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sweet.
This is going to be a short one folks. There isn't a lot to cover that isn't going to be over done over the next 2 weeks. Lets look at the Bills game and go over a few playoff points and then call it a day. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
1. I'm starting to feel like an echo, but over the last 3 weeks the Pats have had runs of 34-7, 27-0, and now 49-0. I know the starts are UGLY, but what happens after HAS to be considered more telling than the poor starts. Today we saw 3 full quarters of shut out football at a point where 3 full quarters of shut out football was needed
2. I know all the "chicken littles on this board and in the media will immediately want to minimize those 3 extraordinary runs or the 3/4 shut out. To them the first quarter was really ALL that mattered, and shows the Pats are ultimately fatally flawed. "One and done" "There is no hope" "Pittsburgh and Baltimore are sooooo much better than we are." "I know its true, because Felger says so."
BTW- if you don't repeat the fascist message according to Borges and Mazzarotti, etc over and over then you will be labelled a yahoo homer, a BB buttboy, or just someone who doesn't "understand" football.
The fact is that the 3 best football teams in the league have 3 most suspect defenses. We get it.....more importantly we understand why, and some of us even see some hope for some marginal improvement. You don't have to bang us in the head with stuff we already know.
3 Good Omen - The perfect symmetry -
a. In 2003 the Pats opened the season with a 30-0 loss in Buffalo. They just so happened to end that season with a 30-0 win against the same team. The Alpha and Omega, perfect symmetry. Coincidentally the Pats went on to win the Superbowl that year.
b. In 2011 the Pats in Buffalo blew a 21 point lead, with Tom Brady throwing 4 picks. They just so happened to end this year by OVERCOMING at 21 point lead, and intercepting the Bills FOUR times. Once again ….Perfect Symmetry.
You can't make this stuff up, folks.....And don't tell me it doesn't mean anything . My numerologist, just yesterday, told me...... Oh who am I kidding. I just thought you'd find this little factoid interesting.
4.Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened in the game was the move to put McCourty back playing the cover 3 deep Safety. Trying to figure out what it all means. Here's what I came up with. But its JMHO.
a. The Pats are going into playoff mode. That means putting your best players in positions where they can make plays. BB had a full year of watching safeties NOT getting there to help any of the CBs on deep sideline routes. Since McCourty wasn't setting the world on fire with his man coverage on the corner, why not use his speed, ball skills and tackling ability in the middle of the field where most of the action was happening. Someone who might actually get to the sideline. Worth a shot. with Chung coming back..
Hard to tell how it worked out. I thought even in he first 3 drives the coverage was fairly tight. It was just the passing that was superb. Fitzpatrick was on fire in the first quarter. He through some very accurate passes into some pretty tight coverage. I thought McCourty started off looking uncomfortable back there, but picked it up as the game went on. Unfortunately we'd need to see the coaches tape to see how he actually did.
I don't think it will mean some kind of permanent change, but rather something that we'll see again and add some flexibility to certain coverages. I also won't be unhappy to see Edelman playing in sub packages. You can't help but be impressed with the way he throws his body around and I think his defensive instincts are better than Troy's
5. I thought Chung's return started giving us an indication of how much we missed him. Imagine how much better the defense would be if we someday had TWO professional grade safeties on the field at the same time. It was important to get him a bunch of snaps at game speed before the playoffs . That helped. Welcome back Patrick.
6. It was also important to get Spikes and Fletcher more snaps as well. They need them badly. BTW- note to Matt Patricia. Fletcher on Spiller, one on one.....bad idea!
7. Kudos to Chan Gailey for benching Stevie Johnson for being an idiot. You know I think he's a hell of a WR and I think he tries to play hard, but he has a lot of growing up to do and this last straw is going to cost him a lot of money in the FA market. Maybe even enough to make him affordable to us. Again his were errors of maturity, not heart.
8. On the other hand, how would you like to be a Jet fan, watched your team commit $50MM to a long term deal for player who was the 59th most productive receiver in the league, make him a captain, watch him throw teammates and coaches under the bus all season, and then when the entire season was on the line,.......walk out on your team.. Pittsburgh much be laughing every Sunday for swindling the Jets out of a 5th round pick for Santonio Holmes
9. Not for nothn', but.....if it wasn't the last game of the season, 2 of those first 3 drives would have ended up without being TD's. No way the Bills try a fake punt or go for it on 4th down if the game meant anything to them. BTW – kudos to them for doing it. You have to respect Gailey and his team. They will be a tough out next season. They have a lot of good players coming back from injury.
10. I've said on many occasions that under the current rules you can't stop a perfect pass. Fitzpatrick threw a number of them in the first 3 drives. Over the rest of the game he reverted to the mean, and the results showed.
11. I thing the ref had to call that long PI on Moldin that led to the first TD. But it was totally UNNECESSARY. Moldin had recovered and was in great position to pick the ball. I don't think he needed to make that much contact with the receiver. It seemed he panicked almost. Like he felt had to grab at him or it was a TD. When he sees the film on Monday, he's going to be pissed at the opportunity he missed. He also is gong to get his butt handed to him by th coaches. Ironic it was about the worst pass Fitzpatrick threw the entire first quarter
OK so it wasn't very short....sue me. Enjoy the bye week waiting for the sky to fall.
This is going to be a short one folks. There isn't a lot to cover that isn't going to be over done over the next 2 weeks. Lets look at the Bills game and go over a few playoff points and then call it a day. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
1. I'm starting to feel like an echo, but over the last 3 weeks the Pats have had runs of 34-7, 27-0, and now 49-0. I know the starts are UGLY, but what happens after HAS to be considered more telling than the poor starts. Today we saw 3 full quarters of shut out football at a point where 3 full quarters of shut out football was needed
2. I know all the "chicken littles on this board and in the media will immediately want to minimize those 3 extraordinary runs or the 3/4 shut out. To them the first quarter was really ALL that mattered, and shows the Pats are ultimately fatally flawed. "One and done" "There is no hope" "Pittsburgh and Baltimore are sooooo much better than we are." "I know its true, because Felger says so."
BTW- if you don't repeat the fascist message according to Borges and Mazzarotti, etc over and over then you will be labelled a yahoo homer, a BB buttboy, or just someone who doesn't "understand" football.
The fact is that the 3 best football teams in the league have 3 most suspect defenses. We get it.....more importantly we understand why, and some of us even see some hope for some marginal improvement. You don't have to bang us in the head with stuff we already know.
3 Good Omen - The perfect symmetry -
a. In 2003 the Pats opened the season with a 30-0 loss in Buffalo. They just so happened to end that season with a 30-0 win against the same team. The Alpha and Omega, perfect symmetry. Coincidentally the Pats went on to win the Superbowl that year.
b. In 2011 the Pats in Buffalo blew a 21 point lead, with Tom Brady throwing 4 picks. They just so happened to end this year by OVERCOMING at 21 point lead, and intercepting the Bills FOUR times. Once again ….Perfect Symmetry.
You can't make this stuff up, folks.....And don't tell me it doesn't mean anything . My numerologist, just yesterday, told me...... Oh who am I kidding. I just thought you'd find this little factoid interesting.
4.Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened in the game was the move to put McCourty back playing the cover 3 deep Safety. Trying to figure out what it all means. Here's what I came up with. But its JMHO.
a. The Pats are going into playoff mode. That means putting your best players in positions where they can make plays. BB had a full year of watching safeties NOT getting there to help any of the CBs on deep sideline routes. Since McCourty wasn't setting the world on fire with his man coverage on the corner, why not use his speed, ball skills and tackling ability in the middle of the field where most of the action was happening. Someone who might actually get to the sideline. Worth a shot. with Chung coming back..
Hard to tell how it worked out. I thought even in he first 3 drives the coverage was fairly tight. It was just the passing that was superb. Fitzpatrick was on fire in the first quarter. He through some very accurate passes into some pretty tight coverage. I thought McCourty started off looking uncomfortable back there, but picked it up as the game went on. Unfortunately we'd need to see the coaches tape to see how he actually did.
I don't think it will mean some kind of permanent change, but rather something that we'll see again and add some flexibility to certain coverages. I also won't be unhappy to see Edelman playing in sub packages. You can't help but be impressed with the way he throws his body around and I think his defensive instincts are better than Troy's
5. I thought Chung's return started giving us an indication of how much we missed him. Imagine how much better the defense would be if we someday had TWO professional grade safeties on the field at the same time. It was important to get him a bunch of snaps at game speed before the playoffs . That helped. Welcome back Patrick.
6. It was also important to get Spikes and Fletcher more snaps as well. They need them badly. BTW- note to Matt Patricia. Fletcher on Spiller, one on one.....bad idea!
7. Kudos to Chan Gailey for benching Stevie Johnson for being an idiot. You know I think he's a hell of a WR and I think he tries to play hard, but he has a lot of growing up to do and this last straw is going to cost him a lot of money in the FA market. Maybe even enough to make him affordable to us. Again his were errors of maturity, not heart.
8. On the other hand, how would you like to be a Jet fan, watched your team commit $50MM to a long term deal for player who was the 59th most productive receiver in the league, make him a captain, watch him throw teammates and coaches under the bus all season, and then when the entire season was on the line,.......walk out on your team.. Pittsburgh much be laughing every Sunday for swindling the Jets out of a 5th round pick for Santonio Holmes
9. Not for nothn', but.....if it wasn't the last game of the season, 2 of those first 3 drives would have ended up without being TD's. No way the Bills try a fake punt or go for it on 4th down if the game meant anything to them. BTW – kudos to them for doing it. You have to respect Gailey and his team. They will be a tough out next season. They have a lot of good players coming back from injury.
10. I've said on many occasions that under the current rules you can't stop a perfect pass. Fitzpatrick threw a number of them in the first 3 drives. Over the rest of the game he reverted to the mean, and the results showed.
11. I thing the ref had to call that long PI on Moldin that led to the first TD. But it was totally UNNECESSARY. Moldin had recovered and was in great position to pick the ball. I don't think he needed to make that much contact with the receiver. It seemed he panicked almost. Like he felt had to grab at him or it was a TD. When he sees the film on Monday, he's going to be pissed at the opportunity he missed. He also is gong to get his butt handed to him by th coaches. Ironic it was about the worst pass Fitzpatrick threw the entire first quarter
OK so it wasn't very short....sue me. Enjoy the bye week waiting for the sky to fall.