Idle Thoughts - the West Coast edition

[bormio]

I liked the targets to Edelman - he has not been a focus of the offense so far - and I think they do better when he is in the 12+ target range. I think all the deep balls were due to SF cutting off the short throws and the deep route being the presnap option read. I still think Edelman needs to be special going into the playoffs if they are going to win - Amendola, Hogan and Mitchell are nice complementary players but none of them are #1 receivers. But Hogan and Gronk being back should prevent teams from clamping down on the short throws so much.

 

[archstanton543]

How many losses has it caused? Until it starts costing games frequently it's not the priority, the priority is things that would cost the win. So far this has maybe cost one W (Seattle) and who knows how many wins resulted from prioritizing other things?

Oh, I know. I'm just frustrated with people doing the "we have six weeks to fix it" then the following week "we have five weeks to fix it" etc. The defense is what is it is at this point. It's almost December so what they are is pretty much what they'll be come playoff time.

 

[mgteich]

e. A MUCH better job by the DB's today. They didn't even try to throw on Butler. Ryan had a much better game and contested a lot of throws. Also Rowe gets a thumbs up. He provided tight coverage most of the time and got his head turned around on that key 3rd down deep pass that "might have gotten called if he hadn't.

MOST of the damage done by the Niners were throws to their RB's and TE's crossing in zone coverages or pick plays. That is stuff that can be fixed over the next 6 games I believe. But the improvement will have to come from LB's or dime backs. Maybe it's time for Cyrus Jones to make an impact in the secondary.

Cyrus Jones has been given lots of chances; maybe next year. We have no good options after our 3 corners and 3 safeties. That's fine. We have 6 db's to play dime, as long as LB's can cover over the middle. Coleman is an OK 7th db. I don't know why you think that the LB's (or Jones) will get better this year, other than Belichick and Patricia have always gotten improvement in the home stretch.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Plenty of time before the playoffs to get this right. Can't count to 10 without 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.

I thought the season would be broken down like this.

1)Get to 3-1/2-2 without Tom.

2)Browns until Bye for him to knock off any rust and team to gel.

3) Get the injuries right and team chemistry
4)Figure out whats working, who's available and head into December being the team we want to be.

Obviously things change and obstacles arise but I think we're in great shape and on schedule?

The defense hasn't looked like the 85 Bears but they dont have too. We're very much in position for HFA which is huge for us and this particular team.

The biggest issue I have is the lack of TO'S like many of you and PFK. Its troubling this late in the year but again we're still in November. Plenty of time to improve and tighten up a bit.

 

[mihap]

This isn't even close to being accurate.
Roberts has 4.6 - 40 Speed. Spikes ran a 5.05 -40 at his Pro-Day.

CJ Prosise runs a 4.4 and is a good all-around back.

I know that he is faster, but chasing Prosise, he looked like snail so i come up with spikes

 

[patriot1136]

Not sure if this is too off topic or not, but what do you guys think of Dallas? They look like the real deal. I'd be worried about meeting them in the Super Bowl potentially but then again it would be a good matchup.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

you need a LB/S hybrid who specializes in pass defense

I assume Chung is the closest fit we have to that job description. Big nickel becomes the norm?

Or bring McCourty up closer to the line and have Harmon play free safety. McCourty and Chung both top-rated tacklers.

 

[SEA_Pat]

Umm.. Brandon Mitchell, depending on if you're referring to the LB or the WR, plays for the Broncos or the Jets respectively.

Are you referring to MALCOLM Mitchell, the Patriots WR?

Sorry, I was being too meta...just joking about PFK's penchant for misnaming players. How about that Tim Brady?

 

[The Brandon Five]

b. Edelman must have some of those Brady Italian pictures because he got almost half of Brady's 40 throws targetted to him, plus 2 runs. It seemed to be complete overkill to me on Brady's part. Meanwhile Edelman wound up with only 8 catches on those 16-20 odd targets, but he was open on more than a few of them, but Brady wasn't his usual accurate self on his long throws this week.

On one of those deep balls Edelman got held by the d-back. Hard to tell, but it seemed like he would have been at the spot where Tom threw the ball without that.

e. A MUCH better job by the DB's today. They didn't even try to throw on Butler.

On that one pass that the receiver caught over a leaping Butler, I was yelling at the TV for Butler to pull a Sherman and just tackle the guy because Kap had left the pocket. I guess that isn't something the Pats coach them to do.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

for Butler to pull a Sherman and just tackle the guy because Kap had left the pocket. I guess that isn't something the Pats coach them to do.

Here's great video of Sherman just doing this (and getting a very dubious penalty in the process):

Why Richard Sherman's hit on Walt Powell at the end of the game wasn't a penalty - The Buffalo News

Given the number of mobile QBs we play this year, seems like this should be on our DB curriculum.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

On that one pass that the receiver caught over a leaping Butler, I was yelling at the TV for Butler to pull a Sherman and just tackle the guy because Kap had left the pocket. I guess that isn't something the Pats coach them to do.

QB being out of the pocket only negates illegal contact. It does not negate defensive holding or DPI. And once the ball has left the QB's hand DPI is now in play. If Butler tacked the guy with the ball in the air it's DPI and a spot foul. And if he tackled him before the pass it would likely be defensive holding, unless what he did was to shoulder check or shove him (i.e. no grasping).

 

[The Brandon Five]

QB being out of the pocket only negates illegal contact. It does not negate defensive holding or DPI. And once the ball has left the QB's hand DPI is now in play. If Butler tacked the guy with the ball in the air it's DPI and a spot foul. And if he tackled him before the pass it would likely be defensive holding, unless what he did was to shoulder check or shove him (i.e. no grasping).

Then how does Sherman get away with knocking a guy to the ground?

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Then how does Sherman get away with knocking a guy to the ground?

1) The refs believe he did it when the QB was out of the pocket, and
2) The refs believe he did it before the ball was in the air, and
3) The refs believe he knocked the guy down w/o holding him (which is certainly possible -- a body check or a shove can knock a receiver down and are not holds).

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

May be off base, but seeing a David Givens like trajectory for Mitchell.

I would take that, without the knee injury....

 

[PP2]

I hope so too, that he cares only about wins. Look at bennett on the amendola TD. looks simply disinterested after the TD,standing next to him, not going to congratulate Danny ,nothing.

Come on SVN, you're smarter and better than that. SF schemed specifically to shut Bennett down because they wisely recognized him as a triple threat.

He was a big part in shoring up our protection and sparking the run game.

 

[NormZauchin]

Not sure if this is too off topic or not, but what do you guys think of Dallas? They look like the real deal. I'd be worried about meeting them in the Super Bowl potentially but then again it would be a good matchup.

Pats can't play both Dallas and Seattle in the Super Bowl.

 

[bormio]

Pats can't play both Dallas and Seattle in the Super Bowl.

I think Seattle will beat Dallas in Dallas in the NFCCG. Think about what happened in Big Ben's rookie year.

 

[mikey m]

Oh, I know. I'm just frustrated with people doing the "we have six weeks to fix it" then the following week "we have five weeks to fix it" etc. The defense is what is it is at this point. It's almost December so what they are is pretty much what they'll be come playoff time.

You may be right. But I think the seeming inability to address the onfield issues of the defense is mostly due to the off field issues/personnel decisions that still has the coaching staff juggling with rotations and packages at this point in the year when normally that would all be settled. Hopefully the guys, primarily sheard right now but just about everyone to some extent, can get their minds right and start playing more consistently. At least make it clear what our strengths are and what we can depend on, so that BB and MP can start to coach and scheme away the weaknesses.

Edit: the Branch suspension certainly isn't going to help get rotations settled. Motherf*****

 

[PScottman]

I think Seattle will beat Dallas in Dallas in the NFCCG

Would be an interesting matchup. They haven't been very stout against the run this year which is Dallas' strength, but have the secondary to put an extra guy in the box regularly. I guess I could default to the ultimate equalizer - injuries and just cop out on making an actual prediction.