condon84
Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract
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We played not to lose the game tonight and I think that's the reason why we ended up losing.
I thought this game was a good opportunity to give Cassel a chance to throw the ball because the Colts were down to their 3rd and 4th CB starting the game. We had Moss who we all knew would receive deep help, Welker who cannot be covered 1 on 1 so I figured McDaniels could exploit the matchup between Gaffney and essentially their 5th CB. Instead, we chose to pound the ball against the smaller, quicker Indy defense. I had no problem with this especially since we were having good success running in-between the tackles. We were running successfully out of the "I" formation effectively taking out Gaffney. Indy's LBs were reacting aggressively when we ran and when the safety's weren't playing deep, they too were super aggressive because of the success we were having. Because of the success we were having running up the gut, there were a couple of times that the Colts were riped for a play-action for big gains. Not essentially to Moss, but maybe streak Thomas or Watson down the middle. It was there for us. Indy's LBs were coming up to fill whenever we ran. We should have been more aggressive in this regard. What was McDaniels scared off?
Another issue I had was when we moved in the Red zone or close to it. Again, it would have been ideal to use play-action, but instead we went with the screen a couple of times that led to big losses and we ended up settling for FGs. My issue is that when you are in the Red zone, the defenders are closer to the line of scrimmage, and with Indy's defenders as fast and as aggressive as they are, screens would have to be perfect to be successful. Even then, chances are, because of Indy's speed and condensed space, it would only net a couple of yards. Meanwhile, a play-action would have taken advantage of Indy's speed and aggressiveness in reacting to the run and open someone up. The first two times we got into the Red zone, we ran screens as the 1st down play. Both of them lost yards and we ended up second and long. And from then, our playcalling really got conservative and we settled for FGs. Why not attack the defense and try to score a TD? We're not going to beat good teams if we settle for FGs.
Another gaff was BBs challenge. The risk/reward was high/low. If we won the challenge, we get 5 yards. We lose the challenge, we lose one of our challenges and a TO. It was a weird challenge because it was not conclusive even after the replay. I think BB outsmarted himself in this instance.
An even bigger gaff by BB was the TO he called on that 4th and 1. That was the first time I've seen BB hurt his team with indecision. We've been running on them all day so I had no issue going for the 4th and 1. I don't know if we got it when we ran it, but it looked like we did. That to me was the right call. Go try to win the game. I mean, we went for all those 4th and 1 last year right? I hate criticizing BB cause I think he's the best HC New England sports has had since we had Auerbach, but that was a pretty dumb sequence. Sending his offense out there only to call and waste your last time out in such a tight game. Very odd to see BB indesisive and make dumb moves.
Lastly, that Thomas penalty was atrocious. WTF was he thinking?
Back to our offense. I thought after our first drive in the second half, we finally started to open up our offense and we moved down the field pretty quickly. Why we didn't go to that type of offense sooner? Seems really odd to watch our offense this year. No really ebb & flow to what we do.
Anyways, our players played their butts off. Props to them. Our pass rush was none existent from the DL, but their job tonight was containing the run and they did that extremely well. On third and long situations, Vrabel is now a non-factor as a rusher. AD is a better rusher, but we used him for pass coverage. We need to get better and a more consistant production from whoever is rushing form the edges. Woods has not showed up. But I don't know if he's been given any significant PT at all.
As for our young players, I thought Wheatley played well before he got hurt. Merriweather was asked to play deep help so he couldn't be more of a factor. He did blast a couple of recievers. Mayo I thought played his best game. He was lost on a couple of pass coverages in the first half, but improved on it in the second half. His overall run defense was great. Guyton was also pretty impressive. This kid is the other future ILB in our defense. Whenever he is on the field, good things happen.
We are 5-3 and have 3 division games coming up. I feel good about our chances, but tonight was pretty disappointing.
I thought this game was a good opportunity to give Cassel a chance to throw the ball because the Colts were down to their 3rd and 4th CB starting the game. We had Moss who we all knew would receive deep help, Welker who cannot be covered 1 on 1 so I figured McDaniels could exploit the matchup between Gaffney and essentially their 5th CB. Instead, we chose to pound the ball against the smaller, quicker Indy defense. I had no problem with this especially since we were having good success running in-between the tackles. We were running successfully out of the "I" formation effectively taking out Gaffney. Indy's LBs were reacting aggressively when we ran and when the safety's weren't playing deep, they too were super aggressive because of the success we were having. Because of the success we were having running up the gut, there were a couple of times that the Colts were riped for a play-action for big gains. Not essentially to Moss, but maybe streak Thomas or Watson down the middle. It was there for us. Indy's LBs were coming up to fill whenever we ran. We should have been more aggressive in this regard. What was McDaniels scared off?
Another issue I had was when we moved in the Red zone or close to it. Again, it would have been ideal to use play-action, but instead we went with the screen a couple of times that led to big losses and we ended up settling for FGs. My issue is that when you are in the Red zone, the defenders are closer to the line of scrimmage, and with Indy's defenders as fast and as aggressive as they are, screens would have to be perfect to be successful. Even then, chances are, because of Indy's speed and condensed space, it would only net a couple of yards. Meanwhile, a play-action would have taken advantage of Indy's speed and aggressiveness in reacting to the run and open someone up. The first two times we got into the Red zone, we ran screens as the 1st down play. Both of them lost yards and we ended up second and long. And from then, our playcalling really got conservative and we settled for FGs. Why not attack the defense and try to score a TD? We're not going to beat good teams if we settle for FGs.
Another gaff was BBs challenge. The risk/reward was high/low. If we won the challenge, we get 5 yards. We lose the challenge, we lose one of our challenges and a TO. It was a weird challenge because it was not conclusive even after the replay. I think BB outsmarted himself in this instance.
An even bigger gaff by BB was the TO he called on that 4th and 1. That was the first time I've seen BB hurt his team with indecision. We've been running on them all day so I had no issue going for the 4th and 1. I don't know if we got it when we ran it, but it looked like we did. That to me was the right call. Go try to win the game. I mean, we went for all those 4th and 1 last year right? I hate criticizing BB cause I think he's the best HC New England sports has had since we had Auerbach, but that was a pretty dumb sequence. Sending his offense out there only to call and waste your last time out in such a tight game. Very odd to see BB indesisive and make dumb moves.
Lastly, that Thomas penalty was atrocious. WTF was he thinking?
Back to our offense. I thought after our first drive in the second half, we finally started to open up our offense and we moved down the field pretty quickly. Why we didn't go to that type of offense sooner? Seems really odd to watch our offense this year. No really ebb & flow to what we do.
Anyways, our players played their butts off. Props to them. Our pass rush was none existent from the DL, but their job tonight was containing the run and they did that extremely well. On third and long situations, Vrabel is now a non-factor as a rusher. AD is a better rusher, but we used him for pass coverage. We need to get better and a more consistant production from whoever is rushing form the edges. Woods has not showed up. But I don't know if he's been given any significant PT at all.
As for our young players, I thought Wheatley played well before he got hurt. Merriweather was asked to play deep help so he couldn't be more of a factor. He did blast a couple of recievers. Mayo I thought played his best game. He was lost on a couple of pass coverages in the first half, but improved on it in the second half. His overall run defense was great. Guyton was also pretty impressive. This kid is the other future ILB in our defense. Whenever he is on the field, good things happen.
We are 5-3 and have 3 division games coming up. I feel good about our chances, but tonight was pretty disappointing.
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