Idle thoughts - the "mental toughness" edition

[Kdo5]

JMac sucks...haven't you been following along all season? SMH at this over the top homerism.

JMac was a helluva pick up if you ask me. And I would have said this several weeks ago too. He has been a legitimately good #2 corner to go along with Gilmore.

Speaking of Gilmore, he was an excellent signing last season. He is one of our top 3 players and playing as good as any elite corner out there. Well worth that money.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Ironic that Pats stars cost them 2 offensive series, ramping up the degree of difficulty for the D.
Squirrel drop on 3rd down, and uncharacteristic lack of effort by Gronk on what clearly was not a 1st down but should have been.

 

[tasmlab]

Agreed. Gronk seems not able to fall forwards after contact which is so unlike him. He is clearly playing hurt. It’s a little heartbreaking.

That almost first down late in the second, Gronk had that little man push him backwards by himself. Old Gronk could've dragged four guys past the sticks.

 

[BTTA]

1. WTF was up with this crew and spotting the ball? They were giving the offense an extra half yard it seemed on every spot. Cause the offense needs yet another advantage.

IIRC from preseason threads, that's the rule now: move the ball up to the next full yard marker.

 

[BTTA]

Ironic that Pats stars cost them 2 offensive series, ramping up the degree of difficulty for the D.
Squirrel drop on 3rd down, and uncharacteristic lack of effort by Gronk on what clearly was not a 1st down but should have been.

If his back is still a mess, it may have been that he didn't have the ability to push the defender forward to make that first down.

 

[scott99]

Michel was actually the more explosive back between him and Chubb at Georgia. I dont think we have seen anything near his best yet, he is super solid now and rarely loses yards.

Agreed, he was the lightning to Chubb's thunder. That being said, Chubb was always able to go the distance as well, because he's better at breaking tackles. I agree, I don't think we've seen the lightning yet. Last year at Georgia, I believe Michel had two 75 yard runs. They will come, it reminds me of Curtis Martin when he was young, his Pat's teammates always teased him about not being able to "take it to the house." Then he finally broke a 70+ yarder, and they stopped teasing him.

Michel has some Martin like qualities, may not be the fastest guy ever, but when 100% healthy, he has the ability to break long runs, has the elusiveness like Martin, and like Martin, has surprising strength. Michel has had a great rookie season so far (as far as I'm concerned, it's already been a big success). , I still think the best is yet to come, hopefully he gets 100% healthy, he seems to really show up in big games. Was unstoppable in the Rose Bowl vs Oklahoma, and was the better back than Chubb vs Alabama in the championship game.

 

[Hyped]

5. What exactly does David Andrews do to players that they're always trying to rib his head off? It seems like every week he draw a hands to the face penalty and really it seems like they could call it more often.

Andrews is 6'3" and the average OL man in the NFL is 6'5".....maybe 2 inches makes a difference between bull rushing vs. the chest area or the neck area?

 

[maineman209]

That almost first down late in the second, Gronk had that little man push him backwards by himself. Old Gronk could've dragged four guys past the sticks.

Meh. Gronk was fully upright and that "little guy" had a great angle that gave him an instant leverage advantage, converted speed to power very well, and never let Gronk get traction to push.

I really think folks are getting carried away with this "old Gronk" ish on every play that he fails to be Superman. Sometimes the other guy just makes a great play with perfect technique.

 

[luuked]

Meh. Gronk was fully upright and that "little guy" had a great angle that gave him an instant leverage advantage, converted speed to power very well, and never let Gronk get traction to push.

I really think folks are getting carried away with this "old Gronk" ish on every play that he fails to be Superman. Sometimes the other guy just makes a great play with perfect technique.

Like you said it is all about leverage and not about body sizes.

 

[borg]

PFK in the zone

...Nor was their much of a play action pass game (after the first drive). In fact there were hardly any downfield passing in the first half. Maybe it was just part of the plan. Keep running the ball and throwing short for most of the first 3 quarters and then explode on them, just like they did and get out to a 14 point lead and then sit on it.

I can almost hear McDaniels listening to my rants in the game day thread, and turn to me and say, "slow your roll, dude. I got this. I'm just biding my time. This isn't turning out to be a shoot-out game. When the time is right, I'll step on the gas and end this." And he did.

About a decade ago, give or take a couple years, a co*ky Brady was entering the stadium prior to a Minny/Pats contest and proclaimed to the broadcaster's sideline candy ....WE'RE GONNA KILL THESE GUYS....and sure enough.....Brady and Co. dismantled the Vikings and their simplistic game plan. And after the Pats opening salvo last night against a defense that looked helpless, I became nostalgic for another beat down. And as PFK pointed out, Josh abandoned play action for the next 30 minutes which allowed Minny to lurk in the dark matter of our subconscious far too long.

The "In Bill We Trust" in me wants to believe the Pats can flip the switch whenever they are ready and last night's 2nd and 3rd quarters were all about reps for the ground game.
My Kool-Aid is delicious by the way.
The thing is, IMO, McDaniels too often abandons play action (vs Atlanta) and it drives me nuts.
But then Brady & Co....and Josh though I hate to give a guy who abandons my binky 'play action' ....flip the switch and send the Black And Blue division pretenders to the showers....in about 4 minutes.
Typed by a spoiled Pats fan.

PS....I despise know-it-all Romo and his pre-snap spoilers....but that's just me.
I'm starting to despise Aikman and his glass-is-half-empty attitude. Is it me or does Aikman secretly rejoice when Brady has an off-play.

Note:...it has been hot as sh*t in S. Florida this "winter"....92 degrees today. Haven't checked the Sunday forecast but something to pay attention to.

After Devlon's TD, he was standing next to Mason.....and looked bigger than our Shaq.
Locomotive

 

[QuantumMechanic]

IIRC from preseason threads, that's the rule now: move the ball up to the next full yard marker.

First, it's not a rule. Second, it's not quite that simple.

Sometime in the last 5 or so years the refs realized they could save a lot of time determining first downs if the line to gain is on a yard line as much as possible. Think about it -- you look at where you mark the ball dead, and if the nose of the ball is at or over the appropriate edge of the yard line you immediately know it's a first down without having to waste time bringing out the chains.

So say a team gets possession at their own 23.2 yard line. The refs will actually mark the ball at the 23, making the line to gain the 33. The downs within the series will get true spots. So if on first down there's a run to the 28.6, the ball will be left at the 28.6. But once a first down is achieved they'll move it to an exact yard line again. So it's 2nd down at the 28.6 and the result of a play is a reception to the 37.5 for a first down. The refs will mark the ball at the 38 and set the line to gain at the 48.

They will generally only do this outside the 20s. And they don't always do it. There was at least one series yesterday out near midfield where I noticed the line to gain was in between yard lines.

 

[scout]

The thread I alway enjoy after a game, thanks Ken. Anyone have the pass-run breakdown? I was thinking with the Vikings DB injuries (which got worse during the game) that Brady would do a lot of throwing. Was it the game plan to run the ball or did Brady see how they were lined up? I feel a lot better going into KC after this weekend if we have to play at Arrowhead in the playoffs.

 

[Joker]

JMac was a helluva pick up if you ask me. And I would have said this several weeks ago too. He has been a legitimately good #2 corner to go along with Gilmore.

Speaking of Gilmore, he was an excellent signing last season. He is one of our top 3 players and playing as good as any elite corner out there. Well worth that money.

your sarcasm meter is kaput..or else I'm being taken seriously...which is even worse

 

[Kdo5]

your sarcasm meter is kaput..or else I'm being taken seriously...which is even worse

I knew you were being sarcastic. I just quoted the first post I found related to JMac so I could say good things about him.

 

[patfanken]

PFK in the zone

After Devlon's TD, he was standing next to Mason.....and looked bigger than our Shaq.
Locomotive

It always amazes me when I see Trent Brown in the huddle, he makes GRONK look like a Lilliputian, and when he stands next to Mason and Andrews, they look like they should be sent back to college until they grow up. It never gets old for me That is one big MFing human being.

 

[DarrylS]

Love Develin. Might as well just keep using him as our big down back or goal line guy.

He comes from that perennial NCAA powerhouse, Brown.. guess it is OK to assume that he is brighter than many.

 

[maineman209]

Love Develin. Might as well just keep using him as our big down back or goal line guy.

And, ideally just before it stops working, Brady will call a play in which he fakes it to Develin, then fakes it to the RB on an outside run to the opposite side, then whirls around and hits some "beneath notice" guy (Dorsett, Allen, Hollister) who's wide open at the pylon on the other side.

 

[maineman209]

He comes from that perennial NCAA powerhouse, Brown.. guess it is OK to assume that he is brighter than many.

That's what I keep telling my wife, who's also a Brown alum.

 

[DarrylS]

That's what I keep telling my wife, who's also a Brown alum.

Sometimes on weekends my wife and I go to the East Side to grab some lunch at "Andrea's" or at the "Kabob and Curry", then we wander around the Brown Bookstore... somehow that gives a different perspective on the world.

 

[1960Pats]

If his back is still a mess, it may have been that he didn't have the ability to push the defender forward to make that first down.

Gronk took a real solid hit on his left thigh and hip that had him limping off early. That play may have been a result of that hit. He didn't seem to be able to push off of his left side.