Game Thoughts: Bills' Super Bowl Edition

I am excited that the Pats can be the first team in NFL history to win two Super Bowls in the same calendar year. Here we go;

• Brady is simply on a mission. He wants to show that the PSI levels had nothing to do with his play. He is currently on pace for over 6,000 yards and 56 TDs. Sure he won't get to those marks, but he has more yards and TDs than he had in the first two weeks of 2007.
• I know the Bills got back into the game and the final score was close, but this was a blowout and the game wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated. I was never really worried about the Pats losing the game, but I was concerned that they were making a little too close for comfort.
• Speaking of that. I am not concerned about the Pats taking the foot off the gas for future games. That can be corrected. If they were playing their best all 60 minutes and gave up 32 to this team, I would have been worried,
• I still cannot believe after the Steelers got confused by the four TE sets, the Bills were just caught off guard. Seriously?!? You double Scott Chandler and leave Gronk one on one in the end zone? I think Rex was promoting the emotion of it all than film study.
• On that point, I think the great thing about Chandler is that he is a similar size as Gronk. I think that might confuse opposing defenders with all the motion by the TEs and players think they are defending Gronk because they are more concerned of lining up right to make sure the massive 6'7" TE they are lining up on is actually Gronk.
• I was amazed about the adjustments by the Patriots after the first drive on both sides of the ball. Yes, the Pats play a soft defense on the opening drive of games (hence why this whole the Pats stealing opening scripts stuff is silly), but they were awful on the Bills' first drive. By the second drive, they were awesome.
• I was personally shocked the Pats put so much pressure and sacked Tyrod Taylor so much. Not that I didn't think they were capable of putting pressure on the QB, but I thought they would have approached him as they did Roethlisberger and keep him in the pocket and play contain. I am glad I guessed wrong.
• If the Pats keep this aggressive defense and he stay healthy, I think Chandler Jones will have the most sacks in a single season for a Patriots since Andre Tippett. He was fast and elusive today on his rushes.
• Props to the o-line. They had a daunting task and they did a great job. Andrews struggled on the first drive of the second half, but otherwise it was near flawless. Josh Kline is playing like he did two years ago when he was great filling in for Mankins who moved over to replace Solder at LT. The Pats may have a problem when Stork and Wendell return on deciding who to sit. It's funny though, the Pats seem to have no problem with the Bills' d-line because they didn't last year either.
• Aaron Dobson could be the JoJo LaFell replacement at least until he returns. I think people give Dobson too much grief. He has the skills to be a good WR. I think he just needs to stay healthy and get a chance. He does need to work on his game a bit (catch more with his hands than his body and try to get extra yards), but he is off to a good start to be what many of us thought he might have been last year.
• I think people gave McDaniels/Belichick too much crap on the 4th and 1 calls. They found a weakness and should have been able to exploit it for a heartbreaker for the Bills. The fault lied with Brady for overthrowing wide open receivers. I mean at the time, the Pats had to had trust in their defense that if they didn't convert the defense would take care of business.
• That Amendola catch was just amazing. I got nothing else on this point.
• The Pats need to find a nickelback. Fletcher ain't going to cut it.
• Jamie Collins redeemed himself from a sub par last week. He just seemed to know which gap would have no one blocking all game.
• I am concerned about whether Mayo will ever be what he was. He seems smaller this year and he clearly isn't back to 100%. Not horrible, but not Mayo either.
• I think Dion Lewis can be better than Vereen, Woodhead, or Faulk; but the fumbles are concerning. Faulk found the cure for fumblitis. So hopefully so will Lewis. But he is faster and shiftier than any of those guys.
• Right now, the Pats are the best team in the AFC and #2 isn't anywhere close to them. It is a long season and a lot can happen as it goes along, but the Pats are the creme of the crop and the only teams I think that might be able to beat them in the playoffs are playing tonight. Again, it is way early.

I share your concern re Fletcher. The TEs are indeed a handful and teams will struggle to deal with them. I don't know how you stop the Gronk. He is the matchup keeping D coordinators up real late (but not late enough).

Agreed about needing a nickle back upgrade. I wonder if they think athletic Justin Coleman is the guy and they're just waiting on him to learn the defense.

Dobson dropped an easy swing pass because he didn't look it in...rookie mistake, but he's not a rookie.

Dobson made a big grab in the 3rd quarter but STILL was juggling the ball after it hit his hands as he went to the ground. Does he have hard plastic inserts in his gloves? Why does he always seem to catch, then re-catch the ball?

Dobson came up big today in that he forced the Bills D to pay attention to him and freed up Edelman and Amendola to run single coverage routes.Dobson also showed he can play in the big game. If I worked on the Pats staff I'd ask Bill if I could have Dobson for an hour a day on practice days to just throw and throw and throw passes....not the tough to make grabs, but the routine "look the ball in" catches that WIN possessions.

Of course I'm probably being anal about this but , before today, I really couldn't say I had much if any confidence in Dobson to show up and make an impact.I hope today is a solid building block for him and his game as he goes forward.

Fletcher is a disaster - no need to sugarcoat it. He wouldn't be playing for Ohio State, simple as that. Obviously there's no CB's out there right now. Arrington would've been good but clearly Bill hated the contract and streakiness so that's that.

I think we need to explore trades for another solid CB/NB. Obviously draft picks aren't fair game considering the Deflategate fiasco but we should see if we can find a diamond in the rough for cheap price. We found it with Talib three years ago and all those great trades last year so lets see if BB can find one.

Joker said:

Dobson dropped an easy swing pass because he didn't look it in...rookie mistake, but he's not a rookie.

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Eh. They all make that mistake from time to time, vet or rookie, trying to turn upfield before the ball is secured. I'll take 7 catches on 8 targets anyday.

Rob0729 said:

I am excited that the Pats can be the first team in NFL history to win two Super Bowls in the same calendar year. Here we go;

• Brady is simply on a mission. He wants to show that the PSI levels had nothing to do with his play. He is currently on pace for over 6,000 yards and 56 TDs. Sure he won't get to those marks, but he has more yards and TDs than he had in the first two weeks of 2007.
• I know the Bills got back into the game and the final score was close, but this was a blowout and the game wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated. I was never really worried about the Pats losing the game, but I was concerned that they were making a little too close for comfort.
• Speaking of that. I am not concerned about the Pats taking the foot off the gas for future games. That can be corrected. If they were playing their best all 60 minutes and gave up 32 to this team, I would have been worried,
• I still cannot believe after the Steelers got confused by the four TE sets, the Bills were just caught off guard. Seriously?!? You double Scott Chandler and leave Gronk one on one in the end zone? I think Rex was promoting the emotion of it all than film study.
• On that point, I think the great thing about Chandler is that he is a similar size as Gronk. I think that might confuse opposing defenders with all the motion by the TEs and players think they are defending Gronk because they are more concerned of lining up right to make sure the massive 6'7" TE they are lining up on is actually Gronk.
• I was amazed about the adjustments by the Patriots after the first drive on both sides of the ball. Yes, the Pats play a soft defense on the opening drive of games (hence why this whole the Pats stealing opening scripts stuff is silly), but they were awful on the Bills' first drive. By the second drive, they were awesome.
• I was personally shocked the Pats put so much pressure and sacked Tyrod Taylor so much. Not that I didn't think they were capable of putting pressure on the QB, but I thought they would have approached him as they did Roethlisberger and keep him in the pocket and play contain. I am glad I guessed wrong.
• If the Pats keep this aggressive defense and he stay healthy, I think Chandler Jones will have the most sacks in a single season for a Patriots since Andre Tippett. He was fast and elusive today on his rushes.
• Props to the o-line. They had a daunting task and they did a great job. Andrews struggled on the first drive of the second half, but otherwise it was near flawless. Josh Kline is playing like he did two years ago when he was great filling in for Mankins who moved over to replace Solder at LT. The Pats may have a problem when Stork and Wendell return on deciding who to sit. It's funny though, the Pats seem to have no problem with the Bills' d-line because they didn't last year either.
• Aaron Dobson could be the JoJo LaFell replacement at least until he returns. I think people give Dobson too much grief. He has the skills to be a good WR. I think he just needs to stay healthy and get a chance. He does need to work on his game a bit (catch more with his hands than his body and try to get extra yards), but he is off to a good start to be what many of us thought he might have been last year.
• I think people gave McDaniels/Belichick too much crap on the 4th and 1 calls. They found a weakness and should have been able to exploit it for a heartbreaker for the Bills. The fault lied with Brady for overthrowing wide open receivers. I mean at the time, the Pats had to had trust in their defense that if they didn't convert the defense would take care of business.
• That Amendola catch was just amazing. I got nothing else on this point.
• The Pats need to find a nickelback. Fletcher ain't going to cut it.
• Jamie Collins redeemed himself from a sub par last week. He just seemed to know which gap would have no one blocking all game.
• I am concerned about whether Mayo will ever be what he was. He seems smaller this year and he clearly isn't back to 100%. Not horrible, but not Mayo either.
• I think Dion Lewis can be better than Vereen, Woodhead, or Faulk; but the fumbles are concerning. Faulk found the cure for fumblitis. So hopefully so will Lewis. But he is faster and shiftier than any of those guys.
• Right now, the Pats are the best team in the AFC and #2 isn't anywhere close to them. It is a long season and a lot can happen as it goes along, but the Pats are the creme of the crop and the only teams I think that might be able to beat them in the playoffs are playing tonight. Again, it is way early.

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Great post. Thank you for taking the time to write it, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Speaking of Brady being on a mission, you missed that he was the one who took down the defender who was running back Lewis's fumble. Did a nice job chopping him down at the sideline with a shoulder into the legs.

So, the Pats beat the Steelers convincingly, then Pittsburgh goes on to throttle San Francisco in Week 2. The Bill put the hurt on the Colts, and then get handled by the Pats at home the next week.

That's 2-0 with quality wins against two AFC teams that will legitimately be in contention for the post season. If they can keep it up for a full season, it will be historic.

One concern:
I thought Edelman and Gronkowski both seemed a bit gimpy and bruised during the Buffalo game. I think the Bills were intentionally beating the crap out of them... head shots, crushing tackles. I found it ironic that the Bills' players were the ones on the turf rolling around in pain, but no question it was taking a toll on our guys. Something to watch for.

Rob0729 said:

hence why this whole the Pats stealing opening scripts stuff is silly

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Why, it's so simple it's brilliant! Anyone who has observed the Patriots since the defensive rebuild post-2007, and takes off their blinders for 3.1415 seconds would see, especially early in the season, defensive schema that is singular in it's design on the first opponent's drive.

This is the test phase wherein the defensive staff applies their guesswork, based on film, of what the opposing team is going to do. Once they see the gameplay in action, you will almost always (unless their first guess is right which does happen occasionally - more so the second time through the division schedule or vs teams they play a lot like Denver, Indy, etc) see new formations, personnel groupings, rush combinations, etc in response to the opponent's actual offensive game plan.

It's the Col Jessup question...if they already had the gameplan, why the need to change the scheme?

QuantumMechanic said:

Speaking of Brady being on a mission, you missed that he was the one who took down the defender who was running back Lewis's fumble. Did a nice job chopping him down at the sideline with a shoulder into the legs.

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As I said in the game thread, I hope we will never see this again. Yes he is a competitor, I understand. But a 38 year old QB going for the tackle head/shoulder first is not in the teams best interest.

Despite all the bluster and bombasity of Rex, the Bills are a very undisciplined team, after Aaron Williams committed the same penalty twice, should have been benched.. which IMO may lead to their demise, in his quest to be liked by all he seems to forget he is the boss.. reminds me of when you tell a little girl that she is a princess at age 2 and then spend the rest of her life convincing her she is not.

Rex puts more faith in building up their already inflated ego's, than he does preparing them for a game.. he is a buffoon.

This was a very good post by ROBO729...

I loved Dobson's contribution to this game. He made a lot of nice plays and looked like he belonged. I hope he builds on this game. Having a big guy with speed playing on the edge is exactly what the offense needs.

I think Fletcher would be fine if we had another option to keep his role matchup specific. He's almost like Browner-lite, a physical at the line CB that you should never have covering deep without help. If we could bring in one more guy (or have one guy already here step up), that we could fill in for certain matchups, I think Fletcher could contribute against the bigger, possession receivers.

Also keep in mind that most of his burns were in the late game when the whole secondary looked out of sorts. It's not surprising considering outside of McCourty and Chung, none of these DB's played together for extensive periods of time last year. Give them all some time to gel and we'll get a better picture of what individual players are really capable of.

I am hopeful over the next 3 weeks we will see more Chandler/Amendola and less Gronk/Edelman. You know I feel like we have those guys not just cause they are good plays but they allow us to run a similar offense if we decide to rest those 2 guys for a game or something.

Sicilian said:

I think Fletcher would be fine if we had another option to keep his role matchup specific. He's almost like Browner-lite, a physical at the line CB that you should never have covering deep without help. If we could bring in one more guy (or have one guy already here step up), that we could fill in for certain matchups, I think Fletcher could contribute against the bigger, possession receivers.

Also keep in mind that most of his burns were in the late game when the whole secondary looked out of sorts. It's not surprising considering outside of McCourty and Chung, none of these DB's played together for extensive periods of time last year. Give them all some time to gel and we'll get a better picture of what individual players are really capable of.

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Not that Brown/Butler are shutting guys out but it is clear at this point Fletcher is the weak link. His role is match up specific for the most part. He plays outside CB (90% of the time) when we got 3 CBs and plays against the weaker of the 2 options on the outside. I don't know what else they can do to cover for him, It is not like he is better off against speedy guys, big slow guys or small shift guys... though maybe a big slower guy might be the best but usually he has trouble keep with them too unless they are particularly slow.

I just think you have 3 options.

#1 Find a better 3rd CB. Good in theory but we will see if we can at this point.
#2 Keep playing as you are. Hope Butler/Brown and contain enough for your O to out score. So far they have been and a lot of the points have been borderline garbage points.
#3 Make McCourty his baby sitter. This has the draw back of you take McCourty away from center feild a little but if he cheats to Fletcher's assignment it would really help that problem.

PScottman said:

Why, it's so simple it's brilliant! Anyone who has observed the Patriots since the defensive rebuild post-2007, and takes off their blinders for 3.1415 seconds would see, especially early in the season, defensive schema that is singular in it's design on the first opponent's drive.

This is the test phase wherein the defensive staff applies their guesswork, based on film, of what the opposing team is going to do. Once they see the gameplay in action, you will almost always (unless their first guess is right which does happen occasionally - more so the second time through the division schedule or vs teams they play a lot like Denver, Indy, etc) see new formations, personnel groupings, rush combinations, etc in response to the opponent's actual offensive game plan.

It's the Col Jessup question...if they already had the gameplan, why the need to change the scheme?

Click to expand...

When I watched the first buffalo series, where they were awesome, and the first Pats series, where they were terrible, I thought "This is strategy. The Pats do this on purpose. They're learning."

I think that's true. And it's cool.

Kind of on topic: What's with the Bill's Steam horn? If pumping in noise or having headsets malfunction is bad, is it blatantly crappy to blow a giant horn every time the Pats offense is in huddle?

Good points you nailed alot of it. I still dont like the fact we didnt try and run more late 3rd quarter and into the 4th. I know our strategy was to spread them out and throw all day but we were up by alot and mixing in at least 1 run per 3 downs wouldnt have killed us and help keep the clock moving. It almost came back to bite us in a game that shouldnt have even been close. I do expect a more balanced attack next week.

When the Patriots went for it on 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter I was expecting them to come out in shotgun and Brady to pooch punt it down inside the 5. While I'm generally in favor of being aggressive on 4th and short I don't think that was the time or the team to do it again. Pin them deep and make Taylor march them down using up the clock.

Fletcher = O'Neil, Starks, etc.