Some Quick Thoughts - Sardines Style

[Rob0729]

He we go:

1. It wasn't pretty on offense today, but they got it done when it mattered. Brady just seemed off today. I don't know if he was thinking of Gisselle and impending fatherhood or not, but he missed a lot of wide open receivers today. His INT was Sanchez-like.
2. Granted the rest of the offense had its issues. Too many receivers falling down and running bad routes. The o-line was really down three starters with Mankins not making the trip, Connolley going out quickly, and Vollmer looking like a shadow of himself (reports before the game he looked to be in so much pain that people didn't think he would play). In the end they all stepped up for the most part.
3. Kudos to Trevor Scott. We see now what the Pats' like in him. Two sacks including the strip sack that Wilfork recovered the ball. Both Cunningham and Jones gone and the defense seemed better than it was a few weeks ago.
4. Still concerned about the consistency of the secondary. Both Arrington and Talib were up and down all game. Both made some great plays and really bad ones. Luckily Tannenhill and his receivers couldn't capitalize on them and Arrington got away with a facemask call that would have been huge.
5. Liked seeing the defense carry the offense in a game. The Dolphins' offense isn't great. So we cannot get too excited, but the defense kept the Pats in the league when the offense stalled. Definitely could help build confidence in the defense going into the playoffs.
6. I don't buy this was a trap game and the Pats were looking past the Dolphins. I give the Dolphins' defense a lot of credit. They are a good unit and they gave Brady fits at time taking advantage of the Pats' makeshift o-line (something the Jets couldn't do).
7. Congratulations to the Pats on yet another division title. Hopefully, this is the first of many hat and T-Shirts they earn for the 2012-2013 season.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

after being in cold weather for X amount of weeks, going down to warm miami weather always throws things off a bit.

 

[mosi]

He we go:

1. It wasn't pretty on offense today, but they got it done when it mattered. Brady just seemed off today. I don't know if he was thinking of Gisselle and impending fatherhood or not, but he missed a lot of wide open receivers today. His INT was Sanchez-like.
2. Granted the rest of the offense had its issues. Too many receivers falling down and running bad routes. The o-line was really down three starters with Mankins not making the trip, Connolley going out quickly, and Vollmer looking like a shadow of himself (reports before the game he looked to be in so much pain that people didn't think he would play). In the end they all stepped up for the most part.
3. Kudos to Trevor Scott. We see now what the Pats' like in him. Two sacks including the strip sack that Wilfork recovered the ball. Both Cunningham and Jones gone and the defense seemed better than it was a few weeks ago.
4. Still concerned about the consistency of the secondary. Both Arrington and Talib were up and down all game. Both made some great plays and really bad ones. Luckily Tannenhill and his receivers couldn't capitalize on them and Arrington got away with a facemask call that would have been huge.
5. Liked seeing the defense carry the offense in a game. The Dolphins' offense isn't great. So we cannot get too excited, but the defense kept the Pats in the league when the offense stalled. Definitely could help build confidence in the defense going into the playoffs.
6. I don't buy this was a trap game and the Pats were looking past the Dolphins. I give the Dolphins' defense a lot of credit. They are a good unit and they gave Brady fits at time taking advantage of the Pats' makeshift o-line (something the Jets couldn't do).
7. Congratulations to the Pats on yet another division title. Hopefully, this is the first of many hat and T-Shirts they earn for the 2012-2013 season.

Man, there were a ton of dropped balls by the Pats. Brady was off but the they almost seemed afraid to run the ball until the very end. Good game to have before a big game against a much better team.

 

[Rob0729]

Man, there were a ton of dropped balls by the Pats. Brady was off but the they almost seemed afraid to run the ball until the very end. Good game to have before a big game against a much better team.

I forgot to mention the dropped balls. Both Welker and Hernandez had big dropped ball non-catches. Welker's would have been a TD.

 

[IndianPat]

Personally, I am happy the Pats ground out a win against a TOUGH defense. Pats have two more tough defenses to play the next two weeks. These 3 games and the last one again with Dolphins will battle test the Pats and help them primed up for the playoffs.

 

[VrabelJr]

Yeah the Dolphin's defense are no slouches. Sure their Secondary isn't the hottest but that Front 7 is pretty damn mean. And they have a lot of depth to boot. There's nothing wrong with a good win on the road in the division in the month of December.

 

[Rob0729]

Yeah the Dolphin's defense are no slouches. Sure their Secondary isn't the hottest but that Front 7 is pretty damn mean. And they have a lot of depth to boot. There's nothing wrong with a good win on the road in the division in the month of December.

I am not trashing the win. Good win against a team that usually plays teams tough even when they lose. Most of their games have been won or lost by 3-4 points this season.

 

[fnordcircle]

Nothing wrong with that win at all. I only see positives.

A patchwork offensive line gave Brady a reasonable amount of time in spite of some great rushes from Wake et al.

Pass heavy at the beginning but we ran when it counted - how can you not love that last drive?

Some drops and some bad throws and one pretty great INT - these are things that historically-speaking, we don't see a lot of so I'm looking at them as aberrations.

Loved our defense today. Some big plays given up but they were stout, forced 3 fumbles and only let them in the endzone once. They aren't perfect but they were somewhere between mediocre and good which is a world of improvement from just a few weeks ago.

 

[VrabelJr]

I am not trashing the win. Good win against a team that usually plays teams tough even when they lose. Most of their games have been won or lost by 3-4 points this season.

I wasn't saying you were. I was actually re-enforcing your belief that this was a good win and not a trap game.

 

[Rob0729]

I wasn't saying you were. I was actually re-enforcing your belief that this was a good win and not a trap game.

Sorry, after being called a doom and gloomer in another threat, I am overly sensitive.

 

[Marqui]

His INT was Sanchez-like.

The guy making a great one-handed pick was a "Sanchez-like" int?

 

[VrabelJr]

The guy making a great one-handed pick was a "Sanchez-like" int?

Reshad Jones had Hernandez blanketed on that play. Brady should have never thrown that ball. I think that's why he said it was Sanchez-like.

 

[Rob0729]

The guy making a great one-handed pick was a "Sanchez-like" int?

Horrible decision by Brady. Hernandez was blanketed and Brady threw it to place only the defender could catch it. That is a Sanchez patented pass.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

LOL You guys are funny. Hernandez is being paid to beat single coverage. Manning threw a pick into triple coverage today. That was Sanchez like.

Patchwork OL was a hot mess for much of the day today. Running game was MIA in the first half. Receivers were neither getting seperation nor catching the damn ball... But Brady was a little off. Probably worried about Giselle...LOL

Edelman went down again. Lloyd's second and most significant catch of the day came on an onsides kick with 35 seconds left. Good thing we still got Welker even if he muffs a TD catch too.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

LOL You guys are funny. Hernandez is being paid to beat single coverage. Manning threw a pick into triple coverage today. That was Sanchez like.

Patchwork OL was a hot mess for much of the day today. Running game was MIA in the first half. Receivers were neither getting seperation nor catching the damn ball... But Brady was a little off. Probably worried about Giselle...LOL

Edelman went down again. Lloyd's second and most significant catch of the day came on an onsides kick with 35 seconds left. Good thing we still got Welker even if he muffs a TD catch too.

I'm utterly confused how this has any bearing on whether Brady should've thrown that ball.

 

[Rob0729]

LOL You guys are funny. Hernandez is being paid to beat single coverage. Manning threw a pick into triple coverage today. That was Sanchez like.

Patchwork OL was a hot mess for much of the day today. Running game was MIA in the first half. Receivers were neither getting seperation nor catching the damn ball... But Brady was a little off. Probably worried about Giselle...LOL

Edelman went down again. Lloyd's second and most significant catch of the day came on an onsides kick with 35 seconds left. Good thing we still got Welker even if he muffs a TD catch too.

Even if Hernandez beat the single coverage, Brady threw the ball to the absolute wrong spot. On a play like that, Brady is supposed to throw it in front or outside of Hernandez so that either he catches the ball or it either goes out of bounds or falls incomplete, but the defender has no clear shot at the ball. Brady threw underthrew it so Jones had a better play on the ball.

 

[Marqui]

Even if Hernandez beat the single coverage, Brady threw the ball to the absolute wrong spot. On a play like that, Brady is supposed to throw it in front or outside of Hernandez so that either he catches the ball or it either goes out of bounds or falls incomplete, but the defender has no clear shot at the ball. Brady threw underthrew it so Jones had a better play on the ball.

You're right it was a bad throw but it wasn't a "horrible decision". This is the NFL, QBs throw to covered WRs all the time looking for PI calls. It was just a great play by Jones.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Seems like the dolphins play us tough more often than most. Once in awhile we will blow them out, but not today. They are the 2nd best team in the division and that's sad for the Bills considering how much was spent in the offseason.

As up and down as the 2ndary was today it was still good to see them not get ripped apart for the 3rd week in a row. I always thought if they could play better than average it would be enough to compliment the offense. Now I'm going to up my hopes and settle for them being a good defense by seasons end.

 

[BPF]

I forgot to mention the dropped balls. Both Welker and Hernandez had big dropped ball non-catches. Welker's would have been a TD.

Hernandez's first drop was prob going to be a TD as well.

 

[BPF]

The guy making a great one-handed pick was a "Sanchez-like" int?

Right read not a great throw and nice play by defender.....think we can all agree on that.