9. Tom Brady dropped back 53 times and against what is arguably the best DL in the league, there were ZERO sacks, I'm guessing about 5 hits and about 5 hurries. Brady was completing 72 % of his passes for over 350 yds. This was and OUTSTANDING job by the OL gain in pass protection.
Think about it. IIRC, the Pats had 10 sacks in the first 4 game, and have allowed just 4 in the last 7, despite going against some of the best pass rushing D's in the league.
I forgot to praise the o-line in my thread. How many times in the last six to seven games have people said "This week is going to be a big test of the o-line because [state the team] has a great d-line and the o-line will have their hands full"? I count at least four with Buffalo, Cincy, Denver, and now Detroit. And every time, the o-line has performed well to spectacular.
11. Think about this for a second. Right now the Pats have 15 TD's scored by their TE's. It is probably very likely that the Pats will wind up with over 20 for this position. So far Tim Wright does nothing more than catch just about EVERYTHING that's thrown to him. There is no question in my mind that over the next few years Wright will become an important member of the Pats receiving corps. For now, I'm satisfied that he's proving to be a red zone offense pass specialists.
The return of Gronk and the addition of Wright has done wonders for the red zone offense. Wright has caught 6 of Brady's 26 TD passes and Gronk has 9. That is 58% of Brady's TD production.
12. If you happened to watch the Denver Miami game, I can over simplify it by saying the key 1difference between the Dolphins and Pats was their tackling on the short passing game. I'll be interested to compare the YAC vs those 2 teams for this game. I'd bet there was a HUGE dumber difference
BTW - Bronco's invested a hugh chunk of money in their defense this year, and the results seem like its getting worse, while on the other side, the Pats D, seems to be getting better
The Dolphins in the second half yesterday ironically reminded me of the Pats week one against the Dolphins in terms of tackling. I will give the Dolphins a little leeway because their defense is decimated by injuries.
One thing I noticed about yesterday is that I am not afraid of either the Broncos or the Dolphins. I think the Pats would roll on either team the way they played yesterday.
15 Pretty scary that we can honestly say that Pat Chunk was excellent in coverage as well as being a key run stopper. THISen is the consistent all round kind of performance I expeced to see form Chung after the 2011 season from. Patrick Chung. We forget just how good he was at the end of the 2011 season
Clearly he regressed in 2012 and was allowed to to to Philly in 2013, and since that time, he's been a major whipping boy over those 2 years. Now I don't know what caused the change in his play (coaching and maturity I guess), but he's been more than what we could have hoped to get ge was signed as what most thought was an after thought in the off season.
It's funny. I got mocked this preseason when I suggested that Chung would be productive this season as a run down specialist. But even I didn't think he would turn into the player he is this year. He has turned into close to the player we expected him to become when he was drafted.
17. Right now there is no team playing better football against better opponents in this league. Looks like the Packers will be the best game of the six. I know when this 6 game started I would have been thrilled with 4 -2 for this difficult stretch, even 3-3 would have been acceptable. Now 4 games , and the media is ready to anoint them as sure fire 6-0.
. This is going to be a great. I'm looking toward it
What a different six weeks can make. Right now the Pats are the class of the NFL and I don't know if #2 (who the Pats are meeting on Sunday) are that close. Unfortunately in the NFL, that can change on a dime (just as the Broncos although I think they were crowned as the best in the NFL based on hype over production).
I expect if the Pats win in Green Bay that they will go 14-2. This is the last real tough test and the only way they will lose another game after this one is if the Pats sleep on an opponent, injuries, or the Pats rest Brady and other starters in week 17 because they have locked up HFA.
