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First I thought I'd compare what I hoped I would see to what actually happened
So I guess by and large, I got pretty much what I wanted out of this game. I hope I am as lucky in the next one. . Now on to some general comments.
1. We are going to hear a lot about question about our defense going into the next game, especially if/when we play the Colts. The stat that most of them WON'T mention is that the second half score was 17-6. That's not bad defense, in fact that's GREAT defense in the playoffs. Which could have been better if Rodney hadn't dropped an easy one in the endzone.
2. What is it about the Pats that brings out the best in so called average QBs. David Garrad would have won 9 out of 10 games with how he played last night. He made about 3 plays that were down right spectacular last night.
The first TD pass was one. I don't care if his knee was down or not, the effort was spectacular. The play were Northcut dropped the TD was another. It was a spectacular throw made under severe pressure while he was going down. I mean it was right on the money against tight coverage. The third one was the 2nd TD. That was made again with pressure right in his face and into a tight spot. If that pass is just a little underthrown then it would have been a pick six. A little overthrown and its out of bounds. Instead, under preasure, and off his back foot, the kid threw a perfect pass.
Outside of these plays he was very accurate most of the time with the rest of his passes. He looked very poised in the pocket and moved around very well buying more time more often than not. This is a kid who will be one of the better QBs in the league for the next few years (BTW the Kid's 30)
3. I thoiught the 2nd unsportsmanlike conduct call on Rodney was a bad one. The first one was marginable, but so was the one on Brady. They showed the replay of a face mask call against one of the DLmen early in the game, and I'm still waiting to see a hand on a face mask. AND I they missed a face mask against Welker, but over all, I thought the refs did a good job, and my complaints are rather nitpicking.
4. I wonder how many games Randy Moss has had more good blocks than catches.
5. Yeah Brady through a block on the double reverse, but lets be fair about it. It was HIS man who made the tackle, and probably saved a TD. Get ready for some humble pie TOMMY! especially when Welker sees who kept him out of the endzone
6. The Jags didn't stop the Pats ONCE. They didn't get a TD in the first half (the FG miss, because of the chop block call. Its tough to come back from 2nd and 26, though they got back 23 of them. The other time was due to the Welker drop. It was simply an AWESOME offensive display against a very good defense. I can't say enough about Brady's patience, and it should shut up any critics who thought he was going to Moss too often.
7. I'd like to be more critical of the secondary and the pass defense because some of those receivers looked WIDE open, but I'm not sure I can, because I don't know what the coverages were and how often the receiver was open because of the design of the defense. Suffice it to say, I'm sure there WERE several mistakes, but probably not as many as we would think just from looking at the TV feed.
I could guess that one of the key goals of the pass defense was to not allow the Jags to get big passing plays, and that's difficult when you are putting 8 in the box to stop the run. There will be a lot of room underneath and not a lot of safety help. I will tell you this that you will see a much tighter set of coverage schemes against the Colts
8. BTW- speaking of possible negatives, I had a glass of milk after the game and AThomas' picture was on the carton. I wonder if, even on the outside, he's still learning the position. I don't see him playing badly, its just I don't see him making the "big plays" that would justify the big salary. BTW- base on this game, its a good thing that Vrabel already was sent his tickets to Hawaii, since I don't remember hearing his name called much this game. The best LBs on the field THIS game were the Old guys
9. Stallworth Watson and Gaffney all showed up big for the Pats. Stallworth is a BEAST after he makes the catch. I surely would love to see him back next year, but I just don't see how the Pats can make it work capwise, unless he AND Moss make some pretty big concessions.
I'll be back to respond to this, and look forward to doing a post on why beating the Colts next week might be easier than what we had to do vs the Jags. (BTW- I truly believe that the Jags will win that division next year).
Well they threw one pass to him and he ran about 30 yds with it. I would have liked to see him getting more involved in the passing game. Maybe next year.1. At least 4 pass plays that get the ball to Moroney in space.
Well I got my wish and it almost backfired, but basically if Gotcha made the chip shot at the end of the half, the Pats would have been up 10 in the 2nd half before the Jags got the ball. Come next week I hope we lose the toss to the Colts2. I want to lose the coin toss and get the ball in the second half..
I got my wish and was rewarded beyond my hopes. I hope everyone now realizes that if the Pats braintrust decided to go into a game with a plan that featured the run, Maroney woiuld get his yards. I hope we can get off the bust crap and understand that a good deal of Moroney's lack of production early on in the season was due to his shoulder and the lack of opportunity3. I want to see Moroney get 20+ carries in this game..
Given the fact Randy only had one reception, I think I got my wish here too. I'll comment more on this later on.4. I'd like to see the ball thrown more to Gaffney and Stallworth more in the first half. That should loosen the tight coverage we should expect to see on Moss and Welker....and it wouldn't hurt to see a few more balls throw to Ben Watson either.
With the Jags held to well under 100 yds (IIRC 48 for Taylore and about 30 for MJD) I think we did a great job against the run, better than I could hope for. Though the Jags passed the ball better than I thought those first 2 drives5. I doubt we can completely stuff the Jags running game for the entire game. IMO anything less than 130 yds on the ground will be good enough to cement a win. However I'd like to think that the Pats defensive scheme will be such that it will shut the run down for at least the first 2 Jags possessions. It will take at least that long for the Jags to breakdown what we are doing to stop the run, and then devise a solution for it, and then get that info down to the team..
KO coverage was superb. Better than I hoped for. They had 6 KOs. 2 made to just outside the 30, and the rest were held inside the 25, IIRC The Punt game wasn't a factor for either team, since the Pats didn't stunt until the game was out of reach.6. I'm looking for an A game from our coverage teams. That means NEVER allowing the KO team to get the ball out beyond the 35 and having the majority of the returns inside the 25.
Right on the money again (if I do say so myself ). The Pats alowed 4 trips inside the red zon, and gave up 2 TDs and 2 FGs7. On defense as a whole, I expect them to only allow 2 TDs, any other trips to the red zone have to result in FGs or less..
I think the Jags had 2 plays over 35, but not much more than that. No killer kicking game plays or long runs or passes8. No plays given up greater than 35 yds..
Again better than expect since we wound up being +29. I can live with 1 turnover, 2 if we get at least 2 of their's.
Not quite as comfortable as I would have liked or would have felt if we hadn't missed the FG, but I never really worried after we scored that first 2nd half TD. AND it looked to me, just on the surface that we survived the game without any significant injuries.know that's not asking much. Personally I think we will roll this game comfortably, and my ony fear are injuries..
So I guess by and large, I got pretty much what I wanted out of this game. I hope I am as lucky in the next one. . Now on to some general comments.
1. We are going to hear a lot about question about our defense going into the next game, especially if/when we play the Colts. The stat that most of them WON'T mention is that the second half score was 17-6. That's not bad defense, in fact that's GREAT defense in the playoffs. Which could have been better if Rodney hadn't dropped an easy one in the endzone.
2. What is it about the Pats that brings out the best in so called average QBs. David Garrad would have won 9 out of 10 games with how he played last night. He made about 3 plays that were down right spectacular last night.
The first TD pass was one. I don't care if his knee was down or not, the effort was spectacular. The play were Northcut dropped the TD was another. It was a spectacular throw made under severe pressure while he was going down. I mean it was right on the money against tight coverage. The third one was the 2nd TD. That was made again with pressure right in his face and into a tight spot. If that pass is just a little underthrown then it would have been a pick six. A little overthrown and its out of bounds. Instead, under preasure, and off his back foot, the kid threw a perfect pass.
Outside of these plays he was very accurate most of the time with the rest of his passes. He looked very poised in the pocket and moved around very well buying more time more often than not. This is a kid who will be one of the better QBs in the league for the next few years (BTW the Kid's 30)
3. I thoiught the 2nd unsportsmanlike conduct call on Rodney was a bad one. The first one was marginable, but so was the one on Brady. They showed the replay of a face mask call against one of the DLmen early in the game, and I'm still waiting to see a hand on a face mask. AND I they missed a face mask against Welker, but over all, I thought the refs did a good job, and my complaints are rather nitpicking.
4. I wonder how many games Randy Moss has had more good blocks than catches.
5. Yeah Brady through a block on the double reverse, but lets be fair about it. It was HIS man who made the tackle, and probably saved a TD. Get ready for some humble pie TOMMY! especially when Welker sees who kept him out of the endzone
6. The Jags didn't stop the Pats ONCE. They didn't get a TD in the first half (the FG miss, because of the chop block call. Its tough to come back from 2nd and 26, though they got back 23 of them. The other time was due to the Welker drop. It was simply an AWESOME offensive display against a very good defense. I can't say enough about Brady's patience, and it should shut up any critics who thought he was going to Moss too often.
7. I'd like to be more critical of the secondary and the pass defense because some of those receivers looked WIDE open, but I'm not sure I can, because I don't know what the coverages were and how often the receiver was open because of the design of the defense. Suffice it to say, I'm sure there WERE several mistakes, but probably not as many as we would think just from looking at the TV feed.
I could guess that one of the key goals of the pass defense was to not allow the Jags to get big passing plays, and that's difficult when you are putting 8 in the box to stop the run. There will be a lot of room underneath and not a lot of safety help. I will tell you this that you will see a much tighter set of coverage schemes against the Colts
8. BTW- speaking of possible negatives, I had a glass of milk after the game and AThomas' picture was on the carton. I wonder if, even on the outside, he's still learning the position. I don't see him playing badly, its just I don't see him making the "big plays" that would justify the big salary. BTW- base on this game, its a good thing that Vrabel already was sent his tickets to Hawaii, since I don't remember hearing his name called much this game. The best LBs on the field THIS game were the Old guys
9. Stallworth Watson and Gaffney all showed up big for the Pats. Stallworth is a BEAST after he makes the catch. I surely would love to see him back next year, but I just don't see how the Pats can make it work capwise, unless he AND Moss make some pretty big concessions.
I'll be back to respond to this, and look forward to doing a post on why beating the Colts next week might be easier than what we had to do vs the Jags. (BTW- I truly believe that the Jags will win that division next year).
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