Patriots/Redskins: Game thoughts and pics

[Bella*chick]

So I guess it is just going to be my fate that every game I attend is either a nail-biter (MNF in 2007 vs. Ravens) or a total disaster (Tom Brady goes down for the year). I had high hopes that this one would at least be comfortable and it was not meant to be.

I took my 5 year old, who you all know is named Harrison Brady after Rodney and Tom. He was super happy to tailgate and ate his weight in hot dogs and hamburgers. Hell, he even ate the petrified 5 dollar Superpretzels in the stadium. Hey, Snyder, your team and your pretzels suck. FYI.

The game started off so well. Blink and it's 14-3, it felt like. Then it seemed like they started connecting deep and it became painful. I was pretty surprised to see the comments here about how Brady had a bad game. The pick was awful (and I didn't see the confrontation even though I was 15 rows behind the bench) but I enjoyed watching the offense play and the only things that stood out as bad were the pick, a few drops and a couple three and outs. But overall, it was the defense that I could barely watch. It looks bad enough on TV, but live it is just depressing. Almost like a reel of Football Follies at times. Guys tripping, running into each other. Anyway, the only consolation I found was that I read my old thread from the 2007 MNF game and apparently the defense was allowing bad QBs to do a Johnny Unitas impersonation back then as well. So I guess some things just don't change.

The Redskins fans were great, but when you have a small child with you, people just tend to be nicer. Harrison was fairly bored after a half hour or so but overall he had a great time. The 5 dollar M&Ms I procured in the second half saved the day.

Here is a link to my photo album....got some good pictures. I attached one I got of BB....

PatriotsRedskins2011 pictures by surlymermaid - Photobucket

 

[Bella*chick]

Another pic that is too good not to share.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Bella*chick, great pics ! And love your son's name ! Looks like both of you had fun.

 

[Gumby]

I really like the shotgun snap photo with the ball in the air.

does the action really feel that close from where you were at or is that just a really great zoom on your camera? It looks like you were right there on the sidelines with the team.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Great stuff!

 

[Tunescribe]

Great photos, Bella (cute kid too). I was on the opposite side of the field from you.
The Skins fans were a good-natured bunch, but I think they were tempered by the bad season they're having. Tons of Pats fans there!

 

[Patjew]

I wish you were the president.

 

[Gwedd]

I'll say this much: Your 2nd pic, of the shotgun snap, shows just how fast the game plays. That ball isn't more than a yard past center and the line is already moving forward. Most normal folks take at least 3/4 of a second to react to any movement, yet those guys are already up and out of their stances and moving forward.

Great pics.

That's a GREAT shot of you and your son. I remember when my kids were that little. Sigh. Grogan was still the QB when my oldest daughter was born.

Thanks for sharing these. They mean a lot to us folks who can't get to the games.

 

[zoostation]

Tons of Pats fans there!

I couldn't believe how loud the Pats fans sounded on tv. If you had to guess, what would you say the percentage of Pats fans was?

 

[nukin]

I couldn't believe how loud the Pats fans sounded on tv. If you had to guess, what would you say the percentage of Pats fans was?

I too was at the game, but at one point I had to ask my buddy if we were actually in NE... to me it seemed 50/50!

 

[Bella*chick]

I really like the shotgun snap photo with the ball in the air.

does the action really feel that close from where you were at or is that just a really great zoom on your camera? It looks like you were right there on the sidelines with the team.

Thanks!

I was about 15 rows behind the bench. My camera has 16x zoom but it's a brand new camera and I didn't know how to use it at first. Every pic was blurry. Finally, I figured it out. My seats were really close but not quite that close!

I really wish some of us could have met up. I went to the tailgate that Murphysbuddylove set up but no one I knew was there. Next time I will plan better.

 

[Bella*chick]

I couldn't believe how loud the Pats fans sounded on tv. If you had to guess, what would you say the percentage of Pats fans was?

I would have guessed 50/50. Which I think is what it was. I could not distinguish the roars of the Skins fans from the roars of the Pats fans which made it difficult to tell what had happened if you were, say, in the bathroom.

 

[Rob0729]

Thanks for the pictures Bella*chick. I hope you have the expressed written consent of the NFL, Patriots, and Redskins to post those pictures.

Note to anyone going to the Broncos games this weekend. If you take pictures of the game, you will need the expressed written consent of the NFL, Patriots, Broncos, and God to post pictures. Good luck getting God to sign off on it though. I hear he doesn't dilute Tim Tebow's brand by flooding the market with pictures of him.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Thanks for sharing the pics, looks like you had great seats.

I wasn't at the game, but I was there the last time the Pats played the skins, that was a loss unfortunately. The fans are pretty nice, I agree with you. There were a lot of Pats fans at the game I attended too.

Take care.

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Great pics! thanks....and Harrison is a cutie!

 

[Bostonian1962]

Bellachick, great stuff, and thanks for sharing. I so intended to link up with you and other Patsfanners for the game, but a busy life got in the way.

I was there, 5th Row from the field behind the goal posts in the end zone where Brady was intercepted.

The Skins fans were nice. Then again, I'm 6'1" 210 LBS, my buddy is 6'4" 220 LBS, his son is 6' 200 LBS, and my wife is a kick boxer, so there's that. But, they were pretty cool overall, for real.

You do pick up alot of things in person that you don't get on TV.

A few examples:
1. It seemed to me like the snaps from our 3rd string center, on shotgun formations, were often slow and wobbly.
2. Any time I took my hands out of my gloves, it was darned cold. Made me wonder if it was affecting TB's passes.
3. FEDEX Field has an awesome "big screen". It's huge, and the picture is so clear. That said, the TB pass to Hernandez in the end zone happened right near me. In person, I felt that Brady absolutely fired that ball too hard. You could almost hear him grunt, and the ball whizzzzzz. I said to myself that no way a player can come up with a ball thrown that hard from so close a distance, on such a cold day. Yet, on the replays, it totally looked like it was Hernandez' fault, and that he should have caught it.
4. On the interception, Gronk was right in front of me in the end zone. He got great position on the two guys on him, such that they were both to his left (looking from my seat). Had Brady thrown it to Gronk in any general area to his right, I believe it would have been a TD, not doubt in my mind. Instead, he chose Tequan as his target.
5. Anybody who says the penalty on Skins' Fletcher, where Brady started into his slide, and was hit, wasn't a penalty is wrong. It was. Even Skins fans around me said "you can't hit a QB like that as soon as he goes into his slide." For those that say he didn't hit Brady in the head, he sure tried to IMHO.
6. On the penalties on both Carter and Wilfolk, the fans around us were all saying that they got away with one, and particulary the one on Wilfolk, we all agree the Refs blew it big time.

One other note, we were watching Gronk warm up before the game and he was doing these fast drill, running, pumping his legs high, and he was really moving. He looked HUGE, and we were all saying "how are you supposed to cover THAT"?

Mesko was booming some unbelievable punts, that looked like they'd be lost in the clouds, had their been any clouds. They were spirals too.

Also, Steven G. kicked a FG from I believe the 45, that hand PLENTY left on it, and it went directly through the middle of the upright.

Great day, except for the hour plus it takes to go 1/4 mile to get to the highway, just to get out of there. It's the worst stadium, any sport, for departing after games (and concerts). Also, the upper half of 200 section club seats, have obstructed view seats throughout the stadium. It amazes me that they spend billions of dollars for a state of the art stadium, and you can't see the field from some of their most prime seats, and you can't get off the grounds for a very long time after the games. Amazing.

 

[Bella*chick]

The officiating was pretty bad, all the Skins and Pats fans could agree on that. On the Brady hit, it looked like his head snapped back and that's what did it. No one seemed terribly surprised.

 

[NEPatriot]

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the pictures.

 

[PATSNUTme]

So I guess it is just going to be my fate that every game I attend is either a nail-biter (MNF in 2007 vs. Ravens) or a total disaster (Tom Brady goes down for the year). I had high hopes that this one would at least be comfortable and it was not meant to be.

I took my 5 year old, who you all know is named Harrison Brady after Rodney and Tom. He was super happy to tailgate and ate his weight in hot dogs and hamburgers. Hell, he even ate the petrified 5 dollar Superpretzels in the stadium. Hey, Snyder, your team and your pretzels suck. FYI.

The game started off so well. Blink and it's 14-3, it felt like. Then it seemed like they started connecting deep and it became painful. I was pretty surprised to see the comments here about how Brady had a bad game. The pick was awful (and I didn't see the confrontation even though I was 15 rows behind the bench) but I enjoyed watching the offense play and the only things that stood out as bad were the pick, a few drops and a couple three and outs. But overall, it was the defense that I could barely watch. It looks bad enough on TV, but live it is just depressing. Almost like a reel of Football Follies at times. Guys tripping, running into each other. Anyway, the only consolation I found was that I read my old thread from the 2007 MNF game and apparently the defense was allowing bad QBs to do a Johnny Unitas impersonation back then as well. So I guess some things just don't change.

The Redskins fans were great, but when you have a small child with you, people just tend to be nicer. Harrison was fairly bored after a half hour or so but overall he had a great time. The 5 dollar M&Ms I procured in the second half saved the day.

Here is a link to my photo album....got some good pictures. I attached one I got of BB....

PatriotsRedskins2011 pictures by surlymermaid - Photobucket

Glad that you enjoyed the game and that the Patriots held on to win!!

I cannot believe that Harrison Brady is 5 now. That means I'm getting older than I thought.

 

[Bella*chick]

Glad that you enjoyed the game and that the Patriots held on to win!!

I cannot believe that Harrison Brady is 5 now. That means I'm getting older than I thought.

I know, it feels like not very much time at all has passed since you guys all congratulated me on his birth. And now he's running around proclaiming himself to be Tom Brady.