Have Our Major Issues Changed Any?

[micronin127]

Secondary:

Desean Jackson TD: can't imagine Talib was supposed to run with him 1:1. The safety drifting over too late and not deep enough to help Talib... Steve Gregory. Talib was close, but a step and a half is wide open.

Greg Salas TD: Bad angles. Logan Ryan and Tavon Wilson combine on a massive double whiff. Really, a quick out screen from the 10 yard line is a TD?

Logan Ryan drops INT: the Eagles QB (Barkley?) threw the ball right to him.

Duron Harmon did look OK. Disciplined and present to provide help over-the-top when that is his responsibility.

Dane Fletcher pass defense: he had a deflection, moves much better than our bigger LBs when dropped into pass coverage.

Gostkowski: 1 out of 3 is bad. One was from 53 yards so let's call it 1 out of 2. Still bad. I think that 80% is league average. He's overpaid for what he is giving us. We are paying for elite kicking and getting a coin flip on every attempt. I'd save the $1 million and get a new kicker.

Edelman: fumbles on a quick out screen and quickly dives on his own fumble. Not sure that he is any better than 5th on the WR depth chart and if Leon Washington can be a dual KR/PR, we certainly need the roster spot. I just don't see what value Edelman brings given his durability and ability limitations to make him stick on the 53-man this year.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

talib play was kinda expected...jackson is much faster and got his hips turned too late...was over then.

Gost has to kick better. Rookie WRs did good for their first live action IMO

 

[edboc]

Do you think the team will regret signing Ed Reed, drafting Matt Elam or another coverage safety? I think the Ravens got a steal with Elam at 32

 

[patsfaninpa]

talib play was kinda expected...jackson is much faster and got his hips turned too late...was over then.

Gost has to kick better. Rookie WRs did good for their first live action IMO

I thought the biggest problem on that play was the pass rush. Vick took a short drop and we got no pressure up the middle. Any pressure at all and we move him off the spot and take that pass away. Just sayin.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

OFFENSE
I suspect that we have a bit less anxiety about the offense than we did yesterday. We now know that we can go out there with a receiving corps of Amendola, Thompkins, Dobson, Edelman, Fells, Sudfeld and Vereen (while waiting for Gronk to recover). We know that we have at least one backup offensive lineman in Svitek. We know that we have one solid backup running back in Blount (to back up Ridley and Vereen).

DEFENSE - FRONT SEVEN
Kelly is the real deal. Benard and Fletcher are good additions to the 2012 team. Collins seems likely to be a contributor.

DEFENSE - SECONDARY
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Well, we can discuss this after the next preseason game.

BOTTOM LINE
Everything seems about as well as could be expected except the secondary.

I'm suprised why people are shocked about the secondary last night. The only added piece this summer was adrian wilson, and he by himself wasn't going to make the secondary markedly better. Not having dennard and mccourty also didn't help. The only way the secondary gets better is if there is more pass rush up front. Jones, ninko, hightower and kelly will the key here.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

In 2007 i was upset at BB for not kicking the 50 yarder in the super bowl that would have at least given us a shot in OT. After seeing gostkowski last night i now know why BB went for it.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Secondary:

Desean Jackson TD: can't imagine Talib was supposed to run with him 1:1. The safety drifting over too late and not deep enough to help Talib... Steve Gregory. Talib was close, but a step and a half is wide open.

Greg Salas TD: Bad angles. Logan Ryan and Tavon Wilson combine on a massive double whiff. Really, a quick out screen from the 10 yard line is a TD?

Logan Ryan drops INT: the Eagles QB (Barkley?) threw the ball right to him.

Duron Harmon did look OK. Disciplined and present to provide help over-the-top when that is his responsibility.

Dane Fletcher pass defense: he had a deflection, moves much better than our bigger LBs when dropped into pass coverage.

Gostkowski: 1 out of 3 is bad. One was from 53 yards so let's call it 1 out of 2. Still bad. I think that 80% is league average. He's overpaid for what he is giving us. We are paying for elite kicking and getting a coin flip on every attempt. I'd save the $1 million and get a new kicker.

Edelman: fumbles on a quick out screen and quickly dives on his own fumble. Not sure that he is any better than 5th on the WR depth chart and if Leon Washington can be a dual KR/PR, we certainly need the roster spot. I just don't see what value Edelman brings given his durability and ability limitations to make him stick on the 53-man this year.

I disagree.

Edelman had a very good game.

He caught two very tough passes, and contributed a few key blocks on the long runs.

Despite mishandling a Punt Return, he secured the ball, and returned it for good yardage.

Julian averaged 13.5 /return last night, right on his historical average. If this was a real game those 3 returns would have his total to the 75 returns threshold; and his PR average would vault him to 13.5yards/return.

That is merely the HIGHEST PR average in the history of the NFL.

Leon Washington is a good KO returner, and also the Leagues reigning KO returner, but he is poor in PRs. The two returns require completely different talents, and are NOT interchangeable. The Pats have the best returners in both categories in the NFL. BB has always emphasized ST play, I am sure that just didn't just happen.

While we are at it, Gost still has the highest successful kicking percentage in the history of the Patriots. It is better than some great kickers like Adam Vinatieri and John Smith.

Please recall Abe Lincoln's dictum about commentary.

 

[IcyPatriot]

It was the first exhibition game of the season, and it was against a team undergoing a complete overhaul. I don't think we really learned much that carries beyond that one game.

The only thing I learned last night is that without DeSean Jackson the Eagles have nothing.

 

[Whitt25]

Edelman: fumbles on a quick out screen and quickly dives on his own fumble. Not sure that he is any better than 5th on the WR depth chart

Oh, come on. Would you rather he had let one of the Eagles take said fumble instead? I'm glad he had a fast enough reaction to recover. It's still preseason, and I'm not even sure if Edelman is really in football shape yet, seeing as how he wasn't practicing until, what, a week or so ago?

I gotta say, though, I hate when he gets hit out there. Makes me cringe, especially the one play where it looked like someone hit him with their helmet (it was actually the shoulder).

 

[Bruins29]

Edelman is a keeper for sure. Like him a lot.

 

[IllegalContact]

no pass rush

LB's exposed in coverage

the secondary is still an issue, but not THE issue

 

[AzPatsFan]

It was the first exhibition game of the season, and it was against a team undergoing a complete overhaul. I don't think we really learned much that carries beyond that one game.

I fully agree with your analysis. But if they bombed against the Eagles, we would have learned an awful lot, that we did not want to learn...

 

[mgteich]

I tend to agree. However, I think that we did learn a bit about Thompkins, Blount and Svitek.

It was the first exhibition game of the season, and it was against a team undergoing a complete overhaul. I don't think we really learned much that carries beyond that one game.

 

[Coach42]

I'm surprised how many people are pointing out the Jackson TD as a coverage issue. If you send 6 and nobody applies any pressure big plays happen.

 

[Bruins29]

I'm surprised how many people are pointing out the Jackson TD as a coverage issue. If you send 6 and nobody applies any pressure big plays happen.

I would agree. That was not on Talib.

 

[Bruins29]

no pass rush

Is it me or do we say this every year? "No pass rush" should be its own thread. But, it is preseason so lets not panic yet.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I'm surprised how many people are pointing out the Jackson TD as a coverage issue. If you send 6 and nobody applies any pressure big plays happen.

BB agrees.

shalise manza young ?@shalisemyoung 37m
BB on Vick/Jackson 47yd TD: "as defensive coach, there’s times you just have to give credit to the offense- that was a great throw...

BB cont: ", perfectly thrown, great route by DeSean and ball was as on the money as it could be."

 

[Coach42]

Is it me or do we say this every year? "No pass rush" should be its own thread. But, it is preseason so lets not panic yet.

They had 3 sacks and a sack/FF. Someone smarter than I am had pointed out that 3 sacks a game works out to 48 for the year and that the D line ran 0 stunts/ games. I think pass rush is to Pats fans what Twinkies are to fat kids. You can never have enough.

 

[50-yard-line]

Every time the other team makes a play, it's our sucky defense's fault. Every time we make a play, it's because of our awesome offense.

I wonder how the other teams feel when they lose to us? When Brady carves them up like a t-day turkey? Is it their secondary in their minds?

Anyway, my takeaways from last night:

Brady looks like he's having a blast, spreading it around and teaching up the kids. He'll roll along with this crew, without a doubt, and there's more versatility, more legitimate targets, more speed, bigger bodies, than he's had in a long time.

Amendola looks like Welker. He's filthy to cover. Please stay healthy!

The rookie receivers are fun to watch and will do well - all four KT, AD, JB and ZS).

Ballard is a good blocker for both pass protection and the running game. If his knee holds up, BB's going to have some tough decisions to make come cut downs.

Fells is good. He finds seams all over the place. Sudfeld is fun to watch.

Blount? Not surprised at all at his performance - saw him in a practice and he had Brandon Jacobs written all over him. Hoping he makes it - think he's a real contributor. Our running game is a 3-headed monster, with a couple of heads in reserve.

Tommy Kelly...beast.

This team needs depth in the interior D-line, and if Dowling can't get on the field, go find a corner and dump him, because Cole isn't an answer. I like Dowling's "potential" and root for him, but damn it, guy, get on the field!

Edelman? After playing football for a couple of days since JANUARY, he did just fine. He'll make the team and will give us some important plays, no doubt.

Tebow and Mallett...I simply don't care. If either gets on the field other than in mop-up, we won't be playing in mid-January anyway. This is Brady's team, and if he goes down, it'd be like Denver losing Manning, Green Bay losing Rogers or the Saints losing Brees...

 

[50-yard-line]

They had 3 sacks and a sack/FF. Someone smarter than I am had pointed out that 3 sacks a game works out to 48 for the year and that the D line ran 0 stunts/ games. I think pass rush is to Pats fans are what Twinkies are to fat kids. You can never have enough.

And except for Collins' rookie mistake (too eager) they would have had 4 sacks/FF/AaB (assault and battery).