Idle thoughts: the whew edition.

[Rob0729]

While we all had our eyes on Jamie Collins being an improved player this year, I think Ryan Wendell might be the most improved player on the team. When Stork gets healthy I don't care where Wendell is, as long as he is out there.

I liked how he went up a very big nose tackle and kept him really quite last night. Damon Harrison is the type of NT that would eat Wendell alive last year (no pun intended considering his nickname is Sancks). Wendell got killed by big and strong NTs/DTs. He held his own last night.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

1) Thank God Denver and San Diego can't run the ball. If NE hopes to last in the playoffs, I just don't see them surviving vs a team with both a top QB and a bullying running game. Lets get that bye and hopefully avoid the Cleveland's of the NFL that can beat up the Pats
2) Even with Vince the Human Beach Ball centering the D line, the Pats front 4 were undersized compared to the Jets O line....and it showed. To me, it looked like a scrimmage between JV vs Varsity. The D line was undersized vs Miami and KC as well.....similar maulings. Two years in a row the D line does not seem NFL caliber at times
3) Loved Brady leaving the pocket and extending plays. His roll to the left and DA's improvisation to squirt free was ....perfect
4) I am convinced the "no flag" Brady getting shoved after the throw non call was the refs' attempt at a make call after the DA induced holding call down field
5) NE's RB deployment.......I don't understand it. I never will.
6) Looking ahead.....lots of quality opponents...and I can't help but wonder about that Detroit game. Their D line abused NE a few years ago....and now the Detroit D is the league's best. A unique test for the Pats.
7) 5-2..........next!!

How many "best D lines in the NFL" is this team going to face?

When exactly did this "abused" take place a few years ago?

 

[VrabelJr]

How many "best D lines in the NFL" is this team going to face?

When exactly did this "abused" take place a few years ago?

Cincinnati, Buffalo, NYJ, KC and Miami all have top 10 or top 16 DLs. Denver (if you count Von Miller), Detroit and Chicago (the way they are playing right now) also have very talented DLs. San Diego (due to injuries at OLB), Indy and GB are the only DLs that aren't that great.

San Diego very silently probably has one of the best defenses in the entire NFL. They aren't overly amazing at any one spot. They are just a very, very solid defense.

 

[RIpats88]

cincinnati, buffalo and the Jets all have great front 7's. Which is why I feel that the OL has done a sold job thus far.they've kept brady standing enough to put up

43pts, 37pts and 27pts

in most games putting up those kind of points will lead to a win

 

[PatsFanSince74]

In the spirit of Tuna's well-known and hard-to-dispute saying that "You are what your record says you are," the difference, IMO, between teams with good records and teams with mediocre or bad records comes down to four things as the season goes on:
1) A few key players who are very good at what they do
2) Very good coaching
3) A few big plays that get made and get made at the right time
4) A few lucky breaks or calls that go your way.

1) Last night, the Pats were without two important players, one very good (Mayo) and the other pretty darn good (Ridley) at what they do. It showed, especially in their run defense. Geno was able to play his best game of the season and probably bought himself the rest of the year to show whether he's their QB going forward (I don't think so, BTW). Vereen stepped up when he had to. Brady was masterful, especially in avoiding sacks and most hits.

2) I just didn't get the feeling that the Pats were coached up as well as they usually are last night. They had the Jets on the ropes after 90 seconds and then the D couldn't get off the field for like five straight series. The ST coaching on the last play of the game was the exception to that. They really confused the Jets with their shift right before the snap, which probably led to the block.

3) The blocked Kick and the Vereen and Amendola catches were all big plays (as was Amendola's recovery of the onside kick). Without any one of them we'd probably be singing a different tune this morning.

4) The Pats hurt themselves a lot with penalties, but only one of them seemed ticky tack to me, a Defensive holding that really wasn't. In other words, no breaks or calls for the Pats last night.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

1. At the game, the biggest thing I noticed as others mentioned here was TFB rolling out both right and left. Cannot ever remember seeing Tom do this time and again in his 15 years. I believe that this was part of the game plan for something totally unexpected to counter the Jets rush. Surprisingly, Tom threw well on those moving pocket plays. Old dog got taught new tricks. All said, Jets did whack Tom around and apply pressure. Several bad passes were the result of contact at the end of the throw.

2. Folks criticized Revis & Browner but MOST of the pressure on Geno was because of excellent DB coverage. It has seemed to me that forever the Pats will break through OL defenders only to fall on their faces in a pratfall as they approach the QB. Whatever their footgear was last night, trash it.

3. Now, criticizing the DBs, the quick slants across the middle and the short/medium outs were available to the Jets all night. I thought Geno played his best game. It kills me to say that.

4. Some solution to the missing Mayo needs to be found to help the run D. Trade? Good luck with that.

5. That awful dropsy virus bothering Gronk this year spread to Edelperson last night. Hope lots of fluids and 10 days rest will cure the bug.

6. Amendola retuned kicks with intensity. Best of all he made the catch Welker should have made in the SB. Again, Tom's throw was off and behind his receiver's motion, but Danny reached back grabbing the difficult ball and best of all hung on through the hit falling into the EZ. A FG there and we lose.

 

[Patstopia]

It was nice to see Amendola out and about on special teams.My first thought was that he was going to get hurt. But he had a good night. He may be the type of player that needs to be involved all the time to keep his focus! His returns were very good.
Tackling was terrible last night, it was like the KC game. It looked like they were playing on ice with all the slipping and falling. Luckily for us it was the Jest and not a real NFL caliber offense.
Did a lot of yelling last night, my wife came in and questioned why I watch football, when all I do is yell at the TV, and I tell her if I ever stop yelling that's the time to ask me why I watch!

 

[BSR]

6) Looking ahead.....lots of quality opponents...and I can't help but wonder about that Detroit game. Their D line abused NE a few years ago....and now the Detroit D is the league's best. A unique test for the Pats.

Of course the last time they played Detroit was 4 years ago, but the Pats won 45-24. I think you are remembering the preseason game from the following year. I wouldn't take to much from that though. I think that Detroit game is probably the most winable of the next six.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

another ho hum day at the office for brady. 261 yards, 3td's 0 interceptions.

his last 3 games he has

914 yards, 9 td's and 0 interceptions.

Hopefully the media can finally shut up about the "Trade brady" or "brady is in decline" talk.

First 4 games, 2-2 record 81/137 791 yd 4 td 2 int QB rating 79.1
last 3 games, 3-0 record 70/109 9 td 914yd QB rating 118.1

 

[Bonzo]

In response to the original post:

1. Actually, NE scored just one point north of the Jet's season average. Mildly disappointing...

2. Me too. Was specifically surprised at the play of the IOL. Still disappointed by the fairly poor play at OT, but there was enough space in front of him that Brady could often step forward in the pocket to evade the rush.

3. Yeah, this was my biggest takeaway from the game. 15 rushes against 37 passes (including loads of PA) ain't gonna cut it. That's true even when the run's not working -- but last night, it was generating ~4 yds per.

4. Since learning of his offseason surgery, I've cut DA a bit more slack than I did at first. Hope last night serves as a jump-start for his season moving forward.

5. Yup, atrocious. Dropped passes were the biggest factor in keeping the game close IMO. Still can't wait for that brace to come off of Gronk's arm.

6. I give them a pass on this one in the run defense department, given they had a mere 4 days to adjust in Mayo's absence. However, if the porous run D persists against Chicago, after 10 days of preparation and no travel between games, then it will be time to sound the alarm.

10. Not sure why nothing has been made made of the non-review on that bobbled sideline catch during the final drive.

Agreed on the final point: absolutely certain that 10-6 clinches the division. This means, beat the Bears, and then .500 ball down the back half will seal the deal. (Though I too think they ultimately do better.)

 

[AzPatsFan]

This one actually will be quick since I have a 7:30 meeting this morning.

1. This offense will be fine. Don't forget they scored 27 points against one of the best defenses around, without the aide of any turn overs, short fields, sloppy play, not being one of Brady's best days, and several drops. Think about that for a second.

2. I was very surprised the OL protected Brady as well as it did. Only one sack and that was for a one yard loss. In the second half the Jets did a lot more blitzing, and while they did put more pressure on Tom, for the most part he had time to throw.

3. We only had 63 yards rushing, but averaged 4.2 ypc. A much better result than I expected. And much better than we did last week. Perhaps we should have run more.

4. Kudos to Amendola for his KO returns and of course his amazing TD catch. BTW- he now has at least 4 catches this season called back for Penalties. BTW- this was a quick as I've seen him this season. Maybe like Gronk he his coming around.

5 I can recall 4 drops (2 Edelman, 2 Gronk) off the top of my head; Rob had it at 8. At any rate we can't survive that kind of result long term.

6. Clearly the run defense is an issue, but I'm slightly encouraged that by fact I thought it was better in the 2nd half. At least in the 2nd half there weren't gaping holes. Just way too many enormously frustrating 5-7 yd runs which should have been 2 yd gains

7. For a team that usually tackles well there were WAY too many missed tackles and yards gained after contact. IF ever Jerod Mayo was needed in a game, this one was it. Better tackling would have dropped the Jets run game by a third. That being said, Chris Ivory is a BEAST. Too bad he plays in a place where his talents will go under appreciated. That kid is a great RB.

8. Geno's escapability was the key to the Jets success on offense. He converted more first downs that could have been drive enders than I can remember.

9. The Jets ran some excellently devised routes to their passing game.

1o. Jet fans will whine about the refs, but once again the Pats got the short end of the stick. About 25% fewer penalties. The defensive holding on a what looked like a run play was a real head-scratcher. And the personal foul on Devey was another. Brady got hit VERY late, which was ignored - yet Devey moderately makes a push and justified retaliation gets flagged. Mind Boggling>

11. The Parasitic media will attempt to spin this negatively all week. That is to be expected. I suggest we ignore it and keep to ourselves. The only exceptions should be Bedard's visit to FnM and Patriots' All Access to see the post game locker room comments.


In the end, the Pats took the Jets A-game and beat them with their B-game. Bottom line, if they had won by 20 they'd STILL be 5-2. You don't get style points in the standings.

They now have 6 games where they ARE going to be tested, before they finish the season with 3 more division games. Split those 6 games and win 2 of the 3 games in the division and we'll be 10-6 with a division crown. That's the minimum acceptable result. I see it being improved upon beyond that by a game or two.


That's gonna have to do it. Its almost 1 am, and I have to be up at 5:30.

My Turn.

I think that this weeks Coaching by Belichick and company was as good a job as any I've seen all year. It merits Coach of the Week.

Belichick faced a dilemma. With three Offensive linemen temporarily unavailable, only the dregs left, and Ridley on IR, going against a good defensive line, he had to figure out a way to keep Brady healthy, and still win the game. It was obvious that the Pats were unlikely to be able to run the ball with any consistency.

Belichick and his coaches decided too use the "Rope-a-dope" game plan on Rex, just like they used it one Peyton and the Broncs last year.

He would sucker Rex into a game of running. But just not quite good enough to be able to outscore the Pats. It worked.

Maybe not as perfectly as planned, but offering Rex an inviting pass defense oriented, 4-2-5 all game long, and inviting him to ground-and-pound to his heart's content, worked acceptably. Rex and his ground offense, burned away the clock and the limited the attempts on Brady's health.

BB believed that the Pats could outscore the Jesters, and he was correct. Completely undermanned, on the Offensive line, and unable to quickly adjust to the loss of Ridley, weary and tired, from the compacted calendar of four previous games, he knew he had to do something unorthodox. It worked.

The Jets dominated time-of-possession, and kicked Field Goals; while the Pats scored TDs on relatively short drives, punctuated with somewhat unexpected, long passes, against the weak Jets secondary. Brady emerged unscathed and healthy.

The Pats won. That's the name of the game. The hell with style points.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I don't understand the holding on that play. They ran a freakin option run play. Once the qb is out of the pocket, that can't be called. Another WTF moment by an awful crew

I don't understand how the Defense is capable of "holding" on a run play. Didn't then and don't now.

 

[mgteich]

Let's see.

Hightower was out last week. This week he played all game.

Browner was back.

We apparently have only one LB capable of calling signals. Hightower himself said that issue was communication.

We had the same OL that finished last week, with Cannon as a backup (as last week). It took a blocked punt to beat the 1-5 jets at home.
========================
Sure losing Mayo was a tragedy, but we did add Hightower and Browner to last week's defense.
========================
For this effort, the coaches deserve Coach of the Week???? NOT!
====
I'm not whining. We won a division game and suffered no injuries.

My Turn.

I think that this weeks Coaching by Belichick and company was as good a job as any I've seen all year. It merits Coach of the Week.

Belichick faced a dilemma. With three Offensive linemen temporarily unavailable, only the dregs left, and Ridley on IR, going against a good defensive line, he had to figure out a way to keep Brady healthy, and still win the game. It was obvious that the Pats were unlikely to be able to run the ball with any consistency.

Belichick and his coaches decided too use the "Rope-a-dope" game plan on Rex, just like they used it one Peyton and the Broncs last year.

He would sucker Rex into a game of running. But just not quite good enough to be able to outscore the Pats. It worked.

Maybe not as perfectly as planned, but offering Rex an inviting pass defense oriented, 4-2-5 all game long, and inviting him to ground-and-pound to his heart's content, worked acceptably. Rex and his ground offense, burned away the clock and the limited the attempts on Brady's health.

BB believed that the Pats could outscore the Jesters, and he was correct. Completely undermanned, on the Offensive line, and unable to quickly adjust to the loss of Ridley, weary and tired, from the compacted calendar of four previous games, he knew he had to do something unorthodox. It worked.

The Jets dominated time-of-possession, and kicked Field Goals; while the Pats scored TDs on relatively short drives, punctuated with somewhat unexpected, long passes, against the weak Jets secondary. Brady emerged unscathed and healthy.

The Pats won. That's the name of the game. The hell with style points.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

On the Jest last drive, coach of the week failed to call a time out (clock was stopped) so the Gods upstairs had a chance to review that bobbled non-catch on the sidelines. Failure to do that could have cost us the game.

What I thought was great by Josh was having Brady roll out to avoid pressure. It happened so many times and is so uncharacteristic that it smacks of something special first revealed vs the Jets. But then Johs had those pathetic run calls in the last series. Yeah I know that it was done to burn clock but with TFB as your QB the odds of a short pass completion were reasonable. A 1st down woulda ended the game.

 

[Danger Zone]

With the exception of a pick-6 we faired much the same as the Broncos did last week.

It's highly, highly underrated in my opinion how any team in the NFL can up/transform its game dramatically when circumstances warrant.

Playing your most hated rivals like its your Superbowl and coming out with a win will counter all your losses is absolutely one of the situations that gives life to the very real adage

.. any given Sunday.

 

[AzPatsFan]

On the Jest last drive, coach of the week failed to call a time out (clock was stopped) so the Gods upstairs had a chance to review that bobbled non-catch on the sidelines. Failure to do that could have cost us the game.

What I thought was great by Josh was having Brady roll out to avoid pressure. It happened so many times and is so uncharacteristic that it smacks of something special first revealed vs the Jets. But then Johs had those pathetic run calls in the last series. Yeah I know that it was done to burn clock but with TFB as your QB the odds of a short pass completion were reasonable. A 1st down woulda ended the game.

Yes, I noted the Rollouts too. Did you also note that Brady was throwing the ball into the dirt purposely, when ever the pass rush was getting close? I think he was also coached to do that, too. I think that was all part of the game plan to keep him healthy.

I think that BB expected 27-35 points from his big strike, pass oriented Offense, against the pathetic Jester secondary; and 24 or less from the Jesters.

PS; I questioned that completion, and watched it in slo-mo several times, and did not think it would be overturned. Plus taking the T.O. would have given the Jets time to re-organize, and plan a couple of plays.

 

[AzPatsFan]

My Turn.

I think that this weeks Coaching by Belichick and company was as good a job as any I've seen all year. It merits Coach of the Week.

Belichick faced a dilemma. With three Offensive linemen temporarily unavailable, only the dregs left, and Ridley on IR, going against a good defensive line, he had to figure out a way to keep Brady healthy, and still win the game. It was obvious that the Pats were unlikely to be able to run the ball with any consistency.

Belichick and his coaches decided too use the "Rope-a-dope" game plan on Rex, just like they used it one Peyton and the Broncs last year.

He would sucker Rex into a game of running. But just not quite good enough to be able to outscore the Pats. It worked.

Maybe not as perfectly as planned, but offering Rex an inviting pass defense oriented, 4-2-5 all game long, and inviting him to ground-and-pound to his heart's content, worked acceptably. Rex and his ground offense, burned away the clock and the limited the attempts on Brady's health.

BB believed that the Pats could outscore the Jesters, and he was correct. Completely undermanned, on the Offensive line, and unable to quickly adjust to the loss of Ridley, weary and tired, from the compacted calendar of four previous games, he knew he had to do something unorthodox. It worked.

The Jets dominated time-of-possession, and kicked Field Goals; while the Pats scored TDs on relatively short drives, punctuated with somewhat unexpected, long passes, against the weak Jets secondary. Brady emerged unscathed and healthy.

The Pats won. That's the name of the game. The hell with style points.

What did you think of the Rope-a-dope against Peyton last year?

 

[The Brandon Five]

2. Folks criticized Revis & Browner but MOST of the pressure on Geno was because of excellent DB coverage. It has seemed to me that forever the Pats will break through OL defenders only to fall on their faces in a pratfall as they approach the QB. Whatever their footgear was last night, trash it.

This is the third game where our guys were running around like they were on roller skates. Really? Nobody in the Patriots brain trust is noticing this?

 

[Rob0729]

In response to the original post:

1. Actually, NE scored just one point north of the Jet's season average. Mildly disappointing...

That is misleading for several reasons:

• Geno Smith has thrown a couple pick sixes. For example, the Pats' offense scored 27 points vs. the Jets while the Broncos' offense scored 24 points against them. But the Broncos scored more points because Talib had a pick six. The Bears also scored 27 points, but 7 was from a pick six. The only teams that actually scored more on offense against the Jets than the Pats were the Packers and Chargers (both with 31 points). Both those teams have top offenses and had scoring drives against the Jets of less than 25 yards because of turnovers.
• The Pats had only 19 minutes of time of possession. Yes, that is damning for the defense, but that hurt the offense's ability to have opportunities to score more points.

 

[The Brandon Five]

That is misleading for several reasons:

• Geno Smith has thrown a couple pick sixes. For example, the Pats' offense scored 27 points vs. the Jets while the Broncos' offense scored 24 points against them. But the Broncos scored more points because Talib had a pick six. The Bears also scored 27 points, but 7 was from a pick six. The only teams that actually scored more on offense against the Jets than the Pats were the Packers and Chargers (both with 31 points). Both those teams have top offenses and had scoring drives against the Jets of less than 25 yards because of turnovers.
• The Pats had only 19 minutes of time of possession. Yes, that is damning for the defense, but that hurt the offense's ability to have opportunities to score more points.

In fairness to the D the offense stalled for a portion of the game with a few three-and-outs.