Maroney -- 23 plays, 15 carries, 18 touches

[Fencer]

Maroney: Just 3 second-half snaps - Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

According to Reiss, Maroney was in for 23 plays in the Saints came. 2/3 of those were runs, and several passes were thrown his way as well.

I think of several ways to spin that. E.g.:

The play-calling is regrettably predictable. The regrettably predictable play-calling, however, puts Maroney in a position to perform worse than his stats seem to suggest. The staff doesn't have much confidence in Maroney on passing downs. Faulk is just so good they can't bear to keep him off the field on passing downs. Etc.

 

[patsfan-1982]

will if they stop throwing from shotgun so much the pass rush would be a half sec slower because they would have to think is it a run or a pass


you can't play back yerd football in the NFL i dont care if you got brady moss and welker it will not get it done vs good team's

 

[DarrylS]

Unfortunately predictability is becoming a hallmark of this O... there is a terrific need for innovation and just plain old mixing it up..

 

[convertedpatsfan]

We definitely need to run the ball more. But Maroney's recent fumble issues make it easy for the coaches to quit on the run. That's 3 straight games with a fumble lost after only losing one fumble in his first 3 seasons. And as Reiss pointed out, there weren't many snaps for Maroney after the fumble to start the second half.

I agree with DarrylS, we definitely need to mix things up more and keep defenses off-balance. But Maroney has to do a better job of securing the ball to keep some confidence in the run game.

 

[Kontradiction]

Unfortunately predictability is becoming a hallmark of this O... there is a terrific need for innovation and just plain old mixing it up..

Yep. You know that draw to Faulk and a screen to Welker is coming at least once on every drive. O'Brien really needs to learn to mix it up. Our play action is almost becoming a moot point with him calling the plays.

 

[Triumph]

Unfortunately predictability is becoming a hallmark of this O... there is a terrific need for innovation and just plain old mixing it up..

Exactly.

I pray Charlie Weis comes back.

 

[maverick4]

One key stat on Reiss blog in another post, was Maroney only had 3 total touches in the 2nd half of the Saints game.

 

[Rob0729]

Exactly.

I pray Charlie Weis comes back.

Unfortunately, O'Brien did what everyone's biggest complaint of Weis was prior to Corey Dillon - gave up on the run in the second half. Weis would have called the game better, but there is no guarantee that he would have ran Maroney more.

 

[Willie55]

Things should change with Morris being healthy and I assume Taylor coming back soon.

 

[Rob0729]

Things should change with Morris being healthy and I assume Taylor coming back soon.

I agree. With more RBs with different styles, the Pats will have more options.

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree. With more RBs with different styles, the Pats will have more options.

Agreed. I was liking the offensive play calling after the Buffalo and Jets games earlier in the season when we had our full option of running backs. Since Taylor and Morris went down... not so much.

 

[ScrewDrvr]

Has Taylor practiced any this week?

 

[Kontradiction]

Has Taylor practiced any this week?

My guess is that they are going to hold him back until the last couple of weeks of the season to ensure that he's healthy for the playoffs, where we will need his services the most.

 

[Rob0729]

My guess is that they are going to hold him back until the last couple of weeks of the season to ensure that he's healthy for the playoffs, where we will need his services the most.

I agree. Based on the competiton left on the docket, they shouldn't rush him back. He probably wasn't ready this week. The Bills are not a good team and look to be getting worse, not better. The Panthers aren't any better. We might see him for the Jags game because they are above average and he will want to show them up, but I wouldn't expect to see him until then.

 

[patriotscpfc]

Agreed. I was liking the offensive play calling after the Buffalo and Jets games earlier in the season when we had our full option of running backs. Since Taylor and Morris went down... not so much.

Brady threw the ball 100 times and we could/should have lost both games.

I thought the calling was horrible and improved when Taylor/Morris went down.

 

[Kontradiction]

Brady threw the ball 100 times and we could/should have lost both games.

I thought the calling was horrible and improved when Taylor/Morris went down.

That's why I said after the Buffalo/Jets games. I thought the playcalling was rather good and balanced in the Falcons and Ravens games before the injuries to RB occurred. But meh, I'm just fan. What do I know?

 

[makoute]

Yep. You know that draw to Faulk and a screen to Welker is coming at least once on every drive. O'Brien really needs to learn to mix it up. Our play action is almost becoming a moot point with him calling the plays.

You don't know how much I wish they would call play action in the EZ just once when they get there, that play used to work so well, I don't think I've seen it even once this year.

 

[mayoclinic]

Brady threw the ball 100 times and we could/should have lost both games.

I thought the calling was horrible and improved when Taylor/Morris went down.

I agree. Our running game also improved after Taylor/Morris went down. I'm not sure if this was a result of Maroney getting enough carries to develop some consistency and confidence, or of Vollmer taking over at LT for Light, or both.

I obviously want Taylor and Morris back, but I really don't want to reprise our running game of the first 4-5 games of the season. I think Maroney has earned the spot as the #1 back. I'd like to see Morris used mainly as a fullback and a short yardage guy. And I'd like to see Taylor used sparingly as more of a power back, and in situations where his style may be more effective than Maroney's. But LoMo is running with authority and aggression right now. We need to block for him, open some holes, and keep running the ball, not dividing the touches up among more backs.

 

[mayoclinic]

You don't know how much I wish they would call play action in the EZ just once when they get there, that play used to work so well, I don't think I've seen it even once this year.

Don't make me cry. I've been begging for more play action all season.

I'd also like to see more TE use. Chris Baker was a beast in the red zone all preseason. We've ignored him all season long.

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree. Our running game also improved after Taylor/Morris went down. I'm not sure if this was a result of Maroney getting enough carries to develop some consistency and confidence, or of Vollmer taking over at LT for Light, or both.

I obviously want Taylor and Morris back, but I really don't want to reprise our running game of the first 4-5 games of the season. I think Maroney has earned the spot as the #1 back. I'd like to see Morris used mainly as a fullback and a short yardage guy. And I'd like to see Taylor used sparingly as more of a power back, and in situations where his style may be more effective than Maroney's. But LoMo is running with authority and aggression right now. We need to block for him, open some holes, and keep running the ball, not dividing the touches up among more backs.

Maroney has been running hard, but we're going to need Taylor's power in the playoffs against the Cinncinnati's and the Pittsburgh's of the AFC in order to move the chains as well. I do agree with Sammy, but I would also hope that we use him in 2 RB, 3 WR shotgun formations on the other side of Brady along with Faulk on third down. Sammy is a viable option to catch the ball as well and has a good mix of power and speed to beat one on one coverage against a linebacker.