Thoughts on Pats/Browns

[Ring 6]

I do not agree with the 'ugly win' characterization.
There are a few standards I have that oveeride that.
1) 17 points or less allowed. Ever since we won SB XXXVI by runninig off 9 straight games of allowing 17 or less, I have realized this is the true test of a defense. Basically, if the D allows 17 or less, its a good game that you should win. It doesnt really matter how you get there, but when you add in that this was a first half shutout, and a 'prevent' philosophy from a D that never let the opponent within closer than 10 points, that is a factor. If the offense wasn't scoring and it was a close gaem, the defense would have played an entirely different strategy. Sure its fun to win 34-0, but when the clock is your ally, its foolish to expect to play shut down defense. There is no point in taking any risk on D when you are ahead, and the clockis winding.
2) While we have come to judge the offense on a 80% completion percent and 1 punt per game, we still had a VERY GOOD offensive day. Again, its fun when its easy and we are unstoppable, but over 400 yards of offense, 3 TDs, 2 FGs, no turnovers, and a drive we pretty much gave up on that ended inside the 10 is one of the best days of a season for many offenses (especially when its done from well ahead, and not putting #s playing catchup) We ran well, we threw well, we had zero sacks.

Sammy Morris is better than the starting RB on all of our SB Champs, except the last one with Dillon having a tremendous year.

Bruscheau is a hell of a LB. Splitting time they combined for 2 sacks and 2 Ints, plus a bumch of other plays.

We've talked about Randall Gay being an excellent tackler. It showed up on the final score of this game. I thought Gay had a medicore overall game, but his best skills, being in the right place all the time, and being a great tackler for a corner makes it hard for him to have a bad game.

Teams know we want to throw. Teams know giving Brady time is a deadly thing, yet Brady has been sacked 3 times in 5 games. We ran for 4.5 a carry. Once again our OL looks like the class of the NFL.

Watson and Stallworth are weapons. Its hard to envision our O having a poor day when these guys are 'extra'. Take away what you want, we still have more to exploit you with.

Its kind of gone unnoticed that we have dominated every game, while having:
#1 RB out for 2 games
#1 RG out for 2 games
#1 C out for 1 game
#1 DE out for all 5
#1 SS out for 4
#1 CB playing without a preseason

What in the world was Jr Seau doing on that Int return?

I think Mike Vrabel would contribute to a team being a winner as an OLB, ILB, DE, TE, or even FB if forced to play oany of those positions. I think if 8 years ago he was told he had to drop weight and be a SS he'd be a good one today, and if he was told he had to gain weight and be a 4-3 DT (in a Tampa2 system) he'd be a good one of those also. Basically, he is a FOOTBALL PLAYER and he'd be in the NFL making plays no matter what position he was playing. It seems that every game he plays he comes up with a key play, like the hit this game that created the 2nd Seau Int. He's starting to seem to me like Bruschi was from 01-04, always the guy making key plays.

It is very clear to me that it is going to be us and Indy all the way to the end. I'll post that separately.

 

[BradyManny]

Teams know we want to throw. Teams know giving Brady time is a deadly thing, yet Brady has been sacked 3 times in 5 games.

The Pats offense right now is reminding me of the Colts in recent years in that you feel like opposing D's are basically picking which way they want to die. Looks like Romeo and the Browns thought rather than trying to put pressure on Brady, they were better off rushing 3 or 4 and trying to contain the wideouts and give Brady less open targets (well, and MOSS, specifically). I guess you could say it was marginally less unsuccessful than other teams have been.

LOL on Bruschseau! Classic and so appropriate. Seau has really impressed so far (did anyone else expect this much from him or that many snaps?).

 

[patchick]

I think Mike Vrabel would contribute to a team being a winner as an OLB, ILB, DE, TE, or even FB if forced to play oany of those positions. I think if 8 years ago he was told he had to drop weight and be a SS he'd be a good one today, and if he was told he had to gain weight and be a 4-3 DT (in a Tampa2 system) he'd be a good one of those also. Basically, he is a FOOTBALL PLAYER and he'd be in the NFL making plays no matter what position he was playing. It seems that every game he plays he comes up with a key play, like the hit this game that created the 2nd Seau Int. He's starting to seem to me like Bruschi was from 01-04, always the guy making key plays.

Yet Vrabel is seeming like an all-over-the-field playmaker...now that he's been freed to return to his natural OLB position! Yes, he's smart, versatile and the best pass-catching linebacker I've ever seen. But in this defense, he appears to be a straight-out OLB.

 

[patsox23]

Great stuff, as always. Excellent point about the KIND of D we played in the 2nd half, and about Gay's skill-set and how it contributes to a consistent baseline, even when he has an iffy day in coverage.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

A Game of Adjustments

As far as the offense goes, the whole rest of this year is going to be a game of adjustments. Opposing defenses are going to devote extra resources to take away the things Brady and company do well and are comfortable doing and that will cause Brady to have to adjust and go to the next layer of the game plan.
How well Brady adjusts is going to determine how far we go. Right now he has the luxury of a steady ground game, but is is concievable that an opponent will overload on Moss and the ground game and cause Brady to have to chunk it often to the other receivers. And like it or not, it is still going to take another 5-8 games before he and the new receivers are really locked it.

ON the defensive side of the ball, I see where they are the beneficaries of the offenses fast starts and stellar execution thus far. How well does this defense play when we do not have a huge lead? If we can avoid our annual killer run of injuries in the secondary, then the only real problems I see that could potentially hit are 1.) An aging LBing staff wearing down a bit as the season progresses and 2.) A lack of CB depth hurting us against teams with mutliple WR sets, ie: Indy. It would be sweet to have a healthy Seymour back some time within the next month or so.

On special terams, we need a punter. The coverage units have not been that bad and the return units have been decent as well.

 

[roguepatriot]

I think the main positive point from this game about the offense is 0 Turnovers and 0 sacks. Brady has an off-day throwing and with our RB 'stud' is hurt, but they still put up the numbers needed to win. Can people now see why they paid Morris decent bucks as a FA and wanted him last time he was available too. I will admit I did not expect him to get this many carries and to be sharing the role rather than the primary back, but I think with Morris alone added to the lineup for the Colts AFCC, we would have won the game.

Also I think the Browns are better than people think. That turnaround started last season even when they were losing, and they will suprise a few more teams this year.

 

[BelichickFan]

Its kind of gone unnoticed that we have dominated every game, while having:
#1 RB out for 2 games
#1 RG out for 2 games
#1 C out for 1 game
#1 DE out for all 5
#1 SS out for 4
#1 CB playing without a preseason

Yeah, a friend of mine commented over the weekend that the Patriots haven't had many injuries so far. I proceeded to list them and show that it's a reasonable list. What has saved us is that the injuries are fairly well spread around different positions as opposed to all at one spot like we've sometimes had in the past.

I think the main positive point from this game about the offense is 0 Turnovers and 0 sacks.

You're right, it was a legitimate off game with many plays that we stopped ourselves, as opposed to being defensed great, and yet we still scored 34 points and won by 17. When you can have an off game and still make it a laugher - times are good.

 

[onegameatatime]

I would not put it in the ugly category, but it was not pretty either.

AJ is good at listing the pluses. Here are a few negatives: despite several turnovers, the Browns got 350 yards. TB and Wrs looked strangely out of sync, especially in Q3. Had a few dropped balls. TB missed a wide open Moss. Punting was awful.

Overall, not bad, but certainly not up to par.