- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
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- 15,547
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.....and the circle is completed.
1. Between KO's, punt returns, and receptions, Danny Amendola accounted for over 200 yds of production. Which only goes to prove that given a similar amount of targets and good health Amendola's production would be a lot closer to our expectations than he's been given credit for.
Just like in Edelman's situation, opportunity, not talent or desire, creates the numbers fans can relate to. For reasons beyond his control, Amendola has played only 2 games as a Patriot where he was a focus of the offense, and in both he delivered.
2. However, while its great to have Amendola's versatile skill set on the roster, down the road, it will be impossible to justify both Edelman's and his current cap numbers. So while it might be interesting to speculate what might have happened if Amendola had remained healthy last year and built on his Buffalo game, and wonder where Edelman might be now. The fact remains that if he doesn't agree to lower his cap number to the $2MM range, this is likely to be his last season as a Patriot. (and this is coming from one of his staunch defenders)
3. While it's disturbing to have 4 sacks in a game, it should be noted that the first 3 came in the first few series, and by the 2nd half, had pretty much been eliminated, with the last one being a coverage sack. Its not that there was more pressure than we'd like to see, they pretty much plugged the gaping hole that was there at the start of the game.
4. Could it be that once again we have underestimated the value of Dan Connolly. Whether it was the scheme or the players, the Pats were once again shuffling in multiple players to try and fill his role, with Kline, Devey, and Cannon all spending time in there at some point in time.
5. Gray got dinged early in the game and his departure seemed to mark the end of a serious commitment to the run game. Although he returned later in the 2nd half for a few snaps, by then the run game was an after thought.
6. Complaint department:
a. Always sad to see a great player like Nick Mangold go down, but that being said, our response, or lack thereof to his vastly inexperienced replacement was very curious. You would have thought that lining a DLman directly on him or in one of the A gaps to pressure him would have been and immediate response. Instead for the most part we stayed in a straight 4-3 alignment and made his life fairly easy.
It should be noted that on the most important pass rush of the day, the one that pushed the Jets almost out of FG range after the Brady pick, and forced a 53 yd attempt that was missed; was caused by inside pressure from Hightower. I think we could have used more of that throughout the game. All I could think of when it happened was, "FINALLY"
b. Whither goes Tim Wright. I wonder if there is a receiver in the league who has a better target to catch ratio, yet once again, with the Jets blanketing Gronk, Wright seems to be the forgotten man. When the all 22 comes out. I'd love for someone to look a Wright and see how often he's open....or not.
c. One of my expectations coming into the 2nd half was that the Pats would try more shots downfield. Never happened, and I think that was a mistake.
d. I want to see Vareen get more targets in the passing game, and a few more runs from the shot gun. We've become too predictable.
7. Not Pat Chung's best day. His breakdown of the first Jet TD was obvious. He totally bit on the run fake, and unfortunately the Pats were in a package that didn't give him any over the top support. Bad play combined with bad timing and the results were a TD. Also a more subtle error was the reason the Jets were in the position to make that play in the first place. On 2nd and long Chung missed a tackle, so instead it being 3rd and 8, it was 3rd and 3, so when the next play netted the Jets 6 yds, instead of being off the field, the drive continued.....and eventually led to a TD.
8. My explanation of the"phantom first down". There were 2 factors. First was a simply HORRIBLE spot of the Amendola catch cost the Pats at least a half yard and would have made the entire fiasco moot. 2ndly, the shot of the stakes which made it look like it was an inch short was taken from BEHIND the LOS, rather than right down the LOS. Its the angle of the shot that makes it seem like it was short.
My guess is what happened was when they went to review the play, not only was it impossible to see if the measurement was short, it was probably clear to the ref how bad the spot was. Rather than embarass the line judge by changing the spot, he simply used the "lack of indisputable proof" excuse and gave the Pats the key first down.
9. I almost wish they hadn't given us the call because it would have been a VERY interesting decision that BB would have had to make. 4th and less than an inch on the Jets 45. How can you not try it. We all would have supported it. HOWEVER, if you fail, the opposition only has to get about 20 yds to kick the winning FG. If you punt it, its likely the ball will wind up inside the 20 ydline and Geno Smith would have to go 50+ yds against your good D to put the Jets in position to win the game.
For me if the QB was Rodgers, or one of the other good QB's, I'd definitely go for it. The fact it was Geno freakin' Smith, you almost HAVE to punt it. Anyway's it would have been interesting to find out what BB would have done. I think it would be the latter, but we'll never know now.
10. On the Gray TD, which now must be in the Jet fans HOF of examples of how the refs are out to get the Jets, I offer this. There MIGHT be a case that COULD be made that Gray's knee touched down before the ball crossed. But to those who espouse to that line of thinking I ask this. Is there any evidence that Grey's knee was touched down by any contact by a Jet? I didn't see any, did you? The simple fact that the knee was down means NOTHING in the NFL. The knee must be down by CONTACT. What I saw was Gray diving for a hole in the LOS He was never touched by a Jet until the ball crossed the GL, so whether his knee hit before or after means nothing.
11. And while the Jet fans will whine incessantly about the refs, they will ignore the fact the Pats had more than TWICE the penalty yardage, and almost all of their scoring drives were aided by some very ticky tack calls that went in their favor. They also benefited from a large number of non-call on the Jet OL and their DB's especially on Gronk. (not that I care about that except in this context, since I always usually favor non-calls, as long as they are non-called equally) BTW- I think this group did a good job overall.
12. Why Alphonso Dennard wasn't active remains a mystery to me. He was one of the better #2 CB's in the league last season when he was healthy. You have to wonder what has gotten him so buried in BB doghouse. Or is it a simple matter that BOTH Butler and Ryan have passed his skill level. Hard to believe he's regressed that much. I don't what to speculate. I want to KNOW!
13. Very happy to see that classless scumbag Jeff Fisher lose another game to a team with less talent that he has. Not only did he lose convincingly to a less talented team....at home; his team constantly reflect his undisciplined bullying demeanor, by constantly pushing, taunting and being chippy, whil setting penalty records (over 220yds between the 2 teams) Its been a LOONG time since Jeff Fisher led teams that were consistently good or even occasionally good. Eventually someone is going to recognize it. I'd never let him coach a kid of mine.
14. Kudos to Bill OBrien. He got a big win today, and is having a hell of first year as a HC in the NFL, given he's had to play with 3 different QB's
15, And while the media and some fans will start to panic and predict doom after not crushing the Jets, it should be noted that its HARD to win on the road in the NFL. The Packers had scored just 1o points on the freakin Buc's for god's sake going into the 4th quarter of their game. Oakland put up 26 on Buffalo's excellent D. And the Ravens lost to the Texans' 3rd string QB in Houston. Every week so called "bad teams" either beat or are very competitive with the so called "good teams". Whenever it happens to us, like today, our mediots treat it like its the ONLY time it ever happens, thus there is something terribly wrong here. They never look at the WHOLE picture
BB knows there were some things wrong here today. There are wrong things EVERY game. He's going to work on them, and very likely things will get better for next week. There was a lot not to like about this past game, but it games like these happen a LOT during the season. Just ask the Ravens Fortunately we made just enough plays to end up on the right side of this one, and the won loss record gives nothing extra for style points.
1. Between KO's, punt returns, and receptions, Danny Amendola accounted for over 200 yds of production. Which only goes to prove that given a similar amount of targets and good health Amendola's production would be a lot closer to our expectations than he's been given credit for.
Just like in Edelman's situation, opportunity, not talent or desire, creates the numbers fans can relate to. For reasons beyond his control, Amendola has played only 2 games as a Patriot where he was a focus of the offense, and in both he delivered.
2. However, while its great to have Amendola's versatile skill set on the roster, down the road, it will be impossible to justify both Edelman's and his current cap numbers. So while it might be interesting to speculate what might have happened if Amendola had remained healthy last year and built on his Buffalo game, and wonder where Edelman might be now. The fact remains that if he doesn't agree to lower his cap number to the $2MM range, this is likely to be his last season as a Patriot. (and this is coming from one of his staunch defenders)
3. While it's disturbing to have 4 sacks in a game, it should be noted that the first 3 came in the first few series, and by the 2nd half, had pretty much been eliminated, with the last one being a coverage sack. Its not that there was more pressure than we'd like to see, they pretty much plugged the gaping hole that was there at the start of the game.
4. Could it be that once again we have underestimated the value of Dan Connolly. Whether it was the scheme or the players, the Pats were once again shuffling in multiple players to try and fill his role, with Kline, Devey, and Cannon all spending time in there at some point in time.
5. Gray got dinged early in the game and his departure seemed to mark the end of a serious commitment to the run game. Although he returned later in the 2nd half for a few snaps, by then the run game was an after thought.
6. Complaint department:
a. Always sad to see a great player like Nick Mangold go down, but that being said, our response, or lack thereof to his vastly inexperienced replacement was very curious. You would have thought that lining a DLman directly on him or in one of the A gaps to pressure him would have been and immediate response. Instead for the most part we stayed in a straight 4-3 alignment and made his life fairly easy.
It should be noted that on the most important pass rush of the day, the one that pushed the Jets almost out of FG range after the Brady pick, and forced a 53 yd attempt that was missed; was caused by inside pressure from Hightower. I think we could have used more of that throughout the game. All I could think of when it happened was, "FINALLY"
b. Whither goes Tim Wright. I wonder if there is a receiver in the league who has a better target to catch ratio, yet once again, with the Jets blanketing Gronk, Wright seems to be the forgotten man. When the all 22 comes out. I'd love for someone to look a Wright and see how often he's open....or not.
c. One of my expectations coming into the 2nd half was that the Pats would try more shots downfield. Never happened, and I think that was a mistake.
d. I want to see Vareen get more targets in the passing game, and a few more runs from the shot gun. We've become too predictable.
7. Not Pat Chung's best day. His breakdown of the first Jet TD was obvious. He totally bit on the run fake, and unfortunately the Pats were in a package that didn't give him any over the top support. Bad play combined with bad timing and the results were a TD. Also a more subtle error was the reason the Jets were in the position to make that play in the first place. On 2nd and long Chung missed a tackle, so instead it being 3rd and 8, it was 3rd and 3, so when the next play netted the Jets 6 yds, instead of being off the field, the drive continued.....and eventually led to a TD.
8. My explanation of the"phantom first down". There were 2 factors. First was a simply HORRIBLE spot of the Amendola catch cost the Pats at least a half yard and would have made the entire fiasco moot. 2ndly, the shot of the stakes which made it look like it was an inch short was taken from BEHIND the LOS, rather than right down the LOS. Its the angle of the shot that makes it seem like it was short.
My guess is what happened was when they went to review the play, not only was it impossible to see if the measurement was short, it was probably clear to the ref how bad the spot was. Rather than embarass the line judge by changing the spot, he simply used the "lack of indisputable proof" excuse and gave the Pats the key first down.
9. I almost wish they hadn't given us the call because it would have been a VERY interesting decision that BB would have had to make. 4th and less than an inch on the Jets 45. How can you not try it. We all would have supported it. HOWEVER, if you fail, the opposition only has to get about 20 yds to kick the winning FG. If you punt it, its likely the ball will wind up inside the 20 ydline and Geno Smith would have to go 50+ yds against your good D to put the Jets in position to win the game.
For me if the QB was Rodgers, or one of the other good QB's, I'd definitely go for it. The fact it was Geno freakin' Smith, you almost HAVE to punt it. Anyway's it would have been interesting to find out what BB would have done. I think it would be the latter, but we'll never know now.
10. On the Gray TD, which now must be in the Jet fans HOF of examples of how the refs are out to get the Jets, I offer this. There MIGHT be a case that COULD be made that Gray's knee touched down before the ball crossed. But to those who espouse to that line of thinking I ask this. Is there any evidence that Grey's knee was touched down by any contact by a Jet? I didn't see any, did you? The simple fact that the knee was down means NOTHING in the NFL. The knee must be down by CONTACT. What I saw was Gray diving for a hole in the LOS He was never touched by a Jet until the ball crossed the GL, so whether his knee hit before or after means nothing.
11. And while the Jet fans will whine incessantly about the refs, they will ignore the fact the Pats had more than TWICE the penalty yardage, and almost all of their scoring drives were aided by some very ticky tack calls that went in their favor. They also benefited from a large number of non-call on the Jet OL and their DB's especially on Gronk. (not that I care about that except in this context, since I always usually favor non-calls, as long as they are non-called equally) BTW- I think this group did a good job overall.
12. Why Alphonso Dennard wasn't active remains a mystery to me. He was one of the better #2 CB's in the league last season when he was healthy. You have to wonder what has gotten him so buried in BB doghouse. Or is it a simple matter that BOTH Butler and Ryan have passed his skill level. Hard to believe he's regressed that much. I don't what to speculate. I want to KNOW!
13. Very happy to see that classless scumbag Jeff Fisher lose another game to a team with less talent that he has. Not only did he lose convincingly to a less talented team....at home; his team constantly reflect his undisciplined bullying demeanor, by constantly pushing, taunting and being chippy, whil setting penalty records (over 220yds between the 2 teams) Its been a LOONG time since Jeff Fisher led teams that were consistently good or even occasionally good. Eventually someone is going to recognize it. I'd never let him coach a kid of mine.
14. Kudos to Bill OBrien. He got a big win today, and is having a hell of first year as a HC in the NFL, given he's had to play with 3 different QB's
15, And while the media and some fans will start to panic and predict doom after not crushing the Jets, it should be noted that its HARD to win on the road in the NFL. The Packers had scored just 1o points on the freakin Buc's for god's sake going into the 4th quarter of their game. Oakland put up 26 on Buffalo's excellent D. And the Ravens lost to the Texans' 3rd string QB in Houston. Every week so called "bad teams" either beat or are very competitive with the so called "good teams". Whenever it happens to us, like today, our mediots treat it like its the ONLY time it ever happens, thus there is something terribly wrong here. They never look at the WHOLE picture
BB knows there were some things wrong here today. There are wrong things EVERY game. He's going to work on them, and very likely things will get better for next week. There was a lot not to like about this past game, but it games like these happen a LOT during the season. Just ask the Ravens Fortunately we made just enough plays to end up on the right side of this one, and the won loss record gives nothing extra for style points.
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