Lions V. Pats Post Game Thread

[mayoclinic]

This OL hasn't given up a sack in two games. Bravo.

I'm surprised more hasn't been made of the OL's performance. I said in one of the pre-game threads this week that if the OL could handle Detroit's impressive DL that the game would be one-sided. They did a great job overall neutralizing the Lions' front and giving Brady a clean pocket. Once that was established, it was a major mismatch.

 

[Brady6]

My take on the Lions' drops is that they were (a) distracted by tight coverage by Pats DBs arms in their field of view and (2) hearing footsteps, intimidated. Great job by both the pass rush and the DBs.

I agree, the physical nature of the secondary gets into WR heads, Browner is a big man who hits hard, Chung will lay the wood on anyone, and we saw Jamie Collins lay Johnson the F out running a crossing pattern today.

 

[patriot1136]

So what did you guys think of Dennard being back?

 

[Brady6]

I'm surprised more hasn't been made of the OL's performance. I said in one of the pre-game threads this week that if the OL could handle Detroit's impressive DL that the game would be one-sided. They did a great job overall neutralizing the Lions' front and giving Brady a clean pocket. Once that was established, it was a major mismatch.

I said it after the Bengals game and I'll say it again here, Ryan Wendell is the answer long term at RG!

 

[Brady6]

So what did you guys think of Dennard being back?

Dennard is sort of in the same boat as Dobson. He missed all of camp and some of the early season, he was behind and unable to catch up with the changes from last season so he is at the bottom of the depth chart. I still like Dennard and Dobson I just think this season is going to be a red shirt on some level for both of them.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Wilfork & Branch inside. Wow!

I am loving this defense.

I remember the Cards drafting Branch and his play, Unfortunately he was dinged up in two of early years with annoying but not debilitating Injuries..

Branch is no Vince Wilfork, But I think Pats fans don't understand that he is easily a better Trailor that the Pats depended on for a few years of the Lombardi runs.

He and Vince with Siliga for a breather, will eventually create an impenetratable front wall against the interior Run game.

Belichick is stilll constructing his Championship DL. Chandler Jones and Ninko are fine DEs. Wilfork and Branch are becoming a solid front against the Run. Easley and Chris Jones are a fine pair of penetrating Defensive tackles. All that is needed is depth at DE. The Pats now have three very talented players, in Hightower, Ayers and Ninko who can play OLB, if BB wants to play some 3-4.

There may even be more depth at 4-3 DE, in the form of Moore, Buchanan and possibly Bequette.

The 2003, 2004 and 2005 squads had better front line talent on the DL, but nowhere near the depth and flexibility this squad does.

 

[Brady6]

I remember the Cards drafting Branch and his play, Unfortunately he was dinged up in two of early years with annoying but not debilitating Injuries..

Branch is no Vince Wilfork, But I think Pats fans don't understand that he is easily a better Trailor that the Pats depended on for a few years of the Lombardi runs.

He and Vince with Siliga for a breather, will eventually create an impenetratable front wall against the interior Run game.

Belichick is stilll constructing his Championship DL. Chandler Jones and Ninko are fine DEs. Wilfork and Branch are becoming a solid front against the Run. Easley and Chris Jones are a fine pair of penetrating Defensive tackles. All that is needed is depth at DE. The Pats now have three very talented players, in Hightower, Ayers and Ninko who can play OLB, if BB wants to play some 3-4.

There may even be more depth at 4-3 DE, in the form of Moore, Buchanan and possibly Bequette.

The 2003, 2004 and 2005 squads had better front line talent on the DL, but nowhere near the depth and flexibility this squad does.

Branch is a younger version of what we had in Tommy Kelly. Kelly was a lot better earlier in his career of course but now I would take the younger Branch.

 

[moejr]

Brady needs to stop throwing INT three straight games now. To be fair to him though only 6 all year still pretty good

Really? You're going to gripe about this? You expect him to be perfect. Get a grip.

 

[TBR]

We have the best secondary in the league

Statistically it's tough to prove, partly because we blew out 2 elite quarterbacks who picked up a ton of yards in garbage time.

But if you go by the eye test, there's no secondary in the NFL I'd rather have. Same goes for QB and TE position. We're pretty lucky.

 

[moejr]

After quite a few years of a finesse D we got ourselves a group of guys that intimidate opponents. We are being aggressive on D and maybe sometimes too much but it is working and making teams miss alot of plays.

 

[Belichick8384]

For me, the way games are officiated this year leaves me unable to consistently evaluate the way either teams or individuals play within the rules. I consistently see penalties called on plays where execution appears flawless even on replays. I'm just guessing these days.

Sure. Miscalls do happen. Its all a part of the game, human error and all that. For example, no-calls sometimes happen because the ref didn't see it. Amidst the chaos of 22 players running around not the field at the same time sometimes will cause that. But that isn't to say it happens as often as most fans of pretty much every team say it does.

To me, it seems like a lot of people let emotion get the best of them and in the way of logic, and get mad and blame the ref automatically. And its pretty hard to argue intention, for those who say the refs intentionally do these things (or don't do) for money or whatever. Trust me, they get paid plenty by the NFL and all these years you'd think someone would've been caught somewhere. Besides, I doubt any team has the kind of money to pay 7 people enough to make them throw a game.

Its all too common for people to think the refs are out to get their team. And PATS fans are are far from the only ones to think so. I think people just don't want to admit faults when they see them. I mean, I understand trying to be optimistic, but there's a difference between that and being blind.

Besides, in the grand scheme of things: Its just a game. A fun one to watch, sure, but its not like our lives are depending on a win (at least I would hope not)

 

[DaBruinz]

How was it behind him if Ihedigbo intercepted before Gronk got there because he was held?

I still think it was a bad decision but it may have not been intercepted if Gronk was allowed to run his route.

Still not the best throw.

Go back and watch the replay. Ihedigbo is at least a yard closer to Brady than Gronk. And Ihedigbo and Gronk were inline with one another. That means that the ball would have been behind Gronkowski.

Gronkowski being held on the play means just that he was held. It has nothing to do with his potential of catching the ball. And Gronk wasn't catching that ball because it was a bad throw by Brady.

 

[DaBruinz]

It was legal. So no fine.

What was legal? Raiola going for Moore's knees?? No, it wasn't. It was clearly intent to injure and he said as much after the game..

 

[DaBruinz]

I love that. There seemed to be a good amount of trash talk from the Pats during the game and Blount was pretty animated after his last TD.

I'm fairly certain that Blount's reaction was because of Suh running his mouth about "No one runs on my defense" that got caught by the mike..

 

[DaBruinz]

So what did you guys think of Dennard being back?

I don't remember Dennard taking a snap and never heard his name called..

 

[manxman2601]

I don't remember Dennard taking a snap and never heard his name called..

I think he was on the field at the death with the likes of Ebner and Tavon Wilson. I certainly saw him for one defensive snap.

 

[DaBruinz]

I think he was on the field at the death with the likes of Ebner and Tavon Wilson. I certainly saw him for one defensive snap.

Ok.. Thanks.. like I said. I didn't see him nor hear his name called so I appreciate it being mentioned. I know that it was Ryan who was first off the bench when Arrington went down..

 

[mayoclinic]

We have the best secondary in the league

Statistically it's tough to prove, partly because we blew out 2 elite quarterbacks who picked up a ton of yards in garbage time.

But if you go by the eye test, there's no secondary in the NFL I'd rather have.

Some comments by Revis, McCourty and BB:

"This is probably the best group of guys I've been around, secondary-wise, where everyone is just talented," [Darrelle Revis] said. "We can do so many versatile things in our defense."

Revis, now in his eighth NFL season, is the centerpiece of it all .... But as is the case in football, it takes more than one player to produce a strong defense, and Revis and Browner give the Patriots a potent one-two punch on the outside.

"I don't know if there's a group of corners playing better than our group right now," marveled safety Devin McCourty. Revis goes even deeper than that, pointing out the contributions of nickelback Kyle Arrington and another top reserve, Logan Ryan, who had the unit's lone turnover Sunday.

"I feel our coaches do a great job using the talent we have and to match up with other offenses, and match up with them well," he said, adding that the Patriots were motivated by the Lions referring to themselves as the best defense in the NFL during the days leading into the game. "If you look at our roster, we have talent across the board everywhere. I think Bill and them really dial in -- if it is matchups, what guy is the best for that matchup, I think we really do a great job of that."

Belichick explained after the game how the Patriots go through the process of putting together game plans, and how sometimes there are multiple scenarios they work through before coming to a final decision. Then there are other situations where, "it's obvious, we all look at it and it takes about five minutes to all say, 'OK, this is how we want to play this game.'"

The plan against the Lions seemed to fall into the first category, and it turned out to be another winner, highlighted by Revis' work on Tate.

"It's a different plan every week," Revis said. "It's a tough job but at the same time I'm the man they call for to do it sometimes -- to play inside, to play outside, to do whatever, to help the team. The big goal is to help the team. I call us hybrids. We're all interchangeable."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...0/darrelle-revis-the-queen-piece-in-secondary

The depth and versatility make this unit really unique, IMO.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I think he was on the field at the death with the likes of Ebner and Tavon Wilson. I certainly saw him for one defensive snap.

Death?

 

[manxman2601]

Death?

Maybe it's a British thing. Death = End. I.e. "At the end".