Official Post Game Thread - Patriots Beat The Lions

[Sicilian]

Good start. Always fun to see a dominating performance, even if it was against scrubs playing vanilla schemes. If nothing else, it's nice to know that our depth and competition for the bottom of the roster is better than the Lions'

My random thoughts:

1) If you include the nickel CB, there are 12 "starters" on defense. Going by projections, only 2 of those actually played tonight (Collins and Bentley). So yeah, we were facing Lions backups, but we have 10 better defenders we could throw out there when the competition ramps up. Hard not to love that!

2) Winovich looked good to me, not because of the results per se, but just his energy. He looks like he has controlled aggression, and enjoys playing the game. He may not break into the regular defense a ton this year if we stay healthy, but he was on a few ST units in the first half, so he'll have a chance to stay involved while waiting for his shots.

3) I'm encouraged by the WR's, but as with every preseason, I need to see how they look with Brady before I get excited. Their chemistry with him and how much he trusts them is the only thing that matters. Also, Berrios had a good game, but it's not enough yet for me to have him on the 53. My 5 (not including Slater) are Edelman, Harry, Meyers, Dorsett, Harris. But again, nothing will really take shape until Brady takes the field.

4) Interesting that Damien Harris didn't get into the game at all. Is he hurt?

 

[condon84]

As great as the Pats look, the Lions looked equally horrible.

Patricia's defense looked like it was in Super Bowl form. We should have ran the Philly special with Stidham.

 

[nabwong]

I'm officially on the trade Dawson train. Time to try to recoup what they can. Maybe get a 5th?

But is he a coach on the field?

 

[Ivan]

Love him or hate him but captain might have had a point. Dawson and Slow don Juan both got burned with the only difference that Slow Don Juan got away with a slight PI.

It seems like annual 2nd round DB busts are the trade off for Super Bowls. It is what it is. It's annoying that BB doesn't learn from it but if it results in another SB this year I won't complain too much.

Yep. Too bad Belichick doesn’t learn. If only he was as smart as you.

Williams is one pre season game into his career, calling him a bust is as dumb as it gets.

 

[Doctor DDS]

My biggest takeaway is that the Pats seem to have an overabundance of defensive talent. Would expect them to trade away some of depth prior to cut downs and pick up some extra picks or maybe a TE.

WR is the hardest position for me to evaluate in the pre-season as I've seen too many impress over the years who do not even make the team. That said, based on camp feedback and last night it is hard not to come away impressed with Myers. Not sure if his seeming lack of athleticism based off of combine numbers will ultimately hold him back but he seems able to get open and his hands look solid.

 

[farn]

I’d not be surprised to see a defender get traded to Detroit... there seems to be too many pieces on that unit to keep them all and the Lions have both familiarity and an up close look this week.

 

[aluminum seats]

I see a lot of issues, not thrilled. Not sure what you guys were watching.

—Running game was anemic. Teams will pin their ears back and kill Brady. OL not getting it done.

—Williams and Dawson trending seriously downward.

—Harry & LaCosse already banged up. Anybody else? Gonna be one of those years looks like.

—Harris had more drops than catches, or close to. His early flashes in camp are a distant memory.

—Stidham’s release time is atrocious. Actual NFL teams won’t let him camp out forever.

—Gostkowski missed a kick. Of course. Because that’s what he does.

And so on. Not to mention the meaningless final score might actually convince these guys they’re good so they won’t take coaching well. Could be it’s actually downhill from here. Look for Belichick to make a move to shake things up.

 

[Sicilian]

—Running game was anemic. Teams will pin their ears back and kill Brady. OL not getting it done.

You're kidding, right? It was Brandon Bolden and <<insert first name I can't remember>> Brosette running behind the BACKUP offensive line. Were you expecting total ground domination?

—Williams and Dawson trending seriously downward.

Dawson agreed, he did himself no favors. But how can a rookie playing his first preseason game trend in ANY direction, when he has no history to trend FROM?

—Harry & LaCosse already banged up. Anybody else? Gonna be one of those years looks like.

Don't love this either, agreed. Both are important pieces to uncertain groups.

—Harris had more drops than catches, or close to. His early flashes in camp are a distant memory.

Harris is what he is at this point, and could contribute as depth. But I wouldn't call those drops either. Gotta fight through the contact, but both times he had an arm being interfered with, more so than the call that the Lions tried to challenge.

—Stidham’s release time is atrocious. Actual NFL teams won’t let him camp out forever.

He's a 4th round rookie playing his first game, and we're not depending on him this year in any capacity. I agree we shouldn't start crafting his Canton bust, but this shouldn't be seen as a concern at this point.

And so on. Not to mention the meaningless final score might actually convince these guys they’re good so they won’t take coaching well. Could be it’s actually downhill from here. Look for Belichick to make a move to shake things up.

If this is satire, I missed it. But I highly doubt that Belichick needs to "shake things up" to find enough coaching points to keep these guys humbled.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I’d not be surprised to see a defender get traded to Detroit... there seems to be too many pieces on that unit to keep them all and the Lions have both familiarity and an up close look this week.

Might see a WR traded there as well

 

[Uptown]

Jarrett Stud-arm

 

[PP2]

I can't possibly see how they can justify keeping Dawson over Crossen.

Dawson didn't help himself last night with errors.. holding, too many men, and what looks like a breakdown in coverage.. looks like he was handing off to Brooks but Brooks wasn't in position or prepared. Granted Brooks is a rookie, but...

 

[p8ryts]

I see a lot of issues, not thrilled. Not sure what you guys were watching.

—Running game was anemic. Teams will pin their ears back and kill Brady. OL not getting it done.

—Williams and Dawson trending seriously downward.

—Harry & LaCosse already banged up. Anybody else? Gonna be one of those years looks like.

—Harris had more drops than catches, or close to. His early flashes in camp are a distant memory.

—Stidham’s release time is atrocious. Actual NFL teams won’t let him camp out forever.

—Gostkowski missed a kick. Of course. Because that’s what he does.

And so on. Not to mention the meaningless final score might actually convince these guys they’re good so they won’t take coaching well. Could be it’s actually downhill from here. Look for Belichick to make a move to shake things up.

A true classic negative pessimistic New England sports fan

 

[bormio]

Might see a WR traded there as well

Need to see Brady play with them the next 2 weeks, and make sure there are no injury concerns, but I think a vet could go.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Need to see Brady play with them the next 2 weeks, and make sure there are no injury concerns, but I think a vet could go.

I'm on record as saying if Meyers kicks ass as a WR (so far,check) and Berrios kicks ass as a PR/KR and good WR (last night pretty good) Dorsett or Harris are gone.

Agree. Need to see Tom w both of those guys

 

[p8ryts]

Very positive enjoyable game. That said I have witnessed many terrible and great preseason games that had little bearing on the subsequent season. I am encouraged but it was a game between backups. I enjoy watching preseason just to watch the newer players. I caution against absolutes after one game.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Depth on this team looked very good for the most part. A lot better than Detroits for sure.

Defense looked scary good for just backups. Teaching moments for Williams and Dawson.

Oline depth needs work. Plenty of time for improvement.

Feel a lot better about wr’s on this team than I have in a while.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

What, exactly, does Williams project to be? I’m assuming with his size that they’re looking at a potential Chung replacement? Is he an in the box safety?

Williams will be an in the box safety next year. Fans shouldn't think of him as a CB anymore

I thought Williams was projected to be Brandon Browner 2.0 and what Eric Rowe was supposed to be. That is:

- A tall, physical outside corner who matches up well against tall, physical WRs but who will need safety support over the top for when the WR eventually gets by him (which if he’s peak Browner good, won’t be too often), and who provides solid support on outside runs

- A guy who can line up against the TEs of the world who are just glorified big slot WRs and can be physical and not get beaten by them since they’re slower. Would cover Kelce and free up DMac to exploit his versatility. Would also be solid in run support against these types of TEs, maybe not so much against blocking guys.

If he develops he can be a very solid contributor in that role, but we shouldn’t be thinking lockdown CB as a ceiling with him. Last night it appeared to me they just generally played him as a vanilla outside CB with little safety support, and given that’s not his strength I’m not surprised he just looked Meh out there.

 

[Patsgofor4]

I see a lot of issues, not thrilled. Not sure what you guys were watching.

—Running game was anemic. Teams will pin their ears back and kill Brady. OL not getting it done.

—Williams and Dawson trending seriously downward.

—Harry & LaCosse already banged up. Anybody else? Gonna be one of those years looks like.

—Harris had more drops than catches, or close to. His early flashes in camp are a distant memory.

—Stidham’s release time is atrocious. Actual NFL teams won’t let him camp out forever.

—Gostkowski missed a kick. Of course. Because that’s what he does.

And so on. Not to mention the meaningless final score might actually convince these guys they’re good so they won’t take coaching well. Could be it’s actually downhill from here. Look for Belichick to make a move to shake things up.

Early leader for worst post of the day. Must be having a bad week. Get that guy to the Cadillac Lounge, stat!

 

[Doctor DDS]

The Gostkowski whining continues to be bizarre. Guy made 15 of 16 kicks in the post season last year including some huge kicks in the cold against KC but because he had the audacity to miss a 46 yarder in the Super Bowl he is an issue. He's made over 87% of his FGs in his career while playing in a cold weather city. 89% in the post season.

 

[Zuma]

Strange Damian Harris didn't play at all. Its possible they wanted to see Bolden run, catch and block to see if he can still handle that in emergency situations...in our offense...check. IMO they wanted to see this to help decide if they want to trade Burkhead or not.