Pre Game Thread- Pats @ Browns

[catent]

Interesting:

Would be nice to have Damien Harris to exploit this, but Rham by himself should be able to carry the load and carve ‘em up.

 

[catent]

Also, this shapes up to be a good matchup since the Pats’ interior OL is their strength. Strange and Onwenu are beasts; Andrews appears to have put on mass and added functional strength, he’s stepped his game up this season and turned into a stalwart - a really pleasant surprise. Let’s take advantage of the Browns, now.

 

[ashley]

 

[ashley]

Some Dugger love...by the way, he is very, very good!!

 

[Zuma]

How Little-Known Patriots Staffer Has Helped Rookie Bailey Zappe

Bailey Zappe was thrown in to the fire for his first NFL game action, but he hasn't been alone in his Patriots development.

nesn.com

Though the credit most certainly goes to Zappe for his play, Patriots offensive assistant Evan Rothstein has gotten a portion of it as well.

“I’ve picked Evan’s brain a lot, too,” Zappe said Wednesday. “He’s been around the game of football, especially NFL, for a while. That’s somebody that I go to for a lot of things, such as Joe Judge, (Matt Patricia) and coach Belichick. He’s another guy that I like going to and picking his brain, asking him questions on certain things. He always has great feedback.”

Rothstein, who is in his second season with the Patriots after arriving alongside Patricia from Detroit in 2021, has become a bit of a renaissance man throughout his decade-plus in the NFL. He’s held the titles of special teams quality control, special projects coach, offensive assistant/research and analysis, head coach assistant/research and analysis, and now offensive assistant across his 11 NFL seasons.

Bill Belichick has said Rothstein “wears a lot of hats” and has “done some of the things that Ernie (Adams) did” over the last two seasons. Being compared to a man that can accurately be described as Belichick’s football life partner isn’t half bad, especially for only having worked in New England for just over a year.

 

[Ross12]

Would be nice to have Damien Harris to exploit this, but Rham by himself should be able to carry the load and carve ‘em up.

I saw reports that Damien was practicing so maybe his injury isn't as bad as initially thought?

 

[PScottman]

And Sony was the Standard for pass blocking when he was here? I thought that was James White?

Let's explore another fallacy of the draft...all picks MUST play from the moment drafted. This is a corollary from the "all first round picks must be a hall of fame, second round picks an all-pro, and every other round at least a day one starter" meme.

The entire time this regime has been in place - even when Pioli was here - the Patriots have used every means of building the team - from draft, to free agency - to UDFAs - to in-season visits - to create competition for spots on the roster. Was that the ONLY aspect? No, but it was a part of the decision data and has been stated as such on multiple occasions.

In addition, for the draft particularly, the picks were not always for the year in which they were selected. The average contract (the guaranteed part) is what 3-5 years? Many draft picks were to replace guys currently on the roster a couple years down the road. Even ones that were very good at their jobs. Add to that what other trope is commonly levied against the Patriots? Depth or "next man up". Depth is likewise built through every means - including the draft.

It's called strategic planning. You want to always have another means available to achieve the primary ends - which also grants you multiple ways in which to actually employ those assets in the current season as well.

Belichick grew up around football at the Naval Academy - why wouldn't he use classic military planning in his coaching and general managing?

 

[mikey m]

Can we see a repeat standout performance from the Defense or will the sputtering offense put us in a bad position on the road?

I feel like we're about equally as bad as the Browns, but our offense is really bad so unless we get more defensive touchdowns, I don't see us cracking 25+ points which is what we're going to need to win.

Nick Folk will be our leading scorer again.

Nick Chubb is gonna have a field day against our defense as we watch Devin Lloyd have a standout season for the Jaguars instead of us, but gee golly we got an offensive guard in round 1!

I'm gonna hazard we lose a close game on the road 24-22 because we don't score enough TDs in the redzone and Nick Chubb easily runs for over 100 against our run D.

Patriots have given up a total of 644 rushing yards for an average of over 128 yards per game through 5 played ranked at 22nd overall in the NFL.

So, to summarize..
1. The offense is horrendous, hopefully the defense can bail them out.
2. We definitely should have went defense over offense in round 1.

 

[venecol]

If Patricia allows Zappe to throw inside the red area, it's an easy win. Otherwise, it'll be close.

If Mac starts (doubtful) who knows.

How Little-Known Patriots Staffer Has Helped Rookie Bailey Zappe

Bailey Zappe was thrown in to the fire for his first NFL game action, but he hasn't been alone in his Patriots development.

nesn.com

Though the credit most certainly goes to Zappe for his play, Patriots offensive assistant Evan Rothstein has gotten a portion of it as well.

“I’ve picked Evan’s brain a lot, too,” Zappe said Wednesday. “He’s been around the game of football, especially NFL, for a while. That’s somebody that I go to for a lot of things, such as Joe Judge, (Matt Patricia) and coach Belichick. He’s another guy that I like going to and picking his brain, asking him questions on certain things. He always has great feedback.”

Rothstein, who is in his second season with the Patriots after arriving alongside Patricia from Detroit in 2021, has become a bit of a renaissance man throughout his decade-plus in the NFL. He’s held the titles of special teams quality control, special projects coach, offensive assistant/research and analysis, head coach assistant/research and analysis, and now offensive assistant across his 11 NFL seasons.

Bill Belichick has said Rothstein “wears a lot of hats” and has “done some of the things that Ernie (Adams) did” over the last two seasons. Being compared to a man that can accurately be described as Belichick’s football life partner isn’t half bad, especially for only having worked in New England for just over a year.

Looks like a brainiac goofball. I can't believe DET had him calling DC plays in a game in '20.

 

[ashley]

Uche added to the injury report.

 

[venecol]

If Patricia allows Zappe to throw inside the red area, it's an easy win. Otherwise, it'll be close.

If Mac starts (doubtful) who knows.

Let's explore another fallacy of the draft...all picks MUST play from the moment drafted. This is a corollary from the "all first round picks must be a hall of fame, second round picks an all-pro, and every other round at least a day one starter" meme.

The entire time this regime has been in place - even when Pioli was here - the Patriots have used every means of building the team - from draft, to free agency - to UDFAs - to in-season visits - to create competition for spots on the roster. Was that the ONLY aspect? No, but it was a part of the decision data and has been stated as such on multiple occasions.

In addition, for the draft particularly, the picks were not always for the year in which they were selected. The average contract (the guaranteed part) is what 3-5 years? Many draft picks were to replace guys currently on the roster a couple years down the road. Even ones that were very good at their jobs. Add to that what other trope is commonly levied against the Patriots? Depth or "next man up". Depth is likewise built through every means - including the draft.

It's called strategic planning. You want to always have another means available to achieve the primary ends - which also grants you multiple ways in which to actually employ those assets in the current season as well.

Belichick grew up around football at the Naval Academy - why wouldn't he use classic military planning in his coaching and general managing?

Maybe, but then how do you explain Harry?

 

[Zuma]

 

[PowerRunRevival]

I'm surprised they added Harris to the 53 man roster rather than just elevating him from the practice squad. That means they either plan on having him up for the rest of the year, or they suspect that they could cut him and bring him back to the practice squad in the future without losing him to another team.

 

[PScottman]

all time Greta blocking

Too many others beat me to the joke....

 

[venecol]

I'm surprised they added Harris to the 53 man roster rather than just elevating him from the practice squad. That means they either plan on having him up for the rest of the year, or they suspect that they could cut him and bring him back to the practice squad in the future without losing him to another team.

Or that Harris will be out for a bit.

 

[PScottman]

Maybe, but then how do you explain Harry?

He hooked up with some family called the Hendersons. And John Lithgow I think.

 

[Zuma]

This is the Bourne Again dance. Time to show us all again why we signed you bro. Dig deep.

 

[venecol]

Uche added to the injury report.

This is going to be a rout: Pats 29-7

 

[Zuma]

This is going to be a rout: Pats 29-7

I am not buying for a second you are on Team Zappe until you change your avatar to a Zappe one and renounce all Tom Brady love.

 

[Sciz]

I'm surprised they added Harris to the 53 man roster rather than just elevating him from the practice squad. That means they either plan on having him up for the rest of the year, or they suspect that they could cut him and bring him back to the practice squad in the future without losing him to another team.

I think the two player limit is the factor here. They basically have to elevate Gilbert if Mac is out and Sokol if Smith is out. Collins could be another option with Uche popping up on the injury report today. Maybe Russey, given Andrews’ back injury and a gameplan that will probably include an above average number of violent collisions.