Annual "call yourself out" thread.

Hmmm, I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken...

Oswlek said:

You were right about Cannon? Didn't the team just think highly enough of him to give him a $9mm extension?

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The Cannon contract is an enigma. His field performance is worthy of a veteran minimum wage IMO...no more. Again, IMO, he is very very very fortunate to be considered Tackle insurance and/or leverage against Solder. Cannon is an awful RG...and must never be the Pats starting LT. Giving this guy that kind of contract scares me because this chess move tells us more about the future of others.
I'm hoping BB figures out a better O line next year and Cannon never has to be relied on. This contract.....right place at the right time more than a reflection of talent.....because I rarely see any talent.
When the OL dust settles I'm hoping to learn BB screamed out from his lair........."Get Tampa on the phone"

Apologize for calling Lafell lafail earlier this year and also take some blame for early criticism of the run D.

Was wrong to be more optimistic about Dobson, I never crowned him like others did but thought we would see progress.

Basically wrong on most of the receivers - Lafell was a positive surprise. All of the 2nd year WRs were big disappointments. Also Amendola demotion was another surprise.

Totally surprised how well Chung turned out on defense. Definitely found his role in the defense and he played it very well.

Thought Gronk was never going to be the player he was when I saw Tamba Hali cover him like a blanket in the KC game first half.
Thought Duron Harmon would start over Chung.
Thought that the offensive line was in big trouble and should bring in Incognito.

I'm guilty of the Browner and Lafell misconceptions as well:

When they first signed Brandon Browner I thought it might be a good signing. Then I saw him in training camp. I thought he totally sucked. I'm glad I was very wrong on that one.

And when they signed Lafell I thought "Another Carolina WR? He's gotta suck." Glad to be very wrong I that one.

Also: I thought Boyce was gonna be a player with an offseason under his belt.

I thought all the Collins hype in the offseason was just setting us up for a big disappointment.

I'm pretty much a homer and one of the founding fathers in the "In Bill we trust" club, so I pretty much go with many flows, even if I don't see the immediate lodgic for any particular move . With that said;

I though BB was bringing in PChung as camp fodder and in NO WAY wanted to see him make the top-53. Was sincerly puzzled when he did. Have been pleasantly surprised that I was very wrong. Still not great in coverage, but not the hot mess he was when he was here the first time around.

Plenty of things I was wrong about, let me see if I can remember them all.

I thought Chung would not only not contribute, I thought Kanorris Davis would make the roster over him.

I thought that one of Connolly/Wendell would not make the roster. Figured Connolly was the better player but older with a bigger contract, while Wendell was not as good. Along with that figured Wendell's playing time/2013 snaps would be replaced on the OL by Cannon, with that improving the OL's performance. Also thought Jon Halapio would make the team, and compete for a starter at guard.

As someone mentioned above, I thought Amendola and Edelman's roles/numbers/importance would be reversed. Also thought Dobson's numbers would be about what LaFells's were (74/953/7), while Lafell would be at about 400-500 yards.

I was among those openly questioning the hire of Dave DeGuglielmo. I didn't see anything impressive on his resume at places he had previously coached at, and after four weeks the OL was not performing well at all.

I did predict the Patriots would go 12-4, but admittedly I backed into that one as the Patriots weren't even trying to win yesterday. I did say something to the effect that people who thought the Pats would go 14-2 or better weren't being realistic at all, but in retrospect that could have easily happened.

I also disagreed with someone here about the 49ers. They said the team was old and had peaked, and would slide back to about .500 this year. I thought the Niners had one more good season left in them, and had a good chance of representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. Oops.

On the other hand I was right in regards to those that insisted that the NFC was 'clearly superior to the AFC', and was also correct about the NFC East being highly overrated. I felt Washington and New York would both be very bad and were being over hyped, but also felt Dallas' defense would prevent them from making the playoffs and they'd finish at about 8-8.

I thought it would be the Bears rather than the Lions that would challenge Green Bay in the NFC North. My thinking was that Chicago had a ton of injuries to their defense in 2013, and they would rebound this year with better health. Oops.

I was right and wrong on Carolina. I said there was no way they would have a winning season, and that they would miss the playoffs.

I was right about the AFC South again being the worst division in the NFL, but didn't expect the AFC North to be as good as it was.

I'm sure there are others; it's somewhat humbling to look back and see how wrong one can be even when following the team and the NFL as closely as I do.

borg said:

The Cannon contract is an enigma. His field performance is worthy of a veteran minimum wage IMO...no more. Again, IMO, he is very very very fortunate to be considered Tackle insurance and/or leverage against Solder. Cannon is an awful RG...and must never be the Pats starting LT. Giving this guy that kind of contract scares me because this chess move tells us more about the future of others.
I'm hoping BB figures out a better O line next year and Cannon never has to be relied on. This contract.....right place at the right time more than a reflection of talent.....because I rarely see any talent.
When the OL dust settles I'm hoping to learn BB screamed out from his lair........."Get Tampa on the phone"

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Cannon played well yesterday when finally put fill time at his natural position, the same one he played well as a starter last year.

1) Dobson having a break-out year. Whiffed badly on that one.

2) I was so terribly painfully wrong about Cannon. When they switched him to guard I was all smug and self satisfied...then he played. That one hurt.

3) The 3500 word text wall supported by all-22 screen grabs dedicated to explaining how NE was going to run all over Denver...they then proceeded to throw the ball about 93 times. Hashtag analyist.

I just enjoy the ride and try not psych myself out one way or another (maybe too much of a "In BB I trust" kinda guy or the fact that I'm highly aware I know less about football than he forgot in the last 5 minutes).

If push came to shove, I probably thought Chung was camp fodder ( probably even said that).

Before camp started I predicted Jeremy Gallon would make the team and have a positive impact as a rookie. That was close.

archstanton543 said:

I dunno...Solder (and others) has really regressed this year and the line is struggling again after seemingly getting their legs under them after the first month of the season.

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Agreed. I think Brady is making the OL look better than it is. He's moving around in the pocket much more than he ever had to before and getting rid of the ball faster. And, regardless of the WR's, he doesn't go for the long passes as much as in the past. Not because the WRs, but because he often doesn't have the time he once had.

And the depth on the OL sucks much worse than it ever did under Dante. In past years if a backup had to play it was a dropoff but they were usually at least competent, and the rest of the line was fine. Now whenever Devey or Kline have to play, they suck, and the whole line takes a big step back as well.

Put me as another who thought Dobson and Thompkins would become positive contributors after a full Training Camp...

Peachhead said:

Agreed. I think Brady is making the OL look better than it is. He's moving around in the pocket much more than he ever had to before and getting rid of the ball faster. And, regardless of the WR's, he doesn't go for the long passes as much as in the past. Not because the WRs, but because he often doesn't have the time he once had.

And the depth on the OL sucks much worse than it ever did under Dante. In past years if a backup had to play it was a dropoff but they were usually at least competent, and the rest of the line was fine. Now whenever Devey or Kline have to play, they suck, and the whole line takes a big step back as well.

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If we were to predict which one grouping could most negatively affect NE's chance to hoist the Lombardi......OL wins hands down. Two weeks rest plus home crowd silence on offense is huge for this O Line. I just hope other team's weak groupings are more glaring....and the sum of NE's parts is superior. In NE's playoff losses the past half decade, Brady was pressured so the offense sputtered.
No great AFC defenses have emerged this year though we know everything can change in the playoffs. A crappy Indy defense turned into a monster and Horseface Manning got his ring. Two Giants defenses came into form during the playoffs as NE knows firsthand. Home field is huge

I thought the Pats would not give Mallett away and he would ultimately prove himself to be a quality starter. Time will tell on the second part of that.

Also thought Amendoler would break through, and Thompkins, and Dobson.

I thought LaFell would perform somewhere between Ocho Stinko and Vincent Brisby.

fnordcircle said:

1) Brandon Browner would be a marginal addition to the team.

Man, he's like our new Rodney. Guy has absolutely contributed to our defensive renaissance second only to Revis. His physical presence has more than filled in for the fire that left with Brandon Spikes but contrary to Spikes Browner actually has really impressed with his coverage skills.

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If you would've asked any Seahawk fan they would tell you that Browner was overall pretty good.
He gets beat up on Comeback routes though. He IS the best corner at stopping the WR screen stuff that Green Bay loves running.


I would say I thought the Seahawks were done after the mediocre start and AZ was like 9-1
You can't blame me though. A lot of bad stuff had to happen to Arizona for them to choke so badly.

I was looking at 5th-6th seed. Never would i could imagine we would end up in the #1 seed.

Thompkins. That still hurts.

Thought that Ridley would establish himself as a big-time back if only he could cure the fumbling problems.

Oh, and I had hopes -- not full confidence -- that Amendola would prove a first-rate receiver if only he could stay healthy. I wrote that one off yesterday.

I thought Dobson was gonna be good.

I didn't think LaFell was gonna be as productive as he's been.