The Official Who's Up & Who's Down Thread

[Metaphors]

Outside of the obvious ...

Up
GWarren - Held up against the run and got good penetration against the pass
Ohrnberger - Did a fine job against a defense stacking the line
Mesko - How sweet was it to see punts significantly change field position!!
Sergio - Even in mop-up duty, was around the ball a lot

Down
Sanders - Horrific in coverage and on ST. Trade value sinking fast.
Wilhite - Can play some zone, but too limited to trust in man coverage
Larsen - I think he will turn out OK, but he was overmatched tonite

Quick thoughts...

• If GWarren can keep this up, it would be HUGE!
• Mankins can't be happy about how the interior line candidates played. Just well enough to keep the idea of an elite offense without Mankins alive.
• Chung and Spikes look like they will own the middle of the field.
• Mayo looked more like the 2008 version rather than the limited 2009 edition.

 

[patsfan13]

Apparently Fletcher is in the up category seeing how he replaced Mayo with the team's second unit. That can't be good for Williams and Tyrone.

McKenzie took Spikes spot when Spikes cam out. I saw the 2nd half streaming and he looked pretty good IMO. I am dvr'n the NFLN replay and will look closely at this.


Murrell is a big up here and if Cunningham has been better in camp then I am very happy with what the D can be.

I feel much better about the DL seeing how well GWarren played. Now we need the bookend Warren TWarren back.

Liked Tate's catch on the sideline and the blocking by Gronkowski.


Very relieved that Connely did OK.

 

[Ring 6]

Havent finished or watched in complete detail, but here are my thoughts so far.
I dont know how anyone who watched this game came away with any thought at RB other than Maroney looked quick and decisive. For all those banging on him about his running style, they better step up and commend him for running to the hole without hesitiation, whether its an improvement or not. Personally, I think he is a better back looking for the cutback, but in this offense he will be more effective running the one move and forward Bronco style he showed tonight. Many fans asked for it, he said he was going to do it, and he did tonight. The Maroney critics should recognize this.
Gerard Warren looked good. He is HUGE. And he got pressure. It seems to me that his experience will help him a lot in rushing out of the 2gap base. He seems to read and convert to pass rush very easily and quickly. I think he will be a very good addition.
Spikes looks like a guy who was born to play football. IMO,he is one of those rare rookies that is a veteran by September.
McCourty playing with the 1s didnt standout, and thats a good thing.
Connolly looks very mobile and good pulling and trapping. He is probably better suited as a LG than he was at RG last year. I see why he was the OL chosen to be the FB in short yardage.
Hoyer looks like he is making a career out of watching, listening to, and learning from the GOAT.
Edelman is also a football player. It irks me when people consider Welker a '3rd WR' because he is very effective in a 2 WR offense. Same with Edelman. Edelman has the 2 skills that every successful Pat WR other than Moss under BB has lived on: getting to the right spot without dlcking around, and doing something with the ball in your hands. A WR in our offense can control a game without ever running a route deeper than 12 yards.
Havent seen much of 2nd half yet, so not a lot to say on those guys.
Oh, and I really, really liked the way our first unit played the run. Havet seen the stats, but the 2 gap discipline looked solid and the cutbacks and bounceouts were covered well.

 

[Patspsycho]

I didn't think Mayo looked that good tonight. He seemed to over run and lose contain on a few plays and also got eaten up by blocks.

Sorry but you are way off base on this one. He was spectacular in calling the D and audibles

 

[Joker]

jeez...it's like you're inside my head, Andy...I can't differ with anything you just posted

 

[Ring 6]

Forgot Chung.
Chung, Meriwhether, Spikes, Mayo, and hopefully Cunnigham give us what looks like the most speed, quickness and thump when they get there that our defense has had in a long time. We look athletic out there in many spots, and that hasnt always been the case. Add in an athletic group of corners, and the transition is well under way.

 

[Joker]

I watched this game twice now...Chung is reacting immediately...the tentativeness is gone...he jumped out at you in the first half and shows why they drafted him where they did...hey, it's one preseason game, granted...but that N.O. offense is no picnic

 

[Patspsycho]

I watched this game twice now...Chung is reacting immediately...the tentativeness is gone...he jumped out at you in the first half and shows why they drafted him where they did...hey, it's one preseason game, granted...but that N.O. offense is no picnic

His coverage skills are much better. It was one of the first thing that struck me when I went to my first TC session.

 

[RayClay]

Feel vindicated in saying before that Wheatley is a talented corner if he can stay healthy. Whilhite hustles and makes some plays, but he's often out of control.

I'm all for keeping our own cheap backups, so that means to me Wilhite and the better special teamer (Arrington) compete for the last DB spot if necessary. Personally, I think an extra DB is more likely to be used than other places, but it's just a damned tough roster to make this year, so we'll see.

Who could be more up than Murrell? I missed the sack, but he had 36 in college (1-AA) and if he can actually provide anything at that position, there's a gaping chasm for a guy that's a good ST player also.

 

[efin98]

That's right ... every bit of info and tonight was perhaps 5% of that ... at best.

These players are evaluated in practice and by their work habits.

Bill knows what they can do and what they can't.

Who's up and who's down based on this game is inane ... I stand by that.

Bill could have selected this team before tonight's game and except for injury he would be 99.9% correct if he compared it to who makes the 53 before the season starts.

There are dozens of things that are taken from this game's analysis by the coaches that can't be taken from their TC practices. There are things that players are doing that will go unnoticed by us fans and the analysts across the media spectrum that BB and staff are going to analyze that will factor into their decisions. They will use this game against the next three games and see things that are improving or regressing that will be used to determine whether guys will stay with the team.

Don't like the talk then don't post in this thread. Ignore it. Nobody is forcing you to stay here and read the comments. But to complain about the ups and downs because you personally don't figure it to be worth much in their assessment of the players is asinine. Simply don't read any more into the game or any of the analysis.

 

[deters]

Apparently Fletcher is in the up category seeing how he replaced Mayo with the team's second unit. That can't be good for Williams and Tyrone.

Mckenzie was running with the 2's along side Fletcher on several occasions. Mckenzie looked solid not great, but i think we all know Spikes is gonna lock down the starting spot. One positive for Mckenzie is that he was the leader in the defensive huddle and calling out the plays from coach.

 

[Reckedtrek]

That's right ... every bit of info and tonight was perhaps 5% of that ... at best.

These players are evaluated in practice and by their work habits.

Bill knows what they can do and what they can't.

Who's up and who's down based on this game is inane ... I stand by that.

Bill could have selected this team before tonight's game and except for injury he would be 99.9% correct if he compared it to who makes the 53 before the season starts.

Okay. Thanks for voicing your opinion.

Are you going to stick around and tell everyone in this thread how inane they are, or maybe just find other threads that you actually like?

 

[Metaphors]

Extra Credit Down...

Offenses for the Raiders and Panthers (AKA, high 2011 draft picks)...both looked pretty inept. While their defenses looked fine, can't see them scoring enough to put too many wins on the board.

 

[Reckedtrek]

I'd try to get versatile were i him. If the two oldies start to fade and maroney looks solids, sure there's a short yardage back up job. If they look for young RBs, he's not really a hig upside guy. Up to him.

Believe me, Kevin Faulk was as good as gone about 7-8? years ago. He worked on his fumbling and every part of his game and now we think of him as indispensable. He was almost last years model.

I agree, a guy like BJGE adding to his skillset would make all the difference when it comes down to the last couple of cuts. At this point his making the team or being cut won't shock me either way.

And I remember almost every time Faulk would get the ball I'd be waiting for the ensuing fumble, but not anymore and not for some time now.

 

[efin98]

Down...the kick off unit.

I'm not impressed by them. I am not ready to be concerned but I hope this was just nerves at getting into a live game.

Up...kick and punt return teams. Not much needed to say, simply outstanding job by McCourty and Edelman. Hopefully Edelman can supplant Welker for good giving Wes a chance to keep the knee in better shape.

 

[eom]

Extra Credit Down...

Offenses for the Raiders and Panthers (AKA, high 2011 draft picks)...both looked pretty inept. While their defenses looked fine, can't see them scoring enough to put too many wins on the board.

how could the raider offense actually be down?

dig they dig a well?

 

[Schmo]

Price was very unimpressive as a returner... didn't really notice him making any plays as a WR either.

The important part was that all around, our 1st team was very solid.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

Sorry but you are way off base on this one. He was spectacular in calling the D and audibles

That was the one thing I thought he did a good job of. Calling the coverages and audilbles and communicating with the other guys on D. But I thought his actual play was average tonight. I just felt Spikes made more plays. Not saying Mayo looked bad, but he didn't look as good as I was expecting IMO.

 

[Patjew]

Watching Edelman play got me up.

 

[efin98]

Watching Edelman play got me up.

It should, wasn't it around a 7am local time start?