- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 15,518
- Reaction score
- 27,506
Rob did a wonderful job in his game summation. I will try and add some of my own thoughts without being TOO redundant....though it will be hard.
1. I think we all thought that this was going to be a very good team at the start of the year. I also think we were caught off guard by the start we had. The loss in KC had to be among the top 3 of the BB era. And given the Miami loss and how unimpressive the 2 wins were, there was plenty of evidence to give the "chicken little's" plenty of talking points. Not only that, there was plenty of evidence to worry the crap out of those of us who are usually very optimistic.
2....And then came the 5 game win streak. Not only where they wins, they were IMPRESSIVE wins. But they all came with the dreaded, "BUT". "But the defense was unimpressive". "But the run game sucked" "But the most of wins were at home". Clearly things were on the upswing. Brady was playing lights out. Gronk was back to being a force of nature. Browner was starting to do more than being a penalty machine. The OL was improving, etc.
3. Yes things were good, but something was missing. And that was the signature win on the road against a good team.....and we got it.....in spades. The team "legitimized" their status as being one of a number of good teams at the top of the league.....at this moment. Keep that in mind because we've seen several "legitimately good" teams go from the penthouse to the outhouse within a couple of weeks, so BB and his fans should remain focused "on the next game", or what we've saw in St. Louis could easily happen to the Pats over the next 3 games ( 2 of which are on the road).
4. What impressed me most about the emergence of Jonas Gray was his marked improvement. This kid did a lot more than hit the hole hard and take advantage of the good OL blocking. Tonight he showed he had some "wiggle" in him. He made a lot of small cuts and reads to maximize the yardage available. Things none of us had seen in his first few attempts over the last few games, when all we saw was a kid running as hard as he could into a designated spot and taking what was there. BTW, I would have been happy with that, so the skill level I saw by Gray was both surprising and gratifying.
5. The thing I liked most about this game, was the thing I liked most about the last one. They won IMPRESSIVELY and still didn't play their best. Lots of room to improve and clean up.
6. The OL pass protection was not perfect, but it was good enough. Playing on the road and in a dome is a huge advantage to the DL. And because of the overwhelming success of the run game, I felt that Brady should have had a bit more time to throw the ball. That was a completely a dumbassed and inappropriate throw by Brady at the end of the half. All QB's have made bad throws, especially if you have a long career, but THIS one has to be in Brady's top 5 bad throws. But it might have been a completion if there hadn't been a huge breakdown in pass protection that forced Brady to throw off his back foot. The OL can get better.
BTW- could it be that Flemming has moved past my personal binky, Marcus Cannon on the depth chart? Too bad he was hurt. It looks like it might be one of those 2-3 week injuries, so Marcus should have a chance to get back into Goog's good graces. Nice to see Flemming coming along nicely.
7. This was NOT one of Brady's best nights. Not only did he have the other pick (also thrown under pressure), I also thought he missed a few other throws that you would have thought he'd make in a dome. Granted he had some great throws, like the ones to Lafell, but all in all, this was not one of his better games. The good news is that we proved we don't need Tom to be playing at his best in order to win a big game. Brady CAN carry this team, but its comforting to know that he doesn't HAVE to. Even the QB can get better.
8. I thought Rob was too harsh to Browner. Fleener (who had a career night) caught a large portion of his yardage when the Pats were in zone. Unfortunately the catch which sticks in our minds what the one where Fleener avoided the contact at the LOS and beat Browner for a big gain. That's going to happen to Browner if he misses his chip at the LOS. Its going to happen and we should get used to it. It's just part of the good and bad of Brandon Browner, He's going to get beaten on occasion.
9. I hope someone asks BB what happened on the long catch to Wayne in the first quarter. Revis looked like he let Wayne go like some zone, while the S looked like he he thought Revis had him. I guess it was one of those "miscommunications" we hear so much about
10. The Pass rush was sporadic at best. but there were a few good moments. Easley had a few hurries and big QB hit, Hightower and Collins had some successful blitzes, and Ninko got his share of pressures. Clearly the Pats put keeping Luck in the pocket a higher priority than sacking him. Not surprisingly, THAT was the correct strategy.
Luck's greatest success with Hilton often comes often when He is extending plays, very much like Sanders and Brown have with Rothlessberger. The end result was that Luck never got out of the pocket without someone hard on him, and TY never had a big play. The good news on the pass rush has 2 parts. One Patricia has proven he can create pressure with creative blitzes without giving up much on coverage, and secondly, (and continuing the theme), we can expect the pass rush to improve when both Silga and Jones return to the line up in December.
11. My admiration of this coaching staff continues to grow, though its hard to believe it could get any higher. Their greatest asset is that even after 14 years, they still have the ability to surprise me. I'd be willing to speculate that most of us thought that BB would attack the obvious weakness of the Colts D (LB's and S's) in the passing game. I thought this would be the game Wright were emerge again.
Instead the Pats spotted the weakness on the DL and weren't going to stop ramming the ball down their throats until the Colts proved they could stop it, and they never did. Great scheming by Josh and Googs. Great execution by the team.
12. The end short term results of this game, is that the games against the Lions and SD go from being winnable to being games we should expect to win, and the Game against the Packers goes from being a likely loss to now being winnable. I am really looking forward to that Packer game in two weeks, it has the makings of being a classic.
13, .......and, oh yeah, that #87 guy? He's good.
1. I think we all thought that this was going to be a very good team at the start of the year. I also think we were caught off guard by the start we had. The loss in KC had to be among the top 3 of the BB era. And given the Miami loss and how unimpressive the 2 wins were, there was plenty of evidence to give the "chicken little's" plenty of talking points. Not only that, there was plenty of evidence to worry the crap out of those of us who are usually very optimistic.
2....And then came the 5 game win streak. Not only where they wins, they were IMPRESSIVE wins. But they all came with the dreaded, "BUT". "But the defense was unimpressive". "But the run game sucked" "But the most of wins were at home". Clearly things were on the upswing. Brady was playing lights out. Gronk was back to being a force of nature. Browner was starting to do more than being a penalty machine. The OL was improving, etc.
3. Yes things were good, but something was missing. And that was the signature win on the road against a good team.....and we got it.....in spades. The team "legitimized" their status as being one of a number of good teams at the top of the league.....at this moment. Keep that in mind because we've seen several "legitimately good" teams go from the penthouse to the outhouse within a couple of weeks, so BB and his fans should remain focused "on the next game", or what we've saw in St. Louis could easily happen to the Pats over the next 3 games ( 2 of which are on the road).
4. What impressed me most about the emergence of Jonas Gray was his marked improvement. This kid did a lot more than hit the hole hard and take advantage of the good OL blocking. Tonight he showed he had some "wiggle" in him. He made a lot of small cuts and reads to maximize the yardage available. Things none of us had seen in his first few attempts over the last few games, when all we saw was a kid running as hard as he could into a designated spot and taking what was there. BTW, I would have been happy with that, so the skill level I saw by Gray was both surprising and gratifying.
5. The thing I liked most about this game, was the thing I liked most about the last one. They won IMPRESSIVELY and still didn't play their best. Lots of room to improve and clean up.
6. The OL pass protection was not perfect, but it was good enough. Playing on the road and in a dome is a huge advantage to the DL. And because of the overwhelming success of the run game, I felt that Brady should have had a bit more time to throw the ball. That was a completely a dumbassed and inappropriate throw by Brady at the end of the half. All QB's have made bad throws, especially if you have a long career, but THIS one has to be in Brady's top 5 bad throws. But it might have been a completion if there hadn't been a huge breakdown in pass protection that forced Brady to throw off his back foot. The OL can get better.
BTW- could it be that Flemming has moved past my personal binky, Marcus Cannon on the depth chart? Too bad he was hurt. It looks like it might be one of those 2-3 week injuries, so Marcus should have a chance to get back into Goog's good graces. Nice to see Flemming coming along nicely.
7. This was NOT one of Brady's best nights. Not only did he have the other pick (also thrown under pressure), I also thought he missed a few other throws that you would have thought he'd make in a dome. Granted he had some great throws, like the ones to Lafell, but all in all, this was not one of his better games. The good news is that we proved we don't need Tom to be playing at his best in order to win a big game. Brady CAN carry this team, but its comforting to know that he doesn't HAVE to. Even the QB can get better.
8. I thought Rob was too harsh to Browner. Fleener (who had a career night) caught a large portion of his yardage when the Pats were in zone. Unfortunately the catch which sticks in our minds what the one where Fleener avoided the contact at the LOS and beat Browner for a big gain. That's going to happen to Browner if he misses his chip at the LOS. Its going to happen and we should get used to it. It's just part of the good and bad of Brandon Browner, He's going to get beaten on occasion.
9. I hope someone asks BB what happened on the long catch to Wayne in the first quarter. Revis looked like he let Wayne go like some zone, while the S looked like he he thought Revis had him. I guess it was one of those "miscommunications" we hear so much about
10. The Pass rush was sporadic at best. but there were a few good moments. Easley had a few hurries and big QB hit, Hightower and Collins had some successful blitzes, and Ninko got his share of pressures. Clearly the Pats put keeping Luck in the pocket a higher priority than sacking him. Not surprisingly, THAT was the correct strategy.
Luck's greatest success with Hilton often comes often when He is extending plays, very much like Sanders and Brown have with Rothlessberger. The end result was that Luck never got out of the pocket without someone hard on him, and TY never had a big play. The good news on the pass rush has 2 parts. One Patricia has proven he can create pressure with creative blitzes without giving up much on coverage, and secondly, (and continuing the theme), we can expect the pass rush to improve when both Silga and Jones return to the line up in December.
11. My admiration of this coaching staff continues to grow, though its hard to believe it could get any higher. Their greatest asset is that even after 14 years, they still have the ability to surprise me. I'd be willing to speculate that most of us thought that BB would attack the obvious weakness of the Colts D (LB's and S's) in the passing game. I thought this would be the game Wright were emerge again.
Instead the Pats spotted the weakness on the DL and weren't going to stop ramming the ball down their throats until the Colts proved they could stop it, and they never did. Great scheming by Josh and Googs. Great execution by the team.
12. The end short term results of this game, is that the games against the Lions and SD go from being winnable to being games we should expect to win, and the Game against the Packers goes from being a likely loss to now being winnable. I am really looking forward to that Packer game in two weeks, it has the makings of being a classic.
13, .......and, oh yeah, that #87 guy? He's good.
Last edited:
