unoriginal
In the Starting Line-Up
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So last week I speculated after Jordan Devey's gruesome second half against Miami that the Pats would probably evaluate other options at the RG spot in Week 2. Obviously that didn't happen. Maybe Ryan Wendell's knee injury tied their hands a bit, but the Pats still had Josh Kline and Bryan Stork available if they needed a warm body. So lukewarm as it may be, Devey certainly got a vote of confidence this week.
As far as I can see, the Patriots are basically committed to putting big, mauling guards on the field, which Cannon (6'5") and Devey (6'6") are and which Kline (6'3) Connolly (6'4") and Wendell (6'2") are not, which fits with DeGuglielmo's m.o. So long as those two don't kill somebody or **** themselves for an entire game the Pats look like they will roll with them until they "stop improving" and I think we can all agree that there is plenty of room for improvement.
Despite their large size the Pats are not shy about pulling either Cannon or Devey, and especially Devey. Against Minnesota they did it repeatedly, both for runs and play action. Very little zone or straight drive blocking going on which is good because both Cannon and Devey tend to suck at straight power blocking, especially Devey. Cannon can move people but tends to slide off. Devey tends to get bowled over backwards.
Anyways the 1st half, focused as always on the pass blocking:
Now before everyone gets all excited and happy concerning the 1st half blocking dominance of the o-line, take a closer look at the play chart up there and note all the run plays and play action plays the Pats ran. The Pats did not run a straight-up pass play until their 17th play of the half, 20 minutes into the game. The third time they did it Solder allowed a pressure off a spin move to the inside.
Let me emphasize that again: out of 27 offensive plays the Pats ran in the first half, 23 of them were either runs, passes off of play action, or designed quick throws such as WR screens, slants, or quick outs. The Pats o-line was only asked to block against a bona-fide pass rush four times. They gave Brady a clean pocket twice, and a third was a +1 blitz Brady hit Edelman for a TD on.
The offensive line really wasn't given a chance to screw things up.
I would like to call special attention to the last play of the half, where I gave the entire interior of the line a demerit. That was the third and one call where Ridley lost a yard running off-tackle to the left. Cannon let his guy slide past him and tried to hook him, while Connolly and Devey basically got bowled over at the snap, Devey ending up on the ground three yards in the backfield. Ugly stuff.
Second half coming eventually.
EDIT: the whitespace handling continues to be touch-and-go.
As far as I can see, the Patriots are basically committed to putting big, mauling guards on the field, which Cannon (6'5") and Devey (6'6") are and which Kline (6'3) Connolly (6'4") and Wendell (6'2") are not, which fits with DeGuglielmo's m.o. So long as those two don't kill somebody or **** themselves for an entire game the Pats look like they will roll with them until they "stop improving" and I think we can all agree that there is plenty of room for improvement.
Despite their large size the Pats are not shy about pulling either Cannon or Devey, and especially Devey. Against Minnesota they did it repeatedly, both for runs and play action. Very little zone or straight drive blocking going on which is good because both Cannon and Devey tend to suck at straight power blocking, especially Devey. Cannon can move people but tends to slide off. Devey tends to get bowled over backwards.
Anyways the 1st half, focused as always on the pass blocking:
Code:
1st Drive 1st Quarter 10:54
1. Run
2. Run
3. Run
2nd Drive 1st 6:57
1. Run
2. Run
3rd Drive 1st 4:43
1. Play action
2. Run
3. Run
4. Fly sweep
5. Play action
6. Play action
7. Run / Holding Cannon
8. Draw
9. WR bubble screen
4th Drive 2nd 13:30
1. Run
2. Quick pass (offensive tackles cut block)
3. Clean pocket / OPI Dobson
4. Fake draw / Devey picks up stunt
5. Run
6. Clean pocket
7. Pressure Solder 97
8. +1 Blitz / Free rusher knockdown / Pressure Hoomanawanui 96
5th Drive 2nd 5:51
1. Run
2. Play action
3. Run
4. Run
5. Run / Cannon Connolly Devey demerits
Code:
Player Sack Knockdown Pressure Demerit
Solder 0 0 1 0
Cannon 0 0 0 1
Connolly 0 0 0 1
Devey 0 0 0 1
Vollmer 0 0 0 0Now before everyone gets all excited and happy concerning the 1st half blocking dominance of the o-line, take a closer look at the play chart up there and note all the run plays and play action plays the Pats ran. The Pats did not run a straight-up pass play until their 17th play of the half, 20 minutes into the game. The third time they did it Solder allowed a pressure off a spin move to the inside.
Let me emphasize that again: out of 27 offensive plays the Pats ran in the first half, 23 of them were either runs, passes off of play action, or designed quick throws such as WR screens, slants, or quick outs. The Pats o-line was only asked to block against a bona-fide pass rush four times. They gave Brady a clean pocket twice, and a third was a +1 blitz Brady hit Edelman for a TD on.
The offensive line really wasn't given a chance to screw things up.
I would like to call special attention to the last play of the half, where I gave the entire interior of the line a demerit. That was the third and one call where Ridley lost a yard running off-tackle to the left. Cannon let his guy slide past him and tried to hook him, while Connolly and Devey basically got bowled over at the snap, Devey ending up on the ground three yards in the backfield. Ugly stuff.
Second half coming eventually.
EDIT: the whitespace handling continues to be touch-and-go.
