PP2
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It took a while to process this game. It was as ugly a game as I can remember and the ending was almost the exact opposite of their last game. From a remarkable comeback to an utter collapse. I'm sure its been hard for everyone to process. But let's take a stab at it and try to put it into prospective.
1. The good news is, we won't have to hear any more talk about the 19-0 season. The bad news is (if you are going to watch or listen to media coverage of the game ) you are going to hear a lot this week about the "cliff" Brady will be falling off, and the end of an era. I image I will hear about it here, because I know I won't be listening.
2. Big picture issues - You have to go back to the 31-0 loss in 2003 to see an effort as bad as this one. Even back to the KC loss in 2014 they were still fighting at the end. The most disturbing thing about THIS loss was the complete lack of effort at the end.
3. OFFENSE
a. Lets start with the QB - The Pats put together 6 good drives over the course of the game. So it wasn't a horrible effort. But for a guy who supposedly has the answers to the test, Brady looked like he was guessing a lot last night. He was indecisive, inaccurate, and instead of getting the offense back on track, it got worse. This game will go as one of Brady's 5 worst games as a Patriot. Let's hope it isn't a pattern. Giardi is already writing his "It's time to start Garapolo" column.
b. OL - Good news and bad news - The pass protection was outstanding last night. Not perfect of course, but certainly good enough to win most games. Granted KC rarely rushed more than 4 and often just 3, the OL handled most of it flawlessly On the other hand, the run game was largely disappointing and most of it was due to a lack of creases created by the OL.
One of the questions I will be asking of those who break down film later next week will be be about the effectiveness of David Andrews in the run game. I'm not sure he has the strength and physicality to move people in the center of the line. And because of this weakness, I expect him to fact a big NT most weeks.
But in the end the OL was the best of the 4 offensive groups and since it will only get better as the season goes on, about the only question we should have about it is about the depth behind the starting 5.
c. Receivers- Amendola was off to a great start before the concussion....er "head injury". He had 100 yds early in the 3rd quarter and was poised for a bigger game. Cooks was OK, but never wowed me. He didn't get the kind of separation I was expecting. Even on his long gain he was just barely open. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted him to be. Hogan was mis- used IMHO, Gronk wasn't much of a factor, and Allen was merely an afterthought, though given how open he was on the first play I wonder why it wasn't used again.
d. RB's - ALL the RB's had their moments. None of them nearly as impressive as any of Hunt's myriad of moments, but the Run game seems to be in good hands. I would have liked to see more of Lewis in the mix but that's a subjective observation. Here's the thing though, I've rarely seen the Pats passing attack to their RB's so.....unfocused, purposeless, uncreative or disjointed. I'm not sure how to phrase it. It just didn't seem directed, much like the rest of the offense.
e Offensive game plan - You all know I rarely question any of the coaching decisions....and rightfully so. None of us have 1% of the information the staff has. HOWEVER I don't know about you, but there didn't seem to be any "plan" to the offense. It just seemed to be a series of individual plays that were thrown out there like you would in a scrimmage. If they work, fine. If not, OK too, and on to the next one.
Let me put it this way. How often, over the years have we seen the offense get better and better as the game went along and the opposition's defensive gameplan was revealed. How often has our offense dictated to the defense and had THEM reacting to what we were doing. I saw none of these things last night. (except for the first drive)
Clearly KC used the Falcon blueprint as their base defense. Which basically is to be physical and tough in the short zones and clog up the middle using the off side LB/S to discourage short crossing routes the Pats like so much. They were also very physical on the outside guys, using an old Pats tactic which was grab as much as you think you can get away with, because they can't call them all.
Believe me we WILL see some versions of this game plan a lot over the next 3 months. But lets remember that the offense DID score 5 times and 27 points and it very easily could have been more, perhaps a lot more if Brady had been sharper and the game plan more defined. Please credit KC for a good game plan, and better execution. but the Pats brain trust needs to take accountability for not making better adjustments to it, and the players for not executing better.
It is hard to believe that the same team that made three 2yd MUST HAVE plays in the superbowl, could only manage to run right into the heart of the defense on every 4th and inches play. You have to wonder, did Josh leave his creativity at home last night?
4. Defense -
a. Front 7- WOW.....just WOW.....and not in a good way.
I thought the defense was in good shape at the end of the first half. As usual the run D was getting better as the half went along and the KC run game plan was revealed. KC got a bit lucky with a duck in the endzone ending up with a PI when Butler lost track of the ball, So I fully expected the D to hold KC to 10 or less points in the 2nd half. Boy was I mistaken.
First of all, EVERY time Smith optioned the DE (hightower) he should have been planted in the dirt. This has been standard operating procedure for every DC from HS on up since the days of the triple option in the mid 70's. The way the Pats played it, it seemed like we were saying, "OK, you can scheme out our best defensive player without any consequence and that's alright with us". If we had planted Smith (who is a legit target as a runner) even once, it would have ended the option as a threat for the rest of the night. I couldn't believe it.
I don't know what was going on that made the run defense collapse to entirely, but it should be at the top of all of our lists to find out from guys like Bedard, Chatham, or guys here who break down film. This was a positive melt down that was so complete it is hard to blame just Hightower's injury and the fact Marsh just got here. Its not like there was a long run or two, but they kept on coming and kept getting worse. Like I said earlier, usually when a team exploits a scheme for some success in the run game, they Pats fix it before too long. In this case, the dike collapsed instead of getting stronger.
c. Questions I need answers to.
i. Where was David Harris - did he even play in the 2nd half?
ii. Where were Brown, Guy, and Branch?
iii. Give credit to Andy Reid for his little shuffle pass to Kelcey play that they ran 5 times with some success, but where was the eventual response we were supposed to see?
iv. Does this front 7 have any heart, because I didn't see any at the end.
d. on one positive note, both Wise and Flowers flashed a bit, but I'm grasping a straws at this point.
5. Secondary -
a. I have no problem with Gilmore physically. I thought he played well. If he was to blame for the long TD, it was a mental mistake by either him or McCourty, and at this point it doesn't matter who. I doubt it will happen again.
b. Butler again looked less effective than last season. Not bad, just not at the same level he had us expecting from his past perfomances.
c. I don't know WTF Patricia was trying to do with his 3 and 4 safety schemes, but whatever it was, it wasn't working constently. Again a very strange game plan
In the end it was without question the WORST defensive performance of the BB era and opens a SLEW of questions that this team will need to answer.
6. ST's - Like most of the night, there were highs and lows from some great coverage by Jones and Badamosi, to TWO running into the kicker penalties on the same series. As well as some mediocre coverage on some punts and KO's
SUMMARY - Well I'm on media lockdown. It's not that the Pats don't deserve a boatload of crap this long week, I just don't want to hear it. If there are answers to the questions I want to know about, I'll find out about them here.
Disappointed? Of course we all are. I don't care if KC is a VERY good football team (I hope Berry is OK) We are supposed to beat the best and given the first 3 quarters, we should have. (How ironic THAT statement is).
We had 6 months to enjoy perhaps the greatest win in Patriots history. I think we, as fans should be able to take 10 days of crap and hope BB turns it around, because if he doesn't, we all know how 2009 went.
Ken,
You know I enjoy reading your posts, especially your post-game analyses. This time I have a bone to pick with you over Cooks- you are dead wrong on Cooks and you need to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes (or rewatch the game).
Cooks was murdering his man every single time- even when he was given a 15 yard cushion, he still got separation. He also drew, what, four, five penalties? On that long bomb, he actually had to slow up a bit. He had to slow down on pretty much most of the throws to let them catch up with him.
I know it's been said that the long ball isn't Brady's game but I think it's a matter of Brady getting used to how fast Cooks really is.