Idle thoughts - The legitimization edition

[borg]

We touched upon it after the Denver game.....the Pats will use their bye week to get the running game in sync.
....and booooom.
Last year Blount became All-World during the chilly season....and after yesterday's sonic boom, look out again. The one worrying aspect of the Pats lengthened O-line which dominated the running game was its porous nature in pass protection.
I'm also feeling pretty good that the Pats have victories vs all the AFC division leaders. Pats own that tie breaker.
Was Tom Brady still in the Brazilian time zone last night. My goodness.....if i didn't know any better, I'd wonder if Brady was friends with Jameis Winston's gambling buddy in Tennessee. The deep INT was reminiscent of Brady chucking it deep to Gronk in the Giants SB but landing 5 yards short into triple coverage. Footsteps appeared to be very loud in TB's ears.
Loved the onfield camera angle of Gronk's rumble TD.....showed the guys speed and strength....the dude is scary. He better bulk up his knee pad protection because what other recourse do little DBs have.
Speaking of career threatening injuries, P Manning was fluttering some horrible passes in the strike zone of LBs and safeties. Welker must be all twitchy every Sunday knowing his head may get taken off on any pass. That excessive force penalty on the Sanders tackle was horsecrap. Sanders dipped at the last second and still the hit was very legal.
Prediction.....Stafford will throw a pik 6 next week.....man he blows.

 

[SacPete1]

Not to defend or harp on the Brady interceptions but these are great teaching moments. In both cases, Brady was not able to step into the throw (the second one being far more obvious) which doesn't excuse him. Next time, he'll take the sack and with this defense, why not? But just as important is the Oline cannot break down like that on a play action.

A few more thoughts:

- Gray does remind me of BJGE - good call Galeb
- downfield blocking of receivers was tenacious (not just Edelman either, Amendola and Lafell made some really nice ones
- opening drive of the 2nd half was huge and although I didn't like the kneel down at the end of the 1st half with about 50 seconds, it was the right call
- very good open field tackling - nice to see them wrap up as opposed to the "block" tackle
- would like to see Dobson in for Tyms next game
- best game Easley has had to date
- good to see Harmon play a bit in dime; haven't noticed him in a while
- hate seeing those punt return holdings, was surprised Jones was inactive

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

I was glad to see very few (if any?) defensive pass penalties (PI, holding, illegal contact, etc.). There was definitely at least 1 "gift" call, where Hilton got ping-ponged between Browner + Hightower, winding up flat on his face (incidental contact with Browner, but it was >5 yard contact for High). Point in mentioning it was that it felt like it could've been one of those moments in the game, early on, where you could tell what team was going to dictate the tone of the game.

The Patriots came out to be very physical, and did it smartly enough to not get hammered with calls.

 

[Oswlek]

Tonight he showed he had some "wiggle" in him. He made a lot of small cuts and reads to maximize the yardage available

A lot of people have said this, and it was impressive, but I was far more impressed with how hard the guy was to bring down. He was carrying defenders all over the place.

Unfortunately the catch which sticks in our minds what the one where Fleener avoided the contact at the LOS and beat Browner for a big gain

And the one immediately afterward as well.

Brady did have a poor first half, but instead of continuing this he played immensely better in the second half, there have been games in the past where he just shyt the bed.

Agreed. Young Tommy turns that into his annual 4 pick game. Good on him to come out and play a near flawless second half.

Brady had to make a couple of difficult throws to LaFell and the PA to Wright in the end zone was a bit dangerous.

The Wright one looked dangerous at first glance, but with a better angle you could see there was no chance of a pick.

The first Int, as far as Ints go, was one of the more harmless kind. Int on a bomb at the opponents 5, which is like a good punt. That is, if you're punting on 3rd down for some inexplicable reason.

That pick was actually on first down at midfield, immediately following a long Gray run. The ultimately effect was somewhat trivial, but I didn't view it as meaningless at the time. To the contrary I was pretty livid because it was NE falling into the same "go for a kill shot at midfield after a long play or turnover" trap that every other team has caught on to. The fact that it was thrown into triple coverage brought back bad Slater memories from the 2011 AFCCG. And just like in that game, NE was moving the ball well enough without it.

Guys, the book is out on that stuff.

for the most part - - see unecessary 3rd qtr TO with the Indy D in disarray

Yeah, that was bizarre. They had a great matchup only to motion out of it, and then kept motioning as the clock ticked towards zero. You'll see that a few times a week, but rarely with this team. Interestingly, I've noticed that most other coaches either aren't aware enough to call the TO or just don't bother. But Bill ain't having that.

 

[Crononaut]

Excellent point.

And did you see what occurred on the field after Gray's last carry? He hit it for a first down - - it went for about 7 yards or so to bring him to 199. Methinks (tho' they will all deny it vociferously) that the team knew he had about 8 yards to go for 200 and the guys on the field initially thought that run did it. They were all over him high fiving and celebrating that run. I know it was a first down and allowed Jimmy G to run the next few as kneels, but something else looked up at that moment to me.

Youthinks right, I listened to the Post Game show today, Ryan Wendell was on right after the game and was audibly upset they didn't get him 200, thought they had. He said they were going to round up.

Great post as always Ken.