PostGame Thread REACTIONS: Preseason Game 1: NE vs HOU

[slash83]

Lining up Keion White with Barmore, Wise, and Judon is going to be a nightmare for opposing offenses. Just Keion White by himself last night was a wrecking crew....considering our offense, we may see some interesting final scores in games such as the Patriots winning 2 to 0 or 5 to 0.

Sub Wise for Uche in passing situations. Uche and Judon on the outside, Barmore and White rushing from the interior could be awesome.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Anyone mentioned anything about Stroud?

Yikes, he looks like a practice squad QB.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Lining up Keion White with Barmore, Wise, and Judon is going to be a nightmare for opposing offenses. Just Keion White by himself last night was a wrecking crew....considering our offense, we may see some interesting final scores in games such as the Patriots winning 2 to 0 or 5 to 0.

Sub Wise for Uche in passing situations. Uche and Judon on the outside, Barmore and White rushing from the interior could be awesome.

Judon and Uche will be on the edges.

 

[bresna]

Yeah, the Texans were playing like it was the first game of the season. They threw Stroud out there ahead of Davis Mills, then put Mills in afterwards.... talk about placing the cart before the horse. They're still doing Texans things, I suspect they'll still suck.

Davis Mills is still their best QB. If he can escape Houston and find a great offensive coach with a line and weapons he could become a good QB.

On Stroud's first sack, I thought he got bent a little the wrong way. With the Texans' luck, I was expecting him to get up limping.

 

[Love The Drake]

Glad he is health don’t know if I want him on the team though.
I wish I knew where the weak parts of the O line were.

 

[bresna]

I know it's even the pre-season for refs, but what was with the two penalties on Daniel Ukuale? That roughing the passer was a bad call but even worse was that horrible holding call on a Texans running play in the 3rd quarter. I watched that play over and over and all I saw was Ekuale trying to shed the O-limeman and as he did, he tried to get around another O-lineman to get the tackle. No way was that holding. I hope they just called the wrong jersey number because if they're going to call that holding now, it's going to get ugly this year.

Oh, and if they are going to call Ekuale's first penalty "roughing the passer" this season, they should just put velcro flags on the QBs and be done with it.

 

[Pape]

I know it's even the pre-season for refs, but what was with the two penalties on Daniel Ukuale? That roughing the passer was a bad call but even worse was that horrible holding call on a Texans running play in the 3rd quarter. I watched that play over and over and all I saw was Ekuale trying to shed the O-limeman and as he did, he tried to get around another O-lineman to get the tackle. No way was that holding. I hope they just called the wrong jersey number because if they're going to call that holding now, it's going to get ugly this year.

Oh, and if they are going to call Ekuale's first penalty "roughing the passer" this season, they should just put velcro flags on the QBs and be done with it.

The calls last night were ... somewhat questionable

the roughing call on eukale? head scratcher... few plays later Buzz gets clipped on his head when he was sliding, and of course, no call...

guess even the refs need the preseason reps so they dont make stupid calls like those in the regular season...

 

[Wozzy]

Let's hope this is true.

He is our best chance at having a backup center/OG swingman not named Ferentz.

 

[archstanton543]

The calls last night were ... somewhat questionable

the roughing call on eukale? head scratcher... few plays later Buzz gets clipped on his head when he was sliding, and of course, no call...

guess even the refs need the preseason reps so they dont make stupid calls like those in the regular season...

Don't forget the blatant Schooler block in the back they didn't call.

 

[jlu52]

The calls last night were ... somewhat questionable

the roughing call on eukale? head scratcher... few plays later Buzz gets clipped on his head when he was sliding, and of course, no call...

guess even the refs need the preseason reps so they dont make stupid calls like those in the regular season...

I promise you that the refs will make stupid calls like those this season, just like water being wet

 

[SlowGettingUp]

It’s not a pre snap penalty. Refs call it after the play.

There seems to be some disagreement on this:

An illegal shift is also what’s known as a pre-snap penalty, as the infraction occurs before the center actually snaps the ball to the quarterback.

What is an Illegal Shift in Football? (The Rule Explained)

There are many hard-to-understand rules in football. In this post, I'll explain exactly what an "illegal shift" is in football, including what happens when one is called.

footballadvantage.com

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I wish I knew where the weak parts of the O line were.

For last night, I think it would be LT, LG, C, RG, and RT

 

[captain stone]

Wasn’t able to catch the game.

Did Pop play?

He only fair-caught a couple of punts IIRC... Don't remember seeing him targeted at all, if he was even on the field for any plays from scrimmage.

How did CG look in the 3-4 series he played?

He got trucked during one of his early completions allowed; was ok tackling the rest of his time out there, but like the rest of the DBs played very soft coverage all night long.

K.White I’ve read looked good.

You read correctly. Beast.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Given the OL, hard to judge Harris last night. But Strong didn't do great on some swing passes, once tripping over himself. Do you think they need to check if Ezekiel's agent is still in their phone's contact list?

 

[DaBruinz]

Hopefully, we'll see the 1st string O-line on he field for a full quarter or half of Game 2 with the exception of Onwenu.
People over-reacting to the O-line players who played last night are ignoring huge things
1- If we're starting those 5, the season is lost anyways because no team is going to do anything losing all 5 O-line starters
2 - It's somewhat disappointing that Jake Andrews is still behind Ferentz. Though it could mean that Ferentz starts the year on the PS again.
3 - It was interesting that the Pats played Steuber at LT when he only played RT in College. Though, they could have ben using it to see what he could do.
4 - Sow and Mafi are works in progress.

 

[Pape]

Don't forget the blatant Schooler block in the back they didn't call.

I had forgotten about that... Apparently so did the refs... Or at least they forgot to call it

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Given the OL, hard to judge Harris last night. But Strong didn't do great on some swing passes, once tripping over himself. Do you think they need to check if Ezekiel's agent is still in their phone's contact list?

Harris made a nice 1st down on 3rd and 2 I think, when he was initially hit in the backfield.

 

[captain stone]

...As far as Cunnningham, there is a lot of scary talk about the practice squad; I think that there is no way the Patriots should expose him to other teams--he would be gobbled up. He is the type of QB that is in high demand these days. He needs to stay on the roster as QB3. I did not see anything in Training Camp to indicate that he is very serviceable as a WR, but as a QB, wow....

One game. One.

There will be ONE THOUSAND players hitting the bricks at the same time, the overwhelming majority of whom will go unclaimed... Cunningham would almost certainly be among them. The dude has Practice Squad written all over him.

 

[Thelonious]

1) None of the three Maybe Backs - Strong, Harris, Taylor - looked very good, particularly running inside, even allowing for the dismal o-line play. No explosion at all when they hit some resistance at the line: bump into a fat guy and fall down. Past Pats "third down backs" have been at least competent at this aspect of RB play, and that competence gave the run threat enough legitimacy that it was a help to the pass catching. I don't see much value in any of them. They certainly are not going to be very good stand-ins/relief runningwise for Stephenson. We need a solid backup RB. Zeke would be a fine option. I'd quit fooling around and get that done. If they feel they can afford the roster spot, they could keep one of the three, I suppose, but I think they are all practice-squad-worthy at best, and if you go that route, you don't necessarily get to keep the one you like best.

2) The quarterback situation got more interesting, didn't it? I felt last year that Zappe had played well enough to get a legit look as a possible competitor for the starting job, but I thought, and said at the time, that it would a competition Zappe would lose, and I think that is where we are. The upside limit to what Zappe can do is pretty impenetrable. He is what he is, and nothing more. He could certainly be a decent back up, but nothing more than that, and if he were to serve, following an injury to the starter, as a long-term backup, the season would likely be lost. Opponents will figure him out in no time and focus on attacking his limited strengths. With the O-line as feeble as it is, the need for a longer-term backup is certainly a possibility this year. ...Which brings us to Flash the Wunderkind Cunningham. His upside vastly exceeds that of Zappe: no question. In his first year - spread pretty thin as qb, wr and special teamer - he is not yet and may not be for a while as reliably competent a pure backup as Zappe, but it is at least reasonable to think that he'll catch up in time. Add to this that he can play a style of qb - one increasingly in demand - which neither Zappe nor McSorely can ever play. Add to that that he's pretty cheap (though not perhaps for an undrafted guy). Add to that that Bo'B has the skills and experience and the skills to take advantage of that sort of qb. All in all, at this point (Yeah, I know it's early), the best course might be: drop McSorley, try to get Zappe through to the practice squad (Shrug if somebody takes him and grab a veteran castoff for the practice squad emergency backup qb), let Mac start the season expecting, maybe insisting on, real improvement, and experiment with Flash the Wondertoy Cunningham, to see what develops. Zappe will likely serve as a reliably mediocre backup somewhere, but Cunningham is intriguing enough that I don't think the Pats - who are after all a team pretty early in a rebuild - should settle for that sort of option. We are not in a position to apply the finishing touches and ponder the decor; we are still stacking lumber to build the d----d house.

Mac might do well to heed the advice of Satchel Paige: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

Re the related discussion: I think trying to sneak Cunningham onto the practice squad would be very unwise.

 

[Sfpat]

Don't forget the blatant Schooler block in the back they didn't call.

And the blatant offensive holding on the Dell TD