Patriots at Bengals Game Review by Mike Reiss

[SVN]

didnt watch the game yesterday so I read up reiss's notes. Only thing I can conclude just by reading this is that ,they had a bad day at the office-coaches,players everyone against a Defense which may not be replicated in any of the other games pats may face down the road -maybe miami. That coupled with no margin for error with this roster seemed to be the reason for the loss. Compare this to the loss vs Steelers 2 yrs ago where the game wasnt as close the score ,I think they CAN play better which is something to look forward to.

Picked-up pieces from 1st-half review of New England Patriots - ESPN Boston
Picked-up pieces from 2nd-half review - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[fnordcircle]

There were multiple problems:

-Key fumble by Blount on a drive we would have put points on the board. If we get a FG instead of a turnover that leads to a score for Cincy there we're going for it on 4th and goal later in the game (if things played out the same)

-Protection issues abounded.

-No commitment to the run. Despite Blount's fumble I felt like we were doing alright running the ball when we tried. Instead we did a lot of '5 wide on first down, incomplete pass, then run for 3 yards on second down then fail to convert on 3rd' The few times we ran on first down I thought we did a good job and we gave up on the run way, way too early.

Just a lot of miscues, injuries catching up, sluggish play and the worst weather came down at the worst time.

We deserved to lose but there were a lot of factors as to why we lost.

 

[Gronkandez]

The Pats had a 1st and goal from inside the one yeard line late in the game and had to settle for a FG.

1st Down run off left tackle, two yard loss.
2nd Down pass to Solder incomplete. He was covered like a blanket and ran like a 400 pounder
3rd Down Cincy showing obvious blitz. Brady lobs it to Edelman as he's about to get crushed. Edelman can't come down with it.

Cincy had a 3rd and 15 on their own one yard line can completed an easy pass for a first down along the sidelines a la Mario Manningham.

 

[JMC00]

They ran the ball only 7 times after Blount's fumble, which happened with 9 minutes to go in the 1st half and 1 of them was Blount from the 1 yard line on 1st and goal.

You've run the ball only 6 times since 6 minutes into the 2nd quarter and you just got stopped at the 1 yard line on a run and you think they are gonna bite on a play-action pass to your LT on 2nd and goal?

You can't expect a team to care even one bit about your run game let alone respect it when you've basically told them you've abandoned it.

 

[JMC00]

The Pats had a 1st and goal from inside the one yeard line late in the game and had to settle for a FG.

1st Down run off left tackle, two yard loss.
2nd Down pass to Solder incomplete. He was covered like a blanket and ran like a 400 pounder
3rd Down Cincy showing obvious blitz. Brady lobs it to Edelman as he's about to get crushed. Edelman can't come down with it.

Cincy had a 3rd and 15 on their own one yard line can completed an easy pass for a first down along the sidelines a la Mario Manningham.

Well to be fair no-one is second guessing if Edelman holds onto the ball. I just think the best course of action would have been to run it 3 straight times.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Well to be fair no-one is second guessing if Edelman holds onto the ball. I just think the best course of action would have been to run it 3 straight times.

Not hard to imagine the Pats scoring in that series if Ridley and Gronk are in there.

 

[Deus Irae]

Well to be fair no-one is second guessing if Edelman holds onto the ball. I just think the best course of action would have been to run it 3 straight times.

The problem with trying to run the ball against a stacked line is that Blount needs 3 steps to get up to speed, and you're not getting that a lot when you're at the goal line.

 

[cstjohn17]

The Pats had a 1st and goal from inside the one yeard line late in the game and had to settle for a FG.

1st Down run off left tackle, two yard loss.
2nd Down pass to Solder incomplete. He was covered like a blanket and ran like a 400 pounder
3rd Down Cincy showing obvious blitz. Brady lobs it to Edelman as he's about to get crushed. Edelman can't come down with it.

Cincy had a 3rd and 15 on their own one yard line can completed an easy pass for a first down along the sidelines a la Mario Manningham.

Game, set match. It was 6-3 when the Bengals converted that 3rd down. The went on to score a TD on that drive.

 

[JMC00]

The problem with trying to run the ball against a stacked line is that Blount needs 3 steps to get up to speed, and you're not getting that a lot when you're at the goal line.

Brandon Bolden? Brady keeper?

I swore that first play from the 2 inch line was gonna be a Brady keeper.

 

[SVN]

Pats have had no continuity with their offensive personnel and havent been able to put together a confidence building game for 60 mins for the offense. They need a game or two to build on and every game seems like they make 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

 

[SVN]

Brandon Bolden? Brady keeper?

I swore that first play from the 2 inch line was gonna be a Brady keeper.

I think a lot of teams are expecting that. Not to mention vs that Dline, if brady got hurt in the play....

 

[Mark.]

Brandon Bolden? Brady keeper?

I swore that first play from the 2 inch line was gonna be a Brady keeper.

After Brady's recent fumble on the goal line and last week's Brady fumble, maybe they aren't as comfortable as normal in the Brady keeper?

 

[Deus Irae]

Brandon Bolden? Brady keeper?

I swore that first play from the 2 inch line was gonna be a Brady keeper.

Maybe, but I don't think those options are so great that they are overwhelmingly better than what was chosen. The Patriots tried a run on first down, so we're really talking about 2 plays, one of which would have been a TD had the WR just held onto the ball.

 

[JMC00]

I think a lot of teams are expecting that. Not to mention vs that Dline, if brady got hurt in the play....

They expect it but it being converted 70 out of 73 times says they rarely can stop it.

And as for Brady getting hurt. He probably has as much risk as throwing a 20 yard TD pass and some guy coming in late as he does running a keeper from the 2 inch line,

 

[condon84]

Brandon Bolden? Brady keeper?

I swore that first play from the 2 inch line was gonna be a Brady keeper.

Bolden IMO would have been a better back down there. He's got the ability to cut it outside especially the way the Bengals were stacking the line. Plus he also has enough power to carry guys in.

I don't know what our coaching staff's fascination with Blount. He can make some nice runs, but it's when our OL has huge holes for him to run through. I think Bolden can maximize those runs a bit better.

The real clunker in the goal line was the SOlder play. No need to get cute down there. When they did that, I was thinking that we would also go for it on 4th down since we essentially threw a down away.

 

[fnordcircle]

1st and goal if Brady sneaks it 3 straight times we get in no question. Instead we get Blount, the 250 lb finesse fumbler who can't move the goddamn pile, a too cute for their own good pass to Solder that only is gonna work if Solder is uncovered and then a great play by a defender on Julian.

 

[PatriotSeven]

Pats have had no continuity with their offensive personnel and havent been able to put together a confidence building game for 60 mins for the offense. They need a game or two to build on and every game seems like they make 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

I actually thought they showed steady improvement in every game, except for this one. I don't think this one game is indicative of a problem. A step back is expected here and there.

This was probably a defense that was too good for our team to use as a learning and training lesson while playing them. They got crushed. Watch it and burn the tape because there's not much to learn from this one.

I think next week we're going to be forced to throw it up no matter what. So win or lose, our rooks will get tons of opportunities and our offense has no choice but to loosen up a bit and take some chances. Amendola will either show he can handle the workload of a game or BB's going to have to figure out a trade before the deadline.

And hopefully Gronk sees some minimal action.