Idle Thoughts – a reflective edition

OK, I watched the game closely. I’ve read most of the game threads, and here’s where I come down on the current situation. Am I concerned about the OL, of course I am. Do I wish the offense was more productive, absolutely! However, am I ready to panic on any of these issues…..not even close.

I didn’t post right away because I assumed the self-entitled hand wringers deserved their moment in the sun, and I certainly didn’t want to rain on their parade. It’s not that they don’t have a leg to stand on. 2 sacks aren’t an issue to me, but the SIX QB hits are. So while there ARE things to be concerned about, the LEVEL of anxiety seems way overblown.

Let’s not forget that this is the post 2010 NFL. This is the league of more limited practices, almost non-existent pre-season contact, and team turnover rates of around 20% that coaches are trying to deal with. Is it any wonder why we are seeing such inconsistent football league-wide.

The timing of these complex offenses are such that, I don’t doubt that we will be well into October before we see the kind of consistency we’d all like to see from Brady and company. I am confident that this team is good enough overall to win enough games over the next month or so, that we will be in good position to claim another division crown

One of the keys to the Pats success over the past 13 seasons is the fact that there Pats do a better job coaching up their players than most teams. So while the problems DO exist, why would anyone think they will be issues that won’t improve over time. What in the past 13 seasons would make you feel otherwise.

All that being said, here is what I was thinking about while I was watching the game:

1. It seems to me that the Pats RB’s do better when they attack the LOS quickly. I think too many of their running plays take too long to develop.

2. Brady continues to ignore his check down receivers. I’d like the Pats to do this more. It was very effective for Cutler and the Bears tonight. There were more than a few time I thought I saw Devlin open in this game

3. I think we need to stretch the field more in the passing game. More 15-20 yds intermediate throws. I’m not looking for bombs here. But I get the feeling too many teams are sitting on the short routes. At TC it seemed the Pats were throwing the ball down field more, but for some reason, once the season started, those throws seemed to have disappeared from the play book.

4. My biggest concern about the D was the lack of substitution for Jones and Ninko. Once again they seem to be on the field more than 90% of the time.

5. My other concern is that 2 of my binkies, Collins and Easley, have yet to stand out and have big games and plays. I think they’ve played OK, but I’m expecting more.

6. Revis has been fantastic. It’s been the extremely rare completion where hasn’t been in very tight coverage. I don’t know what anyone else is seeing, but he’s playing up to my high expectations so far

7. Nate Solder is another story. I expect much more than I’m getting from him. No OT is going to win every battle. In the limited time I watched the Jets game, Fergeson was stoning Allen most of the night, but there were 3 or 4 times where they showed Allen beating him for a few hurries and hits. It’s the nature of the game.

8. I thought on one of the sacks, Brady held the ball too long.

9. I’m glad some people are starting to recognize the contributions of Patrick Chung. By the end of the season, he was our best DB in that 2011 superbowl run. There were high expectations for him the next years. Expectations he never reached. Hopefully in this incarnation, and playing with a lot better players, he can elevate his game back to what it was at the end of 2011.

10. I’m a bit surprised I haven’t seen more complaints about the PI call on Logan Ryan, that could have cost the Pats that game (or at least sent it into overtime). I didn’t question the call too much when it first happened. However when they showed the replay, my take was that Ryan had great inside position and it was the receiver who initiated the contact, knocking Ryan down, and not the reverse. Am I nuts, or was it a bad call. I can think of about 3 non-calls made (2 for the Pats and one for the Raiders) that I thought were more worthy of a PI call than THAT one.

11. Speaking of Ryan, he’s taken the next step and has done an excellent job, for the most part. He’s been a very adequate #2 CB thus far. I wish I could say the same for his Rutgers counterpart, Harmon.

12. Nice to see Brady start to spread the ball around in the second half.

13. Danny Amendola can’t catch a break. Open for a TD and Brady misses the throw, then makes a nice gain only to have it called back for the 3rd time this season.

14. Edelman continues to shine on the outside

15. I’m a big Josh McDaniels fan, but I can see how some fans aren’t happy with him and he needs to step it up, like most of the offensive personnel

Tough week coming up in KC. Its not easy to start the season with 3 road games in the first 4 weeks KC is a tough and noisy crowd With KC’s pass rush, it will be a big test for this OL.

Missed your commentary Ken welcome back.

Brady hit KT on a 15 yard pass in the 1st half...never saw him again.

"hey Josh... Vereen is deadly on those wheel routes....what's your call?"
Run Vereen over and over into the A gaps. ???????????????????????????

Brady held the ball too long? Heh....he got MURDERED consistently by a team that supposedly had no pash rush. Took SIX full force knockdowns in this game. An atrocity.

Brady spread the ball around in the 2nd half?...what was that, a moral victory? They put up 6 points in the 2nd half on 2 FG's.

The reason the Pats O line is slow developing running lanes is, quite simply, they are getting knocked off the ball backwards...hard for a RB to make FORWARD progress when his O line is constantly making backward retreats.

Always enjoy your posts ,Ken and appreciate your opinion. I saw things a little differently this past Sunday.

While I always trust this coaching staff to figure things out because of the track record, the oline is not all about coaching IMO. They are just getting beat straight up. That cant be fixed unless the players stand up.

Do not agree as much as I usually do...

Been listening to and reading a lot about the O Line... and according to my indepth study, it takes a while for a newer unit to learn to work as a unit. As bad as we think Wendell is, not having him has caused different combinations to have to work together...

Stork will replace him, if healthy, by the end of the year... but they are working him in slowly, which makes sense. The loss of Scar has had an effect, as he was viewed as the magic man... Degugliemi(sp) may be excellent, but he is new in this system as well.

Perhaps it is my view, but Brady does not seem to be stepping up and avoiding the rush as well as he has in the past... things will get better, but all of these guys including the QB, RB's and the O Coordinator need to look at what is not working...

No, you're not crazy, at least in respect to Ryan's penalty. Saw the same thing, but not surprised that the Field Judge didn't. It would be interesting to look at the All-22 on that one.

I still maintain the problem with throwing downfield is the O-line, when Brady is unable to set his feet because it's Custer's Last Stand all around him, no wonder the throws are off and it's hard to scan the field to know which option the receivers are taking.

Good read, PFK. Thanks again for sharing your insights.

What I'm seeing here is this team morphing into Bledsoe's team. Bledsoe was also a great QB but he could never get to a lot of his receivers because he was often running for his life. The O-Line had some serious issues in pass protection that were never fully corrected.

I hate to see it, but I have flashbacks to 95/96 during these first three games.

In another thread I mentioned it, but I am convinced that once the O-Line gets up to speed, that things will be a LOT better for both Brady, and the entire offense.

I have been closely watching Brady's footwork. There was a period of years when JAWS would say Brady had the quickest footwork in the pocket in the NFL. Specifically on his bad throws he's having trouble transitioning his weight to his front foot. When he does he throws laser strikes like he did when he was younger. When he drops back quickly with short steps for quick throws he's almost always flawless. When he drops straight back he's near flawless. When he has to move to either side and moves around with large steps is where he is having issues.

Most every bad throw I notice his weight never makes it to the front foot. His age has taken away his ability to deliver accurate passes off the backfoot and/or the weight does not make it to the front. IMO ... this is where his frustration is coming from as he is struggling adapting to a less mobile body.

As I said in an earlier post we use to marvel at Tom staying in the pocket to the last millisecond to deliver a throw ... those hits have taken their toll regardless of how healthy he claims to be. Not a knock on him ... just a it is what it is comment ... the man has been great for a very long time and his extreme toughness has caught up to him. He needs a more perfect O-line than he did 10 years ago and/or he needs to survive with a higher percentage of quick throws. I am surprised Belichick was not able to land a huge strong and tough TE who could catch a few and also help the O-Line. I think Hooman is rather useless to this problem and it's why Devlin can sometimes be seen filling that role.

I think a reason there isn't more outrage about the Ryan PI is what followed it. Even if the offensive holding call that negated the TD was legit, it was behind and away from the play (if I understood correctly who they called it on) and didn't affect what happened on the field. So it felt like a makeup call, whether or not any part of that was intentional.

And then of course came the Wilfork INT.

Brady need to return to being a superb decision-maker, seeing more of the field than the other QBs do. If that means fewer of the play-actions with his back to the defense, so be it. If this means risking worse footwork (if his footwork is taking more concentration than it used to), so be it. He needs to go back to throwing to the right guy, even if the quality of his throws suffers somewhat in a tradeoff.

Good stuff, as usual, Ken. A few thoughts:

patfanken said:

3. I think we need to stretch the field more in the passing game. More 15-20 yds intermediate throws. I’m not looking for bombs here. But I get the feeling too many teams are sitting on the short routes. At TC it seemed the Pats were throwing the ball down field more, but for some reason, once the season started, those throws seemed to have disappeared from the play book.

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The patterns are being run. Tom is just not looking to them very often. With the amount of protection he's getting, it's hard to blame him.

10. I’m a bit surprised I haven’t seen more complaints about the PI call on Logan Ryan, that could have cost the Pats that game (or at least sent it into overtime). I didn’t question the call too much when it first happened. However when they showed the replay, my take was that Ryan had great inside position and it was the receiver who initiated the contact, knocking Ryan down, and not the reverse. Am I nuts, or was it a bad call. I can think of about 3 non-calls made (2 for the Pats and one for the Raiders) that I thought were more worthy of a PI call than THAT one.

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That call killed me. Ryan gets position; the offensive player grabs him and falls down; and Ryan gets the penalty. The same thing happened to one of the Jets defenders last night, and despite my hatred of the color green in the fall and winter, I was outraged. The officiating of pass defense in the NFL is a joke. I, quite simply, watch much less football than I used to. The weather was spotty on Sunday, so I watched the game, but I decided that I have better things to do on a sunny Sunday in the fading summer than watch the hard work of my beloved Patriots get arbitrated by the enablers of fantasy football. Night games, on the other hand, are an excuse to have one too many and loudly curse the TV, so that my wife can berate me for my neanderthal behavior.

Fencer said:

I think a reason there isn't more outrage about the Ryan PI is what followed it. Even if the offensive holding call that negated the TD was legit, it was behind and away from the play (if I understood correctly who they called it on) and didn't affect what happened on the field. So it felt like a makeup call, whether or not any part of that was intentional.

And then of course came the Wilfork INT.

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The holding penalty was on the guy blocking Chung in the middle of the defense. Chung was in position to make a play, but it would have taken a great tackle to bring the back down short of the end zone. Seemed like a make-up call to me.

patfanken said:

2. Brady continues to ignore his check down receivers. I’d like the Pats to do this more. It was very effective for Cutler and the Bears tonight. There were more than a few time I thought I saw Devlin open in this game

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Could it be with defenses stacking the short area that the check down would be less effective/not get the yards necessary to make a 1st down or put the team in a better position (doesn't make sense that this would be the case, but worth bringing up)

patfanken said:

6. Revis has been fantastic. It’s been the extremely rare completion where hasn’t been in very tight coverage. I don’t know what anyone else is seeing, but he’s playing up to my high expectations so far

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I think people expect him to be a god. It will be interesting to see how is overall impact is to the defense. Does BB trust Revis enough to allow the safeties to cheat towards other players? How much help (if any) does Revis get over the top, ...

patfanken said:

10. I’m a bit surprised I haven’t seen more complaints about the PI call on Logan Ryan, that could have cost the Pats that game (or at least sent it into overtime). I didn’t question the call too much when it first happened. However when they showed the replay, my take was that Ryan had great inside position and it was the receiver who initiated the contact, knocking Ryan down, and not the reverse. Am I nuts, or was it a bad call. I can think of about 3 non-calls made (2 for the Pats and one for the Raiders) that I thought were more worthy of a PI call than THAT one.

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Seemed similar to the Wallis call in the Jets-Bears game last night. Even I during real-time saw the offensive PI, but as usual the refs are slanted towards the offense. I wonder if the refs will adjust with the
"new" emphasis on offensive PI. It'd be good to hear how many submissions are sent which the league would admit to the wrong call being made.


One last thought and I haven't got anyone to bite on this (for confirmation either for or against) so I'll give it a try here. Did the refs screw up prior to the 2 minute warning in the first half?

What I thought happened:

1. Edleman caught a pass for a first down and went out of bounds with about 2:10 left.
2. There was a flag on the play, but it was picked up
3. Brady went into his play calling/huddle and the clock continued to wind down unti lthe 2 minute warning sounded.

I would have thought the clock would have stopped as Edleman went out of bounds. But, no mention of it by BB or anyone questioning the refs (or even the broadcast crew). not that it makes a difference, but it just struck me as odd.

One other thing that had had me fulminating at the zebras lately is the way they just assume the first down when it's close on 1st or 2nd downs. There were several times when the player was short by a yard when the refs awarded the first down. In one instance, the Pats ran a quick run afterwards and Brady signaled first down, only to have it be 2nd and 9. It's laughable incompetence -unlike the anti-defensive PI bias, which fundamentally damages the competitive integrity of the game.

RelocatedPatFan said:

One last thought and I haven't got anyone to bite on this (for confirmation either for or against) so I'll give it a try here. Did the refs screw up prior to the 2 minute warning in the first half?

What I thought happened:

1. Edleman caught a pass for a first down and went out of bounds with about 2:10 left.
2. There was a flag on the play, but it was picked up
3. Brady went into his play calling/huddle and the clock continued to wind down unti lthe 2 minute warning sounded.

I would have thought the clock would have stopped as Edleman went out of bounds. But, no mention of it by BB or anyone questioning the refs (or even the broadcast crew). not that it makes a difference, but it just struck me as odd.

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The clock is wound after an out-of-bounds play prior to the 2-minute warning in the first half. In the second half, the clock remains stopped following out-of-bounds plays during the final 5 minutes.

I agree with the others and said it in the game chat; the penalty that was called after Ryan was the makeup call. And since it didn't wind up costing the Pats the game, I think that issue went to the back burner. All of that said, it was a bad call against Ryan to be sure.

My biggest concern with the OL is that it's not Dante coaching them up. We've got a bit of a wildcard there in that we don't really know what we're going to get out of the coaching. I'm not panicking yet by any means, but rather taking a wait-and-see approach with how the line progresses.

Chung was the victim of the Rodney Harrison comparison/expectation, which isn't to excuse his, at best, uneven play during his last stay here, but it played a role in our evaluation of his play.

Good observation on the Pats RBs. I'm going to look for that next Sunday.

patfanken said:

OK, I watched the game closely. I’ve read most of the game threads, and here’s where I come down on the current situation. Am I concerned about the OL, of course I am. Do I wish the offense was more productive, absolutely! However, am I ready to panic on any of these issues…..not even close.

I didn’t post right away because I assumed the self-entitled hand wringers deserved their moment in the sun, and I certainly didn’t want to rain on their parade. It’s not that they don’t have a leg to stand on. 2 sacks aren’t an issue to me, but the SIX QB hits are. So while there ARE things to be concerned about, the LEVEL of anxiety seems way overblown.

Let’s not forget that this is the post 2010 NFL. This is the league of more limited practices, almost non-existent pre-season contact, and team turnover rates of around 20% that coaches are trying to deal with. Is it any wonder why we are seeing such inconsistent football league-wide.

The timing of these complex offenses are such that, I don’t doubt that we will be well into October before we see the kind of consistency we’d all like to see from Brady and company. I am confident that this team is good enough overall to win enough games over the next month or so, that we will be in good position to claim another division crown

One of the keys to the Pats success over the past 13 seasons is the fact that there Pats do a better job coaching up their players than most teams. So while the problems DO exist, why would anyone think they will be issues that won’t improve over time. What in the past 13 seasons would make you feel otherwise.

All that being said, here is what I was thinking about while I was watching the game:

1. It seems to me that the Pats RB’s do better when they attack the LOS quickly. I think too many of their running plays take too long to develop.

2. Brady continues to ignore his check down receivers. I’d like the Pats to do this more. It was very effective for Cutler and the Bears tonight. There were more than a few time I thought I saw Devlin open in this game

3. I think we need to stretch the field more in the passing game. More 15-20 yds intermediate throws. I’m not looking for bombs here. But I get the feeling too many teams are sitting on the short routes. At TC it seemed the Pats were throwing the ball down field more, but for some reason, once the season started, those throws seemed to have disappeared from the play book.

4. My biggest concern about the D was the lack of substitution for Jones and Ninko. Once again they seem to be on the field more than 90% of the time.

5. My other concern is that 2 of my binkies, Collins and Easley, have yet to stand out and have big games and plays. I think they’ve played OK, but I’m expecting more.

6. Revis has been fantastic. It’s been the extremely rare completion where hasn’t been in very tight coverage. I don’t know what anyone else is seeing, but he’s playing up to my high expectations so far

7. Nate Solder is another story. I expect much more than I’m getting from him. No OT is going to win every battle. In the limited time I watched the Jets game, Fergeson was stoning Allen most of the night, but there were 3 or 4 times where they showed Allen beating him for a few hurries and hits. It’s the nature of the game.

8. I thought on one of the sacks, Brady held the ball too long.

9. I’m glad some people are starting to recognize the contributions of Patrick Chung. By the end of the season, he was our best DB in that 2011 superbowl run. There were high expectations for him the next years. Expectations he never reached. Hopefully in this incarnation, and playing with a lot better players, he can elevate his game back to what it was at the end of 2011.

10. I’m a bit surprised I haven’t seen more complaints about the PI call on Logan Ryan, that could have cost the Pats that game (or at least sent it into overtime). I didn’t question the call too much when it first happened. However when they showed the replay, my take was that Ryan had great inside position and it was the receiver who initiated the contact, knocking Ryan down, and not the reverse. Am I nuts, or was it a bad call. I can think of about 3 non-calls made (2 for the Pats and one for the Raiders) that I thought were more worthy of a PI call than THAT one.

11. Speaking of Ryan, he’s taken the next step and has done an excellent job, for the most part. He’s been a very adequate #2 CB thus far. I wish I could say the same for his Rutgers counterpart, Harmon.

12. Nice to see Brady start to spread the ball around in the second half.

13. Danny Amendola can’t catch a break. Open for a TD and Brady misses the throw, then makes a nice gain only to have it called back for the 3rd time this season.

14. Edelman continues to shine on the outside

15. I’m a big Josh McDaniels fan, but I can see how some fans aren’t happy with him and he needs to step it up, like most of the offensive personnel

Tough week coming up in KC. Its not easy to start the season with 3 road games in the first 4 weeks KC is a tough and noisy crowd With KC’s pass rush, it will be a big test for this OL.

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Great post. A few responses:

• I'm not worried about Nink's snaps. I think one week he only played something like 40% of the snaps. He his snaps seem to be more game plan specific and when Collins is healthy again, he will lose snaps because having Hightower on the field in the OLB position on passing downs is more important. That is as long as Siliga isn't out too long forcing Jones inside more. Jones' snap count may be more of an issue.

• I thought the Ryan PI was a bad call, but I wasn't going to dwell on a call that really didn't affect the outcome of the game. The only time it is an exception is if it is an exceptionally egregious call.

• I agree about Brady spreading the ball around. I thought it was only Ben Volin and myself who thought there were some positive signs from the offense. And no one wants to be alone on an island with Volin when it comes to football analysis. I will be listening to 98.5 today to see if Bedard backs us up so that I can feel that my football analysis skills are going to crap (although it would qualify me for a Globe writer position).

• I have also been happy with Ryan. I can't wait for Dennard to get healthy and Browner to come back. The Pats' sub packages could be special once they get them all on the field.

• Collins really hasn't been on the field much since week one. I think the injury is the biggest problem with his lack of playmaking. Easley is a rookie who missed most of the preseason. It is going to take him time.

• Although I am not as please with Revis' performance as you are, I agree he has been good. I think expectations of him taking away 1/3 of the field and being this god has really affected people's perception of his play.

• I don't like how the Pats run stretch plays. I agree that Ridley and Boldin should be running more north/south. You can run outside with Vereen though.

• I agree about getting more intermediate passing going. I think Dobson wasn't ready from injury and I think that hurts that portion of the game. Hopefully, he will be game ready by Monday night.

pencilneckgeek said:

The clock is wound after an out-of-bounds play prior to the 2-minute warning in the first half. In the second half, the clock remains stopped following out-of-bounds plays during the final 5 minutes.

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Thanks, though I now feel like the dumbest poster on the site (which really takes quite alot knowing some of this crew ).

Rob0729 said:

• I have also been happy with Ryan. I can't wait for Dennard to get healthy and Browner to come back. The Pats' sub packages could be special once they get them all on the field

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Ryan seems kinda streaky/inconsistent at times, but his good far outweighs anything his detractors say about him. His ability to quickly turn, get sight on the ball and adjust his route (to the receiver on those short routes) to knock the ball down or intercept is just incredible.

As for Dennard, it seems we're always waiting for him to get healthy.

Fencer said:

Brady need to return to being a superb decision-maker, seeing more of the field than the other QBs do. If that means fewer of the play-actions with his back to the defense, so be it. If this means risking worse footwork (if his footwork is taking more concentration than it used to), so be it. He needs to go back to throwing to the right guy, even if the quality of his throws suffers somewhat in a tradeoff.

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Brady (IMO) has always depended on immaculate mechanics . One of the largest factors in his rise to greatness was his dedication to perfecting those mechanics. When those mechanics suffer, so does his passing. 'Risking worse footwork' is a prescription for a breakdown in mechanics.

rochrist said:

Brady (IMO) has always depended on immaculate mechanics . One of the largest factors in his rise to greatness was his dedication to perfecting those mechanics. When those mechanics suffer, so does his passing. 'Risking worse footwork' is a prescription for a breakdown in mechanics.

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But the whole point is that the mechanics shouldn't require conscious thought ...