My random thoughts on the game

*I have to start out with Wes Welker. It was awesome seeing him out there and doing what he's always done for us.

*It will be a sad day when Kevin Faulk retires. He is so dependable and has been for so long. He showed it again tonight.

*After the Saints game I mentioned I would have liked to see more downfield throws to the TEs. Tonight I got my wish and both Hernandez and Gronk looked great. We've definitely got a good future at that position. That's an amazing thing to say considering we had no one 6 months ago.

*All the talk of Fred Taylor looking poor at practice and the chance he might get cut went out the window tonight. Assuming he stays healthy, he's got a roster spot.

*IMO Wheatley helped himself tonight with his special teams play. No less than 4 times I saw him running free to the punt returner, three times forcing a fair catch.

*It was nice to see Ron Brace in there and even forcing that fumble. On the plays I focused on him he seemed to hold his spot well.

*I would have liked to see the defense play a little tighter and gotten more pressure early on but just like last week they kept plays in front of them and the Falcons had to settle for short completions.

*I saw a lot of good tackling tonight by our defense, especially in the secondary.

*On the other side of the ball, our guys did a fantastic job of making defenders miss and getting extra yards. How on earth did Tate get that 1st down?

*Final thought: Let me start by saying I absolutely hate spot foul PI calls. I hate them. Too often have I seen an iffy or even flat-out terrible PI call give a team an instant 50 yard gain and changed a game significantly. (2005 Denver playoff game to name one) That being said, how on Earth was that not a PI on the deep pass to Moss? How do you not look at the ball, hit the WR where the ball is landing, and not get called? It did even out later when we got that roughing the kicker call. That was pretty weak and I'm sure we'd all be livid if that went against us in a real game.

My thoughts before the game: Brady has the best weapons ever.

My thoughts during the game: Brady has the best weapons ever.

My thoughts after the game: Brady has the best weapons ever.

My thoughts as i go to sleep tonight: I will count TD passes from Brady until sleep.

Buck & Aikman - I'm so glad NE is an AFC team.

I was very excited to see the production at the tight end. I thought it was great! Brady to Bill: Thank you for the new weapons!

Hernandez, Edelmen, Tate and Welker are all great in space. We are going to see a lot of yac this year!

Box_O_Rocks said:

Buck & Aikman - I'm so glad NE is an AFC team.

Click to expand...

Believe me Aikman is usually a lot worse. He gripes about everything.

If this was late into the season, he would have fussed because Brady's first name is only three letters.

Liking what i saw from McCourty, nice one on one tackle in the open field against one of the leagues best power RB's.

Looks like yes, we will be using the TE position more this year to all of you who were worried about that.

Good game, lets build on that.

PowerAlley.com said:

I was very excited to see the production at the tight end. I thought it was great! Brady to Bill: Thank you for the new weapons!

Hernandez, Edelmen, Tate and Welker are all great in space. We are going to see a lot of yac this year!

Click to expand...

Definitely agree. I was very impressed with Hernandez, I thought he improved a great deal from last week and is getting more comfortable playing in the NFL. Last week he played decent, but did most of his damage vs. the Saints 2nd unit. This week he was on his game right from the start against the Falcons 1st team defense. I think he will definitely be a factor in the passing game, especially in the red zone. His body definitely is more of a WR rather than a TE's, very shifty.

On a side note I am starting to get a little confused about Maroney. You would think he would have played with the first unit tonight considering he didnt last week vs. the Saints. Then to not get any carries at all is a bit puzzling and concerning. He isn't hurt, he's participated in every practice and was fully in uniform tonight. Even if Taylor is the starter I still would think Maroney would get a good amount of carries so it is a little confusing as why he hasn't ran with the 1st offense tonight. We will know a lot more the 1st offensive series next week vs the Rams, if Maroney isn't in the backfield I think he is about to be looking for a new team.

*All the talk of Fred Taylor looking poor at practice and the chance he might get cut went out the window tonight. Assuming he stays healthy, he's got a roster spot.

Click to expand...

You mean Tom E Curran might be wrong and BJGE wont be starting?

The Dynasty said:

On a side note I am starting to get a little confused about Maroney. You would think he would have played with the first unit tonight considering he didnt last week vs. the Saints. Then to not get any carries at all is a bit puzzling and concerning. He isn't hurt, he's participated in every practice and was fully in uniform tonight. Even if Taylor is the starter I still would think Maroney would get a good amount of carries so it is a little confusing as why he hasn't ran with the 1st offense tonight. We will know a lot more the 1st offensive series next week vs the Rams, if Maroney isn't in the backfield I think he is about to be looking for a new team.

Click to expand...

I dont think its confusing at all. I think that BB hates to overuse his RBs in the preseason. Taylor sat last week, Maroney this week. You will probably see both of them splitting series next week, with the 1s then sit in the last game.
Maroney didnt play because he is a known quantity, half of the #1 RB tandem and doesnt need the work. Not because he is 6th on the depth chart.

Based on his performance against Houston last year and this preseason game, I would say (if I had to bet) that Hoyer is a better QB than Cassel. Hoyer has amazing accuracy out there. He's not there yet with all the other aspects of his game, but he looks like a young Pennington in making those touch passes.

AndyJohnson said:

I dont think its confusing at all. I think that BB hates to overuse his RBs in the preseason. Taylor sat last week, Maroney this week. You will probably see both of them splitting series next week, with the 1s then sit in the last game.
Maroney didnt play because he is a known quantity, half of the #1 RB tandem and doesnt need the work. Not because he is 6th on the depth chart.

Click to expand...

I see the logic behind this and it makes sense to me too, but the only thing that goes against it is Welker playing tonight. If BB is really concerned with overuse, why is Welker playing in this game? Welker takes the same beating that any RB does, and coming back from such a serious injury, why play him tonight and not use Maroney? I am not saying your reasoning is wrong, I just still am a little confused as to why Maroney hasn't ran with the first unit this preseason if he is 1 A/B on the RB depth chart like we suspect

Box_O_Rocks said:

Buck & Aikman - I'm so glad NE is an AFC team.

Click to expand...

I may be in the minority, but I actually like Aikman. He does have his personality quirks, but the guy is a heck of an analysis. After listening to Jaws ball wash Sanchez on Monday night (Jaws may break down film better than anyone else, he loves to ball wash QBs as a color guy which makes him annoying), I kinda enjoyed Aikman.

Seriously are the AFC guys any better? Not really enamored with Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms and that is the best CBS has to offer.

The Dynasty said:

I see the logic behind this and it makes sense to me too, but the only thing that goes against it is Welker playing tonight. If BB is really concerned with overuse, why is Welker playing in this game? Welker takes the same beating that any RB does, and coming back from such a serious injury, why play him tonight and not use Maroney? I am not saying your reasoning is wrong, I just still am a little confused as to why Maroney hasn't ran with the first unit this preseason if he is 1 A/B on the RB depth chart like we suspect

Click to expand...

Maroney was a split back with BJGE last week. The reason why he isn't getting reps is because there are three other guys fighting for possibly two roster spots. They need to get extended looks with the first team to determine who stays and who goes. It wouldn't be the first time that a guy with a secured roster position gets a rest to let other battle for roster spots (see Randy Moss in 2007 who obviously was not rushed back from injury since he was pretty much 100% day one).

I was impressed with the tackling tonight. Seemed to be no missed tackles and for the most part, receiver were tackled where they caught the ball.

AndyJohnson said:

I dont think its confusing at all. I think that BB hates to overuse his RBs in the preseason. Taylor sat last week, Maroney this week. You will probably see both of them splitting series next week, with the 1s then sit in the last game.
Maroney didnt play because he is a known quantity, half of the #1 RB tandem and doesnt need the work. Not because he is 6th on the depth chart.

Click to expand...

I agree. Maroney would have to be several different kinds of terrible for Belichick to cut him at the age of 25 and in a contract year. That hasn't been the reports from practice and he also had a solid game last week.

Edelman didn't see the field much tonight. (at least I didn't notice him much) I doubt it's because he's slipping down the roster.

Great performance from your starters. In the end it's the most telling part of preseason games. Your rookie tight ends will play a huge role especially against my Jets.

Rob0729 said:

I may be in the minority, but I actually like Aikman. He does have his personality quirks, but the guy is a heck of an analysis. After listening to Jaws ball wash Sanchez on Monday night (Jaws may break down film better than anyone else, he loves to ball wash QBs as a color guy which makes him annoying), I kinda enjoyed Aikman.

Seriously are the AFC guys any better? Not really enamored with Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms and that is the best CBS has to offer.

Click to expand...

I also like Aikman quite alot. Can't stand Buck, though.

The key to the future is improving on offense, defense, & special teams.

The Dynasty said:

I see the logic behind this and it makes sense to me too, but the only thing that goes against it is Welker playing tonight. If BB is really concerned with overuse, why is Welker playing in this game? Welker takes the same beating that any RB does, and coming back from such a serious injury, why play him tonight and not use Maroney?

Click to expand...

1 series. Get some of his reactions and timing back.

Patjew said:

I also like Aikman quite alot. Can't stand Buck, though.

Click to expand...

As I said earlier, Aikman was actually ok tonight. The problem is that some games he just fusses about everything, especially when covering the Cowboys. It's like nobody is good enough for his former team.