Idle thoughts - The "cracks in the armor" edition.

[shmessy]

Tom Brady has 9 more TD's to throw to overtake Peyton Manning on the all-time list. I seem to remember all the pomp and circumstance when Manning was about to eclipse Favre. They're not doing that with Brady which is odd. You'd figure being so close to breaking the record that it would be bigger news.

Probably because Hothouse Petunia Dome QB Brees will overtake him within weeks..........

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[reflexblue]

The fact that we’ve played tomato cans this first eight weeks of the season hasn’t really given us a good glimpse of what we truly are. These next four or five weeks will give us a really good idea of what our ceiling is this year. Including this Sunday in a potential conference final matchup.

tomato cans.....Shaunassy is that you?

 

[shmessy]

The fact that we’ve played tomato cans this first eight weeks of the season hasn’t really given us a good glimpse of what we truly are. These next four or five weeks will give us a really good idea of what our ceiling is this year. Including this Sunday in a potential conference final matchup.

So whom are you most worried about on that Ravens D? Ed Reed? Ray Lewis??? Terrell Suggs??? Pernell McPhee???????

My God, people see the name "Ravens" and they think the same thing Rick Pitino ridiculed. Larry, Kevin and Chief ain't walkin' through that doorway, folks.......

.

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[203Pat]

Watching Nick Chubb play makes me sad. Significantly better RB than Sony.

 

[bresna]

nothing new yesterday.......defense has had it's momentary lapses this year......sometimes I think it's hard to remain focused when up 3 scores in the 1st quarter.

But didn't some of the big plays come when they switched to zone? It looks like the switch opened up some holes that Mayfield was able to take advantage of. I was wondering why they switched to zone. I figure maybe they want to give their next teams some film to watch.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

This is the third time the Pats are 8-0 after 2007 and 2015. In 2015, they got hit with injuries and got derailed. This year, they already have a crapload of injuries and are trying to overcome it until players get healthy. In '07 they were 'unstoppable" until the Super Bowl. If you read Michael Holley's book, the challenge that year was to get the team NOT to believe the press clippings about being the best ever. I'd prefer this team where BB can criticize something and show room for improvement even if they are averaging 30 points and causing an average of 3 turnovers per game.... and hope they end up 19-0 or whatever as long as they win the Lombardi..

 

[archstanton543]

Watching Nick Chubb play makes me sad. Significantly better RB than Sony.

I'm going to have to call him Sorny Michel until he gets his act together.

 

[jah]

Tom Brady has 9 more TD's to throw to overtake Peyton Manning on the all-time list. I seem to remember all the pomp and circumstance when Manning was about to eclipse Favre. They're not doing that with Brady which is odd. You'd figure being so close to breaking the record that it would be bigger news.

The non-tinfoil hat explanation is Brees might go and take it right back, so the league is waiting until there's only one of Brees/Brady remaining.

 

[shmessy]

My wife, who doesn't usually watch the games with me, wasn't too happy with the offense. So, even from the average/less than average fan you could tell the O wasn't clicking on all cylinders......

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But THAT is precisely my point. It is the casual fan who is most worried regarding the offense.

You, and other fans who more closely follow the situation, understand that
1) the "Jordan Richards of the Offensive Line" played the entire game yesterday at RG.
2) this was the 2nd to last game of the Marshall Newhouse Experience
3) N'Keal Harry will be playing Sunday Night
4) Mohamed Sanu had 4 days to learn the Patriots system

I'm not worried in the least about this O going foreward........

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[archstanton543]

The non-tinfoil hat explanation is Brees might go and take it right back, so the league is waiting until there's only one of Brees/Brady remaining.

Shouldn't they be playing that up like Sosa and McGuire back in the day?

 

[borg]

Tom Brady has 9 more TD's to throw to overtake Peyton Manning on the all-time list. I seem to remember all the pomp and circumstance when Manning was about to eclipse Favre. They're not doing that with Brady which is odd. You'd figure being so close to breaking the record that it would be bigger news.

Will the game get halted when Brady takes the #1 slot?
Will the NFL suits demand a stoppage?
What will BB want?
Does Brady want a spotlight moment?
Will Brady scream “pliability” at the top of his lungs and hand 20% off coupons out to TB12?
Will Kraft demand Brady set record at home?
Will local mediots complain no matter what?

Brady declines spotlight opportunity... “He hates BB, Kraft, Patriots”
Brady takes a mid game bow....”Selfish self promotion and unPatriot-like. ... clearly he hates BB, Kraft, and NE”

Can’t wait

 

[Nikolai]

This game was different for a number of reasons. A few thoughts:

I suspect that when the all-22 comes out, we'll see the Pats blitzed far less than they have in the past. And they still got 5 sacks.

The Pats also seemed to drop more players back out of respect for OBJ and Landry, giving Chubb some opportunities to get to the next level of the D.

The Pats played a lot more zone, combined with no blitzing, is going to allow a few of those passing windows to open.

A lot of the D's supposed "woes" come down to game planning. On the long Chubb run/fumble, I noticed a handful of players were going for the strip rather than the tackle. That happened on a few other runs as well. Forcing fumbles against Chubb seemed to be an emphasis.

It's not hard to understand that the offense's struggles come down to the OL. This was the case in 2014 as well until it came together in Cincinnati. It still hasn't come together, but Brady is actually more mobile now than he used to be and that's masked some of the problems more than some people think or notice. I'm not sure he makes that second TD throw as often prior to 2016. The man is a ****ing legend. He's more skilled at 42 than he was in his 30s. Ridiculous.

Which AFC team would you rather be right now? Indy scraped by a woeful Denver team AT HOME. Houston looks lost sometimes; scraping by tomato cans at home. Baltimore got manhandled by the Browns. KC has an injured franchise QB and a terrible defense. Buffalo...is Buffalo.

I can't identify with the boot shaking crowd right now.

 

[archstanton543]

But THAT is precisely my point. It is the casual fan who is most worried regarding the offense.

You, and other fans who more closely follow the situation, understand that
1) the "Jordan Richards of the Offensive Line" played the entire game yesterday at RG.
2) this was the 2nd to last game of the Marshall Newhouse Experience
3) N'Keal Harry will be playing Sunday Night
4) Mohamed Sanu had 4 days to learn the Patriots system

I'm not worried in the least about this O going foreward........

.

I am. Wynne hasn't proven he can stay on the field and Harry is still a rookie.

 

[Nikolai]

Shouldn't they be playing that up like Sosa and McGuire back in the day?

You'd think. Sometimes though, I think the NFL is anxious to get rid of both of these guys so they can promote the Mahomes, Mayfields, and Lamar Jacksons of the league.

 

[neuronet]

That being said I would claim that yesterday's shoddy tackling is an outlier for this season so far. Which means that a lot of the success yesterday might have also been due to the crap conditions. If the tackling returns to its top of the league mean suddenly all of this is much less dramatic.

I don't know if anyone has access to a paid site that actually tracks missed tackle stats, as it isn't an official stat that is tracked by the nfl I just remember being infuriated after the Bills game by the tackling the D had completely gotten away from fundamentals--some of it was downright flag football like, whereas yesterday it seemed more determined by the conditions rather than bad form by the D (on average).

 

[neuronet]

Offense and defense basically flipped from the usual Patriots teams. Offense went from elite to average. Defense went from average to elite.

You have to hope that we get this OL figured out.

How much of this do you guys think is personnel versus coaching versus interaction effect: coach needing time with this crew to get them to gel?

 

[Nunchucks]

Watching Nick Chubb play makes me sad. Significantly better RB than Sony.

Yeah, those two fumbles to Sony's 0 was the difference in the game.

 

[tasmlab]

Is the offense better or worse than last year's regular season? Last year there was three games with only 10 points scored. Kenjon Barner was like the only RB dressing for a couple of games. We watched Patterson trip over grass, Hogan wasn't getting separation, played eight games without Gordon, half a Gronk.

Then it all clicked in the post season, particularly that first half against the Chargers.

Not that it matters for this year, but I expect them to get it worked out just like the always do.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

But THAT is precisely my point. It is the casual fan who is most worried regarding the offense.

For full disclosure, when my wife watches playoff football with me (she watches all those games), she verbalizes too many complaints. She expects Patriots to outperform each play, especially on defense. Just not reasonable...I usually have to tell her that the other guys get paid to play well too and they want to win.

 

[reflexblue]

Watching Nick Chubb play makes me sad. Significantly better RB than Sony.

Were you pining for chubb last year as the pats rode michel to the super bowl last year?