Game Thoughts

[Ring 6]

My notes:

the offense needs improvement, 14 pts came from D/ST, this offense should be able to do better

we need to incorporate TE's more consistently from start to finish

hopefully with edelman back the #3 and #4 wr's get more looks, still too many balls to moss and welker when it was very close

the deep ball is tough to throw, but as a tandem moss and brady are NOT at 07 form yet

BJ might actually be good against 1st stringers

defense:

i LOVE this new D, really do....im pretty pumped about it

however, the safeties are great at run support, but late getting to the deep passes....im thinking this will improve

The offense didnt punt until 5:30 left in the 3rd with 31 on the board and I think that was the only punt of the day. The only thing that stopped them all day were 2 uncharacteristic Faulk drops.

 

[Fencer]

I don't think it was a masterpiece of coaching strategy or execution to hold the Bengals to "only" 21 points in the 2nd half. It was a flaw in what overall was a very good win.

 

[Deus Irae]

Solid first game against a team that seemed to be missing something, but still had talented players to test the young Patriots. It's an excellent way to start the season.

 

[Kontradiction]

So you agree with us playing soft after getting that huge lead?

The reason for that is because the Pats didn't want to give them anything over the top. That's the fastest way for a team to get back into a game. With receivers like the ones the Bengals have, that's the best game plan. For what it's worth, though, I do agree with you that our corners right now are best used in bump and run coverage.

 

[tombonneau]

What's amazing is the pats completely dominated the first half which having uncharacteristic drive killing drops by Faulk, and a couple of bad penalties. When you make mistakes like that and still are in complete control of the game, you have something special.

This offense is going to be near 2007 level. Can't wait to crush the Jets next week.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't think it was a masterpiece of coaching strategy or execution to hold the Bengals to "only" 21 points in the 2nd half. It was a flaw in what overall was a very good win.

I dont know, when your strategy is to make them take so much time to score that they will run out of time before they catch you, what is so wrong with that? Not saying they decided to allow points but they played defense in a way that meant what they left available would produce that result, and they took away the big play that could have let them back in. I think that is a sound plan. But I didnt care if we won 80-3 or 38-37

 

[tombonneau]

I dont know, when your strategy is to make them take so much time to score that they will run out of time before they catch you, what is so wrong with that? Not saying they decided to allow points but they played defense in a way that meant what they left available would produce that result, and they took away the big play that could have let them back in. I think that is a sound plan. But I didnt care if we won 80-3 or 38-37

I agree with you. Nothing wrong with defensive strategy in the second half. The game was pretty much won when they forced cincy to use seven minutes to score. Some people just won't concede that they are going up against other professional athletes who are knd of good at their jobs and will score points.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Last year the issue IMO was consistency. Great games followed by great letdowns.

Its a good start, I want to see if the team stays consistent.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Great start to the season.

Loved the energy and aggression shown by the D in the first half. Thrilled with Welker, Hernandez, Gronkowski. McCourty and Butler did a pretty good job for inexperienced players. Faulk won't drop a couple of balls again. Best special teams play we've seen from the Patriots in a long time (the field goals excepted). No one will look at that game and want to play the Patriots.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

I found it encouraging that when Cinci started to gain momentum, the offense put together a couple of long drives to put the game away. Last year there were too many games lost due to the offense not being able to take time off the clock in the second half when the defense needed a breather.

 

[Kontradiction]

I found it encouraging that when Cinci started to gain momentum, the offense put together a couple of long drives to put the game away. Last year there were too many games lost due to the offense not being able to take time off the clock in the second half when the defense needed a breather.

It's a byproduct if the weapons Brady has in the offense this year vs. the "weapons" that Brady had in the offense last year.

 

[Patstopia]

Good game, great way to start the season. A lot of speed and energy.

Did anyone see ocho grab BB's butt?

 

[JackBauer]

2. DE containment on running plays is going to be a bane for our defense this year. Both DE spots were getting sealed pretty easily on runs up the B-Gap and to the outsides. The Bengals were taking what they pleased there. Wilfork was solid and was crashing the line on the inside. He had a great game.

Considering Benson had 2.9 YPC and the Bengals had 3.5 overall, the run defense looked better than I expected. I agree, though, that there's room for improvement.

Chung looked great. As did Mayo. Hopefully that will dispel this whole "Mayo is slow and overrated" nonsense. Guyton, of course, had great coverage on his pick 6. Nice to see, as that's the role most of us had envisioned for him I think.

The OL looked great; did Odom even play today?

Nice to see the younger guys getting some playing time. Cunningham, in particular.

 

[JackBauer]

Did anyone notice Ochocinco talking with... Mayo, I think it was, after Mayo lit him up? Chad was smiling about something and gave him the thumbs up. Ochocinco is a weird cat, but I respect him as a player.

 

[Ring 6]

Considering Benson had 2.9 YPC and the Bengals had 3.5 overall, the run defense looked better than I expected. I agree, though, that there's room for improvement.

Chung looked great. As did Mayo. Hopefully that will dispel this whole "Mayo is slow and overrated" nonsense. Guyton, of course, had great coverage on his pick 6. Nice to see, as that's the role most of us had envisioned for him I think.

The OL looked great; did Odom even play today?

Nice to see the younger guys getting some playing time. Cunningham, in particular.

Those numbers were also done with them running half their running plays at our nickel D which we pretty much statyed in the entire second half.

 

[Rob0729]

Did anyone notice Ochocinco talking with... Mayo, I think it was, after Mayo lit him up? Chad was smiling about something and gave him the thumbs up. Ochocinco is a weird cat, but I respect him as a player.

Was that befor or after he grabbed Belichick's arse?

 

[Hudson Pats Fan]

Did anyone notice Ochocinco talking with... Mayo, I think it was, after Mayo lit him up? Chad was smiling about something and gave him the thumbs up. Ochocinco is a weird cat, but I respect him as a player.

I actually think it was Meriweather after he decleated #85...gave him a big helmet-helmet hug too! hah

 

[mgteich]

OFFENSE

1) Congrats to Connolly. I believe Brady said the line is the best in a long time. And we do have Kaczur coming back as our #1 backup and insurance against injury.

2) Welcome back Welker!

3) The tight ends are as advertized and will again be an important part of then offense.

4) After all the talk about #4 WR, #5 WR and #6 WR, it is obvious that we only count on 3 in any game, plus the tight ends and contributions from Faulk (or another back out of the backfield). It is not clear at all if an active Edelman would have added anything at all.

5) Yes, we have finally again a returner who is a threat to score points! It hasn't been all that long, but it is good to see in any case.

6) Congrats to coaches; this was a fine game plan and a well-called game.
===============

DEFENSE
7) Sanders played a lot. He seemed to be giving signals, and then talking to players after the play. He is our leader in the secondary, even though he was not one of the stars of the day. Those roles go to Chung and McCourty. Our best nickel back is Sanders. Wilhite did fine as a dime back.

8) Warren, Brace and Wright seemed to do fine at the ends.

9) Do we have an OLB problem? If so, it wasn't evident. Ninko played well. Cunningham got to play some.

10) Congrats to the coaches. The play-calling was excellent, although many fans don't like to accept playing a bit soft with a large lead.

SPECIAL TEAMS
11) The return game is back!
12) Coverages were excellent!
13) Gost and Mesko need more time together.

WEAKNESSES
A) The corners are our weakness. McCourty may play as well as Bodden, but he is only one corner. Other teams may be able to better exploit Bulter, Wilhite, and Sanders (or Wheatley if he returns). Belichick is going to spend much of his efforts this year coaching up the corners and trying to make up for their relative weakness. Belichick did a great job today in that regard.

B) Our other weakness is likely to still be the run off tackle. But this is a relatively minor weakness in the scheme of things.

 

[jsull87]

One play i loved was Spikes almost Pick. This and the other Almost picks from our LB's was very encouraging because if they put themselves in the right place enough we are bound to get one or 2 e.g guyton's one today.

Loved gronk's impact on 2 td's in the red zone. Thought all the rookies held their own today in their various roles.

One player i have heard mentioned but i didn't see was Brace. Was anyone watching how he went? Have any impact that you saw? i was to busy watching the lb's and db's

 

[bigfandan]

Bill is a cover 3 guy in heart. He can't resist himself and will go to soft zone anytime he gets a safe lead. Manning has taught him a pretty good lesson last few times by picking apart the zone and marching for long touch down drives.

Hope Bill learned the lesson by now. But apparently not yet. That's why our 3 sb wins was by a combined 9 points. It's what it is. I would still take him over most other coaches in the league.

I hope you're right. From what i saw, the young players looked GREAT playing aggressive but looked awful playing soft. Playing aggressive, they gave up 3 points, when they played soft, they gave up 24 points. I love our talent on D because clearly we have some, but I don't understand the philosophy change when we're playing so well a certain way.