Game Thoughts: Thank God We Don't Have to Rehash the Snow Bowl Anymore Edition

Here we go:

• Let me get this out of the way. I am tired of the Dobson bashing calling him a healthy scratch. I don't think he was. I think he is just not in game shape. I noticed that in the last preseason game that he had trouble running routes and rounded this routes. I have a feeling either he cannot or is too hesitant to plant his foot and make cuts. I think he was deactivated this and the first week because of it. They tried to give him a go and it looked like he wasn't ready. I could be wrong, but I think people are trashing him without knowing.

• The offense has a lot of work to do, but it is showing signs of starting to put things together. I am under no illusions that they looked good other than in spurts, but at least they made some progressions late in the game. Overall though, the offense was not very good though.

• I don't think Derrick Carr is his brother. I think he will turn out to be a decent to good QB. He made some good decisions and made some good throws on the run.

• I think this defense can carry the Pats while the offense tries to get on track. I know they faced two bad offenses in the last two weeks, but other than opening drive last week and the second half vs. the Dolphins, they have been pretty solid. Not perfect, but they have been solid.

• I think Chandler Jones has really matured. In past years, he would sometimes over rely on the bullrush and go head to head with his blockers. He is definitely expanding his repertoire on rushing skills and being much more aware of what is going on during the play. On those plays where he tipped the ball, he would have just continued to rush the passer in the past. Now he is diagnosing the play and if blocker is not letting him by he is trying to take away passing lanes. He is also more aware of the run too.

• Revis has not been what I thought he would be, but reading the game threads he gets too much crap (probably due to his reputation and him actually looking mortal at times). He shuts down his receiver most of the game, but has had lapses in his coverage that have been exploited at times.

• I don't know what they are running so many pick plays with LaFell. I think he is too big for it. If he is going to have contact with the defender, he has to be perfect because he will knock his guy out of his shoes 9 times out of 10 and draw the penalty.

• I am glad to see that Brady started to get the receivers more involved. I think they need to get more stability on the o-line and then we may see that Brady has a wealthy of weapons. I think the o-line problems has more to do with the receiver problems than the receivers.

• Speaking of the o-line, I think the Jordan Devey experiment needs to end soon. The o-line got much better after he was out.

• I have been disappointed with Solder this year. I think he has been an above average LT for most of his career, but he has been a disappointment this year. Hopefully if the rest of the o-line gets cohesive, his play improves.

• I was getting tired of the McDaniels bashing in the gameday thread (what is new). If I heard, "the Raiders have been averaging giving up 200 yards on the ground the first two weeks" to bash McD for not running the ball on a particular play one more time, I might have thrown my computer against the wall. Do people realize the Pats ran the ball 32 TIMES for 76 yards? I don't care what the Raiders did the first two weeks, but they were stopping the Pats' running game.

• It was an ugly win, but it was a win. They need to get better, but we did see a little progress on the offense. We need to see a lot more very quick. I don't know if the Pats will need a heck of a lot of offense to beat the Chiefs, but they certainly will to beat the Bengals the following week.

I said this in the GDT and I'll say it again: for those complaining about barely holding a lead against the Raiders, let me remind you of a game from the dominant 2003 season.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070701025739/http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20031026_CLE@NE

For those who don't want to click, the Pats beat the Browns 9-3. Those Browns were led by KELLY HOLCOMB. Brady and the offense put up no points as Vinatieri had to play hero for the Pats scoring.

The point is that every game in the NFL is tough. This team isn't going to blow teams out like the 07-11 teams were accustomed to do. Defense CAN win games fellas.

Agree with just about everything you said. Revis getting way to much crap. I completely agree about your analysis. Also Dobson, i agree, they just feel like he is not ready. I have never liked Nate Solder. i agree he is above average in his career, but thats not good enough, he is supposed to be a franchise left tackle

Stuck in parking lot.

Good: jones, Chung played well. And i liked Hightower today. D came up big when it needed it. Was huge

Badline. Needs to change. Dobson? Is he hurt? Idk. And revis...we expect him to give up nothing so when he does..we all call for his head. Not deep passes getting beat on

A W is a W so i will take it.

It would take quite the psychic to see signs of this offense putting things together. That was a dreadful performance at home against the worst team in the NFL.

It also -- I might add for the benefit of everyone calling me names last week -- was EXACTLY the same offensive production as the Minnesota game, minus the turnovers and blocked FG.

It is what it is. Right now, the new England Patriots offense is a 1 TD, 3 FG per game squad.

I think Revis is doing a great job. Talib would be out with an injury around this time of year anyway.
And I always remember how the Pats D used to make rookies/mediocre QBs into HoF performance.

1 more. Ammedola is going to be a no one here

Some good points. But when you score 16 points against a horrible team and have to hold on for dear life for the win, tough to be positive. When you're on the one yard line twice with several chances to get into the endzone, and can't gain one yard both times and have to settle for FGs, it's tough to be positive. When you only have 2 receivers to catch the ball, and your offensive line can't give your Hall of Fame QB time to throw, tough to be positive. When your defense gets ZERO sacks for the 2nd time in 3 games, tough to be positive.

We are VERY lucky to be 2-1. Championship teams need to be lucky too, but we are depending on luck more than talent to even get to the playoffs. I really don't see a playoff team here.

hwc said:

It would take quite the psychic to see signs of this offense putting things together. That was a dreadful performance at home against the worst team in the NFL.

It also -- I might add for the benefit of everyone calling me names last week -- was EXACTLY the same offensive production as the Minnesota game, minus the turnovers and blocked FG.

It is what it is. Right now, the new England Patriots offense is a 1 TD, 3 FG per game squad.

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What happened this week is different than what happened next week.

But I love it when a supposed Pats fan takes a victory lap for being right for something bad about the Patriots.

What happened this week is different than what happened next week.

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I sure hope so....

Hey, you can always look on the bright side. Take away one bad half against Miami, two bad halves against MINN, and two bad halves against Oakland and the Pats offense is lookin' pretty good so far...

This offense is bad and it should be better. The problem is the OFFENSIVE LINE. Until this is fixed, they will continue to struggle offensively. I am really irritated with the coaching staff about this. They had all off-season to improve the o-line. They shouldn't have to scramble to fix it in week 3.

DefenseRules said:

This offense is bad and it should be better. The problem is the OFFENSIVE LINE. Until this is fixed, they will continue to struggle offensively. I am really irritated with the coaching staff about this. They had all off-season to improve the o-line. They shouldn't have to scramble to fix it in week 3.

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theres just not a lot of talent there, im not so sure its the coaches

hwc said:

It would take quite the psychic to see signs of this offense putting things together. That was a dreadful performance at home against the worst team in the NFL.

It also -- I might add for the benefit of everyone calling me names last week -- was EXACTLY the same offensive production as the Minnesota game, minus the turnovers and blocked FG.

It is what it is. Right now, the new England Patriots offense is a 1 TD, 3 FG per game squad.

Click to expand...

after this offensive performance i wouldn't be surprised if PATFANKEN goes into hibernation again.

Brady_to_Moss said:

line.

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That says it all

DefenseRules said:

This offense is bad and it should be better. The problem is the OFFENSIVE LINE.

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It's not all the offensive line. The QB made a bunch of questionable throws in this game. The opening series of the game was butt ugly.

scott99 said:

Some good points. But when you score 16 points against a horrible team and have to hold on for dear life for the win, tough to be positive. When you're on the one yard line twice with several chances to get into the endzone, and can't gain one yard both times and have to settle for FGs, it's tough to be positive. When you only have 2 receivers to catch the ball, and your offensive line can't give your Hall of Fame QB time to throw, tough to be positive. When your defense gets ZERO sacks for the 2nd time in 3 games, tough to be positive.

We are VERY lucky to be 2-1. Championship teams need to be lucky too, but we are depending on luck more than talent to even get to the playoffs. I really don't see a playoff team here.

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A few things:

• As bad as the Raiders are, they haven't been that bad on defense. They gave up 19 to the Jets, but one of their TDs was a 71 yard run that there were bad tackling. Against the Texans, the Texans' defense kept on putting their offense in good position.

• The Pats pressured Carr a lot, but he is a mobile QB and he was able to escape out of the pocket. Plus they were throwing mostly quick short passes most of the game. I don't think the lack of a sack was a bad thing.

• The Pats had four receivers who caught three or more passes and seven receivers catch a pass. Yes, early it was all Edelman, but Brady spread the ball around quite a bit in the second half.

• The Pats are not lucky to be 2-1. They deserved to win both the games they won. Even if the Pats didn't turn over the ball at the end of the game today, the best the Raiders could have done is tie the game (unless they went for two) on that drive.

DefenseRules said:

This offense is bad and it should be better. The problem is the OFFENSIVE LINE. Until this is fixed, they will continue to struggle offensively. I am really irritated with the coaching staff about this. They had all off-season to improve the o-line. They shouldn't have to scramble to fix it in week 3.

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i don't think coaching can fix this line. well maybe scar could

The good news is that the offense will settle down and improve. The line will get figured out eventually and Brady and the offense will get synched up. The defense is in great shape and can continue to grow and become very dominant (though they certainly need to pressure the QB more consistently).

Here's a thought that i asked, but didn't see an answer to:
Wwhat happened to the clock.officials prior to the 2 minute warning in the fist half?

Edleman caught the ball and went out of bounds with 2:10 left and there was a flag on the play, but it was a non-call/picked back up. then the clock started going down to the 2 minute warning when (in my mind) it should have only started with a play.

Or did I take a 10 quick nap there where I didn't think I fell asleep?

fightingirish595 said:

theres just not a lot of talent there, im not so sure its the coaches

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Then that's BB's fault. He knew that was one of this team's weaknesses and didn't address it, in fact he weakened the line by making a trade. Also our receivers outside of Gronk and Edelman are putrid, did he address it ? No.

YIKES that O-line is AWFUL. I'm watching the 5th quarter and they are showing the horror show that is the O-line. Brady needs to eat more wheaties. He is going to get his butt kicked this season, and he is going to have to take it and still win. This O-line is what it is. I don't think that there is a quick fix.