Idle thoughts- the on to AZ edition...and few roster comments.

[zydecochris]

Also a disturbing trend is that Jimmy has led a receiver into a hit at least once a game so far (last game it was Bennett). I'm just going to hold my breath a bit and just hope we escape without major injury.

Agreed, that is one of many under appreciated aspects of Brady's game. It is a skill that even other good quarterbacks don't have, I remember how poor WW started getting pulverized when he went to Denver and Manning started leading him into big hits.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

Count me pessimistic in zonas ability to drop huge amounts of points on us.

For the record, pats gave up 30+ pts 3 times last year. One was the Denver OT injury fest, one was the philly no-show, and the other was buffalo in a shootout we won.

Zona played 8 games last year against good defenses. They won by more than a touchdown against 2 of them. expecting them to obliterate us because of qb play is giving them far too much credit.

In the end, 6 pt favourites seems exceptionally high, especially since they didn't seem to play any better at home than on the road last year. They can be challenged by good defenses, and they struggle immensely when their run game is slowed down. If Palmer ends up throwing 35+ times, we should win.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The line has steadily moved up on this game.It now stands at 6. The O/U is 51.
I'd bet the Cards and the under...even though I usually HATE the under.

Suppose I needed money fast for a life saving operation....yup, I'm taking the deed to the house and putting it on Arizona. In fact, just a few days ago I could have gotten Cards -4. IMO the Cards win this game by double digits...and it WON'T be because of a defensive breakdown.

Yes, I think it's going to be a long, very brutal coming out party for JimmyG...perhaps even a Buffalo after Milloy cut type of blasting.

JETS FAN!

 

[oldrover]

JETS FAN!

I'd say, 'don't make him angry'...

...but he's pretty much always angry. LOL (jk dude don't hurt me)

 

[varjao]

About the possibility someone raised about BB replacing Jimmy for Biscuit, there is 0 chance that happens apart from an injury. BB is no Bill O'Brien who messed up his QB situation in week 1 last year reflecting in their playoff game as well.

 

[ivanvamp]

This is going to be a very, very tough matchup for the Patriots this week.

1. Arizona is very good. One of the best teams in the league. This would be a tough matchup under any circumstances, never mind the one the Patriots find themselves in.

2. JG is fine, but he's no Tom Brady, and he could struggle in a big way this coming Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if he is sacked 5 times, throws 2-3 INT, and has a lot of poor throws due to pressure.

3. Part of the previous point - I am not comfortable with the Pats' OL right now. I think they could get abused this week.

So here's the thing. I think NE loses a close one, say, 24-20. People will crap on JG, but I don't think that's fair. It's a tough matchup, on the road, first game of the season, going out west, playing a terrific team, in your first NFL start. I expect them to lose, JG to not play great, and for questions to be raised. But I think that would be unfair. I think he's likely to improve over the subsequent three games, and so I'm not worried at all if the Pats lose this week, nor if JG struggles.

If they play well and win, it's a huge bonus, but I won't at all be worried if JG has a rough game. The thing that would worry me the most is if the OL gets absolutely crushed. Because THAT could be a major problem going forward.

 

[AtomicDawg]

The Cardinals have two major fatal flaws. The first one is on offense, where they have a player at right tackle in DJ Humphries with 0 NFL starts. Humphries sat for the entire season behind Bobby Massie, whin the offseason signed with the Bears. While the Patriots may not have an All-Pro pass rusher like a Jones, they do have an array of talent on the edge. The Patriots can opt to use a rotation of Chris Long and second year guy Trey Flowers at left end. Outside of Humphries, the Cardinals have a very experienced offensive line with Jared Veldheer at LT, Mike Iupati at LG, A.Q. Shipley at C, and Evan Mathis at RG.

The other achilles heel is at LB. AZ doesn't have a lot of depth there, especially inside. The Patriots offense has a way of exposing linebackers that can't cover in space. With the new Twin Towers Gronk and Bennett, the Pats can utilize formations that force the defense to tip their coverage to the QB and if it's man coverage with a LB covering one of the two TEs, it will be exploited. The two starting inside linebackers for the Cardinals are Kevin Minter, who's more a North to South thumper and Deone Bucannon, a converted safety who is very undersized at 6'1" 223. If the Patriots can get their lineman blocking at the 2nd level on their runs plays, hopefully Blount will have a good game for himself also.

One last thing I think the Pats are doing right: they are leaving Foxboro earlier than normal.



The team typically travels on Saturdays, so this is a very smart move. I hope they do this for the Broncos game as well. To get the best out of your guys, they need to get acclimated to the surroundings and the environment of the "new" area. Flying out west early gives them enough time to accomplish that.

And the players pretty much agree.

"A guy my size, your body can lock up when you're sitting on a plane for that long of a time," said 6-foot-6, 350-pound defensive tackle Alan Branch. "It helps to have a day to recover."

"I think it helps with the time change," added receiver Chris Hogan. "Going across the country, I've always played in the afternoon game, so I've never played at night. So I think the fact you're going a day earlier will definitely help, because you have that whole extra day to adjust and kind of rest for that night game."

Hogan went on to say the Bills would usually travel on Fridays, then have Saturday to "get loose" and ease the pressure of having to rush through the walk-through. I hope this works to their advantage on Sunday night.