Idleless thoughts: The none edition.

[jah]

Agreed. Why they are not making every kick-off into the back of the EZ is beyond me.

My theory is our coaching staff is convinced that the players will "get it right" eventually and start getting downfield faster.

I'm not convinced.

 

[luuked]

Agreed. Why they are not making every kick-off into the back of the EZ is beyond me.

Why would they ?

 

[maineman209]

Hogan, Dorsett and Patterson have been relatively open by NFL standards this year. But I’m not sure if they don’t have Brady’s trust because of practice or that they’re not supposed to be where they should be. Brady’s accuracy has been pretty inconsistent. There were a few throws which wasn’t even in the same zip code. Again, not sure if it’s the route or his accuracy.

Catch rates:
- Hogan = 66%
- Patterson = 75%
- Dorsett = 83%

- Gordon = 53%

I'm not sure why the top 3 wouldn't have Brady's trust.

 

[maineman209]

It’s a combination of things:

Edelman
Hogan
Gronkowski

All of them are clearly in the twilight of their career. I noted Edelman was a close to the end before his injury in 2017. Gronk, we’re lucky he’s made it this long with back injuries that cause most player to not even be drafted. Hogan is around 30 despite the perception there’s a lot more football in him.

Not one of these guys can consistently get separation, though Edelman is surprisingly adequate though definitely not what he was.

So essentially the only receiver that can get open consistently is a guy who joined the team six weeks ago and has never had a training camp with TB12.

Brady himself? Hard to say. It isn’t apples to apples with his receiving corps of past years. He looks essentialy the same, but losing a couple MPH on his passes may be also causing him to be more conservative, compounding the issues already stated.

Gordon? Gordon is "getting open consistently"?

 

[tasmlab]

That was butt ugly. One thing I came away with is this - BB and/or Tom Brady do not do well against former associates the first time out. Vrabel, Patricia, McD when he was in Denver, Mangini, and didn't Romeo beat BB with Cleveland the 1st time they played? What is it?

Maybe some kind of charitable parting gift? Like "thanks for all you've done. Good luck with your new gig. Here's a pretty good looking W to get you started. I'll try to get you super bowl tickets later on if I have extra."

 

[goheels22002]

2.1

The Pats rushed for 2.1 yards per carry on 19 carries.

Brady got sacked 3 times and hit 6 times on 41 dropbacks.

The offensive line sucked.

Brady is not seeing ghosts - he was getting smacked in the mouth by a well-designed pass rush that was not deterred in the least by a rushing attack that had nowhere to go.

The offensive line sucked.

 

[nabwong]

Catch rates:
- Hogan = 66%
- Patterson = 75%
- Dorsett = 83%

- Gordon = 53%

I'm not sure why the top 3 wouldn't have Brady's trust.

That’s why I said I’m wondering if there are things happening in practice that would cause Brady to lose trust in them.

 

[PatsDeb]

My theory is our coaching staff is convinced that the players will "get it right" eventually and start getting downfield faster.

I'm not convinced.

Me neither. It's been weeks now that this strategy (kicking short) has not worked to our advantage. For every stop inside the 20, it seems like there are 3 beyond (sometimes well beyond) the 25. In the words of Elsa the Snow Queen, "let it go" as a strategy. There are plenty of other ways to gain an advantage that we should be working on.

 

[Brewskies]

Pats drop in NFL rating from #2 to #5.

No big deal the season isn't over. They will improve.

Go Pats

 

[PatsDeb]

Why would they ?

Because they keep getting burned. If they were stopping people consistently inside the 20 then you'd live with the occasional gallop to the 40, but the gallops to the 40 have not been occasional of late.

 

[Brewskies]

Dwayne Allen knee problem will be out a few games was reported today. With Gronk injured and Allen out the TE position becomes a problem.

 

[luuked]

Because they keep getting burned. If they were stopping people consistently inside the 20 then you'd live with the occasional gallop to the 40, but the gallops to the 40 have not been occasional of late.

So you'd rather they stop working on it ? Now don't get me wrong I agree that they have been awful against it so I don't disagree with your POV I just think that this is the time to work on stuff like that and not just stop doing it only to run into situations in the playoffs where you suddenly can't consistently kick it out all the time (may it be wind or injuries to Ghost or whatever).

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Slater was sub par healthy that game. It showed. His game is elite speed and ability to break the double team to speed downfield.
Coaches should have realized this and as Deb & others suggested, kick it out of the eZ.

 

[Hyped]

Dwayne Allen knee problem will be out a few games was reported today. With Gronk injured and Allen out the TE position becomes a problem.

Not really. Hollister is now healthy and we can always use Waddle as the blocking TE for now. Not to mention, we can use Develin as well as a hybrid FB/TE to just get by for a few weeks.

BYE, @NYJ, and then MIN....I think Allen will be ready for either @Mia or @PIT.

 

[PatsDeb]

So you'd rather they stop working on it ? Now don't get me wrong I agree that they have been awful against it so I don't disagree with your POV I just think that this is the time to work on stuff like that and not just stop doing it only to run into situations in the playoffs where you suddenly can't consistently kick it out all the time (may it be wind or injuries to Ghost or whatever).

No, I'd rather they stop doing it in real games with real consequences until they right the ship.

 

[luuked]

No, I'd rather they stop doing it in real games with real consequences until they right the ship.

This is the only way to practice it and to right the ship.

How else are they supposed to do it ? Have you read about all the restrictions on practices ? You rather have a season ending injury during practice because they are "trying to right the ship" there ?

 

[maineman209]

That’s why I said I’m wondering if there are things happening in practice that would cause Brady to lose trust in them.

And it may be something completely unrelated to who Brady does or doesn't trust.

Honestly, I'm puzzled about what McD and Brady are attempting to accomplish with Gordon. His 53% catch rate is unusually poor for a guy who's in the Pats top-3 in tgts/game. The top-4 are all typically at 60% or over. Cooks' 57% was a departure last season, but then his catch rates in his prior career with the Sainst had been 77%, 65%, 67% (and he's at 71% with the Rams this season).

However, a low catch rate is not at all unusual for Gordon. What we're seeing from him this season is what he's typically provided:

2018: 7 games .. 53% CR .. 3.7 rec/gm .. 18.3 YPC
2017: 5 games .. 43% CR .. 3.6 rec/gm .. 18.6 YPC
2014: 5 games .. 51% CR .. 4.8 rec/gm .. 12.6 YPC
2013: 14 gms ... 55% CR .. 6.2 rec/gm .. 18.9 YPC
2012: 16 gms ... 52% CR .. 3.1 rec/gm .. 16.1 YPC

I mean, maybe he saw a lot of targets the last two games (despite his catch rate) in some kind of attempt to compensate for Gronk's absence. And I get that "deep threats" around the league often have similarly low catch rates (although Gronk and Hogan have produced much better catch rates at a similar YPC). But still, force-feeding Gordon seems like they're trying to make him into something he's not and has never been.

 

[PatsDeb]

This is the only way to practice it and to right the ship.

How else are they supposed to do it ? Have you read about all the restrictions on practices ? You rather have a season ending injury during practice because they are "trying to right the ship" there ?

Then only do it in games when you have a big lead that isn't likely to be erased when your sub-par coverage team messes it up. Otherwise, yes they practice kickoffs. You are naive if you think otherwise.

 

[maineman209]

Dwayne Allen knee problem will be out a few games was reported today. With Gronk injured and Allen out the TE position becomes a problem.

Damn! And just as he was turning into the savior at receiving that we always knew he could be!

/s

 

[jah]

So you'd rather they stop working on it ? Now don't get me wrong I agree that they have been awful against it so I don't disagree with your POV I just think that this is the time to work on stuff like that and not just stop doing it only to run into situations in the playoffs where you suddenly can't consistently kick it out all the time (may it be wind or injuries to Ghost or whatever).

"They're still working on adjusting to the new rule" would have been (and was) a fine excuse in September. It is now 10 games into the regular season. They need to admit this idea didn't work.