Idle thoughts - the "oops" edition

[patfanken]

It took a while to process this game. It was as ugly a game as I can remember and the ending was almost the exact opposite of their last game. From a remarkable comeback to an utter collapse. I'm sure its been hard for everyone to process. But let's take a stab at it and try to put it into prospective.

1. The good news is, we won't have to hear any more talk about the 19-0 season. The bad news is (if you are going to watch or listen to media coverage of the game ) you are going to hear a lot this week about the "cliff" Brady will be falling off, and the end of an era. I image I will hear about it here, because I know I won't be listening.

2. Big picture issues - You have to go back to the 31-0 loss in 2003 to see an effort as bad as this one. Even back to the KC loss in 2014 they were still fighting at the end. The most disturbing thing about THIS loss was the complete lack of effort at the end.

3. OFFENSE

a. Lets start with the QB - The Pats put together 6 good drives over the course of the game. So it wasn't a horrible effort. But for a guy who supposedly has the answers to the test, Brady looked like he was guessing a lot last night. He was indecisive, inaccurate, and instead of getting the offense back on track, it got worse. This game will go as one of Brady's 5 worst games as a Patriot. Let's hope it isn't a pattern. Giardi is already writing his "It's time to start Garapolo" column.

b. OL - Good news and bad news - The pass protection was outstanding last night. Not perfect of course, but certainly good enough to win most games. Granted KC rarely rushed more than 4 and often just 3, the OL handled most of it flawlessly On the other hand, the run game was largely disappointing and most of it was due to a lack of creases created by the OL.

One of the questions I will be asking of those who break down film later next week will be be about the effectiveness of David Andrews in the run game. I'm not sure he has the strength and physicality to move people in the center of the line. And because of this weakness, I expect him to fact a big NT most weeks.

But in the end the OL was the best of the 4 offensive groups and since it will only get better as the season goes on, about the only question we should have about it is about the depth behind the starting 5.

c. Receivers- Amendola was off to a great start before the concussion....er "head injury". He had 100 yds early in the 3rd quarter and was poised for a bigger game. Cooks was OK, but never wowed me. He didn't get the kind of separation I was expecting. Even on his long gain he was just barely open. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted him to be. Hogan was mis- used IMHO, Gronk wasn't much of a factor, and Allen was merely an afterthought, though given how open he was on the first play I wonder why it wasn't used again.

d. RB's - ALL the RB's had their moments. None of them nearly as impressive as any of Hunt's myriad of moments, but the Run game seems to be in good hands. I would have liked to see more of Lewis in the mix but that's a subjective observation. Here's the thing though, I've rarely seen the Pats passing attack to their RB's so.....unfocused, purposeless, uncreative or disjointed. I'm not sure how to phrase it. It just didn't seem directed, much like the rest of the offense.

e Offensive game plan - You all know I rarely question any of the coaching decisions....and rightfully so. None of us have 1% of the information the staff has. HOWEVER I don't know about you, but there didn't seem to be any "plan" to the offense. It just seemed to be a series of individual plays that were thrown out there like you would in a scrimmage. If they work, fine. If not, OK too, and on to the next one.

Let me put it this way. How often, over the years have we seen the offense get better and better as the game went along and the opposition's defensive gameplan was revealed. How often has our offense dictated to the defense and had THEM reacting to what we were doing. I saw none of these things last night. (except for the first drive)

Clearly KC used the Falcon blueprint as their base defense. Which basically is to be physical and tough in the short zones and clog up the middle using the off side LB/S to discourage short crossing routes the Pats like so much. They were also very physical on the outside guys, using an old Pats tactic which was grab as much as you think you can get away with, because they can't call them all.

Believe me we WILL see some versions of this game plan a lot over the next 3 months. But lets remember that the offense DID score 5 times and 27 points and it very easily could have been more, perhaps a lot more if Brady had been sharper and the game plan more defined. Please credit KC for a good game plan, and better execution. but the Pats brain trust needs to take accountability for not making better adjustments to it, and the players for not executing better.

It is hard to believe that the same team that made three 2yd MUST HAVE plays in the superbowl, could only manage to run right into the heart of the defense on every 4th and inches play. You have to wonder, did Josh leave his creativity at home last night?

4. Defense -

a. Front 7- WOW.....just WOW.....and not in a good way.

I thought the defense was in good shape at the end of the first half. As usual the run D was getting better as the half went along and the KC run game plan was revealed. KC got a bit lucky with a duck in the endzone ending up with a PI when Butler lost track of the ball, So I fully expected the D to hold KC to 10 or less points in the 2nd half. Boy was I mistaken.

First of all, EVERY time Smith optioned the DE (hightower) he should have been planted in the dirt. This has been standard operating procedure for every DC from HS on up since the days of the triple option in the mid 70's. The way the Pats played it, it seemed like we were saying, "OK, you can scheme out our best defensive player without any consequence and that's alright with us". If we had planted Smith (who is a legit target as a runner) even once, it would have ended the option as a threat for the rest of the night. I couldn't believe it.

I don't know what was going on that made the run defense collapse to entirely, but it should be at the top of all of our lists to find out from guys like Bedard, Chatham, or guys here who break down film. This was a positive melt down that was so complete it is hard to blame just Hightower's injury and the fact Marsh just got here. Its not like there was a long run or two, but they kept on coming and kept getting worse. Like I said earlier, usually when a team exploits a scheme for some success in the run game, they Pats fix it before too long. In this case, the dike collapsed instead of getting stronger.

c. Questions I need answers to.

i. Where was David Harris - did he even play in the 2nd half?

ii. Where were Brown, Guy, and Branch?

iii. Give credit to Andy Reid for his little shuffle pass to Kelcey play that they ran 5 times with some success, but where was the eventual response we were supposed to see?

iv. Does this front 7 have any heart, because I didn't see any at the end.

d. on one positive note, both Wise and Flowers flashed a bit, but I'm grasping a straws at this point.

5. Secondary -

a. I have no problem with Gilmore physically. I thought he played well. If he was to blame for the long TD, it was a mental mistake by either him or McCourty, and at this point it doesn't matter who. I doubt it will happen again.

b. Butler again looked less effective than last season. Not bad, just not at the same level he had us expecting from his past perfomances.

c. I don't know WTF Patricia was trying to do with his 3 and 4 safety schemes, but whatever it was, it wasn't working constently. Again a very strange game plan

In the end it was without question the WORST defensive performance of the BB era and opens a SLEW of questions that this team will need to answer.

6. ST's - Like most of the night, there were highs and lows from some great coverage by Jones and Badamosi, to TWO running into the kicker penalties on the same series. As well as some mediocre coverage on some punts and KO's

SUMMARY - Well I'm on media lockdown. It's not that the Pats don't deserve a boatload of crap this long week, I just don't want to hear it. If there are answers to the questions I want to know about, I'll find out about them here.

Disappointed? Of course we all are. I don't care if KC is a VERY good football team (I hope Berry is OK) We are supposed to beat the best and given the first 3 quarters, we should have. (How ironic THAT statement is).

We had 6 months to enjoy perhaps the greatest win in Patriots history. I think we, as fans should be able to take 10 days of crap and hope BB turns it around, because if he doesn't, we all know how 2009 went.

 

[nabwong]

Agree with hitting smith. I've seen this many many times. They just let option QBs off the hook. I don't know if it's because they probably don't practice this or what. It's such a fundamental thing. Punish the QB.

 

[Froob]

All the off season talk was Patriots, Raiders and Steelers, people sold the Chiefs short. Said before the game Chiefs have the best shot to beat us in Foxborough in the playoffs. Chiefs are boring but they are well coached.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The Pats absolutely need the slot/possession receiver position and w/o Edelman and then Amendola it is not surprising how much they struggled. Hard to tell from the TV coverage what was happening on the underneath patterns as it seemed like 70% of their throws in the 4th quarter were over 20 yards. Finding someone to be effective in that role will be a big focus for week 2. The 2nd half offense reminded me of the Houston playoff game without the handful of broken plays they were able to come up with. I did not think Brady played well but I would not put this one anywhere close to an all time bad game category. Pats scored 27 points and could have scored mid 30's with a play or 2 against a team whose defense is likely in top 5 to 10 in the league. I think how poorly they offense played in the 4th has colored the entire night.

 

[Bruins29]

It took a while to process this game. It was as ugly a game as I can remember and the ending was almost the exact opposite of their last game. From a remarkable comeback to an utter collapse. I'm sure its been hard for everyone to process. But let's take a stab at it and try to put it into prospective.

1. The good news is, we won't have to hear any more talk about the 19-0 season. The bad news is (if you are going to watch or listen to media coverage of the game ) you are going to hear a lot this week about the "cliff" Brady will be falling off, and the end of an era. I image I will hear about it here, because I know I won't be listening.

2. Big picture issues - You have to go back to the 31-0 loss in 2003 to see an effort as bad as this one. Even back to the KC loss in 2014 they were still fighting at the end. The most disturbing thing about THIS loss was the complete lack of effort at the end.

3. OFFENSE

a. Lets start with the QB - The Pats put together 6 good drives over the course of the game. So it wasn't a horrible effort. But for a guy who supposedly has the answers to the test, Brady looked like he was guessing a lot last night. He was indecisive, inaccurate, and instead of getting the offense back on track, it got worse. This game will go as one of Brady's 5 worst games as a Patriot. Let's hope it isn't a pattern. Giardi is already writing his "It's time to start Garapolo" column.

b. OL - Good news and bad news - The pass protection was outstanding last night. Not perfect of course, but certainly good enough to win most games. Granted KC rarely rushed more than 4 and often just 3, the OL handled most of it flawlessly On the other hand, the run game was largely disappointing and most of it was due to a lack of creases created by the OL.

One of the questions I will be asking of those who break down film later next week will be be about the effectiveness of David Andrews in the run game. I'm not sure he has the strength and physicality to move people in the center of the line. And because of this weakness, I expect him to fact a big NT most weeks.

But in the end the OL was the best of the 4 offensive groups and since it will only get better as the season goes on, about the only question we should have about it is about the depth behind the starting 5.

c. Receivers- Amendola was off to a great start before the concussion....er "head injury". He had 100 yds early in the 3rd quarter and was poised for a bigger game. Cooks was OK, but never wowed me. He didn't get the kind of separation I was expecting. Even on his long gain he was just barely open. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted him to be. Hogan was mis- used IMHO, Gronk wasn't much of a factor, and Allen was merely an afterthought, though given how open he was on the first play I wonder why it wasn't used again.

d. RB's - ALL the RB's had their moments. None of them nearly as impressive as any of Hunt's myriad of moments, but the Run game seems to be in good hands. I would have liked to see more of Lewis in the mix but that's a subjective observation. Here's the thing though, I've rarely seen the Pats passing attack to their RB's so.....unfocused, purposeless, uncreative or disjointed. I'm not sure how to phrase it. It just didn't seem directed, much like the rest of the offense.

e Offensive game plan - You all know I rarely question any of the coaching decisions....and rightfully so. None of us have 1% of the information the staff has. HOWEVER I don't know about you, but there didn't seem to be any "plan" to the offense. It just seemed to be a series of individual plays that were thrown out there like you would in a scrimmage. If they work, fine. If not, OK too, and on to the next one.

Let me put it this way. How often, over the years have we seen the offense get better and better as the game went along and the opposition's defensive gameplan was revealed. How often has our offense dictated to the defense and had THEM reacting to what we were doing. I saw none of these things last night. (except for the first drive)

Clearly KC used the Falcon blueprint as their base defense. Which basically is to be physical and tough in the short zones and clog up the middle using the off side LB/S to discourage short crossing routes the Pats like so much. They were also very physical on the outside guys, using an old Pats tactic which was grab as much as you think you can get away with, because they can't call them all.

Believe me we WILL see some versions of this game plan a lot over the next 3 months. But lets remember that the offense DID score 5 times and 27 points and it very easily could have been more, perhaps a lot more if Brady had been sharper and the game plan more defined. Please credit KC for a good game plan, and better execution. but the Pats brain trust needs to take accountability for not making better adjustments to it, and the players for not executing better.

It is hard to believe that the same team that made three 2yd MUST HAVE plays in the superbowl, could only manage to run right into the heart of the defense on every 4th and inches play. You have to wonder, did Josh leave his creativity at home last night?

4. Defense -

a. Front 7- WOW.....just WOW.....and not in a good way.

I thought the defense was in good shape at the end of the first half. As usual the run D was getting better as the half went along and the KC run game plan was revealed. KC got a bit lucky with a duck in the endzone ending up with a PI when Butler lost track of the ball, So I fully expected the D to hold KC to 10 or less points in the 2nd half. Boy was I mistaken.

First of all, EVERY time Smith optioned the DE (hightower) he should have been planted in the dirt. This has been standard operating procedure for every DC from HS on up since the days of the triple option in the mid 70's. The way the Pats played it, it seemed like we were saying, "OK, you can scheme out our best defensive player without any consequence and that's alright with us". If we had planted Smith (who is a legit target as a runner) even once, it would have ended the option as a threat for the rest of the night. I couldn't believe it.

I don't know what was going on that made the run defense collapse to entirely, but it should be at the top of all of our lists to find out from guys like Bedard, Chatham, or guys here who break down film. This was a positive melt down that was so complete it is hard to blame just Hightower's injury and the fact Marsh just got here. Its not like there was a long run or two, but they kept on coming and kept getting worse. Like I said earlier, usually when a team exploits a scheme for some success in the run game, they Pats fix it before too long. In this case, the dike collapsed instead of getting stronger.

c. Questions I need answers to.

i. Where was David Harris - did he even play in the 2nd half?

ii. Where were Brown, Guy, and Branch?

iii. Give credit to Andy Reid for his little shuffle pass to Kelcey play that they ran 5 times with some success, but where was the eventual response we were supposed to see?

iv. Does this front 7 have any heart, because I didn't see any at the end.

d. on one positive note, both Wise and Flowers flashed a bit, but I'm grasping a straws at this point.

5. Secondary -

a. I have no problem with Gilmore physically. I thought he played well. If he was to blame for the long TD, it was a mental mistake by either him or McCourty, and at this point it doesn't matter who. I doubt it will happen again.

b. Butler again looked less effective than last season. Not bad, just not at the same level he had us expecting from his past perfomances.

c. I don't know WTF Patricia was trying to do with his 3 and 4 safety schemes, but whatever it was, it wasn't working constently. Again a very strange game plan

In the end it was without question the WORST defensive performance of the BB era and opens a SLEW of questions that this team will need to answer.

6. ST's - Like most of the night, there were highs and lows from some great coverage by Jones and Badamosi, to TWO running into the kicker penalties on the same series. As well as some mediocre coverage on some punts and KO's

SUMMARY - Well I'm on media lockdown. It's not that the Pats don't deserve a boatload of crap this long week, I just don't want to hear it. If there are answers to the questions I want to know about, I'll find out about them here.

Disappointed? Of course we all are. I don't care if KC is a VERY good football team (I hope Berry is OK) We are supposed to beat the best and given the first 3 quarters, we should have. (How ironic THAT statement is).

We had 6 months to enjoy perhaps the greatest win in Patriots history. I think we, as fans should be able to take 10 days of crap and hope BB turns it around, because if he doesn't, we all know how 2009 went.

Good post, not great.

 

[Nehalem]

a. Lets start with the QB - The Pats put together 6 good drives over the course of the game. So it wasn't a horrible effort. But for a guy who supposedly has the answers to the test, Brady looked like he was guessing a lot last night. He was indecisive, inaccurate, and instead of getting the offense back on track, it got worse. This game will go as one of Brady's 5 worst games as a Patriot. Let's hope it isn't a pattern. Giardi is already writing his "It's time to start Garapolo" column.

Disagree on that. I mean if putting up 27 points counts as your 5th worst game...

Also, going back it would appear to be only his 4th worst game against the Chiefs.

2014(41-14): 159 yards 1 td, 2ints
2005(26-16): 248 yards 1 td, 4ints (ouchie)
2008: torn ACL, out for the year.
2017

 

[mgteich]

BOTTOM LINE
We were OK through 3 quarters. We had 27, but were inches away from scoring lots more. Patricia takes time to develop defenses, sometime into the second half of the season. I do think that we need Ayers, especially if Hightower is out, but the defense will develop. The offense simply has to learn to use its many tools. And just BTW, the KC offense and defense played better than I've ever seen them play.

OFFENSE
I think that this was the worst coaching that I've seen by Josh.
1) Where were the RB's in the pass game?
2) Why weren't there a lot more 2 RB sets in the passing game, especially after Danny went down?
3) Why wasn't Allen used more after Danny went down?
4) The use of Hogan was mind blowing.
5) The 4th quarter was simply unbelievable for a patriot team.
6) The BOTTOM LINE is that the offense will need to change. However, I would thought that this would have been obvious when Josh knew that Edelman was gone and Mitchell wasn't likely to be available for at least a couple of game. We have running backs who can catch the ball. Gronk was taken out of the game by great play by their #1 pro-bowl defender. That's fine. Using the rest of the passing possibilities should have produced lots of points.
7) The patriots had no answer for 8 defensive backs. In the past, Bady would have carved this defense up. We have the tools!

DEFENSE
1) Maybe we need to wait until we understand how it makes sense for Richards to be our #2 LB. Harris and Roberts played almost not at all. Hightower played DE. 2) They simply gave up in the 4th quarter.
3) I guess that it's great that we picked up Marsh. Apparently, posters were correct. Before Marsh, we had no DE/OLB other than Flowers and Hightower (and VanNoy who can't play 2 positions at once). The good news is that Marsh played pretty well, and we are likely to pick up Ayers.
4) The secondary made mistakes. They CANNOT give up the big plays. That being said, They can't carry the team when the front 7 is such a disaster. We have a fine set of 6 defensive backs, and Jones seems to be an adequate 7th.
5) The DT's weren't really much of a factor, since the we were being carved up in the passing game for most of the game. However, they didn't play very well at all. There were lots of gains by KC in their running game. I guess the good news is that Butler did indeed provide a bit of inside pressure from the DT position.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Given that KC has one of the very best special teams in the NFL, and that it often wins games for them, the special teams did very well, other than 2 meaningless running into the kicker errors. Belichick clearly was very worried about this groups without Slater and Ebner. So much so that he vpsikced up Marsh, Flowers and Bademosi. Well, this was a success. Kudos to our ST's coach for integrating these three into the ST units in a short week. As an aside, Jones continues to develop as a ST star.

 

[Patriot Missile]

A good summary Ken.

I knew they were gonna miss Edelman but I didnt know it would be that significant. The 3rd and 2's 3rd and 5's were there for the taking and usually what sets this team apart. Extending drives and scoring TD's offsets what the other team does which I believe is cause and effect. KC was having none of it and it is what it is. They are going to have to find other ways to win ball games.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Help may be on the way

 

[Mark.]

Excellent summary. The big surprise to me was the lack of in game adjustments. I figured they would come out second half and play better on both sides of the ball. Reid is a good coach and had a good game plan.

The Chiefs were 12-4 last year and should have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs so I underestimated them. It will be interesting to see if they are really good or if this was an aberration. It will also be interesting to see if the Patriots are really bad (I don't think so) and am hopeful this was an aberration.

 

[Wheelssps]

Love your posts, ken. My favorite part of the forum to be honest.

The thing I couldn't figure out was the use of running backs. The pats offense should have enough flexibility for the tight ends to catch and block, the backs to both run and catch, etc, without predictability via personnel. The chiefs were ripe for draw runs against 8 dropping into coverage, and I can't remember more than one or two if they did any at all. Swing routes to the rbs, short passes to the flat against a linebacker, a bunch of stuff they did very, very little of.

With Edelman out, I think that some of their best groupings will be with a 2wr, 1te, 2rb look (agile rbs, not devlin most of the time)
1wt, 2te, 2rb or 2wr, 2te, 1rb looks. Keep the opposing defense in more of a traditional base look while still being able to switch between a heavier look to 5 wide with the same personnel. And that relies on creative use of rbs much more than last night.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Gronk was taken out of the game by great play by their #1 pro-bowl defender.

The DB did do well. However, I think Gronk wasn't close to 100%, either. Don't know if he's favoring his knee or back, or if he had some bug, but there was definitely something wrong with him last night.

 

[rochrist]

Disagree on that. I mean if putting up 27 points counts as your 5th worst game...

Also, going back it would appear to be only his 4th worst game against the Chiefs.

2014(41-14): 159 yards 1 td, 2ints
2005(26-16): 248 yards 1 td, 4ints (ouchie)
2008: torn ACL, out for the year.
2017

He completed 44 percent of his passes, had a 70 QB rating and didn't throw for a TD. That's pretty bad.

 

[Thelonious]

Well,

1) The only irreparable damage is the loss of Hightower, IF he is in fact lost.
2) I think they could make better use of the intriguingly diverse skills of the RB group, which might yield a pretty interesting ersatz slot receiver, or sporadically several.
3) Brady will likely be fine. If not, we have an occasion for the pivot to JG. So it goes.
4) Bring back Ninko.
5) Losing now, early on, is far from the worst thing.
6) BB is the best coach ever.
7) BB's evident reservations re Butler may be warranted.
8) McCourtney is importantly solid, but he is not elite.
9) Thank goodness the 16-0 nonsense is off the table: now they can get to work.

 

[Boomer B]

We tried to get to cute. On the 2nd TD drive in the first half Gillislee powered the rock down the field and scored. We stop them, get the ball back, and I'm sitting there thinking "we have em on the ropes, give it right back to Gillislee." What does McDaniels do. He sends Lewis out and we go no where. Made no sense when just a few minutes earlier we powered the ball down the field into the end zone.

 

[Nikolai]

The DB did do well. However, I think Gronk wasn't close to 100%, either. Don't know if he's favoring his knee or back, or if he had some bug, but there was definitely something wrong with him last night.

I think it happened during the "non-TD". He got up slowly from that and had a look of concern on his face. He wasn't the same after that.

 

[Joker]

I'm trying to be outraged. I'm trying to get all paranoid C.L. style. I'm practicing my frowning and disappointed face looks.

I gotta tell all of you the truth though. I could give a rat's azz. And whether Brady's done and the season goes in the shytter, I can't get to the point where I am willing to waste the emotional energy fretting and complaining. After coming back in the Super Bowl, a game even I gave up on....after 17 years of unbelievably great football that I nor any other fan could ever HOPE to deserve...after watching NBC sports deliberately censor vidoe shots of the crowd....after listening to that groveling little shytheel Al Michaels continually slant the entire game in the Chiefs favor NEVER once remarking about the obvious lack of calls...and his supreme narcissist partner, Chris "No One Is More Important Than I" Collinsworth playing the role of all knowing former Super Bowl winner, while NEVER EVER winning the big one...after all this insulting bullshyt with a Goondell cherry on top...I'm good.

If someone wants to post a tweet to Michaels informing him that a certain Patriot fan has had a "Fathead" fashioned for his toilet bowl and plans on defecating on an image of his face the rest of that certain fan's life, I'd appreciate it. THAT is what HE, the rest of them and the rest of this POS league will get from me now on. Gutless, wormlike, anthropoidal wastes of DNA bereft of any conscience, morals or decency...the lot of them. Sorry sukkers...you lose...we won.

 

[Bcc66duece]

Their db's were getting away with mugging the receivers all night

 

[DarrylS]

Great thread as we have come to expect from PFK...

From my barcolounger what I saw was the GOAT quarterback who did not have much confidence in his receivers.. he seemed hesitant and lacking the laser focus we have come to know.. why all the long passes, particularly to Allen?? Stick with the short game, move the chains, he has a wealth of RB's who can catch and can have tremendous YAC abilities..

I thought both the O and D game plan sucked, and perhaps it was overconfidence, but they played way below their abilities..

Of course sports talk is rife with the discussion about Brady being over the hill or the game has passed BB by and time for him to retire, do not see either.. instead see a crappy game plan, crappy execution and need for improvement on both sides of the ball.

 

[everlong]

This game will go down as one of Brady's 5 worst games as a Patriot.

16/36 44.44% 267 yards 0 TD 0 INT 70.0 QBR

Off the top of my head Buffalo opener 03, Indy regular season 06, KC regular season 05, Miami regular season 06, Baltimore playoffs 09, Cincinnati regular season 13, Baltimore playoffs 2012........there's probably some ugly ones from 02 that I'm forgetting that would be worse that this as well. Don't get me wrong he wasn't good but he had zero help and still didn't throw a pick. The miss to Allen was painfully bad. He also had some great throws taken off the board by drops where the refs could have thrown a flag. Several to Gronk alone.

Oh and I forgot KC in 14.