INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Surprising Stat On Brandon LaFell

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Surprising Stat On Brandon LaFell

Ian Logue

Looking back over some numbers, Brandon LaFell used to be one of the most consistent players getting into the end zone before the current drought he's in.

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He has definitely had a disappointing season. I understand that he had to face better coverage with the combination of Edelman, Amendola and Gronk being out of the line up at any given time but he has dropped a lot of balls that hit him in right in the hands and sometimes while he was wide open.

I like the guy and appreciate his contribution last year. I hope he can get back on track.

Tony2046 said:

He has definitely had a disappointing season. I understand that he had to face better coverage with the combination of Edelman, Amendola and Gronk being out of the line up at any given time but he has dropped a lot of balls that hit him in right in the hands and sometimes while he was wide open.

I like the guy and appreciate his contribution last year. I hope he can get back on track.

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Facing more man to man coverage this year has something to do with his dropoff in production for sure.

I really think the shoulder surgery and then the foot problem in March set him back more than we know. Granted, he sometimes seems to mentally not "be there" (gave up on a route, on Saturday TB12 tried to audible and LaFell didnt know what to do) but that is my perception.

I don't think we know the whole story. I remember him saying in late Nov that his foot was still hurting him.

A very strange year for him. Hope he can regain his 2014 form.

The most disappointing thing about Lafell's play is the way he lets defenders out muscle or out position him for the ball. For a man his size he consistently loses battles to much smaller players.

Ian, I think you mean his TD drought is during the REGULAR season. IIRC he had a couple of TD's during the playoffs including the opening TD in the Superbowl. But the point remains. No matter how you parse it. It HAS been a long time between TD catches for Brandon. Of course missing half the season didn't help.

1960Pats said:

The most disappointing thing about Lafell's play is the way he lets defenders out muscle or out position him for the ball. For a man his size he consistently loses battles to much smaller players.

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I think he learned that from Scott Chandler.

His positioning on deep balls is terrible. He beats a guy and rather than slow down enough on a lofted, slightly underthrown ball to gain position or induce a pass interference call, he slows down just enough for it to fall into his arms, only to allow a defender to close and bat the ball away.

He also seems to be misused this year. Last week, they tried twice to get him the ball on a wide receiver screen, when he is the best blocker among the receivers and the least shifty runner. He does ok after a catch, if he's hit in stride, but he looks lost facing-off with a defender and having to get upfield past him. The best he can seem to manage most of the time is a backwards step, a sideways step, and a forward lean getting him back to where he started.

He seems to be trending towards Dobson level.

patfanken said:

Ian, I think you mean his TD drought is during the REGULAR season. IIRC he had a couple of TD's during the playoffs including the opening TD in the Superbowl. But the point remains. No matter how you parse it. It HAS been a long time between TD catches for Brandon. Of course missing half the season didn't help.

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Yes, in the entry it lists it as a regular season TD drought. He was Gronk-esque when he first got here in terms of his scoring rate and it was amazing to look at how consistently he scored prior to the dropoff.

PatsFans.com Article said:

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Surprising Stat On Brandon LaFell

Ian Logue

Looking back over some numbers, Brandon LaFell used to be one of the most consistent players getting into the end zone before the current drought he's in.

Continue reading...

Click to expand...

Not to make excuses for JoJo but I have an issue with Josh's play calling and a couple of the throws as it relates to calling his number during the KC game.

1st pass was a completion for no gain. Crap throw by TB as JoJO needed to go back and get it.
2nd pass was away and uncatchable. LaFell didn't get good separation. Smith had excellent coverage
3rd pass that the stupid swing pass for -3. It was too much in the backfield and KC was all over it. Dumb
4th target was 9yd gain for the 1st down on 3rd and 7. That was well executed
5th was played well by Peters - who is very good. Should have been picked off. LaFell did not get good separation.

So by my count 2 bad calls/throws. 2 throws in tight coverage vs superior cover guys and one good play where JoJo got good separation.

robertweathers said:

Not to make excuses for JoJo but I have an issue with Josh's play calling and a couple of the throws as it relates to calling his number during the KC game.

1st pass was a completion for no gain. Crap throw by TB as JoJO needed to go back and get it.
2nd pass was away and uncatchable. LaFell didn't get good separation. Smith had excellent coverage
3rd pass that the stupid swing pass for -3. It was too much in the backfield and KC was all over it. Dumb
4th target was 9yd gain for the 1st down on 3rd and 7. That was well executed
5th was played well by Peters - who is very good. Should have been picked off. LaFell did not get good separation.

So by my count 2 bad calls/throws. 2 throws in tight coverage vs superior cover guys and one good play where JoJo got good separation.

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Hey!!!! This is the internet, pal. Where do you get off using facts and logic?

Looking at him move, I'm not sure he's ever fully recovered from that foot injury yet. His routes used to be much more crisp and smooth and that hasn't been the case this season. When you combine that with the fact that he's had to see the other team's top corner more often in 2015 than he did in 2014, you have the season that he's produced.

I'm as puzzled as anyone by his drops and poor performance compared to last year. Brady alluded during his radio show this week that Brandon had really overcome a tremendous amount to be on the field (or words to that effect), which gave me the impression that he still be more injured than we know.

I do, however, remain confused by Josh's plan with LaFell. I know we had some slip screen success with LaFell last year, but I think defenses are keyed on it and LaFell as never struck me as the quick slippery guy that is well-suited to those anyway. I would have expected to have seen a lot more slants/ crossing patters from him because those routes allow his body/size to get positioning on catches and require less separation. But there is obviously a reason why they are using LaFell this way, which appears to be principally to have the defenses honor some type of vertical threat. Unfortunately the end result seems to always be a Brady bomb that goes nowhere....

oldrover said:

Hey!!!! This is the internet, pal. Where do you get off using facts and logic?

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LOL. Yea I'd rather just shoot my mouth off with rubbish but every now and then there needs to be fair and balanced reporting.

It does seem to me that LaFell doesn't get as good separation from DBs as he did last year. Could be the foot. Could be the technique. Could be that he is facing better coverage. When that happens, sometimes receivers get frustrated and dejected. Part of me thinks that they wanted to get JoJo going so he wouldn't fall into that state of mind.

KontradictioN said:

Looking at him move, I'm not sure he's ever fully recovered from that foot injury yet. His routes used to be much more crisp and smooth and that hasn't been the case this season. When you combine that with the fact that he's had to see the other team's top corner more often in 2015 than he did in 2014, you have the season that he's produced.

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Yea I've come to the same conclusion. I think he is in fact still banged up.

Looks to the eye that he's simply much easier cover this year. No doubt a result of the injuries.

Though they play fundamentally different roles, wouldn't be surprised to see Martin snag a few of his snaps going forward - dude caught a pass roughly half the time he was on the field.

Bonzo said:

Looks to the eye that he's simply much easier cover this year. No doubt a result of the injuries.

Though they play fundamentally different roles, wouldn't be surprised to see Martin snag a few of his snaps going forward - dude caught a pass roughly half the time he was on the field.

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Personally, I would love to see Martin take more of LaFell's snaps. I have been pretty impressed with Martin -- really solid hands and seems to get a lot more separation than LaFell.

robertweathers said:

Not to make excuses for JoJo but I have an issue with Josh's play calling and a couple of the throws as it relates to calling his number during the KC game.

1st pass was a completion for no gain. Crap throw by TB as JoJO needed to go back and get it.
2nd pass was away and uncatchable. LaFell didn't get good separation. Smith had excellent coverage
3rd pass that the stupid swing pass for -3. It was too much in the backfield and KC was all over it. Dumb
4th target was 9yd gain for the 1st down on 3rd and 7. That was well executed
5th was played well by Peters - who is very good. Should have been picked off. LaFell did not get good separation.

So by my count 2 bad calls/throws. 2 throws in tight coverage vs superior cover guys and one good play where JoJo got good separation.

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Yeah, that's making excuses. The play calling was tremendous. Belichick's probably still raving about it, and Bedard probably had to go to the hospital after talking about it, because of the whole "4 hour" thing.

Last year LaFell was the 3rd or 4th option, thus he drew the 3rd or 4th DB..

For a large part of this year the injured LaFell was often the #1 option, thus he drew the best coverage.. **** happened.

Deus Irae said:

Yeah, that's making excuses. The play calling was tremendous. Belichick's probably still raving about it, and Bedard probably had to go to the hospital after talking about it, because of the whole "4 hour" thing.

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I hated that swing pass. A minor mark on an otherwise excellent day for Josh.

That might have been a Charlie Weis special....show a crap play to set up a good one later in the game.