Idle thoughts: the whew edition.

1) Thank God Denver and San Diego can't run the ball. If NE hopes to last in the playoffs, I just don't see them surviving vs a team with both a top QB and a bullying running game. Lets get that bye and hopefully avoid the Cleveland's of the NFL that can beat up the Pats
2) Even with Vince the Human Beach Ball centering the D line, the Pats front 4 were undersized compared to the Jets O line....and it showed. To me, it looked like a scrimmage between JV vs Varsity. The D line was undersized vs Miami and KC as well.....similar maulings. Two years in a row the D line does not seem NFL caliber at times
3) Loved Brady leaving the pocket and extending plays. His roll to the left and DA's improvisation to squirt free was ....perfect
4) I am convinced the "no flag" Brady getting shoved after the throw non call was the refs' attempt at a make up call after the DA induced holding call down field
5) NE's RB deployment.......I don't understand it. I never will.
6) Looking ahead.....lots of quality opponents...and I can't help but wonder about that Detroit game. Their D line abused NE a few years ago....and now the Detroit D is the league's best. A unique test for the Pats.
7) 5-2..........next!!

PP2 said:

IIRC, he was signed prior to the KC game but didn't see much action for that game. Guess this kid just fell through the cracks- came in as a UDFA and spent a year on the Panthers PS, and ended up here. I was quite impressed with what he did last night. He beat up on Mangold, and Mangold is a 5 time pro-bowl and considered one of the best centers in the NFL.

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Good point. He was just inactive for the KC game. You can't sign a guy from a PS to your own PS.

I don't understand the holding on that play. They ran a freakin option run play. Once the qb is out of the pocket, that can't be called. Another WTF moment by an awful crew

Nice post, Ken.

I've read a few posters talk about abandoning or not running enough and this was never the game plan and rightly so. The Jet run D is very strong while their secondary is very weak...it screams for a pass heavy game plan. The times they did run were effective and in part due to a Brady check. It was a good change of pace to their game plan.
Outside of the 2nd and 3rd series where Brady was high on his throws, I thought the offense did well and ever since the KC game, the OLine has been solid. Lafell is gaining momentum and trust from Brady while Amendola had some giddy up not to mention he was very effective returning kicks.
Edelman's drop in the 4th where he was racing past the LB could have changed the game as he was going to run for a while. But all in all, I think this offense has rounded in to form and anything short of 25 points a game will be an exception.

But that will only happen if they have more possessions. The run D has to improve and I think it will similar to last year and the run D really sets up the pass rush in my opinion.
They were clearly trying to play a contain rush instead of power and the goal was to make Geno beat them from the pocket. There was a stretch late in the 3rd and early 4th where it looked like they really went power with the rush and the pocket collapsed quickly.
They won't be facing as mobile a QB as Geno for some time (maybe not until they see him next) so the contain rush shouldn't be as prevalent but this is still the area I would be most concerned particularly given the quality of passers we are going to see in this upcoming stretch.

Another concern is the depth of the front 7. It is perilously thin right now. I fear one key injury (Wilfork, Chandler, Hightower, Ninko) could be the tipping point but then again, they were decimated last year too.
When is Siliga eligible to return?

The Jets played a good game and really they played about as well as they could have while the Patriots didn't as Ken points out. It was a very clean and entertaining game given the limited amount of time to prepare.

As much as I consider Ryan to be a walking, breathing character flaw of a human being, I came away impressed with how much defense he is able to muster with the personnel he has. Why in the world the Pats weren't able to consistently march down the field against a half dozen second and third string NFL players is a tribute to the Jets' coaching.

Run D needs to improve and fast and we need to tackle better. When Siliga gets back that will help. I also expect to see Walker progress too, he seems like a solid role player.

Browner I think is just rusty so I'm anxious to see how he does next game. Better pass rush will help out the DB's too.

Loving seeing Amendola as a KR, hope he keeps it up. Also hope he gets involved in the passing game more now too. That should have been a confidence boost. Somehow they need to change up these plays where LaFell is blocking for him and keeps getting penalties, it's ridiculous. I would love to see Danny's numbers if all of those catches weren't called back

another ho hum day at the office for brady. 261 yards, 3td's 0 interceptions.

his last 3 games he has

914 yards, 9 td's and 0 interceptions.

Hopefully the media can finally shut up about the "Trade brady" or "brady is in decline" talk.

patfanken said:

2. I was very surprised the OL protected Brady as well as it did. Only one sack and that was for a one yard loss. In the second half the Jets did a lot more blitzing, and while they did put more pressure on Tom, for the most part he had time to throw.

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Ken, you are being far too kind on the line here.

They were poor, and Brady, for the second straight week, carried the team and played well in spite of them. He was running for his life and getting off throws just before getting killed. The team knows it, and is still trying to protect the OL with their play-calling.

Let's see how the line looks with Stork & Connolly back, it looked promising. But Devey & Kline are not going to cut it.

Andy Hart retweeted
ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 8m8 minutes ago
The Patriots became just the 5th team in NFL history to win when outgained on the ground by at least 150 yards with no takeaways produced

pencilneckgeek said:

Good point. He was just inactive for the KC game. You can't sign a guy from a PS to your own PS.

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He was signed to the roster to replace Siliga who went on temp-IR after the Oakland game.

I am puzzled as to why Tyms only got one snap last night. Since the Jets DB corp is decimated, you'd think we'd want to exploit that with a deep-threat option.

PP2 said:

I am puzzled as to why Tyms only got one snap last night. Since the Jets DB corp is decimated, you'd think we'd want to exploit that with a deep-threat option.

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It takes time to run the deep routes. I think the focus was on getting the ball out early.

PP2 said:

IIRC, he was signed prior to the KC game but didn't see much action for that game. Guess this kid just fell through the cracks- came in as a UDFA and spent a year on the Panthers PS, and ended up here. I was quite impressed with what he did last night. He beat up on Mangold, and Mangold is a 5 time pro-bowl and considered one of the best centers in the NFL.

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I saw Walker frequently during the Buffalo game too. He seems to be getting snaps and making plays, but then I only notice players if the camera happens to show them, if that makes sense.

Galeb said:

It takes time to run the deep routes. I think the focus was on getting the ball out early.

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Yet, our line held up against the Jets D linemen pretty well for the most part, that should have made it possible to open up the playbook a little bit.

PP2 said:

Yet, our line held up against the Jets D linemen pretty well for the most part, that should have made it possible to open up the playbook a little bit.

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Brady got hit a lot. Most of the time that he held the ball for a long time when the Jets only rushed 2 or 3. He made a lot of tough throws while turning away from contact. It makes his accuracy all the more impressive.

PP2 said:

Yet, our line held up against the Jets D linemen pretty well for the most part, that should have made it possible to open up the playbook a little bit.

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Brady hit the ground a few times yesterday and bought some time with his feet too.

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11. The Parasitic media will attempt to spin this negatively all week. That is to be expected. I suggest we ignore it and keep to ourselves. ...


In the end, the Pats took the Jets A-game and beat them with their B-game. Bottom line, if they had won by 20 they'd STILL be 5-2. You don't get style points in the standings.

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First Ken, thanks for your post game thread - which has now become a standard must-read for me for the last few years.

Second - extra thanks for churning it out so late, rather so early this morning - especially since you had had to leave to work soon. Muchos gracias!

Third - love point 11.

Fourth - mixed about the conclusion though. First line (our B-game > their A-game) is great! Agree with the last line. But for some reason, I would have been more content with a solid W. I understand that Jets play tough, we just lost our signal caller on the D + best RB. Guess I am spoit...

Thanks again!

While we all had our eyes on Jamie Collins being an improved player this year, I think Ryan Wendell might be the most improved player on the team. When Stork gets healthy I don't care where Wendell is, as long as he is out there.

Galeb said:

Brady hit the ground a few times yesterday and bought some time with his feet too.

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Agreed. Brady was masterful on his feet last night.

Other thought: Have we changed equipment managers recently? Between last night and the KC game, I've never seen our players falling all over the place so much.

To the run defense, looking at Reiss' snap count they had three LBs on the field for a total of 5 plays last night (both Collins and Hightower played every snap and Skinner played 5). That probably played a huge factor in the run defense.