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....in the other fellows yard...."
That was a ditty that was the theme song of Big Brother Bob Emery, who used to have a kids TV show in Boston back in the 50's when I was growing up. Somehow, as I watched the early games that song came to mind. I think this weekend was a great lesson for all of us.
I wonder if all the "chicken littles" feel a bit better about those "unsatisfying" wins against KC, Skins, Colts, and Eagles after watching those teams beat supposedly "better teams". Maybe....just maybe, people will start to realize that EVERY team in this league have very good football players, and winning ANY game is an major accomplishment, even though "some" fans and mediots demand not only victories, but style points as well.
I can hardly wait for all those who anointed the Packers as the uber team, to break their ankles coming off that bandwagon with columns announcing that KC has given the rest of the league the "blueprint" to stopping the Packer offense
The point I am making is that the adage "on any given Sunday" is a reality in the NFL and those of us who have gotten overly spoiled and demanding of our team "take a chill pill" and appreciate what he are experiencing here. And understand that while our obviously flawed team can be beaten by any of the teams that make the playoffs, they also can just as easily beat any....and I repeat....ANY of those teams as well.
Just sayin' Now on to specifics on this game. Lots of very goods and some very bads.
1. As I kid I snuck into BU field to watch the original 1960 Patriots, before I ever played organized football, and what I saw in the first quarter of the Denver game was the WORST run defense I have ever seen in the entire 52 seasons I have watched this team. Is that bad enough for you.
However, as those of you who participated in the game day thread can attest, I wasn't that worried. Very concerned, but not worried. 2 things I learned in my decade plus of coaching. One, the more a team sees running plays, the better they adjust and start to do better. Two, Very early on I could clearly see the technical flaws that were causing a great deal of the problems
Interestingly enough both were very simple and I have taught them myself on the HS level.
First I saw Tracy White on several occasions and Dane Fletcher on at least one occasion take on their blockers with the WRONG shoulder. When you are playing gap control, you need to take on the blocker with your INSIDE shoulder, keeping our outside arm free. White consistently took on blocks with his outside shoulder, and what that does is open the hole another half gap. And that was why the Denver RBs seem to have such huge holes to run through in that first quarter.
The second was because the ILBs, especially in odd alignments, when they are lined up over the Gs, were NOT reading the basic keys that 3-4 ILBs have been reading since Bud Wilkerson developed the "Okie" defense nack in the early 50's
When a G blocks down or out, the ILB is supposed to FILL that hole and meet the block ON the LOS or, even better, behind the LOS. On several occasions I saw Pats ILBs waiting 5 yds beyond the LOS for the blockers to get to them, instead of attacking the line. By waiting they just open up the hole to the exent that all they can do is arm tackle, if that. Compound that with taking on the blocks with the wrong shoulder and it was clear to me why the holes were so big and the Broncos wracked up close to 200yd are rushing in the first quarter
It was also clear to me that the Pats coaching staff is good enough to see it as well. In the 2nd half I saw a couple of time where Fletcher and Mayo both stepped up into the hole. Not as aggressively as I would have liked, but much...much better than in that first quarter. White never really did it correctly and it shouldn't be surprising since at best he's a coverage LB, whom BB had playing simply because he had some speed to chase Tebow around.
Thus that is why you could see that after the 2nd quarter, for the most part, all those 10-20 yard runs we gave up started to become 3-6 yd runs later in the game, AND when the Pats got 2+ scores ahead, they could almost forget about the option. So by the end of the game the 255 the Bronco's gained doesn't seem so bad when you consider they got over 180 of them in the first quarter.
2. A far more important stat than the 255 yds the Bronco's got rushing or the 200 yds that Tebow got throwing the ball, was the fact the after the Denver FG that gave them a 16-7 lead, the Pats outscored the Bronco's 34-7. Sorry guys but that is an ass kicking in anyone's league.
3. Kudos to the OL. With 2 exceptions the OL gave Brady ALL the time he needed to shred the Bronco's D. The only 2 time Brady really got hit was when blitzes caused confusion and men got in scott free. With the Dummerville sack being the only real mistake. I think the error was in the call of the blocking scheme.
It looked to me like Solder was supposed to take the man on the LOS lined up right over him, and Waters, who was uncovered, was supposed to take the outside guy. Whomever made the call, made a bad one, because Waters had NO chance to get to Dummerville before he pancaked Brady. Whoever made the call was responsible.
But taken into the context of the entire game, Brady was relatively contact free.
4. Even though one should be satisfied with 145 yds rushing, I'm still not really happy with the OL push in the running game. The Pats used a heavy formation with a right side of Wathers, Cannon, and Solder as the TE. I would like to see more movement when this combination is in play. There were times when the Pats add BOTH Gronk and Hernandez just outside this and while we made some yds with this formation, it just seemed too hard.
5. Does anyone else seem to think that BJGE has started to become too patient and isn't hitting the holes as hard as he has in the past. On the other hand, Ridley looked awfully good as well as Woodhead. Both averaged close to 6ypc. Ridley picking up 18 yds on 3 carries vs a defense expecting the run was particularly impressive as was Danny's TD run.
6. An Ocho TD and an Underwood catch for a key first down. Will wonders ever cease.
7. I would like to see Brady be more willing to throw the ball more to his RBs, even if they are simple dump offs. Patience is a virtue. plus our RBs can catch the ball.. More screens would make me happy as well.
8. I hate to think that after all his years playing with losing teams, Andre Carter after finally coming to a winner and resurrecting his career, will not be able to play in a Superbowl run he so richly deserves. And that's not mentioning how important he is to the defense.
9. Anderson and Ninkovitch had superb games. Both rushed the passer well, both made big plays, and both improved against the run as the game went on. The Pats had 4 sacks and these 2 guys had 3 of them, and almost had a few more.
10. I thought Tebow played better than I expected. He threw a few balls that were very accurate and didn't miss a lot of open receivers. He is a powerful runner. Much stronger than you'd expect. So many times now he has shaken tackles after the first hit. If he can survive the contact and continues to develop his passing skills, he can be a very effective QB in this league because of his unique skills and having the advantage of running a unique offense that each opponent will face only once a year. Now Denver has to surround him with players that complement his talents.
11. I now think John Fox is a f*cking assh#le. He was such a whiny b!tch that I think he must have been a Jet fan in a past life. After whining about every call that went against the Broncos (all of which were shown to be overt and easy calls) his little sarcastic cheer when the Pats were called with a critical penalty made me want to slap him.
Then when he called all those TO so he to try to rack up some more garbage yards in the last minute of the game, I wanted to punch him in the mouth. I would have gone crazy if a Pats player had gotten hurt in those 4 useless plays. I would have fired his ass, if he'd gotten one of his own players hurt. What a punk.
I have a few more thoughts, but this is a good start. The others I'm sure will be brought up by others and we'll discuss them. With SD up 17-7 it looks more and more that we will get that Bye. So I guess I'll just post this and go over to a Jets board and feel their pain and let you make some comments. Ain't I a stinker.
That was a ditty that was the theme song of Big Brother Bob Emery, who used to have a kids TV show in Boston back in the 50's when I was growing up. Somehow, as I watched the early games that song came to mind. I think this weekend was a great lesson for all of us.
I wonder if all the "chicken littles" feel a bit better about those "unsatisfying" wins against KC, Skins, Colts, and Eagles after watching those teams beat supposedly "better teams". Maybe....just maybe, people will start to realize that EVERY team in this league have very good football players, and winning ANY game is an major accomplishment, even though "some" fans and mediots demand not only victories, but style points as well.
I can hardly wait for all those who anointed the Packers as the uber team, to break their ankles coming off that bandwagon with columns announcing that KC has given the rest of the league the "blueprint" to stopping the Packer offense
The point I am making is that the adage "on any given Sunday" is a reality in the NFL and those of us who have gotten overly spoiled and demanding of our team "take a chill pill" and appreciate what he are experiencing here. And understand that while our obviously flawed team can be beaten by any of the teams that make the playoffs, they also can just as easily beat any....and I repeat....ANY of those teams as well.
Just sayin' Now on to specifics on this game. Lots of very goods and some very bads.
1. As I kid I snuck into BU field to watch the original 1960 Patriots, before I ever played organized football, and what I saw in the first quarter of the Denver game was the WORST run defense I have ever seen in the entire 52 seasons I have watched this team. Is that bad enough for you.
However, as those of you who participated in the game day thread can attest, I wasn't that worried. Very concerned, but not worried. 2 things I learned in my decade plus of coaching. One, the more a team sees running plays, the better they adjust and start to do better. Two, Very early on I could clearly see the technical flaws that were causing a great deal of the problems
Interestingly enough both were very simple and I have taught them myself on the HS level.
First I saw Tracy White on several occasions and Dane Fletcher on at least one occasion take on their blockers with the WRONG shoulder. When you are playing gap control, you need to take on the blocker with your INSIDE shoulder, keeping our outside arm free. White consistently took on blocks with his outside shoulder, and what that does is open the hole another half gap. And that was why the Denver RBs seem to have such huge holes to run through in that first quarter.
The second was because the ILBs, especially in odd alignments, when they are lined up over the Gs, were NOT reading the basic keys that 3-4 ILBs have been reading since Bud Wilkerson developed the "Okie" defense nack in the early 50's
When a G blocks down or out, the ILB is supposed to FILL that hole and meet the block ON the LOS or, even better, behind the LOS. On several occasions I saw Pats ILBs waiting 5 yds beyond the LOS for the blockers to get to them, instead of attacking the line. By waiting they just open up the hole to the exent that all they can do is arm tackle, if that. Compound that with taking on the blocks with the wrong shoulder and it was clear to me why the holes were so big and the Broncos wracked up close to 200yd are rushing in the first quarter
It was also clear to me that the Pats coaching staff is good enough to see it as well. In the 2nd half I saw a couple of time where Fletcher and Mayo both stepped up into the hole. Not as aggressively as I would have liked, but much...much better than in that first quarter. White never really did it correctly and it shouldn't be surprising since at best he's a coverage LB, whom BB had playing simply because he had some speed to chase Tebow around.
Thus that is why you could see that after the 2nd quarter, for the most part, all those 10-20 yard runs we gave up started to become 3-6 yd runs later in the game, AND when the Pats got 2+ scores ahead, they could almost forget about the option. So by the end of the game the 255 the Bronco's gained doesn't seem so bad when you consider they got over 180 of them in the first quarter.
2. A far more important stat than the 255 yds the Bronco's got rushing or the 200 yds that Tebow got throwing the ball, was the fact the after the Denver FG that gave them a 16-7 lead, the Pats outscored the Bronco's 34-7. Sorry guys but that is an ass kicking in anyone's league.
3. Kudos to the OL. With 2 exceptions the OL gave Brady ALL the time he needed to shred the Bronco's D. The only 2 time Brady really got hit was when blitzes caused confusion and men got in scott free. With the Dummerville sack being the only real mistake. I think the error was in the call of the blocking scheme.
It looked to me like Solder was supposed to take the man on the LOS lined up right over him, and Waters, who was uncovered, was supposed to take the outside guy. Whomever made the call, made a bad one, because Waters had NO chance to get to Dummerville before he pancaked Brady. Whoever made the call was responsible.
But taken into the context of the entire game, Brady was relatively contact free.
4. Even though one should be satisfied with 145 yds rushing, I'm still not really happy with the OL push in the running game. The Pats used a heavy formation with a right side of Wathers, Cannon, and Solder as the TE. I would like to see more movement when this combination is in play. There were times when the Pats add BOTH Gronk and Hernandez just outside this and while we made some yds with this formation, it just seemed too hard.
5. Does anyone else seem to think that BJGE has started to become too patient and isn't hitting the holes as hard as he has in the past. On the other hand, Ridley looked awfully good as well as Woodhead. Both averaged close to 6ypc. Ridley picking up 18 yds on 3 carries vs a defense expecting the run was particularly impressive as was Danny's TD run.
6. An Ocho TD and an Underwood catch for a key first down. Will wonders ever cease.
7. I would like to see Brady be more willing to throw the ball more to his RBs, even if they are simple dump offs. Patience is a virtue. plus our RBs can catch the ball.. More screens would make me happy as well.
8. I hate to think that after all his years playing with losing teams, Andre Carter after finally coming to a winner and resurrecting his career, will not be able to play in a Superbowl run he so richly deserves. And that's not mentioning how important he is to the defense.
9. Anderson and Ninkovitch had superb games. Both rushed the passer well, both made big plays, and both improved against the run as the game went on. The Pats had 4 sacks and these 2 guys had 3 of them, and almost had a few more.
10. I thought Tebow played better than I expected. He threw a few balls that were very accurate and didn't miss a lot of open receivers. He is a powerful runner. Much stronger than you'd expect. So many times now he has shaken tackles after the first hit. If he can survive the contact and continues to develop his passing skills, he can be a very effective QB in this league because of his unique skills and having the advantage of running a unique offense that each opponent will face only once a year. Now Denver has to surround him with players that complement his talents.
11. I now think John Fox is a f*cking assh#le. He was such a whiny b!tch that I think he must have been a Jet fan in a past life. After whining about every call that went against the Broncos (all of which were shown to be overt and easy calls) his little sarcastic cheer when the Pats were called with a critical penalty made me want to slap him.
Then when he called all those TO so he to try to rack up some more garbage yards in the last minute of the game, I wanted to punch him in the mouth. I would have gone crazy if a Pats player had gotten hurt in those 4 useless plays. I would have fired his ass, if he'd gotten one of his own players hurt. What a punk.
I have a few more thoughts, but this is a good start. The others I'm sure will be brought up by others and we'll discuss them. With SD up 17-7 it looks more and more that we will get that Bye. So I guess I'll just post this and go over to a Jets board and feel their pain and let you make some comments. Ain't I a stinker.
