I missed the first half of the game but saw most of the second half. Some thoughts:
1. I think this was a great outcome for us ... much better than a 38-10 shellacking of the Bills. We were rusty, we are young in many areas, we missed a lot of opportunities and made some mistakes, and we still came out with the Win. Plus Brady and company had to pull together and show what they were made of in the end. I think this win will help the team much more down the road than the lopsided game most people were expecting.
As philosopher & fellow Boston Latin School alum George Santayana once stated: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. If next week there is the same passivity in the ground game, the same weakness of the pass rush, and the same predictablity in formations & play-calling, then this was certainly not a "great" victory. It will be just a win, though a win is still a win is a win.
2. I tried to follow the game day thread to catch up on what I had missed. I must say, my impression is that there are a lot of people on the site who are all gloom and doom. The comments were extremely negative up to the last 2 drives, even when I saw a lot of good things. A lot of whining and crying, and not just by the trolls. A lot of doom and gloom, over what would have at worst been one early season loss. The fact is, if we had lost this game I still think we would have gotten a lot of benefit out of it. It reminded me of 2003 when we lost badly to the Bills in the opener. I think it's good that we opened with a lot of warts - I'll be much more curious to see how we look in December and January.
I didn't visit the GDT, but the gloom & doom would be certainly understandable, and justified.
3. BB is going to be all over this team this week.
As he should be. He should be all over his coaches, scouts & execs, while he's at it.
4. The Jets fans are going to go wild this week thinking their team is the greatest thing since sliced bread and we were lucky to eke out a win. I am expecting a totally different performance next week in New Jersey.
Only if they heed the advice of Mr. Santayana.
5. I was very pleased to escape with no major injuries. I didn't see Mayo's knee injury in the first quarter, but as he went out under his own power I'm hoping it's minor, and that he was kept out as a precaution.
Let's hope so; but of course, Bill will probably only admit that Mayo's not dead.
6. I thought the defense did well overall tonight, especially given Mayo's absence. Guyton filled in pretty decently, though he is no Mayo. I saw a lot more swarming defense than I did last year, and much more aggressive play from the secondary. We held the Bills to 286 yards total offense, and I don't think the defense would have been to blame for a loss. I was very happy with what I saw from the secondary, and Meriweather looks like a stud. Comments on the gameday thread seemed worried when the Bills got the ball back with 50 seconds, but from what I could see the defense was jacked up and wanted to show that they could rise to the occasion.
Without having seen the Gamebook, I wonder how many yards/play the defense allowed. Remember, the Bills didn't run nearly the number of plays that the Pats did.
7. I thought that the penalties on Wilfork and Adalius Thomas were totally bogus. Wilfork's sack was completely clean, nothing below the waist. In the AD sack, the ref blew the whistle late and Edwards was still fighting. It's hard to blame the players for continuing to give effort under that situation, even if it wasn't the smartest play in the world. Both penalties kept scoring drives alive that should have been stopped.
Agree about the Wilfork call. Do you think that the zebras & league office were looking to nail Wilfork if he did anything close to a borderline hit? As for AT, he should know that he will be penalized if he tackles the QB by flipping his body over his.
8. I was a bit taken back at how well Buffalo ran the ball against our defense. While Mike Wright played a great game, I hope to see more of Ron Brace and Wilfork together in the near future.
Why do you think that the overpaid Mike Wright played a great game? Buffalo's success on the ground also highlights how poorly Gary Guyton played.
9. Our offense put up 440+ yards total offense, but left a lot to be desired for most of the game. We had trouble finishing drives, the play calling left much to be desired, and we abandoned the running game too quickly. Brady was rusty, but looked like himself at the end. Having to pull the game out may have been the best medicine possible in terms of getting back the real Tom Brady. Watch out for the rest of the season.
Agreed, on all points.
10. I was surprised that Chris Baker wasn't more involved. I think next week we will see Brady use more options. If Ben Watson actually can consistently make catches like he did on the last 2 drives, then he will be a major weapon.
I was also surprised, and a little disappointed, at Baker's lack of involvement. And Watson has a ways to go before he earns my trust.
11. My biggest concern from what I saw was the offensive line, particularly Matt Light. Poor protection resulted in a lot of short passing plays. The run blocking continues to be poor. Maroney ran better than I've seen in a while, but didn't have much room to work with.
Agreed. Our next generation of OLmen must be cultivated now, before Brady is left to rot on the vine.
12. Except for Gost's FG miss, ST seemed outstanding. LoMo had a big return, the punting game was solid, McKelvin was kept in check. And the bottom line is, when the game was on the line and TB needed the ball back one more time, the ST found a way to get it back. Can't ask for much more than that.
No, you can't.
All things considered, I'm ecstatic with this result this early in the season. I'd much rather have a physical team that can pull out clutch wins when it counts than a one-sided offensive powerhouse which bulldozes opponents 90% of the time but struggles when the going gets tough. As long as Mayo's injury isn't serious, I think we'll be in great shape in the long run.
