I'd say one of the weaker analyses of the year, might want to wait a couple more hours next time.
1. Pats are 2-4. It is what it is.
so far so good
2. Pats offense only ran 50 plays, Cowboys ran 82 plays. Cowboys had 40 minutes time of possession. The Pats offense went 3 and out, about 5 straight possessions which really left the Pats defense out to dry. Pats defense held the Cowboys to only 10 points in the first half which is fantastic. Poor complementary football by the Pats offense led to defense getting exhausted and giving up the most passing yards ever by a BB defense.
"Poor complementary football" LOL... so they should only score to complement the D? Just messin' with ya. Yeah, the O wasn't chewing up clock and spelling them. Or actually on the field.
3. OLine wasn't horrendous but Cajuste got posterized and then Wynn got posterized. Keep Herron at LT and Onwenu at RT. And stop swapping tackles mid-game for 6 straight games. Harris ran for 100 yards and team had 2 rushing TDs.
I dont think we disagree here, although I think we should say Cajust got Cajusted. If one whole defensive line's players are having a field day it is legit to call them The Cajustment Bureau. If he ends up having to team-friendly restructure it's a cost of living Cajustment.
4. Bentley and Mills were torched all game long. Bentley's tackle numbers are inflated, can't cover anybody till after they catch it. Mills was torched all game long.
Ok
5. Only 4 total targets to tight ends. After the first 10 scripted plays that try to get TEs involved and a balanced run attack, team always lazily reverts back to spread shotgun. OC has zero clue how to use Jonnu, plays Jonnu like a FB.
Here we're getting into the tactical decisions that I think we only think we get (the constant drumbeat about playcalling.) You can literally look down a list of cognitive biases and find half a dozen with every playcalling complaint. Hey, we're humans, and worse yet, we're fans, which derives from a description predictive of logical fallacies. I mean, it's enough to say "4 targets to TEs." Okay. You would have liked more. What receiver wouldn't you target and when? Wait I know N'Keal Harry and Nelson Ahlgolong, ever.
Okay so is your thesis to reduce by two guys the receiving corps, throw those balls to the TEs, and forget the spread sets? Is it your belief that Jonnu Smith is some kind of transformational talent? Henry is getting a little more love, including the TD throw. I'm just interested why 9% of the plays isn't enough for the TE targets. Or what, do you think every TE is Gronk? We double dipped in FA, and I don't think they're there for show, at what they cost. They're signed on for I believe 3 and 4 years respectively. Henry's got a TD in each of the last 3 games, so despite your complaint, by that measure we're making pretty good, if economic, use of him. (Not of Smith, granted.)
On the Harry point - was that some attempt to test whether he's actually on the roster for a reason or something? Apparently Mac could be heard telling him "You've got the out route." I didn't hear that, if it was audible on the broadcast, but it's not like I was glued to every play. So I read that ex post facto. That's embarrassing. Bring back Chad Jackson.
Ahlgolong is worth bringing along. Jacobi Meyers is money as is Bourne. Mac's got targets, including at least 1 of the TEs.
6. Team misses an elite CB1. No BB defense ever did much without being able to play physical cover man1. The moment you see the CBs play 10 yards off the ball it's like deja vu for 2005, 2009 lost seasons. JJones is a slot CB, JC is good but maybe not a true CB1, and if Mills is your CB2 then the secondary can be attacked.
.
Yeah I hate that we came in 3rd or 4th in the division, lost more games than we won, and missed the playoffs in 05 and 09. Wait that's right, that's just what a "lost season" is to every other fanbase in the NFL. Oh shut up (just on that "lost seasons" point).
So our most recent messiah CB wasn't a messiah CB by the time we traded him. Okay I'm with you, we "need" an elite shutdown CB, although I'd put it more in the category of "can't have a
great D without a shutdown guy." Sorry but you don't get to "need" an "elite" guy. I mean, everybody else wants the elite guys too, that's why they're elite. There's a cap, there's free agency. You can beat the league to some best personnel outcomes, just not all of them.
So yeah, put the elite shutdown guy on the wish list. I would not be
too sure we won't look back at Jones or Jackson after their departure and moan about how we need a CB like X, but nobody was covering himself in glory by the end of the Cowboys' 40 minutes of possession
this game. I was particularly unhappy with Meek Mills but who wasn't.
I mean, it was a night when you're pleased that your QB is coming along, with his 2 TD, 1 int. (cough pick six cough cough) 225 yard effort, and yes, we have ourselves a decent NFL quarterback. But in terms of a GREAT QB, he ain't one, yet. He might be one day, just not now. So you look across the field and you see Dak with 440+ passing yards and you go, okay, Maybe one day. I do anyway. I think you look at him and think some Josh McD ordered him bound in chains with a vulture perpetually pecking out his liver.
Reality? Right now, there might be more pick 6s where the ones we've seen come from. We only see what we wish the guy were doing and we hypothesize some antagonist keeping our hero from succeeding.
I can just see McDaniels saying "holy crap look at what this Dropkick Flutie guy is saying, they'll tear Mac apart if we give him too many chances to F up."
Seriously, I had high hopes of squeaking into the playoffs. Sad to say, I don't think we're there yet.
that saddens me. The expectations and the blame game annoy me sometimes, because people phrase everything as some undeniable absolute. It's mainly just wahhhhhhhh what I wanted to happen didn't happen... whose FAULT is it! Get him!