Post Game Thread - Pats beat Vikings

[QuantumMechanic]

One person reports something (the Mort Distort during defamegate is a great eaxample) and others follow along with reports on that report and soon there are multiple reports saying the same thing. That's how fake news works, and sadly it isn't limited to sports.

No reason to believe it's fake anything re: Gronk. We know fully on the record the team tried to trade him and that he threatened to retire. There's nothing unbelievable about any of the Gronk rumors.

 

[reflexblue]

Thielen " that's bull crap"
BB " shut the f*ck up"

Thielen was upset that a challenge flag was thrown. He felt Pats player faked injury to give BB time to review tape before throwing the flag.

BB didn't need extra time to decide whether to throw the flag it was obvious to everyone the pats, the vikings, the fans in the stands and the millions watching that murry didn't make the first down, i don't think he made it back to the line of scrimmage

 

[SlowGettingUp]

BB didn't need extra time to decide whether to throw the flag it was obvious to everyone the pats, the vikings, the fans in the stands and the millions watching that murry didn't make the first down, i don't think he made it back to the line of scrimmage

But somehow not to the replay officials. Isn't there a chip in the ball these days? Forward progress would become trivial to judge if they used it.

Incidentally I was laughing on one of those flags when Belichick first looked in the wrong sock, and then had trouble finding the flag in the other sock and followed up with what can only be termed a derisive toss.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

If Deflippo kept running they might of won

No chance. The Patriots would have started to play the run. They were primarily playing to confuse Cousins -- the Vikings had one of the highest passing percentages in the entire league coming into the game, so the Patriots could afford to stay in sub-packages and not worry very much about the run. Now, I'd like better gap control and lane integrity, but I'm not worried about the couple of big runs Cooks had, given the overall gameplan and the defenses's otherwise stellar performance.

 

[Deus Irae]

If we’re honest, it was a horrible pass, not a good play. It was off target and Brady threw it under pressure.

But no one is perfect

Trent Brown blew the play and let a rusher come in untouched. Brady had to get rid of the ball. The defender knew the call, was sitting on the outlet, and jumped in.

It was a good play call by the Vikings, a terrible play call by the Patriots (your only enemy there is a turnover, and killing the clock is the goal, so you don't need that throw), a huge screw up by Brown, a bad decision by Brady* (should have thrown it out of bounds or taken the sack), and a good play by the defender making the pick.


*I include Brady here because I can't remember whether or not he was hit mid-throw, which could certainly have impacted football placement, though it would probably not have been enough to turn a throw away to the sidelines into a pass catchable for the defender.

 

[mosi]

Pats are now...

9th in points allowed
4th in comp % against
6th in QB Rating against.

Honestly, this team is turning into the 2003 team. Run the ball, play solid D and hit the easy throws. Jules is Deon and Gordan is Givins.

 

[maineman209]

You are right that Edelman has been basically the same as in the past. He had a couple of bad drops the past two games, but he has had drops in the past as well. Yesterday was different--Gronk was bad (looked hampered) and Edelman was as well: had 3 receptions on 8 targets for 25 yards (drop, int). I think what puzzled me was the first half ignoring Gordon and Hogan (this has been a recurring theme) as the other stuff was becoming ineffective.

I agree 100% that Edelman had a sh it day and that Gronk was effed-up physically.

Here's the thing for me. When certain receivers aren't targeted for a period in a game, the first assumption always seems to be that it was a willful or careless act on the part of Brady or McD, when it's equally possible that target priorities were dictated by the coverage they were dealing with.

BB said specifically after the game that the Vikes changed their coverage partway through the 3rd-Q, and that the adjustment was to target Gordon.

 

[Brewskies]

I wouldn't say that Dalvin Cook was shut down. The Patriots definitely forced Defilippo into his tendency of ignoring the run game on offence, though.. 9 runs for 84 yards is ridiculously good.

In the be scheme of things Cook is nothing compared to Thielen and Diggs. Both were shut down.

 

[Fatmancryin]

One person reports something (the Mort Distort during defamegate is a great eaxample) and others follow along with reports on that report and soon there are multiple reports saying the same thing. That's how fake news works, and sadly it isn't limited to sports.

It’s not “one person” reporting some of this. This has been written and tweeted and reported by numerous media persons since Gronks Post Super Bowl press conference.

This isn’t #fakenews where there is smoke there is fire.

Some of you need to get over deflategate it happened it’s over continuing to cry over it isn’t going to change the outcome.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Honestly, this team is turning into the 2003 team. Run the ball, play solid D and hit the easy throws. Jules is Deon and Gordan is Givins.

In total, in the last 3 games they've run the ball more than they have thrown it.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I wouldn't say that Dalvin Cook was shut down. The Patriots definitely forced Defilippo into his tendency of ignoring the run game on offence, though.. 9 runs for 84 yards is ridiculously good.

I think that was by in large the byproduct of the defensive game plan.

 

[maineman209]

Honestly, as much as it pains me to think it, Manish have been right...

Gronk didn't look "cooked" in the first part of the season before he injured his back.

OTOH, Allen looks like that when he's 100% healthy.

 

[maineman209]

I do think there is some truth to that article. It’s the same rhetoric that was being reported during the off-season.

IMO I think he retires this off-season.

Gronk played 73 of 74 offensive snaps yesterday. Although it looked to me like he was playing through soreness/stiffness, even pain for most of the game, he didn't take himself out, and the Pats must have thought he was getting the job done or they would have pulled him.

I have no idea what any of this has to do with what "rhetoric" was being reported or willfully mis-interpreted by WEEI and others during the off-season. What I do know is that the ***holes in the media make mountains out of molehills and even make sh it up out of whole cloth all the damn time because ... RATINGS!

It's really a shame that so many people treat their crap as clever or profound "insight" or fact. There's only as much "truth" there as people are willing to fall for.

 

[maineman209]

Credit to the Pats defense. They shut down the Vikings game. Each Vikings star was shut down. Best Pats defensive game this season.

Go Pats

I agree about the way the Pats defense played. However, in retrospect, I'm not entirely sure that the Vikes' offense is significantly better than the Jete with McCown, the Bills with Anderson, or the 'Fins with .... well, anybody they have at QB.

 

[maineman209]

If Deflippo kept running they might of won

He should have kept running .... all the way back to Philly.

 

[maineman209]

BB didn't need extra time to decide whether to throw the flag it was obvious to everyone the pats, the vikings, the fans in the stands and the millions watching that murry didn't make the first down, i don't think he made it back to the line of scrimmage

Actually, BB needed extra time to find his red flag. He looked in his right sock first, then found it in his left.

Also, you could sorta tell that the ref was standing there waiting for him, so it's not unreasonable to suggest that he'd already told the ref that he was going to challenge the spot.

 

[maineman209]

In total, in the last 3 games they've run the ball more than they have thrown it.

This game ended up that way. At halftime, though, they were right around their usual 57% passing/43% running ratio. It was pounding the ball after they had a secure lead that put rush attempts over the top - closing out the win with a strong running game, just like so many have dreamt of the Pats doing for so long.

 

[Nunchucks]

I keep seeing that the Vikings abandoned the run and that was why they lost. I do not believe that is true. Sure, the Vikings had a number of successful long runs. But, they also had a number of terrible runs. The big runs generally came on first down, then the Vikings would run again on first down, get bottled up and then be forced to run on 2nd and long or pass....sometimes they ran and were stopped and other times they passed.

Either way, the high YPC number is inflated by a few long runs that do not tell the story of the Patriots defense, generally making the Vikings pay for running the ball.

 

[maineman209]

I keep seeing that the Vikings abandoned the run and that was why they lost. I do not believe that is true. Sure, the Vikings had a number of successful long runs. But, they also had a number of terrible runs. The big runs generally came on first down, then the Vikings would run again on first down, get bottled up and then be forced to run on 2nd and long or pass....sometimes they ran and were stopped and other times they passed.

Either way, the high YPC number is inflated by a few long runs that do not tell the story of the Patriots defense, generally making the Vikings pay for running the ball.

"Abandoning the run" is somewhat relative. Coming into the game,the Vikes had been running the ball less than 35% of the time, anyway - lowest percentage in the NFL, IIRC. Against the Pats, they "dropped down" to 23%.

The Pats minimum run percentage this season has been 33%, IIRC, and they're averaging close to 45%.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Loved the defense and our offense started on fire. Edelman threw off our rhythm and Gronk isn't playing like the Gronk we have seen over the years. There is a chance we completely blow out the Vikings if Gronk would have gotten that first down.

Our D played great, but they weren't truly tested. The Vikings gave up on the run way too soon and didn't seem to attack our linebackers in coverage.

I am somewhat concerned that Dawson is going to play at some point and ruin this rotation we have going in the secondary. Our defense is still coming together and I wonder if Shelton is going to be a permanent inactive going forward.