rookBoston
In the Starting Line-Up
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- Sep 13, 2004
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After reading a bunch of the 53-man roster projections, and deciding that everyone is pretty much throwing darts, I decided to spend some time breaking down the game take from the 3rd pre-season game, focused specifically on ST contributors. I'm pretty sure the bubble decisions (e.g. keep Ebner? keep Boyce? keep Chung?) can be answered by trying to predict who our key ST contributors are going to be.
I came away with some surprising observations (for me anyway).
My Conclusions:
My detailed notes:
Punt Unit
Q1
- Punter: Allen
- On the line: White, Fleming, Aiken, Buchanan, Collins
- Protectors: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
- Gunners: Arrington, Slater
Good play by Collins/Slater to turn the play inside, and by Wilson to seal the edge. Aiken with the terrific near-tackle in the open field, cleaned up by Ebner.
Q1
- Punter: Allen
- On the line: White, Fleming, Aiken, Buchanan, Collins
- Protectors: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
- Gunners: Arrington, Slater
This punt was flagged for penalties, so they ran it twice. On the first punt, my kudos go to Fleming, Chung and Ebner at the point of attack. On the re-punt, gold stars for White and Ebner. Worth calling out that on both punts, Ebner was running free and untouched downfield as the ball was received. Both times, he was at the ball carrier a full second before any of his teammates; any thought that he doesn't have a spot on the 53-man is now officially bogus in my mind.
Punt Return
Q1
- Return: Edelman
- On the line: Ebner, J.David, Buchanan, White
- Coverage: Ryan, Chung, Slater, Arrington, LaFell, Wilson
Good blocks by Ryan and Chung on one gunner. Ebner and Wilson with solid blocks. But on this play, my gold stars go to J.Davis and White for their blocking downfield.
Q1
- Return: Edelman
- On the line: Ebner, J.David, Buchanan, White
- Coverage: Ryan, Chung, Slater, Arrington, LaFell, Wilson
(same as prior punt return)
This is the play when Edelman springs a big return with a nifty spin move. One gunner seemed to get away from Slater and Arrington, but the play went away from them and this was a non-factor. With the long run-back, most everyone else had a part to play in the blocking. Ebner, J.Davis, Buchanan, White, Ryan and Wilson all showed up. The best blocking from J.Davis who held a block, then shed it to take on another would-be tackler directly at the point of attack, to give Edelman another 5 yards at least.
The only real whiff that I saw on the play was LaFell, who tried to put a shoulder on a guy when the play came right to him. He missed completely, looking entirely out of place especially with everyone else blocking with good form, solid stance and two hands. He looked more like a guy all turned around... or maybe just not interested in getting hurt.
Q2
- Return: Amendola
- On the line: White, Buchanan, J.Davis, LaFell
- On the wings: Arrington, Slater, Ryan
- Linebackers: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
Fair catch. Nothing to see here.
Q3
- Return: Finch
- On the line: Bequette, Skinner, Fleming, (Swanson?)
- On the wings: Butler, Boyce, Thomas
- Linebackers: Harmon, Tyms, (Gallon?)
Finch ran right, seemed to be tackled but landed on his feet. Everyone gave up on the play and he got up and kept running. Was ruled down, but on replay I think he might never have touched earth.
No one blocked especially well since the play was called dead so quickly. #30-something (who I think is Swanson) was run off the play by one of the gunners, but hard to know for certain if that was a good or bad thing.
Q4
- Return: Finch
- On the line: Skinner, Bequette, Fleming, Tyms
- On the wings: K.Davis, Thomas, Butler, Harmon
- Linebackers: Boyce, Swanson
No special notes. By this time in the game, pretty much everyone had stopped paying attention.
Field Goal
Q1
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- Holder: Allen
- Long Snapping:.... wait for it... ROB F*ING NINKOVICH
- On the line: Wendell, Kline, Cannon, Connolly, Mankins, Devey, Solder, Jones
I had to watch this kick eight or nine times because I was sure I was hallucinating. I have not seen it reported anywhere in the media that Ninkovich is long snapping for us. It's pretty certain he's just the emergency guy that BB wants to give game-time reps too. His ball was crisp and on target. Who the hell knew? I wasn't sure I could believe that it was #50 not #48 snapping the ball. I had to google it and turns out Ninkovich was being groomed as a long snapper with the Saints before he signed with the Pats. Wasn't mentioned by the commentators on the game film at all, and I assume they just didn't notice. F*ing Ninkovich.
Other than that, pretty uneventful FG. I suppose it's cool that Chandler Jones is on the field with all the offensive linemen we can muster.
The FG and XP units for the balance of the game were pretty unremarkable. I didn't see Ninkovich again. It was always #48.
Q4
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- Holder: Allen (I think)
- Long Snapping: Aiken
- On the line: Maneri, Kline, Fleming, Halapio, Barker, Devey, Cave, Develin
Kickoff
Q1
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- On the line: McCourty, Wilson, White, Ryan, Ebner, J.Davis, Slater, Buchanan, Harmon, Arrington
Q2
This same lineup for another KO in Q2.
Q3
Some subs came in for the KO unit:
- K.Davis for Ryan
- Browner for Arrington
Q4
More subs:
- Skinner for Buchanan
- Tyms for Harmon
- Swanson for Browner
- (other side of the field was not viewable)
None of these kickoffs are remotely interesting, because Gostkowski puts it Out every time.
Kick Return Unit
Q1
- End Zone: Finch and White
- Lead Blockers: Cannon, Devlin and (cant see the jersey number)
- Downfield: K.Davis, White, Arrington, Ebner, Fleming, Wilson
Kickoff went thru the endzone, so unable to evaluate performance
I came away with some surprising observations (for me anyway).
My Conclusions:
- Rob Ninkovich is my new stealth-ST hero.
- Edelman is a real master at PR. Really, he deserves Pro-Bowl consideration.
- Ebner was constantly making plays. There is no way this guy doesn't make the roster. He's truly the ace on the unit.
- Also making my radar: White, J.Davis, Buchanan, Wilson... these guys were all running with the 1s on Punt Return and made an impression with their blocking. Buchanan isn't as fast as the other three, but laid some bone crushing blocks that I appreciated. White and J.Davis were athletic, physical and smart. Those two, especially, showed me something that I wasn't expecting. And, I've put both of them on my 53-man on the strength of their ST play.
- Credible: Chung, Arrington, Fleming and Finch. Finch ran well on PR on the 3rd team, and seemed ready to spring one at any moment (Edelman still blew him away). I think Finch has an outside chance at a roster spot as an apprentice KR/PR.
- Under-impressive: Slater... asked to do a lot, but no big plays
- Not enough: Bequette ran with the 3rd team Punt Return, and had no notable impact.
- Not enough: if Boyce wants to make the team based on his ST contributions...well, I think that's not in the cards; he ran with the 3rd unit and was a non-factor. I think that's a shame and I hope he makes it on merit as a WR-- but even there, his body language [after chest bumping with McCuller after McCuller scored a Q4 TD] looked seriously dejected and defeated. I hope he shows well on offense in Game 4.
- Dud: LaFell was running with the 1st team punt return, and looked out of place. Not sure what the thinking is with him. I hope this was a one time experiment. The guy seemed to avoid contact while blocking during an Edelman punt return that went right past him. I suppose LaFell is likely to make the roster if Boyce cant show more, but I think both of them are at risk when Tyms comes back from suspension. BTW, Tyms flashed a (very) little bit on 3rd unit punt return; his size helps.
- Not seen: speaking of McCuller, who spent Q4 playing catch with Garoppolo, I'd love to see him on Punt Return in Game 4, playing in LaFell's spot. His contributions on offense are raw but productive. He looks physical and he looks willing. Love the guy's heart. If he can make the switch from D to O in a single off-season, I bet he can handle ST too.
My detailed notes:
Punt Unit
Q1
- Punter: Allen
- On the line: White, Fleming, Aiken, Buchanan, Collins
- Protectors: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
- Gunners: Arrington, Slater
Good play by Collins/Slater to turn the play inside, and by Wilson to seal the edge. Aiken with the terrific near-tackle in the open field, cleaned up by Ebner.
Q1
- Punter: Allen
- On the line: White, Fleming, Aiken, Buchanan, Collins
- Protectors: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
- Gunners: Arrington, Slater
This punt was flagged for penalties, so they ran it twice. On the first punt, my kudos go to Fleming, Chung and Ebner at the point of attack. On the re-punt, gold stars for White and Ebner. Worth calling out that on both punts, Ebner was running free and untouched downfield as the ball was received. Both times, he was at the ball carrier a full second before any of his teammates; any thought that he doesn't have a spot on the 53-man is now officially bogus in my mind.
Punt Return
Q1
- Return: Edelman
- On the line: Ebner, J.David, Buchanan, White
- Coverage: Ryan, Chung, Slater, Arrington, LaFell, Wilson
Good blocks by Ryan and Chung on one gunner. Ebner and Wilson with solid blocks. But on this play, my gold stars go to J.Davis and White for their blocking downfield.
Q1
- Return: Edelman
- On the line: Ebner, J.David, Buchanan, White
- Coverage: Ryan, Chung, Slater, Arrington, LaFell, Wilson
(same as prior punt return)
This is the play when Edelman springs a big return with a nifty spin move. One gunner seemed to get away from Slater and Arrington, but the play went away from them and this was a non-factor. With the long run-back, most everyone else had a part to play in the blocking. Ebner, J.Davis, Buchanan, White, Ryan and Wilson all showed up. The best blocking from J.Davis who held a block, then shed it to take on another would-be tackler directly at the point of attack, to give Edelman another 5 yards at least.
The only real whiff that I saw on the play was LaFell, who tried to put a shoulder on a guy when the play came right to him. He missed completely, looking entirely out of place especially with everyone else blocking with good form, solid stance and two hands. He looked more like a guy all turned around... or maybe just not interested in getting hurt.
Q2
- Return: Amendola
- On the line: White, Buchanan, J.Davis, LaFell
- On the wings: Arrington, Slater, Ryan
- Linebackers: Wilson, Ebner, Chung
Fair catch. Nothing to see here.
Q3
- Return: Finch
- On the line: Bequette, Skinner, Fleming, (Swanson?)
- On the wings: Butler, Boyce, Thomas
- Linebackers: Harmon, Tyms, (Gallon?)
Finch ran right, seemed to be tackled but landed on his feet. Everyone gave up on the play and he got up and kept running. Was ruled down, but on replay I think he might never have touched earth.
No one blocked especially well since the play was called dead so quickly. #30-something (who I think is Swanson) was run off the play by one of the gunners, but hard to know for certain if that was a good or bad thing.
Q4
- Return: Finch
- On the line: Skinner, Bequette, Fleming, Tyms
- On the wings: K.Davis, Thomas, Butler, Harmon
- Linebackers: Boyce, Swanson
No special notes. By this time in the game, pretty much everyone had stopped paying attention.
Field Goal
Q1
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- Holder: Allen
- Long Snapping:.... wait for it... ROB F*ING NINKOVICH
- On the line: Wendell, Kline, Cannon, Connolly, Mankins, Devey, Solder, Jones
I had to watch this kick eight or nine times because I was sure I was hallucinating. I have not seen it reported anywhere in the media that Ninkovich is long snapping for us. It's pretty certain he's just the emergency guy that BB wants to give game-time reps too. His ball was crisp and on target. Who the hell knew? I wasn't sure I could believe that it was #50 not #48 snapping the ball. I had to google it and turns out Ninkovich was being groomed as a long snapper with the Saints before he signed with the Pats. Wasn't mentioned by the commentators on the game film at all, and I assume they just didn't notice. F*ing Ninkovich.
Other than that, pretty uneventful FG. I suppose it's cool that Chandler Jones is on the field with all the offensive linemen we can muster.
The FG and XP units for the balance of the game were pretty unremarkable. I didn't see Ninkovich again. It was always #48.
Q4
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- Holder: Allen (I think)
- Long Snapping: Aiken
- On the line: Maneri, Kline, Fleming, Halapio, Barker, Devey, Cave, Develin
Kickoff
Q1
- Kicker: Gostkowski
- On the line: McCourty, Wilson, White, Ryan, Ebner, J.Davis, Slater, Buchanan, Harmon, Arrington
Q2
This same lineup for another KO in Q2.
Q3
Some subs came in for the KO unit:
- K.Davis for Ryan
- Browner for Arrington
Q4
More subs:
- Skinner for Buchanan
- Tyms for Harmon
- Swanson for Browner
- (other side of the field was not viewable)
None of these kickoffs are remotely interesting, because Gostkowski puts it Out every time.
Kick Return Unit
Q1
- End Zone: Finch and White
- Lead Blockers: Cannon, Devlin and (cant see the jersey number)
- Downfield: K.Davis, White, Arrington, Ebner, Fleming, Wilson
Kickoff went thru the endzone, so unable to evaluate performance