Game Thoughts: I'm ready to put the BS behind us and focus on football edition

[Rob0729]

Not a pretty start to the season, but a good win none the less. Here we go:

• Brady was just awesome tonight. No doubt about it. Anyone questioning if the offseason will affect him will have to wait until late in the season and maybe he will fade but I doubt it. He was precision sharp. His deep ball still ain't the best, but still can throw the short and intermediate passes as good as anyone.
• Gotta give it to the interior o-line. Last year, it started out as a disaster. Tonight it was pretty solid. some breakdowns early in the running game, but the pass protection was nearly flawless. Next Sunday will be a far bigger test for this group.
• The stats doesn't show it, but I saw a lot of good out of Malcolm Butler tonight. Yes, he got burnt badly several times by Antonio Brown (what CB doesn't), but he looked as good as Revis was many other times shutting Brown down. I think with more experience, Butler will become a solid starting CB.
• Gronk was amazing yet again. He is impossible to cover. The Steelers did show too many times that he is even harder to cover when you don't even try to cover him.
• Dion Lewis looks to be the free agent steal of the offseason. I don't know if he can be an every down back, but pair him with Blount and the Pats will have a solid 1-2 punch. It is weird, I am trying to think of a comparison for him from past Patriots offenses, but he seems unique. Much shiftier than Faulk, Woodhead, or Vereen.
• The run defense is really a big concern. When Ninkovich is getting burnt left and right not setting the edge, you gotta be concerned. I know he was held several time, but it was scary how much Williams reached the outside and picked up ten plus yards at a clip. But remember the run defense was a concern early in the year the last two years and they ended both seasons with pretty good run defenses.
• Not concerned that the front seven didn't get a lot of on Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is a guy Belichick will always play a QB like Roethlisberger with contain rather than rushing him. I remember one game about 5 years ago where Vrabel's only job was to block the running lane for Big Ben and keep him in the pocket and Ben crumbled. Let's see the defensive pressure next week. If we don't see it coming in the next few weeks, then I will be scared.
• Disappointed we didn't see more of Chandler in the offense, but with Gronk and Edelman it will be difficult for everyone to get more than a few passes in their direction. He did draw some coverage away from Gronk in the red zone (hell I think the Steelers defenders confused him for Gzronk because Chandler got more coverage at times).
• Malcolm Brown has a ways to go before he makes us forget Wilfork. He needs to be more disciplined with his penetration. I saw him shoot the wrong gap many times.
• The headphones thing is going to blow up into a big story because the media will report it as it was only a problem for the Steelers. I really hope this doesn't drag out, but knowing the NFL they will let the Pats dangle in the wind even though they had the same problems.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Brady spread the ball around which was awesome. Dobson, chandler, bolden, Lewis, amendola, Edelman and Gronk.

 

[FourierSeries]

Defense doesn't have to be anywhere near elite for us to repeat so long as the offense continues to progress. When LaFell comes back we'll be unstoppable.

 

[TBR]

I don't think we can expect much QB pressure next week either. Tyrod Taylor is a running QB isn't he?

 

[Rob0729]

I don't think we can expect much QB pressure next week either. Tyrod Taylor is a running QB isn't he?

Possibly, but he is not a very good QB. Belichick may think he may crumble under pressure.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The Steelers become the 20th team in a row with a lightbulb moment during film session that you can shutdown Gronk by jamming him at the line. And for some reason, all of these guys feel compelled to tell the media about how easy it will be.

 

[Canuck]

I thought Lewis did real good. 4.6 ypc and 3rd in receiving. Now I see why Belichick wasn't too worried about releasing Jonas Gray. Looks good in pass protection. Only negative was the fumble in the red zone.

4 TD and all by TE. Looks like Dobson isn't going to be LaFells replacement.

Gronk 3TD, fumble recovery and onside kick recovery. Preseason not needed.

Hardly heard Mayo's name mentioned all night.

I thought Butler competed very well against a very tough duo of Roethlisberger and Brown.

Offense looks good. I see they gave Mason a look at being FB. Devlin is going to be missed. I think even Chandler lined up at FB at one point. Andrews handled himself well at center. I loved how Lewis played but we need some Blount Force Trauma on the goal line.

I thought the defense gave Roethlisberger way to much time to throw. I know they were cautious to keep Ben from running but we need more pressure. The run defense left a lot to be desired. Easley didn't even make it 5 minutes into the first game before getting injured. My nickname for him is now Easley Hurt. Looks like the bend but don't break defense is back. I see Patriots were getting Harmon out there as much as possible

Tomlin gets upset and angry over the headset malfunction. His team at times has problems with getting organized. Poor time management. Belichick is calm, cool and collected. You would never know that they shut off his coach to coach communications too. I'm sure that he practices that very scenario in training camp.

Sucks watching the game on TV. Missed the vast majority of the pregame celebrations. I saw more watching NFL highlights of the pregame then I did watching the NBC feed.

 

[Sticky Caulk]

Easley didn't even make it 5 minutes into the first game before getting injured. My nickname for him is now Easley Hurt.

Does this need to be a thing for every player that has injury issues? It's as if some of you guys believe that it's some negative issue these guys have personally, like they are making some mistake by not staying healthy. Injury prone players are going to happen in a violent sport. Not everyone can be Welker and get knocked around to the point of brain damage with a smile on his face. He didn't blow coverage or give a poor effort. He went down in pain because something went physically wrong with him. It just seems dumb to mock anyone that plays pro football for getting hurt when most of us posting on football forums would literally die from one big hit, never mind doing this stuff day after day.

 

[BingoBrown]

How about our rookie ctr! not bad at all.

 

[Canuck]

Does this need to be a thing for every player that has injury issues? It's as if some of you guys believe that it's some negative issue these guys have personally, like they are making some mistake by not staying healthy. Injury prone players are going to happen in a violent sport. Not everyone can be Welker and get knocked around to the point of brain damage with a smile on his face. He didn't blow coverage or give a poor effort. He went down in pain because something went physically wrong with him. It just seems dumb to mock anyone that plays pro football for getting hurt when most of us posting on football forums would literally die from one big hit, never mind doing this stuff day after day.

I guess I shouldn't have called Ras-I Dowling by the nickname Glass-I Dowling when he played for us. I'm such a mean person

 

[Brewskies]

For the first game with all the distractions it was an enjoyable win. I was especially impressed with Brady. Gronk was sharp really into the game. I would have liked to have seen more of Chandler but that will happen. Lewis was impressive as well except for fumble but it was a wet night and he carried the ball poorly.

On to Buffalo

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Lewis is the real deal, but that was some terrible ball security. He'll give up a lot of fumbles carrying the ball like that. I suspect he will get a lot of practice on that this week. As for his elusiveness,I wouldn't put him ahead of Woodhead, but when you add his ability to run through tackles, he has the potential to be great in this offense.

 

[luuked]

The stats doesn't show it, but I saw a lot of good out of Malcolm Butler tonight. Yes, he got burnt badly several times by Antonio Brown (what CB doesn't), but he looked as good as Revis was many other times shutting Brown down. I think with more experience, Butler will become a solid starting CB.

As stupid as it sounds but giving up the garbage TD at the end of the game is imho a good thing to happen for Butler. At least it is better than player hearing how he kept one of the best WRs in the game from getting a TD - keep grinding. He was competitive throughout the game and got really badly burned 2-3 times. All of that gives me a better feeling than Logan Ryan et al ever game me.

The run defense is really a big concern. When Ninkovich is getting burnt left and right not setting the edge, you gotta be concerned. I know he was held several time, but it was scary how much Williams reached the outside and picked up ten plus yards at a clip. But remember the run defense was a concern early in the year the last two years and they ended both seasons with pretty good run defenses.

Lets see if it becomes a trend before we get overly concerned. If it is then the very early BYE actually comes at a perfect time to work through those issues.

Disappointed we didn't see more of Chandler in the offense, but with Gronk and Edelman it will be difficult for everyone to get more than a few passes in their direction. He did draw some coverage away from Gronk in the red zone (hell I think the Steelers defenders confused him for Gzronk because Chandler got more coverage at times).

The fan in me is also disappointed, but then I also am happy that we didn't gave away any of our new plays. I am completely convinced that once we are in the swing of things in October/November we will see the full face of our offense.


If it weren't for Easley's injury I would say that the opener was mostly a success. Hoping for the best, expecting something season-ending. Hope it is not similar to the hip issue that Pitta had, otherwise he might be toast.

 

[luuked]

Lewis is the real deal, but that was some terrible ball security. He'll give up a lot of fumbles carrying the ball like that. I suspect he will get a lot of practice on that this week. As for his elusiveness,I wouldn't put him ahead of Woodhead, but when you add his ability to run through tackles, he has the potential to be great in this offense.

His acceleration is amazing. He gets going so much faster than Woodhead and Vereen did. I hope he can physically make it through the season.

 

[Marinlik]

One thing I really noticed about Easley is that before he got hurt, he looked like the by far most dominant of our defensive linemen. He looked like he did in college. He was lightning quick out of his stance. He got in the backfield and created chaos. I hope he's OK. Because that kind of penetrating lineman is something that can be a real pain in the ass for offenses.

Dion Lewis look more like Woodhead than Vereen. Which I love. Vereen had fairly good hands, and was very good at getting open in his routes. But he really struggled with creating yards on his own with the ball in his hands, except for having a foot race with a linebacker on wheel routes. Woodhead on the other hand could wiggle his way to yards you didn't think was there. Lewis looks to have the same ability. He's small. But he still manages to fall tumble forward after contact.

 

[IcyPatriot]

On a night where FoxSports stats show Brady with a 143.8 QBR
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/boxscore?id=7373

ESPN shows Brady with a 91.2 QBR
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400791485

Butt hurt is festering .... pandemic perhaps.

checked another source for accuracy ... NBC has him at 143.8 also.
http://scores.nbcsports.com/fb/playerstats.asp?id=5228&fn=Tom&ln=Brady&team=17

 

[Froob]

Lewis always seems to get the extra yards somehow despite being so small.

 

[Froob]

On a night where FoxSports stats show Brady with a 143.8 QBR
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/boxscore?id=7373

ESPN shows Brady with a 91.2 QBR
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400791485

Butt hurt is festering .... pandemic perhaps.

The 91.2 is total QBR rating. They put the 143.8 right next to it with the traditional QB rating.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

I loved the goal line stand that forced a FG. The Steelers had 6 plays run within 8 yards of the goal and 3 plays were after Chung got penalized for DPI. That's some real positive that the team can build on.

Didn't need much more than Gronk, Edleman and Lewis tonight (Lewis did some real nice things but will BB will have plenty of learning opportunities for him when the film is broken down). Still for a guy out of the game for as long as he was, the player and coaches did a fantastic job getting him ready for this game.

 

[Kontradiction]

Bradley Fletcher looked every bit as bad as he did in Philly last year. In saying this, I'm expecting some to come to his defense because he happened to be in position a couple of times but he got burned 3 times last night and should have gave up the TD that could have at least tied the game had DHB had any clue about his spot in the end zone. The less he sees the field, the better. Butler, by comparison, was in position much more often. He still has a ways to go but he was scrappy against one of the harder covers in the league. Even in spite of Brady's brilliance, this could have easily been a loss had the Steelers not shot themselves in the foot. The defense needs to do a better job of getting off the field.