Post game thoughts....the short version

[Don Kipines]

Steve Maneri

Maneri looked pretty good on both sides. It looks like they were throwing sweeps to take advantage of his mobility.

Ridley had a great blitz pick-up in the second half to help Mallett get a throw off. Had to come across the formation. I was really surprised by his hands. He's much more natural catching the ball than BJGE.

Fletcher was so good, you have to wonder if he can play his way into a role with Spikes and Mayo in the 4-3.

Mark Anderson looked better than Tully Banta-Cain wearing TBC's uniform.

Mallett looked intense and in charge on the field, while I thought Gabbert looked a little scared, although he played okay. At least three of Mallett's throws were "wow" throws. The out to Price, the TD to Ridley, and that 3rd-down slant (can't remember to whom -- might have been Price again) were great throws.

 

[billdog3484]

good post....but theres no way we are giving up hoyer for a 3rd rd pick

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The pre-season announcers are hired by the Patriots and it is reflected in their commentary.

I've given up expecting what I hear to be either insightful or factually true. Yes, occasionally it is - but just as often they're only filling air time. One example was how Ridley's legs were "wrapped up" and he "broke free" for the touchdown. Actually, his legs were never touched by a hand or arm and so there was no need to break free; he just needed to roll off the pile and keep running. Good play, for sure, but the commentary was up to their usual standards.

Pairing them with Zo has been their salvation. At least now the broadcast is listenable... Only really difficult part was the Sam Adams guy. Even Burton looked like he had all he could do to meet the minimum time requirements for that segment this season...

 

[Jared]

good post....but theres no way we are giving up hoyer for a 3rd rd pick

This.

I love seeing backup QBs who come in and actually look like they belong on the field.

 

[Gwedd]

Well, the giveaway on Cross & the rest of the crew was that they were all wearing Patriots-branded clothing. They are there to build up the game if things aren't quite as exciting as the fans might have wanted, to keep things going so TV's don't get turned off.

Still and all, it is nice to have a couple or three veteran players doing the announcing and sideline stuff, and poor Burton and Mr Sam Adams. That was a required bit because of the Sam Adams contract with Gillette, but it sure could have been a bit shorter.

I was VERY impressed with Hoyer in the first half, and it reinforced my comments that should something happen to Brady, we have a competent QB who won't lose the game all by himself.

Mallet was every bit what folks had hoped for: Inruffled, good arm, fairly quick reads, etc. If he DOES grow up and stay out of trouble, he's going to be seen as the steal of this year's draft.

I didn't like seeing the drops in the first part of the game: Jax's defense came to play and it seemed like ball control wasn't that high on the "to-do" list. However, I can assign that to pre-season jitters, knocking the rust off, etc, and since they managed to relax and take care of the ball, then it really didn't hurt the Patriots. If it's a problem next week, then I'd start to be more concerned, and likely Coach will be running ball-safety drills to put folks in the right frame of mind. Certainly, if I were an opposing coach, I'd be zeroing in on those dropped balls as a potential weakness, and I'd make it a point to try and strip the ball every time a player made contact with a ball carrier, just to see, to test the waters, as it were.

All in all, I liked what I saw, especially with all the starters basically sitting out the game. An understatement, to be sire, but we'll know a lot more after next week. I'm already looking forward to seeing how this crew performs on the road.

 

[shmessy]

I was also very impressed by the OLine... but I also had to keep reminding myself that they were going against one of the worse DLines in the NFL for most of the game.

But speaking of this 47 point beat-down am I the only one who missed all the production from our TC phenom TEs? Did Yeatman/Lee have a great block let alone a catch?

I saw Yeatman catch two short ones on consecutive plays in the second half.

 

[OhExaulted1]

The pre-season announcers are hired by the Patriots and it is reflected in their commentary.

I've given up expecting what I hear to be either insightful or factually true. Yes, occasionally it is - but just as often they're only filling air time. One example was how Ridley's legs were "wrapped up" and he "broke free" for the touchdown. Actually, his legs were never touched by a hand or arm and so there was no need to break free; he just needed to roll off the pile and keep running. Good play, for sure, but the commentary was up to their usual standards.

I agree, but Don is becoming a little "Bob Lobelish". No hate towards him but he just seems to have gotten of the off-ramp and can't decide wether to go left or right.

 

[shmessy]

Randy Cross loves NE. He's OK in my book.

No surprise, considering his pre-season broadcast game check was signed by Kraft Production.

Remember, he wasn't working for CBS, Fox, NBC or ESPN last night.

Pre-season games are in-house productions.

 

[OhExaulted1]

No surprise, considering his pre-season broadcast game check was signed by Kraft Production.

Remember, he wasn't working for CBS, Fox, NBC or ESPN last night.

Pre-season games are in-house productions.

I know, but everyone is making this game sound like the worst 5 touchdown win in history.

What are they supposed to gripe about?

 

[FCB02062]

Thrilled with how they played after a quarter of crap on both sides of the ball. I was impressed with Hoyer, Price, Mallet, Ridley, etc....I didn't see anyone really stink up the joint, other Edelman and his poor returns - but I suspect that's not all on him. I know it's one preseason game, but I have the impression that Brian Hoyer could play and start for a handful of teams right now in the NFL.

On another note, I'd be p#ssed off if I paid full price for that game, $40 to park, and had to sit through backups, third stringers, and guys who'll be coaching high school football in three weeks. Yes, I know, you know what you're getting when you buy season tickets/preseason tickets, etc...

When I was a season ticket holder in my 20s, I didn't mind the preseason games - the weather was usually nice (aside from the annual Foxboro game time thunderstorm) and the ladies were certainly dressing less . All the ingredients were there to have a great time and get bombed and party, so the fact that we only saw the starters for a quarter didn't matter too much. It was par for the course to just leave at halftime and fire up the grills again. And there always seemed to be some level of debauchery in the parking lots after the preseason games (and in fact, after the September reg season games in the good weather) . Then, the last few years as we got older and gained more "real world" responsibilities, the alcohol consumption went down and it was alot harder to sit through the Brian Hoyers of the world plying their trade.

Kudos to anyone that paid full price for their ticket, tailgated, and stayed for the whole game...

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

BB clearly decided that this was the time to evaluate his younger players and see what Anderson had in the tank. since I think he was the only DL FA who played. I was a little surprised how FEW of the actual starters played in the game. I don't think any of the offensive starters played. I thought I saw Mankins out there, but if he was it was only for a play or two.And except for Anderson, I don't think any of the DL acquisitions played either.

The OBVIOUS Points -

a Taylor was a revelation.
b. Hoyer is better than several NFL starters already. He's eventually going to get us a 3rd round pick....maybe better if a team is desperate at the time.
c. Mallet was also impressive. That kid is SOOOOOOOO lucky that came to the Pats. Only the Eagles come close to the Pats in developing QBs. Both are the best since the Packers under Wolf and Holmgren By the time he becomes a starting QB he's going to be something. Needless to say, now and in the future the Pats are in good hands at the QB position.
d. Now we all got to see the surprising quickness and good hands we had been hearing about Riddley. If he's the future pound it out RB, I can hardly wait to see Ben Vereen
e Dane Fletcher was the 2nd best revelation. He looked lightning fast and very decisive. I would be interested to find out what percentage of those plays he wound up in the Jags backfield were planned blitzes and what were just very aggressive reads. He was really blowing up the RBs that tried to block him on blitces

The LESS Obvious Points

a. I thought Solder looked a lot better than expected. I watched him closely very early when the Jags still had a few starters in there. I noticed on running plays he almost always moved his guy off the LOS. Even on those plays where he gave ground, on pass plays he ALWAYS remained in front of the attacker...and there weren't a lot of those plays. I was very impressed how low he kept his pad level on running plays. He looked every bit a value at the 18th pick of the first round.

b. I have to say that all in all I thought the OL in EVERY combination played very well in pass protection. The run blocking was less impressive. What amounted to the 2nd and 3rd teams didn't get a lot of push on running plays. though they were rarely pushed back. It was decent, but not as good as the pass blocking.

c. Which bring me to this point: I can't tell you how impressed I am at how good this coaching staff is. When you consider that the offense, without any OTAs, playing with virtual strangers, 2 weeks after the lockout, only 7 padded practices; that they put up 47 points. That's impressive, but even more impressive is that they only had FOUR Penalties TOTAL. That, my friends,, is simply an AMAZING coaching

d. Did the defense look quicker to you this game, or am I just being optimistic

e. My favorite stat of the night is when in the middle of the 4th IIRC, one of the talking heads commented that the Jags had only converted 3 of 11 3rd downs.

f. I know there will be a lot of talk about 3-4 and 4-3, but I think we will have to wait until we are going to have any idea, or even an indication, of what our base defensive philosophy is going to be. Certainly not until we see the staff actually game plan someone

g. I'll be VERY interested to see which of the young DLmen make the team. There will be several that don't make it, who played pretty well tonight.

h. I STILL think that the hit on Price should NOT have been a penalty. The Jag player didn't lead with his top of his head. He met Price with his face mask. His head in good position. That's the distinction I would make in the rule. Face mask to face mask should be OK. Top of you helmet is BAD. JMHO

Nothing NOT to like about tonight, but again for Pats fans, as much we have high hopes for this team, nothing really matters until we get to January and actually win a playoff game again. The regular season really nothing more than preparation for those playoffs.....and hopefully a measure of redemption. Meanwhile the Regular season is merely just a 17 week period of entertainment for the fans, before we get to the serious business of the playoff.

Now its on to the 2nd pre season game and the hope that when the "varsity" takes over from the JVs.....they do as well

I am not looking too forward to seeing Ben Vereen on the team,he looks a bit too old,out of shape and slow to me

 

[upstater1]

- While Butler didn't have a great game, it was hardly the disaster that most people are making it out to be. On Cunningham's sack and Richard's 1st sack, Butler had the coverage that enabled the pressure to reach the QB.

A very astute observation. I thought the same thing. Butler gave up the early outs to start the game as he was playing too far off his man, but that's the sort of thing you will often see lots of CBs giving up. On the very same series you had those sacks where Gabbert was looking Butler's way and holding onto the ball. As well, the other catches on Butler were coming over the middle where normally the Pats CB would be in a zone and not dragging across the field. Oddly, I think that's Butler's best position, in the slot, chasing guys across the middle.

One thing I noticed is that Gabbert struggled throwing the ball across his body, and that passes to Arrington's side were wildly off. He had a guy open a few times on that side and overthrew him, and the one time he made a stellar throw, his WR inexplicably dropped it. Not saying Butler is anywhere near Arrington but sometimes a CB looks much better simply because of poor QB throws and dropped passes.

 

[Patriot 37]

I was also very impressed by the OLine... but I also had to keep reminding myself that they were going against one of the worse DLines in the NFL for most of the game.

Jax's DL isn't great, but they did have 2 starters in there Aula and Mincy.

We had no starters on the line. Our LT (Solder) was playing his 1st game, our RG (LeVoir) was playing his 1st game at guard (at least that I can remember) and our LG and RT (Austin and Maneri) probably will not be on the 53 man roster. Considering all that I thought they were great!!!

 

[Patriot 37]

A very astute observation. I thought the same thing. Butler gave up the early outs to start the game as he was playing too far off his man, but that's the sort of thing you will often see lots of CBs giving up. On the very same series you had those sacks where Gabbert was looking Butler's way and holding onto the ball. As well, the other catches on Butler were coming over the middle where normally the Pats CB would be in a zone and not dragging across the field. Oddly, I think that's Butler's best position, in the slot, chasing guys across the middle.

One thing I noticed is that Gabbert struggled throwing the ball across his body, and that passes to Arrington's side were wildly off. He had a guy open a few times on that side and overthrew him, and the one time he made a stellar throw, his WR inexplicably dropped it. Not saying Butler is anywhere near Arrington but sometimes a CB looks much better simply because of poor QB throws and dropped passes.

Butler's play was the only major negative in the game, Arrington and Wilhite weren't great, Butler was awful, Gabbert seemed to be targeting him. A significant number of JX completions were against Butler.

 

[BTTA]

Pairing them with Zo has been their salvation. At least now the broadcast is listenable... Only really difficult part was the Sam Adams guy. Even Burton looked like he had all he could do to meet the minimum time requirements for that segment this season...

Someone needs to tell the Sam Adams CEO that he's had his 15 minutes and he should go back to running his company from the background. That kind of misunderstood celebrity will be his downfall if it shows up in how he runs the business.

 

[patfanken]

Butler's play was the only major negative in the game, Arrington and Wilhite weren't great, Butler was awful, Gabbert seemed to be targeting him. A significant number of JX completions were against Butler.

By the way any else notice how many of our completions were against another 2nd bust CB Tyrone Wheatley.

Im just wondering how you can make such a blanket statement about Butler, especially after Upstater and Metaphor's posts. Except as a knee jerk reaction, NO one can make such a definitive observation about a player without seeing the coaches tapes. That being said, I'm just Butler had some plays he'd like to have back, as well as some very good ones.

But Upstater is right, Butler's best position could be the slot. We shall see

 

[reflexblue]

Someone needs to tell the Sam Adams CEO that he's had his 15 minutes and he should go back to running his company from the background. That kind of misunderstood celebrity will be his downfall if it shows up in how he runs the business.

He tells the same story about hand crafted beer made with love Every time he gets near a mic. i am compelled to hit the mute button.

 

[Frezo]

He tells the same story about hand crafted beer made with love Every time he gets near a mic. i am compelled to hit the mute button.

He kept mentioning free beer. What a riot!

 

[reflexblue]

He kept mentioning free beer. What a riot!

Was it Free Range Beer? :bricks:

 

[Patriot 37]

Im just wondering how you can make such a blanket statement about Butler, especially after Upstater and Metaphor's posts. Except as a knee jerk reaction, NO one can make such a definitive observation about a player without seeing the coaches tapes. That being said, I'm just Butler had some plays he'd like to have back, as well as some very good ones.

But Upstater is right, Butler's best position could be the slot. We shall see

So I need to watch the coaches tape to have any opinion ? That's idiotic.
It seemed to me that JaMarcus Russell wasn't very good, but I'm not a professional football coach and haven't watched the game tape so I'll reserve judgement. LOL!

I saw Butler getting picked on all night. Tons of knowledgable media people (including Mike Reiss) have been noting that he played poorly last night. Add that he sucked last year, I'm not hopeful.