Pats vs. Chiefs week 1 breakdown, thoughts, analysis

[BradyManny]

So, the worst has been confirmed, I feel quite sorry for #12, but the team must move on. And so must this board. So, here's my thread encouraging some Week 1 analysis.

I haven't rewatched any series' of the game yet, and quite honestly, I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it - if I do, I will most certainly not be including the first two offensive series in my selection, as that will hurt too much.

So, here were my initial thoughts on the game, keep in mind most of the game was a blur as I was freaking out at the thought of life without Brady:

Meriweather gets a whole lot of PT... The Pats started the game with Sanders and Harrison as the starters in their base 3-4, but sometime early in the game, second or third series I believe, Meriweather was in the base defense with either Harrison or Sanders. It seemed like Meriweather was in on nearly every play the rest of the game. I thought aside from the inexcusable long pass and run on the last drive of the game - which I'm not completely sure is to blame on Sanders, Meriweather, or both - both Sanders and Meriweather played well.

Lewis Sanders gets the call.. Belichick made a note of how big the targets were for the Chiefs, so this is probably one reason Sanders got the start. He looked great in the first preseason game coming in as a nickel back but we saw him a little less after that (Lynch signing affected his PT). I'd be surprised if he started as the season goes on, but his play was encouraging, I thought.

2 RB sets...

Reiss' positional groupings

We only used it twice, but I made note of it both times. I can see more of this as the season progresses and it could certainly be interesting.

Where was Lamont Jordan?

He was in on two plays, 2 rushes for 6 yards. I was surprised we didn't see more of him, particularly in the absence of Faulk.

Any questions about the front 7 anymore?

Sure, the Chiefs aren't the best opponent, but the front 7 did not get pushed around like it did at times in the preseason. I never thought it was a real worry and Sunday just confirmed it. Specifically, I thought Bruschi looked more physical and active than he did all preseason, and Mayo again gets involved and gets near the play. I didn't notice him having any trouble getting off blocks.


That's about all I have to offer for now.

Some Reiss links:

Positional groupings


Offensive Participation

Ups and Downs

 

[BradyManny]

Bump...I guess everyone is preoccupied for good reason...

 

[JSn]

I thought that long pass to Brady established that Cassel can sell a fake, adjust to a route change and fire a deep one accurately - all in about 2-3 seconds.

The Endzone Moss TD was big, too. That ball was moving.

This game probably went a long way toward boosting the confidence of our premiere receivers that they'll still get plenty of action if the O-Line can hold it's own, which I thought they did.

D was pretty awesome and I'm loving Deltha O'Neil being a patriot.

 

[BradyManny]

I thought that long pass to Brady established that Cassel can sell a fake, adjust to a route change and fire a deep one accurately - all in about 2-3 seconds.

The Endzone Moss TD was big, too. That ball was moving.

This game probably went a long way toward boosting the confidence of our premiere receivers that they'll still get plenty of action if the O-Line can hold it's own, which I thought they did.

D was pretty awesome and I'm loving Deltha O'Neil being a patriot.

Yeah, he looked good in coverage. Physical on that last play, I don't think it was PI on either party, but good physical coverage.

Moss TD catch in the endzone showed why we are still an elite team on offense. This guy can make plays, that was a flat out sick catch. A pretty well thrown ball, but not one you expect the average receiver to make. He got up there, his height and long arms make such a difference.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Thanks for the analysis.

Thought several offensive plays were significant.

Cassell's first completed pass......50+ yards to Moss, pretty, hit him in stride
Cassell's first TD......a true zinger that only Moss could have caught
The 4 run plays leading up to our 2nd TD. All strong running plays saying stop us if you can......

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Thanks for the analysis! I forgot to tape it and I had company,then throw Brady's injury in the mix and I think all I did was watch MattC and the final defensive stand (which was awesome).

All things considered I thought our D looked great. Seymour's still got it, AD made a HUGE run at the KC QB (I forget which one was in there at that time:bricks.

If anyone did DVR it or catches NFLN's replay I hope they add to this also.

Bump bump

 

[happilute]

Sorry, I know this is off-topic, but I don't have enough posts to start my own thread.

I would like to have all the regular season games on CD/DVD. I don't think the NFL/Patriots tape their regular season games and make them available to the public for sale, but I could be wrong.

Does anyone know where I can get Sunday's game (I don't have DVR/Tivo)? I moved into the area not too long ago and I'd like to get a collection going; starting from last year's 2007 regular season. If they don't sell, I'm sure one of the forum members has been taping all the games.

Thanks.

 

[bbabin]

Sorry, I know this is off-topic, but I don't have enough posts to start my own thread.

I would like to have all the regular season games on CD/DVD. I don't think the NFL/Patriots tape their regular season games and make them available to the public for sale, but I could be wrong.

Does anyone know where I can get Sunday's game (I don't have DVR/Tivo)? I moved into the area not too long ago and I'd like to get a collection going; starting from last year's 2007 regular season. If they don't sell, I'm sure one of the forum members has been taping all the games.

Thanks.

Try tenyardtorrents dot com. If you know how to use BitTorrent (easy) its a great place to download no-commercial HD versions of each week's games.

P.S. As far as I know, this is a free service and I'm in no way affiliated. If mods deem that this post should be deleted I apologize in advance.

 

[SoCal Bong]

Anyone know what this week's NFL Replay games will be? The website almost never seems to provide listings until the show is about to air. I understand that it's short notice to produce and list the games but shouldn't they have at least 3 out of the 4 by Sunday night determined and listed on the schedule?

Off the top of my head I think Panthers-Chargers will be one of the games. Not sure what the others will be but it could be the Pats - Chiefs. Any guesses as to the others?

I believe that the first NFL Replay airs this afternoon already.

 

[BradyToMoss]

Meriweather gets a whole lot of PT... The Pats started the game with Sanders and Harrison as the starters in their base 3-4, but sometime early in the game, second or third series I believe, Meriweather was in the base defense with either Harrison or Sanders. It seemed like Meriweather was in on nearly every play the rest of the game. I thought aside from the inexcusable long pass and run on the last drive of the game - which I'm not completely sure is to blame on Sanders, Meriweather, or both - both Sanders and Meriweather played well.

Meriweather, I thought, was very solid and he'll see more and more time at the expense of James Sanders as this season progresses. Sanders still hasn't figured out how NOT to take a bad angle on his tackling lane and it was this piss poor angle that sprung that big play. James is a nice safety, but in reduced role.

Lewis Sanders gets the call.. Belichick made a note of how big the targets were for the Chiefs, so this is probably one reason Sanders got the start. He looked great in the first preseason game coming in as a nickel back but we saw him a little less after that (Lynch signing affected his PT). I'd be surprised if he started as the season goes on, but his play was encouraging, I thought.

I agree, I scratched my head when I saw #29 trot out there with the starters and at first I was ticked-off and just chaulked it up to BB and his philosophy on rooks in their first game (Mayo aside), but then the more I thought about it, all of those KC wideouts were very big and he wanted the bigger corner just for that reason. I hope this changes this week, because I would much rather see Wheatley get his reps over Lewis Sanders. That being said, Lewis did play fairly well, to my knowledge, I think he did give up one key 3rd and long pass to keep a drive alive on the sidelines, that was disappointing, but he had some nice plays in the EZone etc. Regardless, I'm hoping we see #22 trotting out with the 1's on Sunday.

 

[SoCal Bong]

I just got word that the first two NFL replays (both airing today) will be the Jets-Dolphins and Chargers-Panthers. Still trying to find out who the other games will be.

 

[BradyManny]

Regardless, I'm hoping we see #22 trotting out with the 1's on Sunday.[/B]

I'm not too sure we will anymore, but we'll see. O'Neal had considerable playing time, so unless Sanders and Wheatley swap on the depth chart, Wheatley would have to leap frog O'Neal AND Sanders. I'm going to expect O'Neal plays with the 1s, with Wheatley or Lewis Sanders taking the nickel back based on the matchup.

 

[TheComeback]

Wheatley will play when he is ready.

 

[BradyManny]

Bumping, quick thoughts from Week 1 - the first half of the game, haven't rewatched past that - quick b/c I'm "working" right now:

- DL was overpowering, Wilfork was absorbing 2 blockers and shedding them to make tackles. Sey was as powerful as I've seen him in a while. Warren quietly was strong on the other side.

- For pass rush situations, a package we saw some of was bringing Bruschi & Warren off the field and bringing Meriweather and Green on. Meaning Big Vince stays in to pass rush, Big Sey as well, Jarvis Green is the 3rd DL, an ILB [Bruschi] comes off, Vrabel is used as pass rushing OLB and AD is a coverage LB (often lining up as what appeared to be an ILB, is it semantics at that point?). AD dropped into coverage a lot against the Chiefs, to help w Gonzalez. It was a tough matchup, and even when his coverage was good, Gonzalez still made catches. We also saw Mike Wright coming in for Wilfork in the same package otherwise.

- I saw Reiss breakdown of defensive participation - I'm only through the first half, but Meriweather is in on the first team D in the base 3-4 by either the second or third series (I'm getting forgetful). BB then rotates Harrison and then Sanders the ensuing series (or could be the other way around, have to check my notes). Not sure what happens after that, but I was surprised Meriweather was only in on half the snaps in Reiss breakdown. I guess BB is just going to rotate these 3 guys liberally, but Meriweather is used a lot in passing packages as well.

- I also noted Meriweather looked quite strong in run support and would love to see more of him there. He's faster than the other safeties and he is quite strong. That could be a factor going forward.

More to come, gotta "work"...

 

[bucky]

I rewatched the game on Monday and here are some of my impressions:

DL was indeed dominant against the run. Not vs. the pass though. Vrabel was the only guy really getting to the QB.

OL was decent, but had a few too many breakdowns IMO. Maybe they're just rusty Hopefully, they'll improve as the season progresses.

Maroney had a couple of really nice runs, but still seems like he dances too much at times. Morris, on the other hand, really gets to the LOS fast and has good vision.

I'm not impresses by Merriwether at all. Yes, he's a good hitter. But I have yet to see him make a play on the ball in over a year and he looked really bad on that long pass.

Ditto for Sanders. Put those 2 guys together with the aging Harrison, and I think the Pats don't have any play-making safeties.

While on the subject, you really have to question calling the same CB blitz 2 plays in a row. Of course it's not the coach's fault the DBs messed up the coverage so badly, but still looked like Huard was ready for it the second time.

David Thomas - nice blocking, good hands. He might be a better all-around TE than Watson.

Coverage was suspect, I think. If Bowe doesn't drop 4 passes - including the one in the end zone on first down, no guarantee the Pats win the game.

I like what O'Neal did a lot. He might fit into this D quite nicely.

 

[patsfanindoltsland]

i didn't get the see the game, but i liked reading the thoughts on here. just from reading about what happened, i wish our team was more consistent (moss didn't seem to do much outside of the one drive, defense almost gave up a td at the end).

i think the main thing is that we really can't grade our team just yet. the chiefs are pretty bad, and while the score was a LOT closer than i wanted, we still won. so we'll just have to continue to watch and collect our thoughts. while i hate the jets, they're still an ok team (though they should have lost to miami...maybe they aren't so good), so they'll be a decent barometer of our team. hopefully, anyway.

 

[JSn]

i think the main thing is that we really can't grade our team just yet. the chiefs are pretty bad, and while the score was a LOT closer than i wanted, we still won.

Yeah, but the X factor was the unknown on Brady out there. That we won despite the psychological battle going on inside of those guys, is huge. They were playing the Chiefs AND themselves out there. That is gone now and its permanent effects will be on display this week. If the team can be professional and play to win, they will. If they're broken on the inside due to Brady's injury, we're in trouble.

I think Brady coming in to visit (and probably doing so regularly) was just the bandage the team needed. He's not throwing the ball to them for a while, but he's still there lending the team his confidence.

 

[patsfanindoltsland]

Yeah, but the X factor was the unknown on Brady out there. That we won despite the psychological battle going on inside of those guys, is huge. They were playing the Chiefs AND themselves out there. That is gone now and its permanent effects will be on display this week. If the team can be professional and play to win, they will. If they're broken on the inside due to Brady's injury, we're in trouble.

I think Brady coming in to visit (and probably doing so regularly) was just the bandage the team needed. He's not throwing the ball to them for a while, but he's still there lending the team his confidence.

true, true. there was just too much going on in that game that we can't judge the team just yet. Cassel played well, but he was thrown into the game in a heartbeat, so could he have played better having prepared and practiced as the starter? not sure, but i'd say yes.

brady's definitely still the leader of that team, whether on the sidelines or the field. they'll miss him, but i think they'll get right back on track against the jets. the city of ny definitely does not hold the "team to beat in the afc east".

 

[rusH1023]

I rewatched the game on Monday and here are some of my impressions:

DL was indeed dominant against the run. Not vs. the pass though. Vrabel was the only guy really getting to the QB.

OL was decent, but had a few too many breakdowns IMO. Maybe they're just rusty Hopefully, they'll improve as the season progresses.

Maroney had a couple of really nice runs, but still seems like he dances too much at times. Morris, on the other hand, really gets to the LOS fast and has good vision.

I'm not impresses by Merriwether at all. Yes, he's a good hitter. But I have yet to see him make a play on the ball in over a year and he looked really bad on that long pass.

Ditto for Sanders. Put those 2 guys together with the aging Harrison, and I think the Pats don't have any play-making safeties.

While on the subject, you really have to question calling the same CB blitz 2 plays in a row. Of course it's not the coach's fault the DBs messed up the coverage so badly, but still looked like Huard was ready for it the second time.

David Thomas - nice blocking, good hands. He might be a better all-around TE than Watson.

Coverage was suspect, I think. If Bowe doesn't drop 4 passes - including the one in the end zone on first down, no guarantee the Pats win the game.

I like what O'Neal did a lot. He might fit into this D quite nicely.

Agreed on Bowe. Easy to overlook, but had he been clutch, the game may have taken a different turn. I agree also about Thomas. This week might give us a better impression on several aspects where question marks lay.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

First Defensive series: Following the Welker fumble.

1st and 10 KC 48: offset I right, 2 WR, TE flanked left. D - base 3-4, CBs 5-7 yds off the LOS. L.Sanders is starting at LCB. TE motion L-R flank. Run right side, the blocking was 1-on-1. The three DL and Vrabel held their position, both Bruschi and Mayo were stood-up by the Guards, the FB cut back against the grain and tried to lead LJ around left end, but Johnson dove for the RG’s gap where Ty was just waiting to toss off the RT and bring him down. Rodney came up fast and was set to be the next defender in line behind Ty. 2 yd gain.

2nd and 8: offset I left, WR right, 2 TE left. D - base 3-4, L.Sanders 5 yds off the LOS, Hobbs creeping down outside Adalius. Vrabel slid out inside the WR just before the snap and trailed him with inside leverage - I believe he was high-lowing him with L.Sanders. I suspect the S’s rolled coverage to the right for the heavy left formation with Hobbs down on the LOS. Hobbs ran with the flanked TE, Bru gave the down TE a nice inside-out jam and released him to Rodney - Sanders came up fast to take the FB flaring into the flat and rode him out of bounds after the reception. 4 yds.

3rd and 4: 4 WR, trips right, RB right, shotgun. 3-3 nickel, CB in press - single Safety deep. Reiss blogged during the game the Pats sent in Green and Meriweather for Bru and Ty. The Pats left Hobbs alone and rolled help to the trips side, including Adalius playing off the LOS. Vrabel rushed with the DL. Vrabel forced Croyle to step up into the pocket, he tried to buy some time by sliding to the right, but Sey rode the block around the stack-up in the middle and forced him to throw it away - good coverage to force 3 and out. Croyle threw the ball away at 4 mississippi.

4th and 4: Punt, downed inside the NE 16.

Analysis/Comments:
KC was conservative, looking to get the ball out of Croyle’s hand quickly. The D started out in a hole after the fumble and did a nice job to force a 3 and out.

New(er) guys:
Mayo - was blocked on the run play, off the screen on the 1st pass and covering the RB well on the second pass. He was where he should have been on all three plays from what I could see.
Meriweather was part of the tight coverage on the second pass.
L.Sanders wasn’t challenged, but looked to have been in the right spots too.