The OFFICIAL Patriots vs. Bucs Post-Game Thread

[PatsWickedPissah]

It was catchable!!!!!! When you are the #1 wr on a team and considered one of the best, you make the catch. If your truly great you make the catch, pass or tackle that determines the game. There were other drops, but that was the 1 that really had the biggest impact on the Super Bowl. Tom gave the team in each SB and chance to win, but unfortunately a drop and a lucky catch was enough to lose.

Yes it was catchable in that it would have been a great catch by a great WR.
And yes Brady's throw was off.
Both players failed to make a SB game winning play.
As BB says, the team that makes more plays wins.
The Giants did.
Again.

 

[Rob0729]

Not True. Welker made plenty of big catches in the Play-offs. I notice you don't mention the drops by Hernandez or Branch... Ones that could have also been game changers..

Furthermore, the one that people complain about would have been a circus catch by him.. It was a bad throw by Brady. People just need to accept it and move on..

It was definitely a very tough catch, but it was in his hands. I give Brady more of the blame on that non-catch, but I definitely would not totally absolve Welker either.

My concerns with drops with Welker is the trend that started last year. He led the league in drops last year and this year (if you count punt returns and one drop that was ruled a completion when it was clearly a drop) he already has five in two games.

 

[Kontradiction]

I dunno. I guess you can argue that we don't know the details about what Dobson was supposed to do on that end zone play, but to my eyes it looked like Tom simply underthrew it. Hard to catch a ball that hits the ground five feet from the end of your arms.

There was also a play early on where two players (a TE and a WR, I think) were behind the secondary. Wide open. Tom threw to a covered TE on the sideline instead. I'm sincerely open to hearing why you think that one was on the receivers, but you can understand why someone might consider that a miss by the QB can't you?

FWIW, Brady agrees with you on the Dobson throw...

Jeff Howe @jeffphowe
On the play when Brady missed Dobson wide open in the end zone: "I blew that one."

It was also a bad choice to go to Sudfeld while Thompkins was streaking down the seam wide open. All quarterbacks miss that from time to time, though, and Brady is no exception. I would rather have my team's quarterback turn in the game that Brady had yesterday with rookie wideouts than the horror show that Rodgers and Eli turned in yesterday.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Yes it was catchable in that it would have been a great catch by a great WR.
And yes Brady's throw was off.

Disagree the throw was off. Brady threw it to Welker's "wrong" shoulder to lead him away from the oncoming safety that was in front and to the right of Welker. If Brady had thrown it to the "correct" shoulder, Welker would have been laid out and had even less of a chance of catching it.

 

[shmessy]

:ditto::agree: I don't remember WW dropping to many passes either. And i get sick of hearing about that non catch in the SB, that wasn't a gimmie at all. While i wouldn't call it a circus catch it was close. I blame TB more than welker, the pass was high, and he was falling backwards it hit his finger tips. And i believe even if he managed to catch it mid air he wouldn't have been able to hold on when he hit the ground.

I fully agree with you about that. It would have been a true circus catch - - not easy at all. It's unfortunate that there is an indusrtry that sells these kind of myths (aka "Buckner blew the 1986 World Series"....). I haven't bought a Butterfinger ever since their idiot suits dumped a ton of the stuff in Coply Square as a marketing stunt a couple of days after SB 46.

And, yes, Welker was EXTREMELY reliable during his 6 years in New England.

That being said, irrespective of one bad moment in SB 46, last year DID see more drops from Welker than previous years. And I know I've watched him have at least 4 drops in the first 2 Broncos games this year. So, one has to admit there may be a bit of a trend.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Disagree the throw was off. Brady threw it to Welker's "wrong" shoulder to lead him away from the oncoming safety that was in front and to the right of Welker. If Brady had thrown it to the "correct" shoulder, Welker would have been laid out and had even less of a chance of catching it.

It was very similar to the 99-yard TD play from Week 1 that year which might have caused Wes to expect Tom to go upfield with the ball and thus cause him to be off balance when it was thrown back shoulder.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Disagree the throw was off. Brady threw it to Welker's "wrong" shoulder to lead him away from the oncoming safety that was in front and to the right of Welker. If Brady had thrown it to the "correct" shoulder, Welker would have been laid out and had even less of a chance of catching it.

That's the way I always saw it too. Brady led him away from the safety, putting Welker in position to make a catch he would have been comfortable making 99% of the time. Not the easiest of catches but one you gotta make there and IMO it was put in the correct place. Otherwise Welker gets decked and probably drops it anyways or even worse ball pops up and possibly picked.

 

[Captain Cliche]

I don't think it has anything to do with Brady's age...I think him and Giselle need to introduce a little role playing or something different to mix things up in the bedroom...

They could do like my wife and I do....

I'm an NFL quarterback and you're a supermodel.....

 

[Kontradiction]

I know a lot of people here don't like him, but this tweet was among a lot of the positive things he had to say about the game yesterday during his film study...

Nick Underhill @Nick_Underhill
Not a great game for Wendell. I have him responsible for 1.5 sacks and three pressures

 

[jmt57]

Today the Bus announced that they have activated RB Jeff Demps, and Schiano said that he is sticking with Freeman as their starter.


I also found this and wanted to share:

Might be time for Bucs to pull plug on Freeman | Tampa Bay Times

So far, Freeman has given fans little else to talk about. For the third straight week, he had a quarterback rating less than 70. For the third straight week, he completed less than half his passes. For the third straight week, the Tampa Bay offense could not move on any of the game's most important plays.

Man, does this offense make your eyes hurt. It is like watching small furniture movers carry heavy chests upstairs, pausing and dropping from the sheer effort of it. For heaven's sake, Tampa Bay fans know bad offense when they see it. Over the years, we have seen a lot of plodders finish plays short of first-down markers.

This offense? It is dreadful beyond what the talent suggests it should be. A huddle of Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams has no business being among the worst in the league. Blindfolded players could find the end zone more often. For crying out loud, the Rays scored as many runs Sunday as the Bucs did points.

Maybe that's why Sunday's game was so frustrating for Bucs fans. Heck, they certainly moved the ball. On their first drive, they drove it 55 yards. On their second, they moved it 76. And they wound up with three points.

On their third drive, they went to the Patriots 34. On their fourth, they went to the Patriots 38. On their eighth drive, they went to the Patriots 34. On their 10th, they went to the Patriots 17.

All of that is very impressive, until you calculate all the points that came after the field goal and you wind up with, let's see, zero.

...

Meanwhile, the Bucs are 0-3, and already, you can feel the season pulling away from them. And you can feel a rookie get closer to the huddle.

No, I don't think it will help. Glennon is still raw, and a rookie usually brings more questions than he does answers. It is hard to see Glennon as a cure.

When nothing is going right, however, a coach eventually has to try whatever change he can make. Asked about when you make a change, Schiano shrugged and said simply: "Whenever that's your best chance to win."

These days, Freeman isn't exactly shouting that he's the guy. Not when his three-game rating is 59.3. Not when his completion percentage is 45.7.

Is Freeman still the Bucs' best chance to win?

And if so, for how much longer?​

 

[DaBruinz]

It was catchable!!!!!! When you are the #1 wr on a team and considered one of the best, you make the catch. If your truly great you make the catch, pass or tackle that determines the game. There were other drops, but that was the 1 that really had the biggest impact on the Super Bowl. Tom gave the team in each SB and chance to win, but unfortunately a drop and a lucky catch was enough to lose.

It still would have been a CIRCUS catch if he'd caught it. That's what people like yourself don't understand. It was thrown to the WRONG shoulder so it turned him around.

Sorry, but the drops that came after Welker's played just as big of a role in the loss. Saying otherwise is just being a hater towards Welker.

 

[DaBruinz]

I know a lot of people here don't like him, but this tweet was among a lot of the positive things he had to say about the game yesterday during his film study...

Wendell and Connolly were both disappointing..

 

[captain stone]

Wendell's & Connolly's replacements must be on the Opening Day 2014 roster, if not as starters,
then at least as backups.

Edit: I have no problem with Marcus Cannon as our starting RG, but then we would still need
a backup RG/RT type, and no I don't mean Will Svitek.

 

[Rob0729]

Wendell and Connolly were both disappointing..

Connolly may still not be back 100% from his injury. So there is hope he will turn it around.

On the good side of things, the Pats' o-line faced the two best d-lines they are probably going to face all year in weeks 2 and 3 (granted they see the Jets again in a few weeks). And maybe Cincy has a better d-line, but other than that it is lesser d-lines from here on out.

 

[Kontradiction]

Wendell and Connolly were both disappointing..

I mentioned that in another thread. Don't forget that Connolly is still coming back from injury.

 

[AzPatsFan]

LMAO @ this begrudging praise. You're so invested in being right about damning their roster moves that, at this point, it hurts when one of the rooks makes a catch, doesn't it?

Deus is not the only one, and far from the worst in that regard.

I hold some of our self-appointed, junior-genius, GM-wannabe. Draftniks with only very selective memories, in much more contempt for this attribute.

The damage they do to BB is fundamentally team destroying. Similar idiocy got Paul Brown fired, and Don Shula forced into retirement. Neither team has done much in the decades since their compatriots "succeded".

I like to laugh at the proponents of Lavonte David (great athlete; dumber than a brick),when his unfathomable mental screw up cost the Bucs a game. Beatty was offered up as a guy the Pats should have taken instead of Vollmer; He gave up six, 6, s-i-x, sacks in the Giants humiliation 38-0.

Did any of the GM wannabes come here and apologize? It just confirms how selective their memories are.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Come on, now, don't go down the road with the insane clown homer posse. I was laying out my issues about the receivers in response to someone accusing me of really talking about the offense when I was pointing out some reasons not to go overboard on the defense. Of course I'm going to mention Welker. That's my #1 issue with the receivers.

Then I sugest you read Tom E Curran's analysis of the slot receivers...

 

[manxman2601]

Deus is not the only one, and far from the worst in that regard.

I hold some of our self-appointed, junior-genius, GM-wannabe. Draftniks with only very selective memories, in much more contempt for this attribute.

The damage they do to BB is fundamentally team destroying. Similar idiocy got Paul Brown fired, and Don Shula forced into retirement. Neither team has done much in the decades since their compatriots "succeded".

I like to laugh at the proponents of Lavonte David (great athlete; dumber than a brick),when his unfathomable mental screw up cost the Bucs a game. Beatty was offered up as a guy the Pats should have taken instead of Vollmer; He gave up six, 6, s-i-x, sacks in the Giants humiliation 38-0.

Did any of the GM wannabes come here and apologize? It just confirms how selective their memories are.

Do you honestly believe that some forum draftniks do damage to BB that is fundamentally team destroying? Hardly anyone ventures into the draft forum until March. Can I suggest you are somewhat over-emphasising the importance of draftniks.

 

[mrscruff]

Connolly may still not be back 100% from his injury. So there is hope he will turn it around.

On the good side of things, the Pats' o-line faced the two best d-lines they are probably going to face all year in weeks 2 and 3 (granted they see the Jets again in a few weeks). And maybe Cincy has a better d-line, but other than that it is lesser d-lines from here on out.

Yes, this has gone slightly under the radar but all 3 teams the Pats have played so far have some very good D-lines coupled with some talented personnel in their secondaries. In fact, despite the popular viewpoint across the league that the AFC East is a weak division, it does boast some pretty good Defences if you consider the Dolphins D to be legit as well. The fact that Vollmer and Solder have done well thus far bodes well for the Patriots. Hope they stay healthy for when it really counts.

The Bucs really had the Patriots on the ropes in the early going and the non-catch by the Bucs tightend in the end-zone was pivotal as was the 4th down stop with the score at 3-0 in the Bucs favour. Once established, the Patriots looked good but Willliams and Jackson initially made it a tough match-up for the secondary. Certainly, the absence of the Bucs top two WRs was a welcome break for the Patriots. Let's see what happens against Atlanta next week as it should prove to be a good test for the secondary and good QB (although with a more suspect O-line).

I desperately wanted the Patriots to take advantage of the early schedule and having got the all important W's, they can now play with a little less weight on their shoulders with the "tougher" part of the schedule coming up. Getting the two divisional wins allows the Patriots room for manoeuvre and can play with a little freedom in the coming weeks.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Do you honestly believe that some forum draftniks do damage to BB that is fundamentally team destroying? Hardly anyone ventures into the draft forum until March. Can I suggest you are somewhat over-emphasising the importance of draftniks.

It is amazing how constant repetition creates "conventional wisdom",even if totally false. But how many people now think that BB is a disaster as a drafter and only proped up by his good coaching and Tom Brady..

This in spite of more than a decade of double digit wins and the full restocking of a SB roster with newcomers, thru three generations of players. Other teams wallow in losing seasons and early draft picks and never improve. Yet BB is such a poor judge of talent he ONLY manages to go to a SB about a little less than half the time. Where does the talent to do so come from? Maybe Little elves under the Chrsitmas tree?