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Last week we lost a game and felt good about it. This week we win a game and we all feel horrible about it. The chicken little's will have a field day this week. Panties will bunch, Sweat will flow. Scrotum's will tighten. And the arbiters of fear and loathing will spew their venom and expect us all to quake. But before we have to hear all that, here are a few observations OK let's go.
1. In my pregame thoughts I hoped for an ugly win in order lower our Superbowl visibility. I always liked being an underdog. I never expected to actually get it.
That's 3 very ugly starts in a row.
2. The bad news is that this is the 3rd week in a row that the Pat's defense was carved up for the first drive of the game. I suppose its comforting to note that again, as the game went on it got better and better. The Jags had 206 first quarter yds and only about 200 more the rest of the game. I think a faster start on defense would be appreciated.
3. Until the last drive Chandler Jones was pretty much missing in action again. Then suddenly he made 2 very big plays. Personally I'd to know where he was the other 3 ¾ of the game. Because before that last little burst I didn't see him get close to the QB on his rushes. In fact I thought that midway through the game they were giving some of his snaps to Francis, who didn't get to the QB either, but he was getting a lot closer than Jones was.
It seems to me that Jones really only has one move. I don't know if he only rushes to the outside because of his contain responsibilities, or its the only move he has. I'd like to see him make an inside move once in a while, or develop a Freeney-like spin move. I also wouldn't mind seeing him used in the middle occasionally on the pass rush. At any rate it was good to see him come up big. Its been a while.
4. The good news on the Pats chances of getting a by is that they are now better. With the very surprising Houston loss our chances improved. They have a tough away game against the Colts next week, and if they lose it, we get the bye.
The bad news is, from what I understand, the Colts have nothing to play for next week. I don't think a loss affects their playoff position a bit. It would have been better if the Colts had something to play for. Perhaps having their HC back for the game will be enough motivation to play their best. Or they just might rest their players for this game. Either way I don't see it as a great chance for a bye, but its a better chance than before..
5. Donta Hightower continues to improve his play. Not just his tackles but his impact plays
6. The NFL has GOT to make some changes to their roughing the QB rules this off season. I have no idea what the Jag defender could have done differently. I think the league has to allow some contact to the head of the QB. Brady ducks his head right into the defender.
I think if QB is hit in the face mask with the face mask of the defender it shouldn't be a penalty. Its hits with the top of the helmet to the side of the helmet that are dangerous. Mere contact to the QB's helmet should not be a penalty, but blows to the QB's helmet should. Officials need to make that distinction.
7. Chung will likely be fined for his hit on Short, but again, it looked like there wasn't much he could have done differently, and BB agrees. It seemed to me that he makes an effort at the last second to turn his body and hit him with a shoulder. Granted it was a shoulder to his head, but I don't see what his alternative would have been, except to avoid contact and let him catch the ball.
What really ticks me off was that it was only after it was clear the Short was dinged that the first flag was dropped, and then like monkeys the rest couldn't wait to get theirs out. I wish they were just honest with us and called the penalty “15 yds for hitting the receiver too hard” because ultimately that what in amounts to. If Shorts had jumped right up I'm not sure a flag would have been thrown.,
I just saw another even better example of the “15 yds for hitting the receiver too hard” rule in the Seattle/SF game. I'm sorry, I don't mean to look like I'm an old fart, but this has gone too far. They will kill the game we love if it keeps on. Playing good defense will become more and more impossible to do.. I support legitimate attempts to make the game safer, but the pendulum has swung too far and needs to swing back a few degrees.
8. You have to love Brady and Wilfolk. They are not only the faces of the team, they are the leaders inside the locker room. They have weight that goes beyond the influence of BB and his staff.. Brady was truly pissed off after the game. There was none of the usual diplomacy and talking points. Brady was livid and made no attempt to hide it from anyone. Wilfolk was a little more subtle, but made also made it perfectly clear that what went on in Jacksonville was “unacceptable”. In fact the most positive post game presser was given by Bill Bellichick. How ironic is THAT?
9. I'm watching the SF/Seattle game and maybe the ragged play of the Pats this afternoon makes more sense now. The SF defense looks whipped. Having to play 92 plays last week with little substitution has taken a toll on the Niners.
Because they have been incredibly lucky with injuries to their defense defense, the loss of Jason Smith has affected them more than most teams losing just one player. Also while I'm sure the physical play of SF took something out of the Pats, I think the Pats play a more physical game than most people think, and its taken something out of SF tonight.
10. I remember some stat from 2001, where the Pats were so physical that year, that week after teams played the Pats most teams lost, even teams that beat the Pats.. I don't remember the exact record, but it was impressive. I'm sure BB would love to build a defense and an OL that creates that kind of physicality again.
11. There is going to be a lot of contentious discussion this week about Patrick Chung. There will be people on his case for the personal foul. There will be others who will remember the big play by Stokely where he overran it, and caused the long YAC. But I thought he did many more positive things than negative ones today. More than just the interceptions.
One key play that should be noted was the first and goal on the 2 yd line at the end of the game. Mayo made the big hit on the one that stopped Jones, but didn't drop him. When you look at the replay the guy who keeps him from making another stab at the last yard was Patrick Chung, who came out of nowhere and just threw his body into Jones and stopped his forward progress at the one. The next play was the penalty and then the sack and finally the pick. But it all might not have happened if Chung hand made the big physical play.
Say what you want about him. No one in the secondary bring more "physical presence" to the field than Chung.
12. Stephen Gotskowski generally kicks about half his kicks deep into the endzone. Today he rarely got them to the GL. I wonder what the conditions were that caused his kicks to be about 10 yds shorter this week.
13. I hope someone this week asks BB why he didn't challenge the incompletion on one of the Lloyd catches. I know Lloyd slammed the ball down like he was pissed at the drop, bit the replays made it look like a catch. Anyone else wonder about that?
14 Here is a an early list of players I DON'T want to see play next week. Mankins, Connolly, Talib, and Spikes. I really hope that Gronk and Dennard will be ready to play.
15. Pats on the back to MCole and TWhite for 2 excellent jobs coming in to play. Usually I'm down on White when he has to play LB, but he did well today. Part of the defensive success we had the last 2 thirds of the game came because we could move Ninko back to the outside. Cole made a great fall back read on his pick, but was also a solid defender and tackler. He should be added to all the thank you notes to the Jets when we send them out for the Woodhead gift.....which kept on giving today.
.
1. In my pregame thoughts I hoped for an ugly win in order lower our Superbowl visibility. I always liked being an underdog. I never expected to actually get it.
That's 3 very ugly starts in a row.2. The bad news is that this is the 3rd week in a row that the Pat's defense was carved up for the first drive of the game. I suppose its comforting to note that again, as the game went on it got better and better. The Jags had 206 first quarter yds and only about 200 more the rest of the game. I think a faster start on defense would be appreciated.
3. Until the last drive Chandler Jones was pretty much missing in action again. Then suddenly he made 2 very big plays. Personally I'd to know where he was the other 3 ¾ of the game. Because before that last little burst I didn't see him get close to the QB on his rushes. In fact I thought that midway through the game they were giving some of his snaps to Francis, who didn't get to the QB either, but he was getting a lot closer than Jones was.
It seems to me that Jones really only has one move. I don't know if he only rushes to the outside because of his contain responsibilities, or its the only move he has. I'd like to see him make an inside move once in a while, or develop a Freeney-like spin move. I also wouldn't mind seeing him used in the middle occasionally on the pass rush. At any rate it was good to see him come up big. Its been a while.
4. The good news on the Pats chances of getting a by is that they are now better. With the very surprising Houston loss our chances improved. They have a tough away game against the Colts next week, and if they lose it, we get the bye.
The bad news is, from what I understand, the Colts have nothing to play for next week. I don't think a loss affects their playoff position a bit. It would have been better if the Colts had something to play for. Perhaps having their HC back for the game will be enough motivation to play their best. Or they just might rest their players for this game. Either way I don't see it as a great chance for a bye, but its a better chance than before..
5. Donta Hightower continues to improve his play. Not just his tackles but his impact plays
6. The NFL has GOT to make some changes to their roughing the QB rules this off season. I have no idea what the Jag defender could have done differently. I think the league has to allow some contact to the head of the QB. Brady ducks his head right into the defender.
I think if QB is hit in the face mask with the face mask of the defender it shouldn't be a penalty. Its hits with the top of the helmet to the side of the helmet that are dangerous. Mere contact to the QB's helmet should not be a penalty, but blows to the QB's helmet should. Officials need to make that distinction.
7. Chung will likely be fined for his hit on Short, but again, it looked like there wasn't much he could have done differently, and BB agrees. It seemed to me that he makes an effort at the last second to turn his body and hit him with a shoulder. Granted it was a shoulder to his head, but I don't see what his alternative would have been, except to avoid contact and let him catch the ball.
What really ticks me off was that it was only after it was clear the Short was dinged that the first flag was dropped, and then like monkeys the rest couldn't wait to get theirs out. I wish they were just honest with us and called the penalty “15 yds for hitting the receiver too hard” because ultimately that what in amounts to. If Shorts had jumped right up I'm not sure a flag would have been thrown.,
I just saw another even better example of the “15 yds for hitting the receiver too hard” rule in the Seattle/SF game. I'm sorry, I don't mean to look like I'm an old fart, but this has gone too far. They will kill the game we love if it keeps on. Playing good defense will become more and more impossible to do.. I support legitimate attempts to make the game safer, but the pendulum has swung too far and needs to swing back a few degrees.
8. You have to love Brady and Wilfolk. They are not only the faces of the team, they are the leaders inside the locker room. They have weight that goes beyond the influence of BB and his staff.. Brady was truly pissed off after the game. There was none of the usual diplomacy and talking points. Brady was livid and made no attempt to hide it from anyone. Wilfolk was a little more subtle, but made also made it perfectly clear that what went on in Jacksonville was “unacceptable”. In fact the most positive post game presser was given by Bill Bellichick. How ironic is THAT?
9. I'm watching the SF/Seattle game and maybe the ragged play of the Pats this afternoon makes more sense now. The SF defense looks whipped. Having to play 92 plays last week with little substitution has taken a toll on the Niners.
Because they have been incredibly lucky with injuries to their defense defense, the loss of Jason Smith has affected them more than most teams losing just one player. Also while I'm sure the physical play of SF took something out of the Pats, I think the Pats play a more physical game than most people think, and its taken something out of SF tonight.
10. I remember some stat from 2001, where the Pats were so physical that year, that week after teams played the Pats most teams lost, even teams that beat the Pats.. I don't remember the exact record, but it was impressive. I'm sure BB would love to build a defense and an OL that creates that kind of physicality again.
11. There is going to be a lot of contentious discussion this week about Patrick Chung. There will be people on his case for the personal foul. There will be others who will remember the big play by Stokely where he overran it, and caused the long YAC. But I thought he did many more positive things than negative ones today. More than just the interceptions.
One key play that should be noted was the first and goal on the 2 yd line at the end of the game. Mayo made the big hit on the one that stopped Jones, but didn't drop him. When you look at the replay the guy who keeps him from making another stab at the last yard was Patrick Chung, who came out of nowhere and just threw his body into Jones and stopped his forward progress at the one. The next play was the penalty and then the sack and finally the pick. But it all might not have happened if Chung hand made the big physical play.
Say what you want about him. No one in the secondary bring more "physical presence" to the field than Chung.
12. Stephen Gotskowski generally kicks about half his kicks deep into the endzone. Today he rarely got them to the GL. I wonder what the conditions were that caused his kicks to be about 10 yds shorter this week.
13. I hope someone this week asks BB why he didn't challenge the incompletion on one of the Lloyd catches. I know Lloyd slammed the ball down like he was pissed at the drop, bit the replays made it look like a catch. Anyone else wonder about that?
14 Here is a an early list of players I DON'T want to see play next week. Mankins, Connolly, Talib, and Spikes. I really hope that Gronk and Dennard will be ready to play.
15. Pats on the back to MCole and TWhite for 2 excellent jobs coming in to play. Usually I'm down on White when he has to play LB, but he did well today. Part of the defensive success we had the last 2 thirds of the game came because we could move Ninko back to the outside. Cole made a great fall back read on his pick, but was also a solid defender and tackler. He should be added to all the thank you notes to the Jets when we send them out for the Woodhead gift.....which kept on giving today.
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