The agitated Post-Game thread

[iapatsfan]

They looked slow in the second half of a game in miami with 80+ humidty and a 'feels like' temperature of 98 and an on field 'feel like' temperature of (probably) 110+.

They looked slow in the first half as well. Tannehill's poor play and turnovers helped us. Obviously I haven't watched every game from yesterday , but I would bet a lot of money the second half Pats were as bad as any team in the NFL yesterday. This was despite playing the 21st ranked defense from last year playing with an entire backup LB core. We're not talking about the Steel Curtain here.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

For heaven's sake he's taller than the damn quarterback, it's practically impossible for some of those hits not to be "high." Why can't the damn refs use their experience and intuition to discern intent on some of these plays?

Because for many of these (like, I believe, a hit to the QB's head) intent is by rule not to be considered -- if it happens it's a penalty, no matter why it happened.

 

[jmt57]

The Vikings have the best D in football, they are at home and will be looking to destroy us.

Awesome turnaround by Minnesota.

Last year they were dead last in the NFL in points allowed, next to last in yards allowed, next to last in passing yardage, and 29th in turnovers.

Sunday they played a bad team that was relying on a player that just a couple weeks ago was their 4th-string quarterback.

I would be hesitant to read too much into one game's worth of statistics.

 

[iapatsfan]

PLay calling in the second half was arrogant and abysmal. Hey we are struggling to move the ball at all and getting killed by Wake....lets dial up the screen to Bolden!(how did he even make this team) Not giving any help and adjusting was ridiculous.

Our tackling was a joke made me miss Spikes.

Someone call Tommy Kelly up please.

It looks like our D and O hasnt changed a thing in years.

Second half incredibly hard to watch...

What gets me the most is nobody seemed to care I saw almost no fire and where is the leadership on the defense that was effing embarrassing what Moreno did on that TD run.

I agree with your "getting killed by Wake" statement. It had me wondering...when was the last time a team went into half time against us "getting killed" by any pass rusher of ours? How is it so hard for us to find an explosive guy off the edge?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I agree with your "getting killed by Wake" statement. It had me wondering...when was the last time a team went into half time against us "getting killed" by any pass rusher of ours? How is it so hard for us to find an explosive guy off the edge?

Not so difficult if clay matthews falls to you in the draft...

 

[luuked]

This excuse gets old. We've seen Brady airmail these long balls plenty of times before. And you're assuming that it was Edelman at fault.

Seriously, is it so hard to read and comprehend ? Where did I say it was Edelman's fault ?

I am saying that it was not an overthrown pass but both players read the situations differently. The ball was placed exactly where Brady wanted it to be, except that he expected Edelman to be there. Edelman read the coverage differently and though Brady would throw somewhere else.

I never claimed to know who is right or wrong. Just that it was not an overthrown, inaccurate pass as the media wants to paint it.

 

[Tunescribe]

Because for many of these (like, I believe, a hit to the QB's head) intent is by rule not to be considered -- if it happens it's a penalty, no matter why it happened.

I understand that, and it needs to be changed because there is such a thing as "incidental" contact. It's a sad statement that you can't touch quarterbacks anymore in the NFL.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Wow. The regular season really brings out the best and brightest of us. To wit...

Brady I know you want to get super excited when you throw a td, but how about you stop ****ing punching people in the helmet? your hands are kind of important.

Brady had some accuracy issues early on, but after smacking gronks helmet i don't think he completed more then 2 passes in a row, tons of ducks, lots in the ground, just fell apart, and i wouldn't be surprised to hear he hurt himself.

It's a shame that when the post-game reaction threads got merged, this ended up as the first post.

As many mistakes as the Pats made, and as poorly they played these "penalties" had as much of an impact on the outcome of this game as anything else...

Not nearly as much an impact as tackling or blocking, but the 2nd roughing call on Chandler was terrible. The last I checked, the head and neck area consisted of the head and neck. Apparently, Chandler and I both missed the memo about the lumping shoulder pads and sternum into that area.

Edited after some research...Almost 1/2 our sacks(20+) last year came against the Bills, Jets, and Dolphins).

So, you're saying 41.7% of the Pats' sacks came in 37.5% of their games. That doesn't exactly strike me as an outlier.

I did not think Belichick and McDaniels (or Patricia) had a good game coaching, but to put all (or most) the blame at their feet is silly. I actually think that they did too much adjusting on offense. They were mixing and matching the o-line way too much yesterday. They need to pick five guys and let them get some continuity.

The only rotation that was done was bringing Wendell in for a few series for Devey. Given the concerns about conditioning in the S. Fla. heat and Devey's borderline ability, it makes some sense, and I don't think that it is something we can really hang on the coaches. IIRC, the sacks came from Wake on Vollmer, over Devey at right guard, and around the left end, when Cannon didn't get out to make his block. The OL did look abysmal, particularly the right side of it, but I didn't see who it was getting beat on the pressures. Hopefully, one of our posters with a DVR will break it down better.

Of course, there's more to OL play than pass blocking, and the run blocking was just as bad. Things will look better in the running game when Gronk gets out there full time in place of the Whoman, but the OL play will still desperately need to improve. On the bright side, the Miami DL will make a lot of teams look inept on offense this year, so things are not as bleak as they seemed yesterday (which was bleak indeed).

 

[IcyPatriot]

Well ... best game to lose IMO is the first one ...

it hurts but it's a nice slap upside the head.

They could have played better ... I think the heat was at least 75% of it.

 

[chasa]

Wow. The regular season really brings out the best and brightest of us. To wit...



It's a shame that when the post-game reaction threads got merged, this ended up as the first post.

Brady before smacking gronks helmet 3 times: 15/21 137 yards 1TD
Brady after smacking gronks helmet 3 times: 14/35 112 yards 2 lost fumbles.

Sure Maybe miami's defense turned on a switch in the second half and just shut the patriots down.
Maybe Miami's D played so well they turned a 70% completion pre smack brady into a 40% post smack one.

Most consecutive completions after the smack? 4 one time in the last drive before the half ended and brady's hand essentially stiffened up, second most? 2 (twice)

People are quick to say that it's a dumb comment but It really plausible that brady hurt himself celebrating.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

The thing aside from the OL play that really irked me was the tackling. The Pats had this issue early in the year, when the CBA first limited pre-season contact. It didn't help that Siliga only had one hand. Tommy Kelly would have looked really good next to Vince yesterday, and I think it would have helped. Siliga could stand-up against a block better than Vellano, but he couldn't wrap-up on one side. When Vellano wasin there, there were big holes that forced LBs to reach to make the tackles, which Moreno broke through to get yards after contact. I hope the Krafts put an extra oven or two in the new clubhouse, because Bill has more humble pie to serve than he has in years. The dirty work part of the game looked downright ugly yesterday.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Brady before smacking gronks helmet 3 times: 15/21 137 yards 1TD
Brady after smacking gronks helmet 3 times: 14/35 112 yards 2 lost fumbles.

Sure Maybe miami's defense turned on a switch in the second half and just shut the patriots down.
Maybe Miami's D played so well they turned a 70% completion pre smack brady into a 40% post smack one.

Most consecutive completions after the smack? 4 one time in the last drive before the half ended and brady's hand essentially stiffened up, second most? 2 (twice)

People are quick to say that it's a dumb comment but It really plausible that brady hurt himself celebrating.

No sense digging in and claiming your fanciful speculation plausible. It's a wild-ass guess by any other name. Just accept that it was silly or at least not something you can realistically hope to defend.

I have a conjecture (an educated guess, in other words) that Brady's accuracy suffered because Miami put him under greater pressure after the first drive. He didn't fumble and miss passes because his hands hurt. He fumbled and missed passes, because he was getting pummeled. I would dig-up the pressure stats, but this really isn't worth anyone's time.

 

[chasa]

I look forward to after the season and all of the "brady had nerve damage suffered in week one" stories to come to light so i can point to this post and go HaHa and point directly at you.

 

[bigballas]

could have used this guy:

although we got Collins and L.Ryan in exchange....

 

[PatsFanInVa]

A few replies for the day's replies...

These all fall under the general rubric of "Yes we really did stink," combined with "It's one game."

1) If it "felt like" 110 degrees on the field, it "felt like" that to the Dolphins too. I get that they live there blah blah blah, but we can't just get beat when the whether doesn't suit us. So yes, you can point to conditions as a causal factor -- but you can't say that's okay.

2) I am not sure whether I missed it, or whether nobody said it, but Brady's beard wasn't working. He even said so. So naturally that threw him off.

3) Brady's arm is weaker than it was in 2007. I do not know how weak it is in a game-over-game way, and would like to see a second game. Maybe that shoulder injury that kept him on the injury report for 10 years finally caught up to him. Or maybe the thigh threw off his mechanics. Warning for the irony-impaired: This is a joke. The reality is that he's not in his physical prime, and it is not surprising that he is not in his physical prime. He wasn't two years ago either, and played a good season. Last year he was still a high-quality starting QB as compared with league averages - just not a record-setting one, like he once was, and like that other team had.

4) The merry-go-round of "the receivers would be better if Brady threw better/Brady would be better if they caught the passes" does indeed have one magical stop at "They were not on the same page."

5) It is amazing how quickly a coach who gets you to five Super Bowls and wins three, and gets you to the AFC Championship eight times, becomes an idiot at everything from game planning to player acquisition to cap management, overnight.

Just to remind the local sages: Total AFC Championship appearances pre-Belichick: Two. Total super bowl appearances: Two. Total SB wins: Oh-fer. I think I'm cutting him some slack here.

6) THIS TEAM STANK ON SUNDAY, soup to nuts. The question is whether that's one game or a season. At this writing, we have data for one game.

7) Once again...

 

[patsinthesnow]

@DougKyedNESN: Dolphins 13/20, 141 yards, TD, INT with AD on field, 5/11, 39 yards, sack w/ MB.

Obviously it doesn't mean much with 11 players on the field, just interesting.