holes and kept Brady upright even against a pretty good d-line.
- Kudos to Lloyd. After a horrible game last week, he put in a solid effort yesterday. I never expected him to be the primary receiver or be Moss 2.0. He is was yesterday what I expected him to be: A secondary target that is capable of the big play and a guy who will force teams to give coverage to the outside and a safety deep.
- This offense is still best out of the spread. You gotta utilize the weapons to create mismatches and spread out the defense. This year unlike previous years, the Pats have been able to run effectively and consistently out of this formation. I know Belichick and McDaniels were experimenting with other formations to try to get this offense balanced, but you can do it in the spread.
- The Pats are exactly where they were after five games last year - 5-3. The AFC is wide open. No one, even the Texans IMHO, have proven they are an elite team. The Pats play like yesterday the rest of way and they can have HFA through the playoffs.