idle thoughts - scapegoating and....

[patfanken]

What he did wrong was impede the receiver from getting to the ball without making a play on the ball. You can't play the receiver and stand in his way of getting to the ball. The position you have a right to is with respect to the football, not regardless of it.
Look at it this way. If the ball came down where the receiver was standing, Brown running into him is clear intereference. The fact that the ball came down short of him and Brown kept him from coming back to it, while ignoring the football makes it even more of a violation. .

I respectfully disagree AJ. Face guarding was made legal a few years back. While its better technique to find the ball, its not required any longer.

And then there is the common sense your like to see used by officials. In this case the officials essentially awarded the Bills a TD on a play that they had massively poorly executed by calling a penalty on a player 10 yds from where the ball wound up. So in a game where supposedly there can be a flag thrown on every play, why was this one called, even if you are right....which I don't think you are.

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He needed to play the ball. Playing the receiver without respect to the ball is always PI. .

Like I said, not any longer, unless the face guarding rule was reinstated

But no one has come close to stopping the passing game anywhere near consistently. Aside .from the bizarro world of 4 Ints I don't know why we would run when they can't stop the passing game. Any strategy that says we win unless Tom Brady throws 4 Ints is one I would support using every time out.

Its a good point. Hard to find fault with the results. Its kind of quandary. The trade off of yards for minutes off the clock. And I'm not worried about the picks. The game could have easily been won despite the Picks. Lots of what ifs in that game.

I don't think you ever want a player thinking about whether to make a play or not. Granted when they were at the 1 let them score is smart, but you really dont want that thought entering anyones mind at the 35.

As Freddy was running, I was hoping he'd get in, because I knew Buffalo would sit on the ball. However its impossible to criticize a player for reacting to 10+ years of instinct, especially as you said, from the 35. Just like you wouldn't fault Jackson for not falling on the ground at the 5.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I respectfully disagree AJ. Face guarding was made legal a few years back. While its better technique to find the ball, its not required any longer.

And then there is the common sense your like to see used by officials. In this case the officials essentially awarded the Bills a TD on a play that they had massively poorly executed by calling a penalty on a player 10 yds from where the ball wound up. So in a game where supposedly there can be a flag thrown on every play, why was this one called, even if you are right....which I don't think you are.

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Like I said, not any longer, unless the face guarding rule was reinstated

What we used to call "face guarding" was supposedly eliminated as a penalty but Pats fans and observers of the NFL have seen numerous penalties of the S Brown ilk called on lots of teams over the intervening years. I reiterate, PI needs a serious overhaul.

 

[Off The Grid]

I shouldn't be surprised because it seems to mirror a flaw in our national character which has evolved over the past few decades.

No offense, Ken, but I, for one, would be very gratefull if you abstained from besmirching our national character...And I find it more than a little ironic that you're throwing American character under the bus while in the same breath denouncing "scape goaters."

The whole world is suffering economic malaise, my friend.

I strongly suspect that scapegoating has risen dramatically everywhere.

 

[patfanken]

No offense, Ken, but I, for one, would be very gratefull if you abstained from besmirching our national character...And I find it more than a little ironic that you're throwing American character under the bus while in the same breath denouncing "scape goaters."

The whole world is suffering economic malaise, my friend.

I strongly suspect that scapegoating has risen dramatically everywhere.

OG, my friend, when we no longer are free or comfortable in "besmirching our national character" then the game is already lost.....and that would be sad indeed

BTW- That being said, feel free to disagree with my observation that we have become a nation of whiny litigious complainers who are more focused on finding blame than finding solutions. But if Congress is truly a reflection of the people who send them to office, what other conclusion can one reach. Or on a more on topic vein, if Felger and Borges are reflections of the people who are their audience, what other conclusion can one make.

 

[dhamz]

What we used to call "face guarding" was supposedly eliminated as a penalty but Pats fans and observers of the NFL have seen numerous penalties of the S Brown ilk called on lots of teams over the intervening years. I reiterate, PI needs a serious overhaul.

The face guarding penalty was eliminated but has no relevance on the Sergio Brown play. Face guarding is throwing up your arms to distract a WR without making contact with the WR or looking back for the ball. It used to be called PI even though there was no contact made.

That was eliminated - now PI requires contact. Unless we are saying Brown made no contact and was called because he threw his arms up, this has nothing to do with face guarding.

 

[dhamz]

Gannon, who I actually like, an instant analysis based on NOTHING. Hey it was Tom Brady throwing the ball, it MUST have been the WR's fault. I got your back Tom. And when Brady had Chad's back, its ignored as Brady being Brady. THIS time I don't think so.
But we need a scapegoat, and its NOT going to be Brady

Gannon played QB in the NFL for a long time. You don't think that allows him the level of insight to be able to watch a replay and tell if a WR ran a good route with a sharp break?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Do you have a link to those stats? That is great info.

It was in a Mike Reiss article on ESPN.

Devin McCourty - 36 targets, 24 receptions (66%), 378 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 129.2 QB rating
Ras-I Dowling - 7 targets, 3 receptions (42.9%), 74 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 81.8 QB rating
Kyle Arrington - 13 targets, 5 receptions (38.5%), 79 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT, 19.9 QB rating
Leigh Bodden - 16 targets, 10 receptions (62.5%), 176 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 120.8 QB rating

Arrington has clearly benefited from playing the nickel corner, but the numbers suggest he might actually deserve another shot at the starting gig he held down much of last season while Bodden was on injured reserve (and Darius Butler underperformed). To be fair, Arrington struggled at times last year, giving up 49 catches on 75 targets (65.3 percent) for 742 yards. In fact, on passes in his direction last season, opposing signal-callers had a 114.4 QB rating with a 5:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. As one might expect, the outside corners typically face a stiffer challenge than the nickel corner.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Gannon played QB in the NFL for a long time. You don't think that allows him the level of insight to be able to watch a replay and tell if a WR ran a good route with a sharp break?

Nah, he's just protecting the franchise... I remember either Phil Simms or Boomer opining once that while many INT's are clearly on the QB, the elite QB's are accurate throwers and good decision makers like Brady so a good rule of thumb is to award them the benefit of the doubt on kneejerk fault assessments. And in this case it was pretty clear to the naked eye not to mention the reaction on the sidelines that someone screwed up on the route and Brady was the one doing the talking and Chad was the one looking sheepish... And while Wiggie is nearly unlistenable, he was once one of Tom's receivers and he knows what is expected of them.

And thanks for saving me keystrokes on the face guarding blather...

 

[borg]

A post rant addendum:
Haven't seen this mentioned this week so her goes....All 4 Brady INTs were on FIRST DOWN.

I know everyone has there own opinions on the Ocho INT, but regardless if Ocho blew the route or not the fact is Ocho was covered tightly at the point of release. It can be argued that Brady forced the ball in there on first down.

The Woodhead INT....This breakdown wasn't due to tight coverage, it had more to do with Woodhead not being in position to receive the ball. Either Woodhead messed up or the ball was delivered too early...on first down.

The Gronk INT. Double coverage down the seem, Brady opts for a low laser instead of an over the top arc....on first down.

The helmet deflection...sh*t happens....but it was on first down.

My point: Brady needed a little red light/green light Jets style on three of those first down picks. Two were in tight coverage and Woodhead wasn't ready. I LOVE passing on first down, but there needs to be a governor on these plays. Brady should never be forcing it on first downs, especially with a lead.
"
Just saying. Now unleash the "Brady doesn't make mistakes, only his teammates do" hounds.

 

[dhamz]

My point: Brady needed a little red light/green light Jets style on three of those first down picks. Two were in tight coverage and Woodhead wasn't ready. I LOVE passing on first down, but there needs to be a governor on these plays. Brady should never be forcing it on first downs, especially with a lead.
"
Just saying. Now unleash the "Brady doesn't make mistakes, only his teammates do" hounds.

Wow - of all the things I have read this week, putting Brady on the leash that the Jets put rookie Mark Sanchez on as he was having one of the worst season in the league is the most extreme I have seen.

 

[IllegalContact]

at this point, the defense is so bad as a unit, you can't single any individual out. you take any individual player who is the best at their position, insert him into the pats lineup replacing that perspective player, and that guy will simply not be a star......this defense has so many holes, that any one great player can be schemed around easily. also, when any defense is collectively so inept, you can make any good player look like a liability.

 

[IllegalContact]

I think messing with the 4-3 was a mistake......with so many inexperienced players, changing the scheme after a year made many of them rookies again.

by simply pursuing a better pass rush from the OLB position along with the experience many of these guys got as rookies, the defense would have been better.

I find it amazing that this years defense is so much worse than last years what with all of the cap space and all of the draft picks they had.

 

[dhamz]

I find it amazing that this years defense is so much worse than last years what with all of the cap space and all of the draft picks they had.

It really isn't much worse than it was at this point last year. They were giving up 380 yds and 27 ppg after 3 games a year ago and were shredded by Sanchez and Fitzpatrick in weeks 2 and 3.

 

[borg]

Wow - of all the things I have read this week, putting Brady on the leash that the Jets put rookie Mark Sanchez on as he was having one of the worst season in the league is the most extreme I have seen.

No leash, but there is absolutely no need to force the ball in on first down.

 

[MassPats38]

It really isn't much worse than it was at this point last year. They were giving up 380 yds and 27 ppg after 3 games a year ago and were shredded by Sanchez and Fitzpatrick in weeks 2 and 3.

I believe it was roughly 1400 total yards to about 1280 yards last year (40 yards per game difference). One of those 3 were the Bungals, who went on to do absolutely nothing last year. If I recall correctly the 3rd down conversion percentage was much worse, but this year has seen more big plays. The defense did get better down the stretch, so I remain optimistic that this defense is a work in progress and will improve. I would be happier in that regard if it didn't seem like half the roster were injured in some way for every game this season.

 

[Ring 6]

I respectfully disagree AJ. Face guarding was made legal a few years back. While its better technique to find the ball, its not required any longer.

This isnt face guarding. This is impeding a receiver getting to the ball while not playing the ball. Classic PI

And then there is the common sense your like to see used by officials. In this case the officials essentially awarded the Bills a TD on a play that they had massively poorly executed by calling a penalty on a player 10 yds from where the ball wound up. So in a game where supposedly there can be a flag thrown on every play, why was this one called, even if you are right....which I don't think you are.

Referees are making a judgment about the quality of the execution of the play. They also are not allowed to not call a spot foul out of some perceived disagreement about its unfairness.
You will have a lot more to gripe about with refs if they are allowed 'common sense' and their own judgment on the fairness of rules.
Why not focus on the player who did the wrong thing? Letting a receiver get so far behind you that you have to chase him and run into him without any clue where the ball is, is terrible defense.

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Like I said, not any longer, unless the face guarding rule was reinstated

This isn't face guarding. You still must defend with resepct to the football, and face guarding never included plowing into the receiver. You are applying the wrong part of the rule here.

Its a good point. Hard to find fault with the results. Its kind of quandary. The trade off of yards for minutes off the clock. And I'm not worried about the picks. The game could have easily been won despite the Picks. Lots of what ifs in that game.

Succesful passing is better than unsuccessful running in every way.

As Freddy was running, I was hoping he'd get in, because I knew Buffalo would sit on the ball. However its impossible to criticize a player for reacting to 10+ years of instinct, especially as you said, from the 35. Just like you wouldn't fault Jackson for not falling on the ground at the 5.

Yeah, that just what I was thinking.

 

[Ring 6]

I think messing with the 4-3 was a mistake......with so many inexperienced players, changing the scheme after a year made many of them rookies again.

by simply pursuing a better pass rush from the OLB position along with the experience many of these guys got as rookies, the defense would have been better.

I find it amazing that this years defense is so much worse than last years what with all of the cap space and all of the draft picks they had.

I think we need to be very clear on this. Changing from 34 to 43 isn't really relevant. The drastic change is from 2 gap to 1 gap. We have players on the front 7 using different technique than they have ever since arriving here. Not only that, but the reads, and reactions to those reads are very, very different for the LBs.
In the secodnary, its blatantly obvious that chanigng from a predominantly zone scheme to 80% man coverage basically redefines the job of the DBs.
Alignment is immaterial, scheme is night and day.