I didn't watch the game yesterday since I was at a birthday with no TV, but it sounds like a good one to miss. I watched the 12 minute replay on demand, but it wasn't very useful. They generally favor successful offensive plays and this was a game where I was more interested in seeing the ones the didn't work.
No analysis, but I do have some thoughts and questions, some rhetorical.
* I see a lot of "Dan Connolly sits and the line goes to ****!" talk, but I get the feeling the answer is far more complex than that. The Jets put a lot of pressure on blocking assignments and make a lot of OLs look bad, even more so when Rex has been scheming for this matchup for weeks, perhaps even months. All the shuffling on the line can't have helped much either.
I'll wager that if Dan goes down in the playoffs, the pass pro will look a lot better. Frankly, it already did, against these same Jets and the Bills, when NE was also missing Stork.
* I'm sure some idiot is going to say something about how "you beat the Patriots by punching them in the mouth" and there is some truth to that. But the fact of the matter is that physicality alone isn't what does it. It's a prerequisite or else they'll just push you around, but it's not the source.
No, what throws the Patriots off balance is when they can't outsmart the other team. That's why Baltimore gave them fits, because all the plays that normally free up Gronk for a 30- yard seamer had Reed and Lewis in the area. And it's why the Rex - who is a fantastic defensive mind - gives the Pats so much trouble. Not only are his players harder to fake out, he intentionally keeps things in reserve just to spring on the Patriots. He's pretty much a laughing stock, but I'm glad to see him leave the division.
FWIW, NY's offense is much the same. As terrible as Rex is in that area, he's figured out that if you come at NE with the same thing you always do, you'd better be damned good at it or else it won't work. He must have entire offensive playbooks for going against the Patriots to ensure that he'll have as many unpracticed plays as possible. Frankly, I commend him on this because it is by far the best possible approach he can take.
* I'm surprised NE went so passive with the contained rush again. Geno doesn't strike me as the type of mobile quarterback who is able to think that fast on his feet. Sure, some of the slow rush was due to playing so many heavies at once, but once Mangold went down I would have assumed a-gap blitzes would have been a big part of the game plan.
* Back to the OL, I can't help but wonder if NE thought they could get away with a preseason type approach of trying out as many combinations as possible. Other than the uncomfortable injury risk to Brady, it is a sound idea. Gives your guys reps in odd circumstances against a terrific front to prepare for possible injuries in the playoffs.
I say this because just going through the notes afterward, it seemed like the mixing and matching started happening before it was really time to panic. Obviously a good portion of it is simply trying to stop NY's rush.
* I don't think it is fair to include Blount in the Missing-in-Action list. Yes, he's technically the "starter" and yes, Gray apparently looked terrible, but all evidence indicates that LaGarrette wouldn't have found any holes Jonas couldn't.
* Aside from the third quarter against Miami, that is now four straight games where the offense struggled to move the ball. Coming off the Detroit game, if you told me NE you didn't think NE would average more than 20 points against GB, SD and NY, I would have offered up a tongue lashing you wouldn't believe. And I would have been wrong.
Troubling sign? Working through some things? In need of a restful week off to do some self-scouting?
