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- Oct 10, 2006
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I'm tired.
The game sucked.
The team mostly sucked.
My dinner sucked.
I have to get up extra early, which sucks.
In short, today has been one long JETS-like experience, with suck pretty much everywhere, and the vaunted New England Patriots are the only winless team in the AFCE. So, while I could rant on and on about all things Patriots, overcooked rice and undercooked pork, I'll try to keep this somewhat even-toned, in honor of the game being played on national acorn squash day, and all. Now, without further ado:
There's a whole lot more to say, but that'll do for now.
The game sucked.
The team mostly sucked.
My dinner sucked.
I have to get up extra early, which sucks.
In short, today has been one long JETS-like experience, with suck pretty much everywhere, and the vaunted New England Patriots are the only winless team in the AFCE. So, while I could rant on and on about all things Patriots, overcooked rice and undercooked pork, I'll try to keep this somewhat even-toned, in honor of the game being played on national acorn squash day, and all. Now, without further ado:
- Anyone trying to tell you that the heat/sun wasn't a factor is completely full of it (I'm looking right at you, coach).
- I normally defend the OC/DC but, in this case, I'm going to make an exception. I'd really love to know what the hell McDaniels was thinking with the playcalling on that first drive. You've got a patchwork O-line, so you start off with a run instead of a quick strike pass? I get that Welker's absence means there's nobody who gets open as quickly as Brady would like, but why not come out five wide when you know that the Dolphins are going to just rush four? It was there. You had a chance to put the Dolphins on their heels from the start, and you went with a Ridley handoff. Awful. And that led to 2nd and long, and then 3rd and long with a rusty Gronk, which led to that
- Nice trainwreck of a punt play. Allen's now got a block on his resume. I don't know who to blame, because I didn't go back and watch to see who let his man just waltz on by, but the snap wasn't that bad, and Allen recovered quickly, so some blocker needs to be missing his ass. Now, rather than go line-by-line, let's talk Mike Wallace.
- Mike Wallace looked like the greatest WR in the history of the world today when he was beating the hell out of everyone with his routes. The only things that slowed him down were his hands and his own QB. For all the "Mike Wallace can only run..." nonsense, well, there you have it.
- Vellano stunk, but that's not his fault. Blame the coaches for putting him in that position. He has no business being out there like that. Of course...
- Tommy Kelly. 'Nuff said, I think.
- Devey does not belong out there, but that's not his fault. Again, blame the coaches for putting him in that position. Which leads to...
- Logan Mankins. Nowhere near 'nuff said, but it's getting covered elsewhere. I'll just leave it at this...
- Solder/Mankins/Connolly/Cannon/Vollmer should have been the week one starting OL lineup.
- Wilfork was getting penetration, but he was also being steered away on running plays. The Dolpins were able to make a living by guiding him right or left, and then running to the side he'd been steered away from. that's what happens when you've got DEs with no lead in their asses.
- Amendola simply cannot get open as fast as Welker could.
- Thompkins is still a much different player when the games count, and that's a very bad thing. Dobson better tape an aspirin to whatever ails him and get out there, because this WR group doesn't have an OWR1, unless he's it.
- LaFell is what he is. He's a multi-position WR3/WR4 who needs to be used like Gaffney was. Anything more, and you're asking for trouble.
- Hey, how about that shiny new TE2, Tim Wright? The WR with the wrong positional label racked up a whopping 15 yards on 3 catches. Thank God they got him for his blocking, huh?
- Edelman already looks good, although I'd love to hear his explanation of what happen on that deep ball that flew harmlessly over his head while he did a pirouette instead of just turning up field. He'll make a fine WR of all trades again this year.
- BTW, the Dolphins have put together a very nice secondary, and they have a nice DL. So, to return to my OC rant, why the hell didn't the Patriots take advantage of the Dolphins LB problems by spreading the damned field with empty backfields?
- Brady looks great when he's got time. Brady looks mortal when he's getting his ass kicked, his receivers aren't running the routes he's expecting, and the receivers are dropping passes. Sounds too damned much like last year, but I was actually encouraged by the early performance. They came back from a rough start and had things going their way at the half.
- I feel bad for Hightower. He was flagged for making a form tackle. I'm all for protecting QBs in some cases, but that rule's just not right.
- Gost got the job done, and to wrap things up instead of going 50 points long,
- It was just game one. It's a bad loss, but they'll turn it around and fix at least most of the problems.
There's a whole lot more to say, but that'll do for now.