Ups and Downs - Per Reiss

[DaBruinz]

Patriots blog - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

Up

Matt Cassel, Kevin Faulk, Stephen Gostkowski, Richard Seymour, Adalius Thomas, Ty Warren

Down

Ellis Hobbs/James Sanders, Chris Hanson, David Thomas

I love Mike Reiss, but I don't see how you can fault David Thomas for the onside kick not being recovered. Could he have reacted better and made the tackle sooner? Yes. But there was no way he was going to recover that kick. It was a perfect one by Brown and it caught the entire Pats team (including the coaches) napping.

 

[BelizePats]

I'm inclied to agree. It seemed as though that was as much a coaching error as it was anything else in terms of responsibility for player placement on the kickoff

 

[MassPats38]

I agree. The kick was a surprise, perfectly placed and supported by a flawless special teams execution. The only way the Pats avoid losing the ball is by having either the kicker of kickoff team flub responsibilities. It just didn't happen and the Rams earned the ball back.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Patriots blog - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com




I love Mike Reiss, but I don't see how you can fault David Thomas for the onside kick not being recovered. Could he have reacted better and made the tackle sooner? Yes. But there was no way he was going to recover that kick. It was a perfect one by Brown and it caught the entire Pats team (including the coaches) napping.

That was on coaching. Mike is really starting to struggle. They all do once they get hitched. They think being a little edgy (and in Mike's case it's becoming so dour it's almost comical) and selectively critical (he agrees with most of his idiot mailers lately...) will net more gigs to cover their new added expenses...

Gotta say to while Gotti is doing a fine job the recent man love for the PK is as over the top as the Gutierrez crush was...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I missed seeing the game but on the radio I heard commentary that Thomas turned his back on the kick to sprint back to help block before the ball was kicked. That's the kinda tendency an enemy ST coach would watch film to pick up on and exploit. If he did so you could fault BOTH Seeley and Thomas, one for not spoting and coaching out that tenndency and the player for doing it. Maybe the coach got caught having his players cheat a bit on coverage. Rest assured, with this excellent staff it won't happen again.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Patriots blog - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com




I love Mike Reiss, but I don't see how you can fault David Thomas for the onside kick not being recovered. Could he have reacted better and made the tackle sooner? Yes. But there was no way he was going to recover that kick. It was a perfect one by Brown and it caught the entire Pats team (including the coaches) napping.

As a former college player, I can tell you that every person out on ST is responsible for knowing and being prepared for any and all situations that can arise on STs.
Did Brown make a great kick, yes. Was Thomas prepared for theonside kick? No. Would Thomas have recovered the kick if he had been prepared? We may never know.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I missed seeing the game but on the radio I heard commentary that Thomas turned his back on the kick to sprint back to help block before the ball was kicked. That's the kinda tendency an enemy ST coach would watch film to pick up on and exploit. If he did so you could fault BOTH Seeley and Thomas, one for not spoting and coaching out that tenndency and the player for doing it. Maybe the coach got caught having his players cheat a bit on coverage. Rest assured, with this excellent staff it won't happen again.

The announcers on the TV broadcast pointed out that Hasslet had noticed a tendancy on film for the Pats to consistently line up as a unit about 10 yards deeper than other teams do on average and decided to try to exploit that...

 

[Robdude]

I agree that the Rams got everyone napping on the onside kick.

Also I felt Hobbs had a good game overall.

 

[signbabybrady]

The announcers on the TV broadcast pointed out that Hasslet had noticed a tendancy on film for the Pats to consistently line up as a unit about 10 yards deeper than other teams do on average and decided to try to exploit that...

I am pretty sure there is no truth to that. As I am pretty sure the Patriots usually line up 5 yards behind where they legally are allowed and even if I am wrong it is no deeper than 10 yards behind where they are legally allowed. either way I highly doubt it is 10 yards deeper than other teams.

 

[BradyManny]

I don't know about the Thomas play, but I think you gotta have Meriweather in those ups. Filling in for Rodney, he was fast and strong in run support, good in coverage, and played well as the slot corner on the final drive.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I am pretty sure there is no truth to that. As I am pretty sure the Patriots usually line up 5 yards behind where they legally are allowed and even if I am wrong it is no deeper than 10 yards behind where they are legally allowed. either way I highly doubt it is 10 yards deeper than other teams.

Well that's what they said and it sounded like it was something they'd been prepped for - broadcast teams get to sit with coaches and players on Friday and they are told/briefed (on an honor system) on things to help them call a better game. That access is one reason most of the broadcast teams like Bill better than regular mediots do...

 

[Seymour93]

In a way, I am glad that the Rams did the onside kick. It will have woken Sealy and the ST up and the players should be ready for any other attempts. The Colts onside kick more than most so hopefully they won't try it on us or if they do then we will be prepared.

 

[GoWhalers]

I think it was one of the following:

1) Poor coaching -- if you're going to have fewer players up front and/or standing further away from the LOS, then there should be extra emphasis for the frontline guys to watch for an onside kick.

2) Poor execution -- If coaching on the above was done, did Thomas get (mentally) lazy and just started running back to block?

Could be a combination as well...

 

[CheerforTom]

Asked if the Rams’ successful onside kick in the third quarter was a good teaching moment for his club, Belichick credited kicker Josh Brown for excellent execution. “We definitely could have played it better, but it was a great play by St. Louis,” he said. “Brown hit a perfect kick. It came down right in the dead spot, right over the 10-year restraining line. We could have reacted to it quicker, but even if we had, I don’t know … it was a very well executed play. As much as I’d like to be upset at how we handled that, sometimes you just have to say ‘they really did a good job on that play.’”

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[Leave No Doubt]

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BB's right. Other teams are indeed capable of executing a really good play and sometimes that's really all there is to say about it. That one wasn't on Thomas, I agree.

 

[mgteich]

5 yards deeper is what the announcer said.

So, how would feel if on 4th and one, the coach decided to tell the defensive line to line up 5 yards deeper than where there are allowed to line up?

The play was perfectly executed, so hats off to the rams. It's so easy to be a gracious winner. We'd be furious at Seeley if we lost! However, Seeley did lend a helping hand with our tendency to line up deeper than most.

I am pretty sure there is no truth to that. As I am pretty sure the Patriots usually line up 5 yards behind where they legally are allowed and even if I am wrong it is no deeper than 10 yards behind where they are legally allowed. either way I highly doubt it is 10 yards deeper than other teams.

 

[DaBruinz]

As a former college player, I can tell you that every person out on ST is responsible for knowing and being prepared for any and all situations that can arise on STs.
Did Brown make a great kick, yes. Was Thomas prepared for theonside kick? No. Would Thomas have recovered the kick if he had been prepared? We may never know.

Yes we do, Ochmed. There was no way Thomas could have recovered that kick. He was 15 yards back from the spot where it was recovered because that is the way the Patriots line up and its the way they've been doing it all year. Even Belichick said that you have sometimes you just have to say that the other team made a great play. I thought this yesterday and BB agreed with me today.