Game Day Thread Official Post Game Thread- Pats beat the Steelers

[PScottman]

Wait a second...I thought I read from "unnamed sources" that Patricia forbade check outs? How can this quote be accurate?

 

[Username]

Man, Diontae Johnson is nice.

I can't remember the last time I saw a WR get so open, so quickly, so consistently. Good hands too.

 

[Uptown]

Man, Diontae Johnson is nice.

I can't remember the last time I saw a WR get so open, so quickly, so consistently. Good hands too.

He has excellent footwork; similar to Chad Johnson.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Man, Diontae Johnson is nice.

I can't remember the last time I saw a WR get so open, so quickly, so consistently. Good hands too.

Steelers always hit on a WR in the draft.

 

[signbabybrady]

Man, Diontae Johnson is nice.

I can't remember the last time I saw a WR get so open, so quickly, so consistently. Good hands too.

You haven't been following Bryant very closely then.

 

[Patsgofor4]

Strange was fine considering who he was up against.

Post-game on 98.5 Bedard claimed that Strange wasn’t matched up vs. Heyward for most of the snaps, when the host said that Strange seemed to more that hold his own. Couldn’t bring himself to just compliment him without any caveats, because he spent the entire offseason saying that he wasn’t strong enough to hold up against the big boys and that he looks more like a tight end.

 

[JMC00]

How much are we paying our two tight ends to give us zero production?

If Jones was throwing to Henry and Smith, your complaint would just be "how much are we paying for our #1&2 WR to give zero production"

 

[Patsgofor4]

 

[catent]

There have been growing pains but I am pleased with the offensive play-calling/personnel direction, and I feel partially vindicated because BB appears to have identified an issue that I complained about a lot under McDaniels. Basically, the personnel groupings were too highly specialized, which meant they telegraphed a lot of what they were doing via formation/personnel. If they simply executed at a high level they could find success, but they gave themselves small margins for error and made life really hard on themselves by dictating what they were doing to the defense. They didn't put a lot of pressure on a defense by threatening them in multiple ways, by running multiple looks from the same formation, for instance. That's a very coarse way of putting it, but it captures the general theme at a high level.

They've addressed both elements so far this season. They're using more consistent personnel groupings across formations/play-calls, and they're not dictating what they're doing by formation. To be more specific, we're seeing both Harris and Rhamondre on 3rd-down and catching the ball. They're running multiple looks from the same formation, and they're running the ball more from spread formations (not allowing the defense to stack the box). This is really critical, IMO. The I-formation run is a big part of McDaniels' offense, and while it can be effective if you are able to establish it and play from ahead, having I-form runs be a main staple of your offensive diet is self-limiting from a spacing perspective and can make playing from behind while still maintaining the threat of running the ball almost impossible.

They killed Pittsburgh with an inside trap all game long, with variations of it under center and from the shotgun. There was a sequence where, two or three plays in a row, they ran that play from a spread shotgun and happily took the 3-6 yards per pop. Ran it a few times on the last drive of the game, and then after Pittsburgh overcommitted, they hit them with two late wide zone stretches and one or two toss-cracks. That was a very well-called drive and game overall IMO. They forced the defense to defend multiple things from the same looks and gained strategic leverage.

I'm particularly pleased/encouraged to see philosophical changes re: personnel groupings/formational usage because I think the offense had issues in those regards in recent seasons.

As a final note, I thought Mac looked totally fine from a throwing velocity perspective, and I wouldn't have said that after week 1. Against Miami some throws were fine but others did flutter a bit too much. This week, it seemed the throws that need to be flat/hard/nose-down were just that. I never once got the sense that the ball hovered a bit too long on a check-down. That was also really good to see. Mac's only issues were post-snap decisions in the form of some dangerous throws, as far as I could tell.

 

[Bruins29]

How much are we paying our two tight ends to give us zero production?

Typical loser clown with never anything positive to say

How about this. These TEs make more money in a game than you will make in your lifetime

Loser

 

[ashley]

Defensive snaps against Pitt:

 

[bormio]

I don’t understand all the yelping on the throw to Agholor. It was the end of the half, they went for a TD instead of a FG, Agholor was covered like a blanket and Jones threw him a 50/50 ball trusting him to make a play. Pretty standard stuff in the NFL, and not a bad call at all given the situation.

 

[ashley]

Offensive snaps:

 

[ashley]

Good stat:

 

[TomPatriot]

Post-game on 98.5 Bedard claimed that Strange wasn’t matched up vs. Heyward for most of the snaps, when the host said that Strange seemed to more that hold his own. Couldn’t bring himself to just compliment him without any caveats, because he spent the entire offseason saying that he wasn’t strong enough to hold up against the big boys and that he looks more like a tight end.

He’s also said he likes Strange overall, though. Has complimented him in the past and made positive caveats when criticizing him.

 

[ivanvamp]

If Jones was throwing to Henry and Smith, your complaint would just be "how much are we paying for our #1&2 WR to give zero production"

EXACTLY.

I made this point in a thread before the season. I talked about the scenario where Mac throws for 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns, and then I made up numbers for each receiver, including running backs (this was before White got hurt). And the fact is, even at 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns, there's no way to divide up those numbers to all the receiving options without SOMEONE looking like they had a "bad" season. There's just no way. I'll do it again here to demonstrate.

So imagine Mac throws for 400 comp, 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Parker: 50 rec, 700 yds, 5 td
Agholor: 40 rec, 600 yds, 5 td
Bourne: 60 rec, 700 yds, 5 td
Meyers: 75 rec, 700 yds, 3 td
Thornton: 30 rec, 400 yds, 4 td
Other WRs: 20 rec, 200 yds, 2 td
Henry: 40 rec, 500 yds, 6 td
Smith: 35 rec, 400 yds, 3 td
RBs: 50 rec, 300 yds, 2 td

I mean, look at those numbers - for each of them, they're rather "pedestrian". Nothing outstanding. You'd say, meh, the Pats have a bunch of mediocre receivers, nobody great. But that would be a HELL of a passing season by the Patriots, wouldn't it? 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns in the air?

But that season would be a step down for Bourne from last year. Also a step down from Henry from last year. And also a step down from Meyers from last year. And with those numbers (assuming he played all year without getting hurt), we might even look at Thornton and say, man, that's a disappointment given where he was drafted. Just 30 catches and 400 yards? Why can't BB draft wide receivers? He should have taken... (insert rookie WR who put up much better numbers than Thornton).

And if by some chance, these stats were distributed so that two of these guys had monster seasons (say: Bourne with 90 rec, 1,100 yds, 9 td, and Parker with 80 rec, 1,200 yds, 10 td), then who "loses" those stats? Someone would. And we'd say that those guys were busts this year.

 

[Kdo5]

The defense has a say in that. But then again you are probably someone that's gonna be on here all week saying how the ratbirds defense scares you when thru 2 weeks they have been the worst passing defense.

Piss off.

 

[TomPatriot]

Typical loser clown with never anything positive to say

How about this. These TEs make more money in a game than you will make in your lifetime

Loser

Blocking is often overlooked. 124 yards rushing against a good defense in the box. TEs must have been blocking.

 

[catent]

Mac needs to avoid dangerous throws and find a way to (along with the entire offense) more consistently score points. Whether that means more runs in the red-area, or some schemed-up stuff for Parker, Jonnu, Henry, even Bourne ... I'm not sure. They seem to be able to move the ball pretty efficiently between the 20s but perhaps lose their edge in the red-area. Beyond that, the 2-3 "WTF" balls Mac throws per game needs to be cut down on.

I thought in terms of how the ball came off his hand, Mac looked noticeably better in week 2 than week 1. My only gripe in week 2 was the one or two "OMG" passes he threw. Otherwise he looked good physically, pocket presence/awareness seemed better, ball came off his hand well, looked confident.

Might be time in his development process to go from spending all his cognitive energy on pre-snap setup and transition to a bit more pre-snap forecasting (running through in his head, before the snap, how the play is likely to unfold post-snap). He seems use all of the play-clock to get the offense setup as best as possible, but I wonder how much time he's using to think about the sequence of events likely to unfold post-snap. That's fine, though, he looks really advanced mentally for a 2nd year QB. It'll come with time and the game will continue to slow down for him.

Cautiously optimistic after season 1. A little discouraged by ball velocity but still cautiously optimistic long-term after week 1. Feeling better after week 2.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

”Shtick.” Unless you know something about his stick that I don’t.

And I disagree. I think it’s fresh and just getting started.

LOL, @Patjew schooling @rochrist on his yiddish!!