Just some quick thoughts before I forget-
THE GOOD -
1. The Pass blocking - It was excellent most of the time, especially against the Buc's first unit, which has some good rushers. I think they only hit Brady once, and it was gentle. Cassell might have been flushed once or twice.
2. Matt Cassell- Didn't show the happy feet we've seen before. Stayed in the pocket got his feet set and threw the ball, and most of time well.
3. Matt Guttierrez - The the F did this kid not get drafted. Not to get carried away but the way he stood in the pocket was VERY impressive. I'm now VERY interested in seeing how this kid progresses into the 2nd game. He made some mistakes, and throws a BAD fade pass, but given his draft status, he was impressive, at least to me.
4. Justin Rogers - when the show pictures of him lining up, I swear he looked like a ******. However when the ball was snapped he made several plays, not just the sack and fumble recovery. The play that impressed me the most was one running play where he set the corner then extended the LOS and assisted on the tackle. He did in one play what the Pats couldn't get out of TBC in 4 years. Its hard to believe that this kid was a DLman in college.
5. Randell Gay - played very solidly especially in run support.
6. Kelley Washington - was this the same guy all the media types left for dead earlier this week. Was this the same guy spotted at practice with his head down, just waiting to be released. He looked strong catching the ball.
7. Kevin Faulk - is there a more under rated Patriot that you can think of. He still "got it".
There were several others that played well - others can add to the list, but these six individuals were the ones that first came to mind.
THE BAD:
1.Sammy Morris: Looked slow and sluggish. I was waiting for slash, and got smoosh. He looked like Though I did think he looked better as the game went along. I'm willing to give him a pass THIS game. I wonder if the fact the Pats haven't done much live work this camp didn't have an effect, and he would have looked sharper as the game went along. Also the OL wasn't exactly gashing the DL of the Bucs
2. The overall run defense - granted both Warren and Seymour weren't there, but still.... What I didn't see were RBs being snapped back, like you saw the Bucs D do several times over the course of the game.
3. NONE of the rookie punters could drop a ball inside the 20
THE UGLY - Actually the only ugly thing I saw was that ill advised, ill thrown 3rd and 2 pass by Guttierrez at the end of the game. He was doing a good job underneath, and the Pats at that time needed more first downs than they did long plays at that time. The failure to pick up that 1st down, ultimately cost them the game (he said over dramatically)
Other inoccuous observations:
1. The Pats 2 back up QBs run SOOOOO much better than the guy who starts.
2. You will see the pass that Brady over threw to a wide open Wes Welker completed many many times this year.
3. Gaffney is quickly cementing a place on this team. Very unspectacular, very solid.
4. Mills looks too small to be more than a flexed out TE or HB, in other words a very specialized player who better find a place on STs
5. I hope Bam finds an NFL team who can find a place for him. This is just the wrong year for him to be on the Pats, but he deserves to be in the NFL.
6. Secretly I think Bill loved that we lost. I can't wait for the cliches to come in his press conference.
Thats all for now. I'll leave others to fill in the blanks.
I spent the game watching the reserve LBs.
First the encouraging news:
The Pats may have found another raw gemstone in Justin Rodgers. He had a sack, at least one other pressure, a fumble recovery, and I think 4 solo tackles including setting the edge successfully twice. He needs another year on the PS but if he could play ST, he might be the surprise keeper.
Second the non encouraging news:
I watched Oscar Lua and Corey Mays carefully. If I didn't know better, I would say that Lua was the guy who had a years' experience, even though he looked like he is not much of an ILB. He appeared slow and he was the guy who got fooled for the Buc's TD. Still he had a little poise and could expect to get better and reach reserve status in a few years. Off this outing I don't think there is any starting capability there.
By comparison Corey Mays was completely outclassed by Lua. He looked small, out of position, and a reed in the wind, as a tackler. The Bucs had no problem pushing him out of the way; and he did not fill the hole very often. When he did get to the right position, he looked like a light FS trying to tackle, and not doing a very good job at it. He will have to be an extremely good ST, to have a shot right now. I would judge him a first cut.
I didn't see or notice if Chad Brown took a snap.
In summary the Pats have no depth at ILB except maybe one of the veterans, moving inside.
The OLB situation is intriguing. Rodgers may have won a job as the last OLB. He will be condemned to ST play only, as he learns. Chad Brown who always had competition from Pierre Woods, (who didn't play), now will feel the fresh breath of another youngster.
It is my firm opinion that it is tougher to scout and predict reliably who will blossom as a star at 3-4 OLB. That is why Belichick hesitates to draft them high preferring to experiment every year with a end-of-draft projection experiment. The non-success rate is much higher there I suspect.
OTOH, I think you can draft an ILB high, and he can and will reliably produce and play for you. It appears to me that the Pats need young ILBs, and have not found any; but are on the way to solving their need for youth and depth at OLB.
Any opinions?
