An old man's observation's...

[DaBruinz]

Re: An old man's observation's.....

9. You know when Bill says in his post game press conference that there are things that the Pats need to improve on for next week? Well here is my list.

a. To Lawrence Moroney. Hey buddy, with the new zone blocking schemes, its ONE cut and go. There was too much dancing even BEFORE you got to the LOS. Watch how Sammy Morris ran, and try and duplicate it. With this kind of offense it will be more important to get the sure 3-5 yards, than it will be to try and break the long ones. Maroney still seems tentative about cutting to his left. Most of his runs, he cut right.

We have other guys to make the big plays, you don't have to be one of them. If you hit the hole hard, believe me you will get more than your share of those big plays.

b. KO Coverage team - The Pats kicked off 7 times and 4 of those times Miller or Washington was able to get the ball past the 30 yard line. That's not good enough. On one of those the KO was only to the 10 so you get a pass on that one, but the other 3 weren't acceptable. I know the talent is there to do better because there were 3 times where you didn't allow the Jets to get to the 25. Lets be more consistent THIS week.

Miller had 1 KO return. Washington had 5. Miller's return started at the 5 and went for 26 yards. Washington's 1st started 2 yards in the endzone and he got to the 30 for a 32 yard return. Washington's 2nd went to the 23 yard line from the goal line for a 23 yard return. Washington's 3rd was way short, starting at the 14 and getting to the 30 for a 16 yard return. Washington's 4th started 3 yards in the endzone and went to the 18 for a 21 yard return. And Washington's last return started 3 yards in the endzone and made it to the 19 for a total of 22 yards. So, only 3 of the kicks went to the 30 or beyond... and only 2 of those, the 1st two of the game, were really anything bad. In terms of coverage. The Pats got a LOT better in their coverage. The last 4 returns averaged 20.5 yards. So, only 2 of the 7 kicks coverages were more than what we are used to seeing.

c. Asante Samuel - feeling the rust on those GL coverages, Zant? I guess so. The actual coverage wasn't that bad, but your timing when the ball was coming to Coles was off by just a hair and that cost you....and the Pats. Well they'll give you the check anyway, but you know in your heart, you didn't earn all of it. Just be better THIS week.

d. ZERO turnovers by the defense. Now IIRC the Pats are notoriously slow, for some reason, in getting TO's early in the year. I have no idea why? They will need 2 TO's next week IMHO, I hope they work on it.

e. Dante Stallworth - Learn the damned offense Dante, and maybe next week you'll be the guy with the 180 yd day. You can't get on the field without knowing where to go. Just asked Chad Jackson how that all worked out.

People keep saying that Jackson didn't know the offense, but there really is no support other than assumptions. People FORGET that BB tends to be pretty regimented with his rookies in how they progress. All one has to do is go back to Daniel Graham, Ben Watson and Ty Warren (amongst others) for proof of this. The Pats had Jackson working on his run blocking and his special teams work last year. Jackson's knee went on a special teams play against the Colts.

f. Sorry, but the run blocking will have to improve. The Pats will face a lot better DL's than the Jets in the future, and while today the running game was pretty effective, they won't get that kind of yardage against better DL's if they run block like that.

I tend to agree. However, Maroney didn't exactly help the run blocking look good either. I have to wonder if Minnesota had a zone blocking scheme. If they didn't, then Maroney is learning this as well. Something he didn't get to do much of last year after he got hurt. Also, I noticed Maroney not making any cuts to his left that would have opened up the right side of his ribcage to get hit first. Hopefully he gets by this because if he does, he'll be able to bust some HUGE ones. There were at least two plays that, had he bounced to the left, he had the whole left side open and would have busted a couple of really long ones.

10. Best job in the NFL for 2007...being the Punter for the NE Patriots.

I made a poll earlier in the off-season when I asked how many punts people thought the Pats would make. The Minimum I had listed was 40, because that is where the Colts were at....

 

[ClevTrev]

Re: An old man's observation's.....

5. For though those who might be a bit disappointed in A Thomas's debut....DON'T BE. While I don't think that Thomas will have the personal stats that will make people stand up and notice, his impact to the Pats overall defense is worth EVERY penny we spent. He's the kind of guy that makes OTHER players better. He's the guy that allows the Pats to do things that they couldn't do last year.

With him, Bruschi and Seau can split the other LB position and it will end up being MORE productive than it would if only one had to play it full time.

With him Vrabel can concentrate on being on the outside, which will give both he and Colvin the chance to make big plays.

With him the Pats are a better underneath coverage team.

With him they can threaten the middle rush much more effectively than they did when Tedy was doing the rushing.

The list could be longer. I just want to say to AD, that there are a lot of fans who will not judge you on your INDIVIDUAL STATS, but on your total impact to the entire defense. We are all glad you are here.

Excellent assembly of thoughts by PFK! Once I recovered from my giddiness regarding the offense, I watched how the defense played, and two things stood out as enablers:

1. The D-line with Green, Wilfork, and Warren were simply dominating the Jets O-line all day. This allowed the OLBs to effectively pressure from the outside, and much of the time, they were too quick or too strong for the Jets TEs or RBs. This line dominance allowed the DBs to be effective as well with the pressure, Pennington never had the luxury of time to let his receivers complete their routes. While there were a couple times the Pats missed coverage, it was the exception rather than the rule. That can be corrected. The D-line made it work.

2. Thomas is everywhere in this defense and he's just getting familiar with it. He does make everyone else around him better, and having him in the mix makes the defense look BIG!

 

[patfanken]

Re: An old man's observation's.....

2. Thomas is everywhere in this defense and he's just getting familiar with it. He does make everyone else around him better, and having him in the mix makes the defense look BIG!

This is a great point - Thomas will only gets better as he familarizes himself with this defense. It is radically different from the one they ran in Baltimore