Extremely encouraged by this win

[PonyExpress]

The defense with several new parts, and Rodney feeling out his knee, took time but gelled. The cornerbacks played extremely well, although Geno had some trouble. The running game was vicious and brutal, although Buffalo's D was not necessarily a true measure. Colvin picked up where he left off. Maroney looked spectacular and Dillon is the Dillon we know and love again, a freakin' monster. Rodney made some big hits. Contrary to what many are saying, I do not blame the passing problems on the receiving corps. I believe this was a classic case of Brady being rattled and knocked woozy on the first play of the game. Precedents for this kind of performance by Brady are the Chief game in KC last year, when Jared Allen clocked him on the first play and he never really recovered until the second half, when Dwight's juggling acts killed the rally. Also, the Seattle game in 2004 when he was sandwiched, lost his helmet and went into a funk for a quarter until he dive-bombed Bethel for the win. So before every one blames the WRs give Takeo Spikes, a great player, credit for a game changing hit. A major character building performance by this team in the vein of 2003 which yielded many teaching points, and provided an opportunity for the team to gel under pressure. One negative: Graham is just too inconsistent for my taste. Dropping that TD was inexcusable.

 

[JackBauer]

I agree with everything, except the Graham comment. That ball was not throw particularly well (behind Graham); it would have been an unbelievably athletic catch for a TE to make. I don't hold it against him.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Don't say anything judgmental about Grambo, please, Box o Rocks is lurking around here somewhere!

I think we should enjoy our 'moments' with Grambo before some other team showers him with gold!

He is a great blocker! :singing:

And it was a tough ball to catch.

 

[Ichiro]

The defense with several new parts, and Rodney feeling out his knee, took time but gelled. The cornerbacks played extremely well, although Geno had some trouble. The running game was vicious and brutal, although Buffalo's D was not necessarily a true measure. Colvin picked up where he left off. Maroney looked spectacular and Dillon is the Dillon we know and love again, a freakin' monster. Rodney made some big hits. Contrary to what many are saying, I do not blame the passing problems on the receiving corps. I believe this was a classic case of Brady being rattled and knocked woozy on the first play of the game. Precedents for this kind of performance by Brady are the Chief game in KC last year, when Jared Allen clocked him on the first play and he never really recovered until the second half, when Dwight's juggling acts killed the rally. Also, the Seattle game in 2004 when he was sandwiched, lost his helmet and went into a funk for a quarter until he dive-bombed Bethel for the win. So before every one blames the WRs give Takeo Spikes, a great player, credit for a game changing hit. A major character building performance by this team in the vein of 2003 which yielded many teaching points, and provided an opportunity for the team to gel under pressure. One negative: Graham is just too inconsistent for my taste. Dropping that TD was inexcusable.

All of your observations are excellent. I agree that this was one of Brady's bad games. But Belichick's attitude in the post-game press conference makes me feel better about what happened. The only real weakness was Brady and some of the offensive gameplan. Brady will play better, can our coordinator adjust fast enough?

 

[emoney_33]

How about the biggest positive of the game.... NO MAJOR INJURIES!

 

[Infinsible]

The defense with several new parts, and Rodney feeling out his knee, took time but gelled. The cornerbacks played extremely well, although Geno had some trouble. The running game was vicious and brutal, although Buffalo's D was not necessarily a true measure. Colvin picked up where he left off. Maroney looked spectacular and Dillon is the Dillon we know and love again, a freakin' monster. Rodney made some big hits. Contrary to what many are saying, I do not blame the passing problems on the receiving corps. I believe this was a classic case of Brady being rattled and knocked woozy on the first play of the game. Precedents for this kind of performance by Brady are the Chief game in KC last year, when Jared Allen clocked him on the first play and he never really recovered until the second half, when Dwight's juggling acts killed the rally. Also, the Seattle game in 2004 when he was sandwiched, lost his helmet and went into a funk for a quarter until he dive-bombed Bethel for the win. So before every one blames the WRs give Takeo Spikes, a great player, credit for a game changing hit. A major character building performance by this team in the vein of 2003 which yielded many teaching points, and provided an opportunity for the team to gel under pressure. One negative: Graham is just too inconsistent for my taste. Dropping that TD was inexcusable.

At least one of my teams won this weekend.

 

[richpats]

This is the kind of win where you know we'll play better next week so it's a win-win situation (pun intended). Brady could have played better but he still stepped up in the face of a 10-point deficit (just like last year against Buffalo). Great to see the D shut down Buffalo late and the running game looked VERY formidable.

We shouldn't have a 'trap game' next week with Denver looming in 2 weeks.

 

[zippo59]

How about the biggest positive of the game.... NO MAJOR INJURIES!

That we know of.

 

[JoeSixPat]

The standout stat for me is time of possession.

Not that 32 minutes is all that great, but the fact that NE held the ball for the final 6:15 to run out the clock is a tremendous sign of what the offense can do once they have a lead.

Makes me feel a bit like Rosey!

 

[belichickaholic]

All of your observations are excellent. I agree that this was one of Brady's bad games. But Belichick's attitude in the post-game press conference makes me feel better about what happened. The only real weakness was Brady and some of the offensive gameplan. Brady will play better, can our coordinator adjust fast enough?

I just don't think we can judge the play calling after this game. The whole team seemed to be sluggish in the 1st half. Once they started to wake up, they started making plays. Let's just be patient with the offense at this point as they have been saying all week, it's a work in progress.

 

[Ceresco]

Once this team gets in a rhythm, WATCH OUT!

 

[Bella*chick]

Another high point was we didn't have too many penalties.

 

[Garbanza]

I'm not sure what game you people were watching, but I just got back from the game and the only encouraging thing I saw was:

Maroney/Dillon/Faulk played outstanding.

That's it.

Here's the bad:

Tully Banta-Cain sucks arse. Colvin is fabulous at rushing the passer - fantastic pas rusher. However, did everyone see Buff RB run right at him and past him? Hello????

Was Matt Light drunk? He had one of his WORST games.

Um.....yes, we do need Deion back.

Zone D was soft.

Special teams tackling leaves a bit to be desired.

Okay, rant over.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Guys, remain calm. That was not a great game. We have a lot of work to do.

How do we know that nobody got injuried? Brady took the type of beat down that leads to nagging injuries. I am SO SICK of watching our prized QB take way too many hits and have way too little help at wide out. This is an old, old story by now, and I am not at all excited about a season that will feature Brady taking a beating each week and finally ending up having to play thru another gruesome injury that would have sidelined anybody else in the league whose last name is not Favre.

Instead of being ultra excited about a crappy game, maybe we should be hopeful that the boys can improve a little by next week-end, and not allow our QB to get killed out there.

 

[Garbanza]

Guys, remain calm. That was not a great game. We have a lot of work to do.

How do we know that nobody got injuried? Brady took the type of beat down that leads to nagging injuries. I am SO SICK of watching our prized QB take way too many hits and have way too little help at wide out. This is an old, old story by now, and I am not at all excited about a season that will feature Brady taking a beating each week and finally ending up having to play thru another gruesome injury that would have sidelined anybody else in the league whose last name is not Favre.

Instead of being ultra excited about a crappy game, maybe we should be hopeful that the boys can improve a little by next week-end, and not allow our QB to get killed out there.

Thank you!

Honestly, the blind homerism around here is sickening sometimes. The o-line can run block - but the pass blocking was miserable. How much does that have to do with the fact we had three receivers even playing today? Maybe a little......but jeez louise, you have to take care of Brady.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Agree w/5 and Garbanza... this is Buffalo we're talking about, not Denver or Cinci or Pittsburgh or Indy -- that is, probably not a playoff team. They shouldn't have been IN this game, if the Pats are anything like we believed they "could" be this year. A long way to go, and point number 1 is, take care of the freaking football.

Plus side: how can you NOT like the combo of Dillon and Maroney?

Yeah, would love to say it's a matter of keeping the rust knocked off and that's that. But there are some things to be righted here this week - a 2 point victory against a bad Buffalo team shouldn't have us in paroxysms of joy.

PFnV

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

So we get one guy telling us at half time that it's cool to lose and go 0-1, and we got another guy telling us that he is just so excited about playing like crap and watching Brady take a beat down.

Now we need some stupid f#ck of a fish fan to say something really stupid!

PainSquid? Aquaboy?

 

[PonyExpress]

I'm not sure what game you people were watching, but I just got back from the game and the only encouraging thing I saw was:

Maroney/Dillon/Faulk played outstanding.

That's it.

Here's the bad:

Tully Banta-Cain sucks arse. Colvin is fabulous at rushing the passer - fantastic pas rusher. However, did everyone see Buff RB run right at him and past him? Hello????

Was Matt Light drunk? He had one of his WORST games.

Um.....yes, we do need Deion back.

Zone D was soft.

Special teams tackling leaves a bit to be desired.

Okay, rant over.

Maybe you were too close to the forest to see the trees. Buffalo gained 84 total yards on their last 7 possessions. After initial problems, which were understandable considering it was his first game since breaking his leg, Light did well. Colvin acted like a real leader out there, and in addition to making plays, kept the confidence of the defense high when it began to waver. The Bills rushed for under 100 yards total. Lee Evans, one of the best vertical threats in the league, was held to 2 catches for 25 yards. Rodney was surprisingly active. It took Seau time before he began to fill holes properly, understandable as well. The WRs were not the problem. Brady was the problem. He was nearly decapitated and knocked out of the game.

 

[PonyExpress]

we got another guy telling us that he is just so excited about playing like crap and watching Brady take a beat down.
QUOTE]
I wonder how you survived all the lean years... Hmmmm...

 

[JackBauer]

I think I'll cast my lot with PonyExp. I mean, sure, there were problems. But definately a lot more good than bad.

Agree w/5 and Garbanza... this is Buffalo we're talking about, not Denver or Cinci or Pittsburgh or Indy -- that is, probably not a playoff team. They shouldn't have been IN this game, if the Pats are anything like we believed they "could" be this year. A long way to go, and point number 1 is, take care of the freaking football.

Maybe they played above themselves? Struggling in the first-half against Buffalo is not indicative of much, if anything.