Game Thoughts: I am going full blown homer edition

[Rob0729]

Ok, here we go with a lot of unicorns and show ponies:

• I'll get the bad out of the way. I am concerned about Edelman with the mental mistakes. This is two games in a row. His drops have been issues with him not looking the ball into his hands. It is correctable, but a little concerning.

• I feel overall Stork had a good game, but he made too many mental mistakes earlier in the game. He bobbled the snap, an illegal snap, and one other penalty. Can't get too on him because overall he had a solid game.

• Now onto the good. Brady was an absolute surgeon today. It was in part to the o-line giving him a clean pocket all game. It was in part that Gronk was Gronking today and he was Gronktastic. But mostly, the man just dissected the Bears' defense. The Pats had a lot of favorable match up and he exploited every one. I don't know if the Bears' defense is just that predictable especially with a weak secondary or Brady is just otherworldly or a little of both.

• I don't know if I ever saw this before, but the three leading receivers on the team caught every pass thrown to them today. LaFell caught 11 of 11 targets. Gronk caught 9 of 9 targets. Wright caught 7 of 7 targets. That is 27 passes to three receivers with not a drop or errant throw. That is going to probably be one of the most underplayed things that happened today.

• Gronk is back. He may be the most important, most talented non-QB offensive player in the league. I know the Bears stupidly put him in a lot of one on one match ups today, but he also showed that sometimes even half the defense trying to tackle him cannot bring him down. As long as stays healthy, I think this going to be the best passing offense in the league going forward. He makes that much of a difference.

• I know the LaFell/Sanders debate will go on forever, but LaFell is making a strong statement that the Pats made the right decision over the last few months. You can definitely argue Sanders is better, but I think the Pats wouldn't have re-signed Edelman if they added Sanders and I will take LaFell and Edelman over Sanders. Sanders is a lot faster and more dynamic that what I thought he was in Carolina. I am surprised they didn't use him outside more down there because I think he is doing a very good job outside for the Pats and the Panthers needed outside receivers last year.

• This may have been one of the best offensive line performances since 2012. Not only was Brady never sacked, he was rarely pressured. My favorite like is Brady had enough time to eat a ham sandwich back there.

• Browner showed today why the Pats signed him. I am concerned whether the refs will let him get away with what he did today next week against the Denver Golden Boys, but he played the way the you want to play the Broncos. Browner drawing Marshall most of the game roughed him up right off the line knocking him off his route. Marshall spent more time whining to the refs than catching balls.

• Saw a lot of progress from Easley today. Still a work in progress, but he was far more aggressive today and was able to get some pressure on Cutler and did a decent job of setting the edge. Not perfect, but he definitely didn't make the Pats miss Chandler Jones today.

• Revis absolutely shut down Jeffries today. It was the right call putting him on Jeffries for most of the day and he barely even saw the ball until the game was out of reach. Although they didn't play him as much press man as I thought they would, he was the Revis we were hoping for. He stayed on Jeffries hip every time I focused in on him and he jumped a few routes a the right time.

• I want to give the coordinators a tip of the hat today. Both came into the game with the perfect game plan and both called a near flawless game. Patricia called the type of game plan I hope he calls on next Sunday. He used the right mix of pressuring the QB and the DBs screwing with the routes of the receivers. McDaniels came out with an aggressive offensive strategy and kept the Bears off kilter for most of the game.

Ok, we onto to Denver.

 

[KA-]

Ok, here we go with a lot of unicorns and show ponies:

• I'll get the bad out of the way. I am concerned about Edelman with the mental mistakes. This is two games in a row. His drops have been issues with him not looking the ball into his hands. It is correctable, but a little concerning.

I think it will be ok , Edelman has proved he can ball, he'll be fine the deeper we get.


- Just to hit on LaFell a little more: He's impressive, and he looks like he's having a lot of fun out there. Hard work pays off and I'm sure he sees the game a whole new way playing for the Pats. Carolina has to be watching this kicking themselves for not being able to figure out how to unlock him when he was there, they sure could of used him right now. It's surprising because while not every team can have a Brady/Manning/Rodgers/Brees, Cam is definitely no slouch and can stand tall in the pocket.

- Jonas Gray intrigues me, he looked very explosive and fresh today. He had some questionable decision making at times but if he can improve on this and learn how to become consistent he will be crucial for us down the road.

- Revis is great, it's a nice luxury having your #1 CB shut down whoever he has to cover on a weekly basis. How is he not the best CB in football right now? Sherman has been getting thrown on, Peterson has been gashed, and Haden sometimes looks like he doesn't know what's going on. Some will make the argument for Talib, but Revis just looks better IMO.

- Matt Forte had his way with our D, I expected this as I think it's a weak point on this team. Matt Forte also leads the league in Receptions and is a top 3 back this season. I'm concerned but not too concerned, it remains a work in progress.

- Dobson was a healthy scratch ... if that's what BB wants to do then so be it. We don't know the full details around the situation. I do think Dobson has talent and potential, but it's a tough call, we had a game plan and we executed it perfectly on offense. Another week where everyone on offense didn't do anything to lose snaps to Dobson, I do think he'll get his chance eventually.

- Tim Wright continues to look better and better, with this offensive line solidifying it looks like the Pats made another good call here.

Do I really need to even bring up Brady/Gronk? When Brady is given time in the pocket, he is money. Also, I just want to point out Brady tapped out at 35 attempts once again this week. His last 4 weeks for attempts: 35, 37, 37, 35.

Did anyone see Jamie Collins missed sack? When he looks at the tape you know he's going to want that one back.

 

[Joker]

Forte did run for over a 100 yards but if there was a Bear who had his way with the Pats D it was Martellus Bennett. Guess you missed the plays he made, eh?

Dobson a healthy scratch has you upset? well, at least "poor nobody like Dobson" LaFell had 11 catches for 114 yards....jeezus, that's like a whole freakin' season for Dobson.

Gray was OK but made too many questionable decisions?}???????????????????????? He averaged 5.1 yards a carry...17/86. He got stuffed on the goal line. I WAS THERE. There WAS no hole. What do you want, John Riggins? That questionable decision to run off tackle there was the OFFENIVE CO-ORDINATOR"s call. Gray got stuffed. Brady got stuffed inside the one , a player who converts 85% of his sneaks. You just have to get in a slam on a player though just to warn all the rest of us how bad things are/will be/could/might be. Whatever. Jonas Gray had a very good day and if they gave him the carries White got he would have easily ran for over a 100 yards...but, oh right, "questionable decisions"...

 

[Rob0729]

I didn't think either Bennett or Forte really did much damage when the game was still a game. Bennett didn't have his second catch until the game was out of hand in the third. Forte got his runs, but in the first half the Bears had only one drive over 15 yards. They had one good drive in the first half (a 77 yard TD drive), but had two drives for negative yards (one was Nink's fumble return) and drives of 5 yards, 15 yards, and 2 yards.

There was a lot of stat padding in garbage time today by the Bears' offense. I felt Bennett was a complete non-factor and Forte had a few moments but they couldn't get anything going with him until the game was out of hand.

To say the Pats really had a problem with either player is misleading because neither were a factor in this game until it was a blow out.

 

[Joker]

I didn't think either Bennett or Forte really did much damage when the game was still a game. Bennett didn't have his second catch until the game was out of hand in the third. Forte got his runs, but in the first half the Bears had only one drive over 15 yards. They had one good drive in the first half (a 77 yard TD drive), but had two drives for negative yards (one was Nink's fumble return) and drives of 5 yards, 15 yards, and 2 yards.

There was a lot of stat padding in garbage time today by the Bears' offense. I felt Bennett was a complete non-factor and Forte had a few moments but they couldn't get anything going with him until the game was out of hand.

To say the Pats really had a problem with either player is misleading because neither were a factor in this game until it was a blow out.

The game was out of hand in the 1st quarter. You still have to show up and perform. Bennett and Forte both accomplished that. Jeffery and Marshall? did they play today?

 

[Rob0729]

The game was out of hand in the 1st quarter. You still have to show up and perform. Bennett and Forte both accomplished that. Jeffery and Marshall? did they play today?

Bennett got three of his six catches in the fourth quarter when the Pats had already started to put in back ups on defense.

I give Bennett and Forte credit for keeping on fighting in a blowout. But I am not going to kill the Pats defense who did a good job shutting them down early and letting them compile stats later in the game when the game is out of hand. It isn't like the Pats struggled like they did in previous weeks against TEs and RBs.

 

[mayoclinic]

Brady's top 5 receivers through 8 games:

- Gronkowski: 40 receptions / 64 targets (62.5%), 558 yards, 14.0 YPR, 7 TDs
- Edelman: 45 receptions / 69 targets (65.2%), 467 yards, 10.7 YPR, 1 TD
- LaFell: 30 receptions / 49 targets (61.2%), 461 yards, 15.4 YPR, 4 TDs
- Vereen: 26 receptions / 39 targets (66.7%), 208 yards, 8.0 YPR, 2 TDs
- Wright: 17 receptions/18 targets (94.4%), 182 yards, 10.7 YPR, 3 TDs

Total for those 5 guys: 158 receptions / 239 targets (66.1%), 1876 yards, 11.8 YPR, 17 TDs

That's a very solid and diverse group of receiving options. If Wright and LaFell continue to develop, it could end up being almost as strong a group as Denver's receivers by the end of the year, and definitely more diverse.

 

[Lavictoire]

Sanders is a lot faster and more dynamic that what I thought he was in Carolina. I am surprised they didn't use him outside more down there because I think he is doing a very good job outside for the Pats and the Panthers needed outside receivers last year.

Did you mean Lafell? I think Sanders was on the Steelers.

 

[shmessy]

• Revis absolutely shut down Jeffries today. It was the right call putting him on Jeffries for most of the day and he barely even saw the ball until the game was out of reach. Although they didn't play him as much press man as I thought they would, he was the Revis we were hoping for. He stayed on Jeffries hip every time I focused in on him and he jumped a few routes a the right time.

.

Alshon JEFFERY.

C'mon, Rob, you're good enough in your own right. You don't have to be a Patfanken wannabe.

 

[shmessy]

- Tim Wright continues to look better and better, with this offensive line solidifying it looks like the Pats made another good call here.

I said it from the beginning and I'll say it again. GREAT TRADE.

Anyone watch the 1-6 Tampa Bay Buccanneers lose 19-13 at home to the awesome Minnesota Vikings today?

A $10 million Left Guard really makes a difference to a franchise doesn't it?

 

[Danger Zone]

I said it from the beginning and I'll say it again. GREAT TRADE.

Anyone watch the 1-6 Tampa Bay Buccanneers lose 19-13 at home to the awesome Minnesota Vikings today?

A $10 million Left Guard really makes a difference to a franchise doesn't it?

Anybody have Mankins stats on the season so far?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Now onto the good. Brady was an absolute surgeon today. It was in part to the o-line giving him a clean pocket all game. It was in part that Gronk was Gronking today and he was Gronktastic. But mostly, the man just dissected the Bears' defense. The Pats had a lot of favorable match up and he exploited every one. I don't know if the Bears' defense is just that predictable especially with a weak secondary or Brady is just otherworldly or a little of both.

Honestly, I don't think today's success was on the OL. I mean, they do deserve credit for playing pretty well--which is something that I didn't think we could reasonably even hope for a month ago--but Brady and McDaniels made their job really easy today. Brady never gave the pass rushers time to get to him. The ball was almost always out of his hand in two seconds or less, with the exceptions mostly being PAs where, again, he almost always hit his target (aka Gronk or LaFell) over the middle immediately after executing the play fake.

As far as the Chicago D, their safeties are just generally bad, their CB corps has been wrecked by injuries (particularly Tillman and Fuller), and with Briggs out they might have the worst LBs in the NFL. Their LBs compensate for a lack of talent by being aggressive, which leaves them extremely vulnerable to both play action and draws. All those PAs where Brady hit LaFell on an inside route over the middle of the field, it was just a simple pass and easy catch that was predicated on the LBs biting on the fake (which they almost always did) and leaving their zones open.

That it's to say that this week happened because their defense sucked and it won't work against better teams. The Pats' heavy dose of play action is going to be lethal against pretty much anyone, as long as the Pats continue to run well enough to force teams to honor it. There are maybe a couple LB corps in the league that are good enough to handle it.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

browner won't be able to get away with what he did today..it's manning..refs are going to call every little thing vs us..everything. We gotta try and overcome this

 

[mayoclinic]

browner won't be able to get away with what he did today..it's manning..refs are going to call every little thing vs us..everything. We gotta try and overcome this

We can't control the referees. Personally, I hope that we play very physical against Denver. There will be some penalties called, but it will be worth it. You need to get physical with the Broncos and bump their receivers off their routes, and disrupt Manning's timing. That's the key, even more than pressure.

 

[BradyFTW!]

browner won't be able to get away with what he did today..it's manning..refs are going to call every little thing vs us..everything. We gotta try and overcome this

This is a good preview of what's to come next week for Browner, though, because he wasn't going to be covering any of Denver's WRs. I expect that he'll be matched up on Julius Thomas, since he can't block nearly well enough to punish you for putting a CB on him. We'll just have to see how the refs call it.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I didn't think either Bennett or Forte really did much damage when the game was still a game. Bennett didn't have his second catch until the game was out of hand in the third. Forte got his runs, but in the first half the Bears had only one drive over 15 yards. They had one good drive in the first half (a 77 yard TD drive), but had two drives for negative yards (one was Nink's fumble return) and drives of 5 yards, 15 yards, and 2 yards.

There was a lot of stat padding in garbage time today by the Bears' offense. I felt Bennett was a complete non-factor and Forte had a few moments but they couldn't get anything going with him until the game was out of hand.

To say the Pats really had a problem with either player is misleading because neither were a factor in this game until it was a blow out.

Forte's receiving TD was pretty much the only sign of a fight that the Bears' offense put up all day.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

We can't control the referees. Personally, I hope that we play very physical against Denver. There will be some penalties called, but it will be worth it. You need to get physical with the Broncos and bump their receivers off their routes, and disrupt Manning's timing. That's the key, even more than pressure.

I don't want these penalties on 3rd downs that they don't convert...that can lose you a game giving them 1st after 1st on 3rd as we know.

 

[KA-]

Forte did run for over a 100 yards but if there was a Bear who had his way with the Pats D it was Martellus Bennett. Guess you missed the plays he made, eh?

I mean forte did have a pretty nice day ... 168 total yards 6 catches 1 td avg 6 yards a carry ... he stood out to me throughout the game for the Bears. Bennett made his second catch in the third quarter, he had nice hands on that TD grab though.

Dobson a healthy scratch has you upset? well, at least "poor nobody like Dobson" LaFell had 11 catches for 114 yards....jeezus, that's like a whole freakin' season for Dobson.

I don't care if Dobson is a healthy scratch, I'm ok with where Dobson is right now. I only brought it up since Dobson is a daily topic on these boards.... you're right, I shouldn't of fed the obsession.

Gray was OK but made too many questionable decisions?}???????????????????????? He averaged 5.1 yards a carry...17/86. He got stuffed on the goal line. I WAS THERE. There WAS no hole. What do you want, John Riggins? That questionable decision to run off tackle there was the OFFENIVE CO-ORDINATOR"s call. Gray got stuffed. Brady got stuffed inside the one , a player who converts 85% of his sneaks. You just have to get in a slam on a player though just to warn all the rest of us how bad things are/will be/could/might be. Whatever. Jonas Gray had a very good day and if they gave him the carries White got he would have easily ran for over a 100 yards...but, oh right, "questionable decisions"...

Never said anything about getting stuffed, he just looked to hesitate at times .. I really liked him though.

Is there a way to get John Riggins on this team?

 

[SEA_Pat]

Forte is one smooth running back, a spectacular athlete and fun to watch. Can't blame Collins for that TD, he had to hesitate because Cutler looked like he was going to possibly run and the only one near him was Collins so he was between a rock and a hard place. Collins remains a work in progress, sometimes he shows amazing speed and makes great plays and others he makes awful mistakes or looks more like a DB than an LB. But not bad for the worst LB in the history of the league according to some. Watching the Bears' awful unit should make one realize this, not that they will.

I think though there was a lot of the Patriots backing off and trading yards for time after they got up so big early. Plus, the Refs were basically throwing the whistles away since it was a clear blowout. I saw at least two instances of a Pats pass rusher breaking through and being tackled blatantly by the Bears' OL in space in front of the Zebras but they weren't going to interrupt things. Both times resulted in a big play. Hence Browner and Revis could play physical too. Would love it if that's how next week is called, but knowing the league we'll end up with Jerome Booger and will get 20 penalties called against us versus 1 for the Donkeys.

But if Brady is on like he was today, and Gronk is Gronking, I like our chances. Especially if the weather is bad, Peytey doesn't like that even a little bit. Our secondary is so deep, it's astonishing to think back to what it was like last year. Hell, we benched Dennard who was our clear #2 last year. Once we get Siliga, and hopefully Branch into the mix, I'm liking our chances for a deep playoff run.

How do you like them apples, Chicken Littles?

 

[Rob0729]

Alshon JEFFERY.

C'mon, Rob, you're good enough in your own right. You don't have to be a Patfanken wannabe.

Ooops! I don't want to become a Patsfanken wannabe since I have been desperately trying to model my posting career to be the Patriots version of Ray Ray.