insidenation
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.1. I can't understand the threads where people are trying to figure out if we are still in position to get a bye or not. For God's sake, we aren't even half way through the season. Those threads are MEANINGLESS. No one knows how the rest of the season will go. We can wind up 14-2....or NOT. The same can be said of the rest of league. If the Oakland and Bill wins can teach us ANYTHING....you cannot count on ANY win in the NFL...or loss.
4. I know there has been a thread about our Safety play, but I can't help myself. We are getting the best safety play we have seen in the BB era. Though Rodney was the BEST S to play, the combination of McGowan and Merriweather is. IMHO. better than Wilson and Harrison. My only concern here is how long McGowan can survive his reckless style. Beyond that, with Chung's development and Sanders' (when healthy) steady play, we have DEPTH, positional flexibility, as well as talent in our safety unit. It will only get better as the season wears on.
5. IMHO, Matt Light was performing at a VERY high level before his injury. He STONED John Abrahams, and WAS stoning EDummerville before he got hurt. Supposedly these are just the kind of DE's who give him trouble, but somehow they DIDN'T. Yes it is nice to see Volmer do well in his debut on the left side, but I think we should all take that giant step back to reality and understand that the Seabass era is still a ways away. Let me see him swallow Dwight Freeney up in a Dome setting before I anoint him the second coming of Jackie Slater. Most OTs will look good playing against DEs in the snow. The fact is that when he gets healthy, Matt Light will be the starting LT for the Pats...and that will be for the BEST.
In the same vein, Nick Kazcur CONTINUES to be undervalued by fans. We continue to ignore the fact that he is going to be here for the long run. Fans might not value him, but the coaching staff CLEARLY does. Maybe its time to give them some credit....and Nick too.
The real story is how the Pats might start to use the OL talent they have on down the road. Mark Levoir is also someone who has to be reckoned with. Maybe as Seabass develops (as in NEXT year) either Light or Kazcur moves to RG to replace the oft injured Steve Neal, who I don't think will be be back next year. I remember years ago reading a scouting report that opined that while Matt Light can be a good LT (and he has been), he had the potential to be an All Pro G. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. That being said, I believe that nothing will drastically change in the OL rotation THIS YEAR
11. Finally as one of those who was singing the praises of Ron Brace all through training camp, his lack of playing time this late into the season, has to be troubling. I thought he'd at least be a key factor on GL and short yardage D, but Pryor has seemingly flown right by him on the depth chart.
Ken...are you the same person from the alt. newsgroup that went as kenthaler?
PFKen...one minor point...I sincerely hope you took a long hot shower and deloused yourself good before posting here....you never know what you're gonna pick up at that Jets Insider board.
Ken, great post as usual. Well thought out and reasoned. Just a comment on Brace though, as I mentioned on another thread, BB has always said that new players to new england, especially rookies have very unique and personal timetables on how quickly they can grasp their role on the team. For now, I'm not ready to get worried about him yet. I think he just needs some time not just learning the playbook but also understaning how it is to be a professional football player. I'm sure that's not an easy transition for everyone coming from college into the real world.
I saw a place for him at LEAST on the GL, where the Pats can sometimes be a little light in the pants along the DL...especially now that Seymour is gone. The fact that he hasn't been able to do even THAT is troubling to me. Its not earth shattering, but still troubling.
Nope, afraid not
Afraid NOT to be Kent Thaler? I'd be the opposite! Must be hard to wake up one day and realize just how wrong you've been for how many years.
Does he post here? If so, hope he's well.
Jeffrey
I remember ol Kent Thaler from USENET Patriots newsgroup days in the early to mid 90s. My favorite sport was rebutting his ten or so 'thoughts' (what a misnomer) of the week. Hilarity ensued.
Yeah, usenet. Tollbooth Bobby Jensen and the Jets trolls and all. Ironically, turns out he was spot on with Bobby Grier and the Pats personnel follies, who'd 'a thunk it? I see Chris in Sunnyvale here, and a few others, but it's a lot harder to post when the level of expertise is so much higher and the trolls are mostly steered away by the bouncers. Much of the discussion was OT (which could be quite good some of the time). Gawd, what old farts we are.
Jeffrey
I loved USENET and all kidding aside enjoyed Kent's weekly rants. The level of real football information is higher here, despite the background noise but I miss the humorous opposing fans. I'm sad that Ian (not without good reason) banned Aqua4Evah from PatsFans who was another continuing source of hilarity as an over the top Phins fan as impervious to fact as a duck's back to rain.
'Tollbooth' Bob Jenson, JETS rump swab extraodinaire. Remember the "Bowling Ball With Knives" the Jets drafted #1? Even the Jets fans finally turned on their cheerleader and drove him away.
Two minor comments. First, very good post indeed.
1. It's too early to know if Brace will be a player or not. If not, it may end up being a case of BB reaching for a Sun Blocker, because of the situation with Wolfolk. If he does become a player, many of us can eat our crow and be glad that we did.
2. Has anybody else noticed that Kaczur has done more than hold his own. He has improved as much as any player on the team, and to me, has proven that off season hard work will pay off. I've isolated him (as much as one can on TIVO) some this year, and the man has been fantastic. More even than I think he is getting credit for (I know, never end the sentence in a preposition).
2. Has anybody else noticed that Kaczur has done more than hold his own. He has improved as much as any player on the team, and to me, has proven that off season hard work will pay off. I've isolated him (as much as one can on TIVO) some this year, and the man has been fantastic. More even than I think he is getting credit for (I know, never end the sentence in a preposition).
Yeah I've been focusing on Kaczur alot more this year simply because he was generally regarded as the weak link in the OL the past couple of years.
He's looked downright nasty at times--totally a pleasant surpise so far. He must have really stepped it up this offseason. He's still young and hopefully he stays healthy and solidifies the RT position for a long time to come.
Kaczur has been playing well. I would like to see the same consistency from Mankins, who looks great on some plays and like a turnstile on others (see the V Holliday sack in the Denver game).
In response to Ken's original post:
I didn't read the Bodden post, but saying that he is consistently the best CB post Samuel isn't saying much . That may only be so because Butler has not yet been given a chance to start full time. Further, no one here has the authority or insight to say that Bodden and Springs will continue to be the starting corners. Show me a play where Butler has looked worse than either Bodden or Springs did in the Denver game and I'll gladly concede this point. I for one am ready to let Butler sink or swim. There is always Bodden and Springs to fall back to.
Next point that bears discussion is your take that we are getting the best safety play in the BB era. I immediately went to compare this year's stats of McGowan/Meriweather against 2003 and 2004's Harrison/wilson, and sure enough, this year's tandem compares favorably in tackles and passes defended, but they are not getting any INT's. My problem is that the safeties are still giving up way too many 3rd downs,especially in the second half. I'm not sure if this is due to coaching or scheme, but recall Harrison & Wilson would make receivers pay for going across the middle on third down. I'd even harken back to Milloy/Jones in 2001. Granted, the pass rush has declined significantly in the past two seasons, and the front seven overall is not as dominating as it was in 2003/2004, which needs to be factored in as well.
I do think McGowan is a HUGE upgrade over Sanders, especially against the run. I pray for his continued health and success.