Content Post Idle Thoughts: The "why do I feel so bad about a 23 pt. victory" edition.

[reflexblue]

A few things ...

Tennessee was committed and fired up for this game. Most teams have pride and heart. Especially top tier teams and Tennessee has been knocking on the door for a while now. They definitely have a ton of attitude about them, coached by Mike. They won't lay down despite circumstances. Sometimes you know teams are going to give you they're best. And under different circumstances too. They could be dealing with crazy injuries like the Titans and have their back against the wall. Sometimes that's the most dangerous animal, a wounded one.
They wanted to show they are more than Henry when it comes to running the ball.

This game was all about their OL, WR, TE & FB blocking - showing off what they can do despite not having the big names. Their two backs ran it 31 times for 240 yards. They put a lot on the OL & secondary blockers and they all responded. They heard all the "King Henry" talk and what not. And at least last week took it personal. Their OL is very talented and does a lot of things well. Stretch - outside, power - duo, inside zone. Talented, versatile and physical. They showed up the other day.

Their interior stood out to me. Both working the los and second level. They took us out the play or reset the line but also made several nice blocks in space 2nd and 3rd level.
When they attacked us on stretch plays, they did a good job sealing off our big boys nicely inside. Turning them around and just walling them off. Pullers did a good job locating and hitting their targets in space.

WR's, TE & FB were all very good too. I'm sure they were all great but all those guys stood out. They took out our edges (Judon/KVN) at times with WR/TE and really let their guys get in space too easy. We couldn't get off our blocks up front, turned around or just got washed out the play. That was a big issue all game. We couldn't penetrate or reset the line.

The big run at the end of the half was us caught with bad personal on the field. Barmore tried jumping the snap and got washed out the play. We had Judon and Wise on the edge. Wise was up field in a second and out the play. Their guards took out HT & KVN and the back had an easy read. As we had a light box. Phillips kind of over shot the play and Dugger wasn't in position.

They're a good running team and took it personal, needing a win after the week before. Exploited us in some ways with numbers, in the running game for example and were just more physical up front. Both their lines came to play.

So basically this was like the 1960s Green Bay Packers "Five Blocks of Granite'' the pats defense knew what was coming, but couldn't stop it. The titans O-line and coaching are that good. That did occur to me while i was watching the game.

 

[Bill Lee]

The execution of the game plan can be seen in giving up 13 points.

And by winning the second half 20-0.

The commitment to the run in the first half made it more effective in the second half.

We won the turnover battle 4-0.

You can never count on turnovers, but I'm sure they are points of emphasis by the coaching staff.

Watch the hold on Van Noy, though, as Hilliard breaks through - pretty obvious. Arm is outside Van Noy's shoulder.

I see the hold, but IMO it wasn't blatant enough to draw a flag, they let stuff like that go all the time.

It sucks to give up a TD on that play, but as the saying goes, their players get paid too.

 

[Wozzy]

Van Noy was held - OL arm over his left arm, preventing him from slowing Hilliard.

Maybe Hightower, too.

And both Phillips and Dugger were cutting off the left-right lanes. When the two LBs were locked up by the bigger OL, Hilliard had his seam.

Watch the hold on Van Noy, though, as Hilliard breaks through - pretty obvious. Arm is outside Van Noy's shoulder.

Agreed, and at the end of the day we're nitpicking a blowout victory.

Anyone suggesting the #1 defense in the NFL in points allowed, 4th in forced turnovers, 5th in yards allowed, 4th in sacks, 6th on third downs, 3rd in the red zone and the #1 in the entire NFL in fewest rushing TD's allowed has issues because of one fluke run play is daft.

 

[50-yard-line]

And by winning the second half 20-0.

The commitment to the run in the first half made it more effective in the second half.

We won the turnover battle 4-0.

You can never count on turnovers, but I'm sure they are points of emphasis by the coaching staff.


I see the hold, but IMO it wasn't blatant enough to draw a flag, they let stuff like that go all the time.

It sucks to give up a TD on that play, but as the saying goes, their players get paid too.

it just aggravates me because I've seen holds called on Jonnu Smith (the Harry sweep) that were far less egregious.

And yes, I absolutely respect what Vrabel's done in TN. They are a legitimately good football team, even without a superstar QB.

 

[Bill Lee]

it just aggravates me because I've seen holds called on Jonnu Smith (the Harry sweep) that were far less egregious.

Yeah, that was a BS call. Seems interior holds are rarely called, exterior ones are called too often.

And yes, I absolutely respect what Vrabel's done in TN. They are a legitimately good football team, even without a superstar QB.

Agreed, and at the end of the day we're nitpicking a blowout victory.

Anyone suggesting the #1 defense in the NFL in points allowed, 4th in forced turnovers, 5th in yards allowed, 4th in sacks, 6th on third downs, 3rd in the red zone and the #1 in the entire NFL in fewest rushing TD's allowed has issues because of one fluke run play is daft.

Agree, we're just frustrated because the "bend don't break" failed on one important play, but the overall result is very satisfying.

 

[maust]

Anyone suggesting the #1 defense in the NFL in points allowed, 4th in forced turnovers, 5th in yards allowed, 4th in sacks, 6th on third downs, 3rd in the red zone and the #1 in the entire NFL in fewest rushing TD's allowed has issues because of one fluke run play is daft.

Not to quibble (overall I agree wholeheartedly) but daft isn't quite a strong enough word there. That is to say, as fans we're all a bit daft. Otherwise we wouldn't be here on this site having a convo that is indeed 'nitpicking a blowout victory'. To paraphrase an old saying, 'All the world is daft save me and thee, and I'm a tad uncertain about thee.'

Anyone suggesting this D has issues because of one fluke play, where 2 separate holding penalties could have been flagged without any real argument, is the south end of a northbound horse.

 

[captain stone]

Adrian Phillips basically came out and said it was all about execution. They knew coming into the game that Tennessee would run the ball and they still couldn't stop them. It might be as simple as that.

Woulda helped if they had filled the box more, and more often... Titties' passing "threat" was literally NON-EXISTENT... Single-covering the receivers and playing just one not very deep Safety with everybody else going into the box - including the Spy for Tanny - on early/running downs should've been the plan from Snap 1.

 

[captain stone]

Van Noy was held - OL arm over his left arm, preventing him from slowing Hilliard.

Maybe Hightower, too.

And both Phillips and Dugger were cutting off the left-right lanes. When the two LBs were locked up by the bigger OL, Hilliard had his seam.

Watch the hold on Van Noy, though, as Hilliard breaks through - pretty obvious. Arm is outside Van Noy's shoulder.

I see the hold, but IMO it wasn't blatant enough to draw a flag, they let stuff like that go all the time.

It sucks to give up a TD on that play, but as the saying goes, their players get paid too.

Not nearly blatant enough... same with the block on Hightower... Defense just got caught with their pants down in a bad personnel grouping with bad execution of their gap ass-ignments.

 

[rochrist]

Dall-ass is Not > Barfalo; not by a dam sight.

Buffalo lost to the awful Squeelers, they lost 9-6 (!) to JACKSONVILLE and they lost 45-15 to the Colts! That doesn't strike me as a testament to their strength as a football team. The only really solid win they've had was against KC. All the rest are pretty much tomato cans. Dallas ain't great but I'd take em in a head to head.

 

[Sicilian]

Woulda helped if they had filled the box more, and more often... Titties' passing "threat" was Non-Existent... Single-covering the receivers with everybody else going into the box - including the Spy for Tanny - on early/running downs should've been the plan from Snap 1.

I actually think it was the plan from snap 1 (or something very similar to it). But here were the Titans stats from the first two drives:

8 rushes for 20 yards (2.5 ypc)
Tannehill 6/6 for 43 yards, 1 TD (1 sack), 2 rushes for 13 yards

So, the original plan had the run well under control, but Tannehill was picking them apart with stuff underneath (and made a play with his legs). Obviously I won't argue that the adjustment was perfect after that. They probably thought they could tweak it a bit towards the underneath stuff and still handle the run... and they were wrong. But I don't think they should have stuck with what they were doing at the start, as it was allowing Tannehill too much rhythm.

 

[bresna]

Look at Hilliard's one long run... only one DT (Barmore) on the field, other than that it was Wise and a bunch of LB'er's. Also Barmore shoots the gap, the wrong gap but a gap, which assumes they thought it was a pass play. It was 3rd and 3 but there was only 46 seconds on the clock, it was a well blocked draw play.

In short it was a mistake by the defense, either schematically or in simple execution. Hardly indicative of a team with poor run defense. They have plenty of beef and talent at DT, they have good LB'er's.... they can defend the pass whenever they need to. BB will get them in the film room and discuss leverage and tackling.

Dang, did McCourty blow the angle on that or what? He was so flat footed for a second there it was like he didn't know Hilliard had the ball.

 

[Wozzy]

Dang, did McCourty blow the angle on that or what? He was so flat footed for a second there it was like he didn't know Hilliard had the ball.

It was well blocked and both safeties and LB’ers got caught in the wash. It was a rare miscue. Watch the film, fix the error, improve and move forward.

 

[SouthernPatriot]

I have said it before and I will say it again, Patriots are entitled fans just like Alabama fans. We want to not only win, but make the opposing team regret playing us!
Here is where Coach Saban went off on us entitle fans the week before the Iron Bowl and besides the reference to college players vs professional players, the same is true for both fan bases. We are all entitled!

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Barmore only saw 33 defensive snap.. And he was triple-teamed on the Judon sack of Tannehill. Just because you didn't hear his name doesn't mean he wasn't involved.

Actually quadruple-teamed - and one of them ended up on the ground:

 

[slam]

On a Baldy Breakdown video he mentioned that the Pats were in a dime defense on a 2nd and goal from like the 4. Definitely an odd and specific game plan.

 

[DaBruinz]

The Pats have plenty of cap space next year (30 million'ish), and not many holes to fill. They'll probably re-sign Brown on a contract with big game-day bonuses (NLTBE). They also have plenty of room by restructuring a bunch of contracts, since they have a lot of players signed and a ton of money in 2023.

Not sure where people are getting these numbers, but it's incorrect.

The salary CAP was agreed to be a maximum of 208.2M for 2022. The Patriots currently have 48 players under contract with total Liabilities of $186.582M. With the current carryover of about 3M, the Pats have 24.62M. That will change based on any escalators or LTBE that weren't earned this year. However, what isn't included in that is DMac's 2 void years that will accelerate for another 4.3M off that. So, they only have about $20M to begin with. However:

There are several ways that the Pats could have MORE money.
- Cut Agholor (frees just $5M with $10M still against the cap)
- Cut Jonathan Jones (frees up $6.2M) or sign him to a new extension.
- Cut Kyle Van Noy (frees up $5M)
- Cut Godchaux (frees up $5M) or sign him to an extension
- Change salary to signing bonus for Henry ($4M), Judon (6.67M), Jonnu (5.33M), and Mills ($2M)
- Extensions for Mason, Wynn
- The league has a cash windfall in the 2021 season that forces them to raise the cap above and beyond the 208.2M that was already agreed upon prior to the 2020 season. I think that this is very possible, but who knows how much it will actually add.

This is why I'm not worried about getting JC Jackson signed. Because the Pats can free up an additional $36M relatively easily. BUT, they have the following who are UFA:
James White - The hip injury could be career ending.
Trent Brown - may or may not be back.
Devin McCourty - His age has started showing, but he's still making plays.
Adrian Phillips - Probably the 2nd most important player to re-sign.
JC Jackson - The single most important player to re-sign. He'll be franchised if they don't get an extension done.
Nick Folk - He's been money despite the injury to his plant leg. He'll be 39 during next season.
Dont'a Hightower -May retire.
Ted Karras - has helped solidify the O-line.
Brandon Bolden - Will be 33 next year. Staple on Special teams. Has filled in nicely for White.
Brandon King - A BB favorite.. Has played well after spending 2 years in IR
Harvey Langi - earned himself a spot as a core ST player and top reserve LB.
Troy Fumagalli - Spend the season on IR.
Ja'Waun Bentley - Has been the Pats most consistent ILB. Not a complete liability in the passing game anymore. Still shoots the wrong gap occasionally.

 

[DaBruinz]

Actually quadruple-teamed - and one of them ended up on the ground:

I didn't see the 4th guy during the actual play because of the camera angle.. That's pretty impressive.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Not sure where people are getting these numbers, but it's incorrect.

The salary CAP was agreed to be a maximum of 208.2M for 2022. The Patriots currently have 48 players under contract with total Liabilities of $186.582M. With the current carryover of about 3M, the Pats have 24.62M. That will change based on any escalators or LTBE that weren't earned this year. However, what isn't included in that is DMac's 2 void years that will accelerate for another 4.3M off that. So, they only have about $20M to begin with. However:

There are several ways that the Pats could have MORE money.
- Cut Agholor (frees just $5M with $10M still against the cap)
- Cut Jonathan Jones (frees up $6.2M) or sign him to a new extension.
- Cut Kyle Van Noy (frees up $5M)
- Cut Godchaux (frees up $5M) or sign him to an extension
- Change salary to signing bonus for Henry ($4M), Judon (6.67M), Jonnu (5.33M), and Mills ($2M)
- Extensions for Mason, Wynn
- The league has a cash windfall in the 2021 season that forces them to raise the cap above and beyond the 208.2M that was already agreed upon prior to the 2020 season. I think that this is very possible, but who knows how much it will actually add.

This is why I'm not worried about getting JC Jackson signed. Because the Pats can free up an additional $36M relatively easily. BUT, they have the following who are UFA:
James White - The hip injury could be career ending.
Trent Brown - may or may not be back.
Devin McCourty - His age has started showing, but he's still making plays.
Adrian Phillips - Probably the 2nd most important player to re-sign.
JC Jackson - The single most important player to re-sign. He'll be franchised if they don't get an extension done.
Nick Folk - He's been money despite the injury to his plant leg. He'll be 39 during next season.
Dont'a Hightower -May retire.
Ted Karras - has helped solidify the O-line.
Brandon Bolden - Will be 33 next year. Staple on Special teams. Has filled in nicely for White.
Brandon King - A BB favorite.. Has played well after spending 2 years in IR
Harvey Langi - earned himself a spot as a core ST player and top reserve LB.
Troy Fumagalli - Spend the season on IR.
Ja'Waun Bentley - Has been the Pats most consistent ILB. Not a complete liability in the passing game anymore. Still shoots the wrong gap occasionally.

Thanks for this post, @DaBruinz . I was puzzled by the 30 million figure too. You do, though, miss one UFA, I think: Jakobi Meyers. Yes, he's only in his third season, but it seems that he only signed a three year deal.

Personally, I could live with the loss of JC Jackson (at least, I don't see how they can re-sign him without having to do some quite unpleasant things) but Brown, Phillips and Meyers, and, to a lesser extent Karras and Bentley would be painful losses.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Thanks for this post, @DaBruinz . I was puzzled by the 30 million figure too. You do, though, miss one UFA, I think: Jakobi Meyers. Yes, he's only in his third season, but it seems that he only signed a three year deal.

Personally, I could live with the loss of JC Jackson (at least, I don't see how they can re-sign him without having to do some quite unpleasant things) but Brown, Phillips and Meyers, and, to a lesser extent Karras and Bentley would be painful losses.

JC Jackson would be a massive loss.

This is why Jonnue, Wynn, Godchaux, others at huge money next year are disasters. Don't tell me we can't afford JC because of 5 crappy contracts next year.
Also Bentley sucks, let this guy walk.

 

[50-yard-line]

There are several ways that the Pats could have MORE money.
- Cut Agholor (frees just $5M with $10M still against the cap)
- Cut Jonathan Jones (frees up $6.2M) or sign him to a new extension.
- Cut Kyle Van Noy (frees up $5M)
- Cut Godchaux (frees up $5M) or sign him to an extension

Very informative and good post. Just wanted to say:

1. No chance. Agholor and Bourne are way up among the FA receivers for value vs. $$$. I think they might extend him, but no way they cut him.
2. Extension. Bryant isn't there yet, and Jones is just good. If he won't come to terms, I could see them trading him, though.
3. I doubt they cut Van Noy. Extension coming, more likely. he wants to be here and is really coming on strong of late.
4. No chance of a cut here. Extension, more likely, but he's a 3-tech, not a NT.