Random Patriots thoughts

[mgteich]

I'm sure that folks can list the many patriot defensive players who were important contributors in their sophomore year after spending their entire rookie year on IR. I guess that Flowers come the closest.

Were there any?

And why do we think that Rivers showed star potential in his rookie training camp. I remember it differently. I recall Rivers having trouble learning the defense. I remember Wise being ahead of him in development.

IMHO, I think that we have 3 developmental DE's: Simon, Davis and Rivers. MAYBE, one of them will develop to be to be a part of the defense (as opposed to being an emergency backup); perhaps not.

With regard to Rivers, he will likely be given more time to show something (perhaps the whole season). That is because he was a high draft choice and had a very serious injury.

He is essentially a rookie after missing all of last year with rehab. Not only this but he is also coming back from a ACL. I would not judge him until after the BYE.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Except this is not true. Maybe you should watch games instead of looking at stats. DMac has been used all over the place and apart from last week look fine.

And last week was mostly a technique issue where it is even unclear how much of it is on him. But that would require you to actually look at what happened.

But whatever who cares what happens on the field if you can just read the stats sheet. To paraphrase Talib.. why care about the music if you can just look at the notes.

Lets not gloss over the HUGE strip sack that McCourty got in the 3rd quarter to bail Hogan out of the interception that resulted from his drop

He also had a big PBU on 3rd & 6 early in the 3rd quarter on the Colts first drive as they were crossing into our territory

That 3rd and 5 to Ebron in the 4th (after Gronk fumbled the ball back to them), McCourty was like an INCH away from breaking up that pass. Ebron is a huge tight end with an enormous wingspan, and has been Luck's binky.. they're going to make plays, and they barely made that one

The TD pass that came after that was again insane just how close that was to getting broken up. Its not like he's chasing 10 yards behind a guy, or making arm tackles or something

He nearly stripped Pascal with 9 minutes left in the 4th, when he caught it on a 3rd & 10 (he was not McCourty's responsibility). He's hustling out there, hitting people, making tackles and being competitive on EVERY SINGLE SNAP

Why people want to kick him out the door so badly is beyond me, he is not the problem on our defense

 

[Oswlek]

If memory serves me, I recall Wise flashing in the 2017 preseason despite being drafted 1 round after Rivers while Rivers was being seen/discussed as a work in progress during that summer, before going down. Nothing has changed/

Memory is unfortunately not serving you correctly. Prior to being hurt, the buzz was that Rivers was developing nicely and was definitely the more promising of the rookies. His development was rapid enough that they were already having him take on OLB responsibilities, including coverage. He also was boning up on special teams, to maximize utility for a certainly active player.

He's definitely taken a good sized tumble since getting hurt. Whether this is unexpected is the open question.

I recall Rivers having trouble learning the defense. I remember Wise being ahead of him in development.

I haven't a clue where this is coming from. The pub on Rivers was almost universally positive last year

 

[Oswlek]

......

 

[JayNM]

If Rivers was any good, he would be playing... I guess the best case scenario is a Collins type of thing, where he emerges late in the season.

Our D-Line is a house of cards... At end Flowers holds his own nicely, but everyone else is lackluster for what we were expecting. Wise is particularly disappointing, i thought he'd make a second yearleap, but insetad he stonewalled. Simon is interesting for sure... but he is already hurt so I'd rather keep my hope on its natural state: Non-existent

At tackle, we have the ultimate Jack of All Trades master of none kind of thing. Guy is a underrated talent, but outside of him, everyone is just good or decent at one thing and really bad on everything else. Brown was showing something on those last two games, so I hope he comes back for KC after being out last week. Butler is a cut above JAG, but he is not good.

Last year, I said that our inability to stop the run on though games would be our downfall. Welp, I think this year we have the potential to be a lot better than last year. Last 2 weeks they were incredible, if they keep this up, we can go places

 

[Deus Irae]

#1 Derek Rivers - What the hell? He has played in one game (Lions) and barely saw the field. The likes of the immortal Grissom, Davis and Simon have seen more snaps than him on defense. The only time Bill played him is when he hand was forced with injuries. Why? The talent is there.

Rives has shown no ability to translate his raw abilities to the NFL football field, for more than one reason (injury, lack of playing time), so I don't see why we should assume the talent is there. It's not been seen.

 

[Deus Irae]

#4 Harmon/D. McCourty - Interesting what is going on here. It seems Harmon has kind of taken over the deep duties and McCourty now is playing down more. Obviously it didn't work last game though many of those plays were highly competitive. Why the change this year as opposed to last year? While a lot of what I have seen hasn't been encouraging I think in the long run it will be good. McCourty didn't have much of an impact last year playing deep. I think getting into the muck like this may be the best thing for him in the long run. I think he need a swift kick in the ass to help hone those attacking instincts again. I don't know if this will be a permanent thing or if they will give McCourty his center field spot back. In either case I think by the playoffs the Pats will be better off here regardless of their choice.

Despite the claims of some of the insane here, McCourty has, indeed, struggled this year. The question is whether that struggle is fixable (mental and/or tendency issues, injury issues) or not (age related decline).

 

[edkk323]

Brady has 6 int's in 5 games, I know that two were deflections, is that a cause for concern??

You just said it. TB has 4 ints in 5 games. Does it concern you?

 

[Captain Cliche]

Here's my random thought:

I'm surprised how many opposing fans, and players, even our own fans don't get that the Pats coaching staff will go to low risk offense and defense when up by a couple scores.
The exception was 2007 and the occasional statement game (the jete or an exceptionally mouthy team).

Opposing players say, "We were the better team, blah, blah, blah."
They don't get that they were played.
No need to dial up high risk blitzes and long throws.
You may score, but it will 5 to 10 minutes off the clock and then you are mathematically out of the game.

Not great for stats and can be a drag for we Pats fans, but BB doesn't care about such tripe.

 

[Guts]

Hope they keep Mahomes in the pocket I hate those 3rd and longs that QBs that can scramble always seem to convert against us. If he beats us in the pocket so be it I trust TB 12 and company to keep the points coming.

 

[mosi]

He is essentially a rookie after missing all of last year with rehab. Not only this but he is also coming back from a ACL. I would not judge him until after the BYE.

I think this is a big thing. Knee injuries can take a long time to come back from. The first year is always tough and even more for a rookie.