Name 3 you liked, 3 you think should hit practice hard this week

[LXPX]

Good: Mike W., Brandon M., Sammy M.

Needs Work: J. Sanders, L. Maroney, S. Springs

 

[Robdude]

Liked:

Meriweather
Butler
Moss - Randy Moss has been a class act and a true Patriot. This game speaks volumes to me as his catches were low most of the game but he contributed with KEY blocks. He helped spring Welker on a few passes and I beleive (only watching the game once) that his block sprung Morris on the TD.

Disliked

Hanson Maybe just a bad game but could he have been much worse?
Burgess I don't know...I am expected more from him. But again I only saw the game once. Others could convince me he had a good game. 1 tackle 3 assists 0 sacks

 

[patchick]

On the plus side, how about the combined ball skills of Meriweather, Butler and Bodden? How many times did they get their hands on balls, not just for Bodden's INT but to break up pass after pass? The combination of disciplined coverage, ball awareness and timing was awesome -- especially for the rookie, who didn't look like a rookie yesterday. Lock up Bodden long term and I like the looks of this defensive backfield for years to come.

On the minus side, rather than hammering more on the guys who muffed plays, how about the guys who were invisible or inactive? The two big new pieces on offense, Galloway and Baker, haven't worked their way into Brady's rotation yet. And the two top draft picks, Chung and Brace, are well behind a street FA and UDFA respectively. Yeah, I know they're rookies, but...see Butler, above.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Moss - Randy Moss has been a class act and a true Patriot. This game speaks volumes to me as his catches were low most of the game but he contributed with KEY blocks. He helped spring Welker on a few passes and I beleive (only watching the game once) that his block sprung Morris on the TD.

Yes, Moss' block there was key to the TD. AND, even more on the previous play a catch and YAC by WWW, Moss also delivered a block (in his screen the player style) that enabled the YAC. Good team effort by Moss.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

LOTS more plusses than minuses
+ Moss, team effort
+ OL pass blocking, excepting #72
+ Watson, quietly having a fine contributing season
+ Merriweather, saved the game losing TD and had a monster game
+ Butler, best Pats CB play on the deep pass I'd seen in a few years, atheletic kid
+ Morris
+ The pass rush crew
+ Wright
+ Wilfie on a bad ankle nonetheless, a stud

- Maroney on KRs, sad to say jukes too much rather than slaming into the wall
- Light's strip sack and penalty on Maroney's EXCELLENT YAC play
- Sanders' EPIC FAIL on backup deep coverage saved by Merriweather
- Both play calling & execution on the final 3 and out by the offense where one first down woulda iced the game
- Pass D on last Ravens drive, too loose on the sidelines where the Ravens HAD to throw because of the clock

Some of our criticisms are for one play (e.g. Light) in the context of 60 minutes worth of plays, but those one plays often determine a ballgame. It is what it is.

 

[bigcountry75]

Yes - Butler.....This kid is going to be one hell of a player and i noticed his great body control able to swat balls away without the PI.

Meriweather.....He was solid in pass coverage and is another young stud in our secondary for years to come..I also like his aggressiveness..

Morris.....I would give him alot more carries and go with Freddy T and morris as the 2 backs with faulk on 3rd downs.

Mcgowan....I just have to give him props....It seems like everytime he is in the open field he makes the plays....He is unknown around the league but he is one of those intangible guys that just makes the plays....Those are the guys we had on our championship teams and glad to see him on this years team..

No - Maroney....He just pisses me off when he runs....Just cut him and let him try out for dancing with the stars.....

Whoever is calling the Offensive plays....He almost helped give the game to the ravens towards the end....In case he didn't notice Brady is a pocket passer and moving him on a rollout on 3rd and 5 on a critical play was just stupid....I would have rather called a draw play then that rollout...

Sanders....He was out of position quite a bit....Took bad angles to and at the ball carrier or receiver....Missed quite a bit of tackles....We need to keep meriweather and mcgowan on the field or bring in Pat chung because sanders isn't cutting it....

 

[mgteich]

Sanders is what he is, a reasonable #3 safety and a fine blitzer and speical teamer. I don't complain about one missed coverage, especially when another player was in the area. If the standard is zero missed coverages, then Sanders would be an all-pro shutdown corner, rather than a safety, and even top corners allow some plays occasionally.

 

[MVPatsfan13]

Let Rest: Mankins, Wilfork, Morris

Two-a-Days: Maroney(STs), Galloway(DNP=WOW), Woods(didnt really hear or see him)

other thoughts-
Guyton played great, but ran right past Rice on a screen, hopefully he'll recognize the moving OL in the future(Rice did time it perfectly)
Edelman, where was he the 2nd half? I dont really like him blocking on KRs
Burgess still doesnt seem worth close to the price paid.
Terdell Sands is HUGE!
Is Brace injured? Wheatley?

 

[mayoclinic]

On the plus side, how about the combined ball skills of Meriweather, Butler and Bodden? How many times did they get their hands on balls, not just for Bodden's INT but to break up pass after pass? The combination of disciplined coverage, ball awareness and timing was awesome -- especially for the rookie, who didn't look like a rookie yesterday. Lock up Bodden long term and I like the looks of this defensive backfield for years to come.

Where I have I heard this before? We haven't had 2 CBs playing really well at the same time since Law and Poole in 2003. Since then, we've gone through injuries, the development of Samuel, and the collapse of the CB position in 2008. Imagine what long term stability would be like with Bodden and Butler as our starting CBs, Springs/Wilhite/Wheatley as backups, and a really terrific safety corps.

Bodden only signed a 1 year deal, but he has been vocal that he would prefer to stay with New England if possible. My reading is that he won't stay for cheap money, but he would rather stay if we can make a reasonable offer. The big question is what "reasonable" is.

On the minus side, rather than hammering more on the guys who muffed plays, how about the guys who were invisible or inactive? The two big new pieces on offense, Galloway and Baker, haven't worked their way into Brady's rotation yet. And the two top draft picks, Chung and Brace, are well behind a street FA and UDFA respectively. Yeah, I know they're rookies, but...see Butler, above.

It's interesting that of our 4 second round picks in 2009, the last 2 are clearly outperforming the first 2 so far. Doesn't mean anything for the long run, but interesting. I'm not surprised about Butler, though, because it seems to me that he was a clear 1st round talent who fell to the second round.

I'm a little surprised about Baker. I thought after his preseason performance and the 36 yard TD pass against Atlanta that he would be much more active against Baltimore. I'm not sure that's his problem, as much as Brady's or the coaches'. He seems to have done pretty much what we've asked of him whenever given the opportunity.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

i'd add mankins to the +list and hanson, even though he's not a position player, to the -list. i don't think it's that hard for an NFL punter to hang a 45 yard kick into the end zone from the opponents 40; but that's not what we need.

if i were his coach, i'd snap to him in practice from every yard line between the 40 and midfield and not let him off the field until he consistently kills his kicks inside the 15 yard line; turn on the lights if you have to.

 

[patchick]

Bodden only signed a 1 year deal, but he has been vocal that he would prefer to stay with New England if possible. My reading is that he won't stay for cheap money, but he would rather stay if we can make a reasonable offer. The big question is what "reasonable" is.

Yep, Bodden's confidence in himself looks like it will pay off in a big way. The peculiarities of 2010 might make it more likely that the Pats will keep him -- assuming they're part of the top-tier FA signing restrictions, re-signing your own has to be a priority. (Also, the amount of painful losing he's gone through should help. He's one of those guys who already knows that squeezing out every last dollar isn't the only consideration.)

 

[cstjohn17]

Likes

1. Dean Peas
2. Tom Brady
3. O Line

Need work:

1. Ability to finish blitzes, they had a lot of 'almost' sacks but still seem a step away from closing the deal. This will come with practice.
2. 3rd WR - Sam Aiken is a good guy and a decent human being but not what we need on the outside. Watching the 2007 Ravens replay it is very evident that Stallworth was much more sudden and explosive.
3. Tighten up zone coverages, short outs and passes to the TE were constantly open.

One game at a time, get better each week. Very fun game to watch.

 

[upstater1]

You have to give DL a chance since college weight training programs are not up to par with the pros. Plus, many of these guys don't have man strength yet.

This is why it takes OL and DL so long to develop. A kid like Brace may be getting pushed around too much right now.

Think of Wright a few years ago. Expect to see Brace around for a while. Remember how long Brandon Mitchell lasted even when it became clear he couldn't live up to his draft status?

 

[Horace's Ivories]

great - merriweather - all over the place
morris - lots of key plays
moss - cause i can

not - sanders - just not good - multiple times
aiken - whither galloway?
hanson - two 20 yard net punts - vunderbar!

 

[klinefan]

Kaczur - good against Ngata
Morris - hard running
Moss - nice receptions

needs work:
Brady: still overthrows people and seems a little rattled, but improving
Maroney: looked great in first 3 weeks, but no holes for him today, runs too upright. Did look good on a pass play that was called back.
Aiken: why didn't we keep Washington again?

 

[Easywolf32]

Damn...you guys rock! 4 pages, I really didnt think there would be many replies. Ill try and make a 3 and 3 post every week after the game.

Also, Ill try and figure out who the most liked and hated are every week.

Game Balls

Looks like it's Merriweather, Butler, D-Line & Morris

Game Duds

Malroney & to a lesser degree Aiken, Sanders & Wilhite.

I also saw a much better performance from Guyton over the Jets game, and please cut Hanson some slack, I'm sure he's going to get his grade A punting kick together.

Maroney was a huge flop, I really miss those guarenteed 30-35 even 40 yd kickoff returns from Hobbs. Anyhow I'm VERY pleased that our secondary has gotten some special new blood pumped into it, I hope we keep them as is this time.