Targets, completions, etc.

Going by the numbers in http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...ing-opportunities-in-patriots-passing-game-3/, namely

WR Julian Edelman: 22 catches on 28 targets
TE Rob Gronkowski: 11 catches on 23 targets
RB Shane Vereen: 10 catches on 16 targets
WR Kenbrell Thompkins: 6 catches on 11 targets
WR Brandon LaFell: 4 catches on 14 targets
TE Tim Wright: 4 catches on 5 targets
WR Danny Amendola: 3 catches on 7 targets
RB Stevan Ridley: 3 catches on 3 targets
FB James Develin: 2 catches on 2 targets
RB Brandon Bolden: 1 catch on 3 targets
WR Aaron Dobson: 1 catch on 2 targets
TE Michael Hoomananwanui: 1 catch on 1 target

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and blithely ignoring the smallness of the samples:

• Edelman's numbers seem fine.
• LaFell's are ghastly.
• Gronk's aren't Gronk-like.
• Vereen's are disappointing; I have to think Kevin Faulk's used to be nicely higher.
• Amendola's are disappointing.
• Thompkins' are OK.
• The rarely-targeted guys do fine, in general, when a ball finally is thrown their way.

Of course, these are just stats for the success rate of plays overall; they don't speak to who in particular is most responsible for a play's failure or success.

Biggest take away - what the hell does Bolden have 3 targets

bigballas said:

Biggest take away - what the hell does Bolden have 3 targets

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That's your biggest take away from those numbers? Mine is the inefficiency of Brady to Gronk and Lafell.

Remember Amendola has had 3 called back because of flags.

Vereen being 10/16 isn't bad because he is used in a rotation with Ridley and Bolden.

My biggest take away is that Gronk is no longer Gronk at this moment. His catch radius is not there (except for a few bad throws from TB12) and he just looks slow. I have not been impressed with Lafell at all, seems like an absolute waste of time out there and Amendola has made some nice catches but all seem to get taken away by penalties by either Lafell or offensive holding.

The gronk will return just when they least expect it

About 6 of Gronk's missed targets were bad throws

LaFell
Week 1- 0 for 6 (Which outside of Edelman everyone sucked in that game)
Week 2- 0 for 0 (If you hold Week 2 against him clearly you have an agenda)
Week 3- 4 for 8

While some of it is on Brady (no excuse for his below average performance at times) Gronk of older years would have made similar catches. I'm hoping he is still in his "pre season" mode.

My biggest takeaway: JE is the biggest steal in the league (especially since many of those 22 catches have been acrobatic). he's one of the gutsiest, most-determined athletes I've ever watched.

I'm cutting laFell some slack because some of those throws have been more throwaways than completion attempts, and he picked it up in the second half last week. Also becaus ehe's a beastly blocker in the run game.

Gronk will be Gronk eventually - ACLs get in your head as much as in your gait.

Tim Wright looks like a good TE2. He could prove to be a very nice pick-up. Pretty sure-handed, even in traffic, and not afraid to take a hit. Guys like him and LaFell could be critical when going up against hard-hitting safeties like Chancellor and Landry.

Add the three callbacks in, and Amendola is 6 - 10 for a TON of yards. Now, you could make the argument that he wouldn't have had those 3 without the penalty, but I don't agree. Last week, Amendola was clearly free before the contact, and to learn that the beaten corner slammed and did a Montreal Canadian-like dive wouldn't surprise me at all. Same thing with last week's collision, adn the call in Week 1 was very iffy (especially after watching Denver do that same damned thing over and over and over with impunity.

Vereen is doing just fine. He runs some tough routes and last-second checkdown dumps, but is over 60%.

Still seems obvious to me that this is all about the OL and getting Brady enough time to develop plays and find the most-open guy.

Big-T said:

Vereen being 10/16 isn't bad because he is used in a rotation with Ridley and Bolden.

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I'd like a pass to an RB to be near-automatic. I recognize Vereen runs some routes that are more aggressive than a typical RB pattern, but still ...

TE Tim Wright: 4 catches on 5 targets

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Thats troubling to me a TE who can catch shouldn't have any trouble learning the Pats Offense. Wright have shown that he has Big play ability and could be match-up nightmare but McDaniels for some reason put him in there for minimal plays???? I cannot even imagine what Peyton Manning would do with such a player a TE with a WR's body. We should be going Two TE's more Wright would give us a heck of alot more than both Lafell and Amendola combined. I hope they were holding him back for the upcoming games because if we play Offense the way we have the past few weeks KC and Cincy will smoke us and one of those loses would be in our own building.

PatsFan2 said:

KC will smoke us .

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#23 offense in the league?

The problems with lists like this is that they don't give you enough information. Like Drops, Passes Defensed, or bad throws. (SI.COM no longer has the breakdowns)

Week 1 - How many of Brady's throws to Lafell were in the dirt? I seem to remember a bad throw to Vereen this week as well on a swing pattern..

Week 3 - Brady had 2 bad throws. One to Gronk on the wide open crossing pattern and then other to Amendola where he led Amendola too much.

The O-line needs to give Brady better protection and we will see the reception numbers increase because Brady will get the ball on target instead of not being able to follow through properly and having a poor pass.

dales804 said:

That's your biggest take away from those numbers? Mine is the inefficiency of Brady to Gronk and Lafell.

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eh, my comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek...i dont think Bolden has showed anything recently to be on the field.

obviously the offense has a lot of work to do - particularly the inefficiency on passes. I do believe a lot of that starts resolving itself once the OL provides even an extra second of protection. I think now brady is doing quick passes that are either bad passes or mistimed (not enought time to work on it) or a combo of the two.

Four of the 5 misses to KT were dirt balls and throwaways. KT is basically 6/7 on catcheable balls, which is damn good.

Something like 3 of the throws to Lafell were similar throwaways and Amendola had the call backs. In short, our offensive weapons look pretty efficient if you remove Lafells first game.

The real inefficiency is Gronk. Not only is he not the same player atm, but he is usually the first read and teams double him. Since Brady has no time, it's often forced too him.

Again, the takeaway should be that we have the talent, we just need to gel the protection packages.

Fencer said:

Going by the numbers in http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...ing-opportunities-in-patriots-passing-game-3/, namely



and blithely ignoring the smallness of the samples:

• Edelman's numbers seem fine.
• LaFell's are ghastly.
• Gronk's aren't Gronk-like.
• Vereen's are disappointing; I have to think Kevin Faulk's used to be nicely higher.
• Amendola's are disappointing.
• Thompkins' are OK.
• The rarely-targeted guys do fine, in general, when a ball finally is thrown their way.

Of course, these are just stats for the success rate of plays overall; they don't speak to who in particular is most responsible for a play's failure or success.

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Seeing the names on that pass catching list is just a slap in the face reminder of how little talent we have at the skill positions. Our best options are a quality slot receiver masquerading as a #1, a one-legged All World TE and a decent third down back. Good times.

iapatsfan said:

Seeing the names on that pass catching list is just a slap in the face reminder of how little talent we have at the skill positions. Our best options are a quality slot receiver masquerading as a #1, a one-legged All World TE and a decent third down back. Good times.

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Oh piss off. The receivers aren't the problem it's the offensive line.

I'm sure you would rather have Sanders as the #1 then Edelman, right?

Big-T said:

Remember Amendola has had 3 called back because of flags.

Vereen being 10/16 isn't bad because he is used in a rotation with Ridley and Bolden.

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What does being in a rotation have to do with being 10 of 16? Does that make LaFell's numbers excusable because he's in a rotation with Edelman, Thompkins and Amendola?

JMC00 said:

Oh piss off. The receivers aren't the problem it's the offensive line.

I'm sure you would rather have Sanders as the #1 then Edelman, right?

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I would rather have Sanders outside AND Edelman in the slot where he belongs. My problem isn't with Edelman at all. He's doing everything he's asked and more. My problem is with the lack of overall talent. How hard is it going to be against a quality Defense with Edelman, Gronkowski and Vereen as your only viable pass catching options. Given this OL, my wife could scheme a defense to stop that offense. Look at the Miami game...they tried to give it to us with turnovers, and our offense was incapable of doing anything. Against teams like Minnesota with questionable defenses, we can put up some points (as long as we also get a blocked kick for a TD and 4 interceptions). The talent level on this offense is extremely low.

Let's say those Amendola catches weren't called back cause of penalties. What would his numbers be then?