Last night was a very satisfying win for me after avoiding all media and this board for a few days. It felt a little like the San Diego win in 2007 right after Spygate broke. Remember, "We're on to the Chargers" in that presser? Anyway, here are my meager observations (in no particular order):
a) The O-Line has found the right combination, or so it seems. This is the most cohesive and effective O-Line we've seen so far this season. The performance came against a very good D-Line, one with seven sacks in the first three games. I think Brady was sacked once and hit once. Really? How many times did we see Brady standing flat-footed at times in the pocket? I counted at least six. It wasn't perfect, but comparitively speaking, it might as well have been. Kudos to that group.
2) Revis is still Revis. He has probably been singled out more than any player not named Tom Brady so far this season. He delivered. He showed that when allowed to just do what he does, he is still the best in the game. AJ Green seems a bit salty, stating that there was safety help and he was open on a lot of plays, but whatever. In fact, it is pretty obvious to me, and I said it in the game thread, that Cincy's game plan was to go at Revis early and often. He made them pay. I'm upset that he got robbed of his second pick as a Pat. I'm also slightly concerned about the hammy because I think it's the same one that bothered him a few years ago. Hamstrings can linger. Kudos to Revis for showing he can still get it done, despite the rumblings.
3) Brady. Well, he's Brady . . . STILL. I don't feel I need to say any more. Congrats on 50,000. Gronk being on the receiving end was only right. Kudos to the G.O.A.T.
4) The crowd. I said multiple times that that is the loudest I think I've heard them, and I'm not exaggerating. I don't doubt that there may be a handful of times where they were just as loud or louder, but last night was impressive. They cheered like they were tired of hearing the noise every bit as much as the players played like they were tired of hearing the noise.
5) Ridley ran with purpose. Vereen reminded me of Woodhead. Wright, once he gets this offense down, will make this offense special again. He's not the dynamic player that AHern was, but he's not leaps and bounds behind AHern. He looks to have better hands too. Oh, the possibilities.
I could actually make a longer list, but I'll stop here. I'll mention ST was amazing, particularly Bolden. Josh called a good game, but the O-Line made it happen. The guy from Carolina's practice sqad was good last night. The team overall was very good. Hopefully they'll build from here.
