PostGame Thread Official Pats-Packers Preseason Game Reaction Thread

[jimnance]

“I’m an atheist, but I’ll be praying” that makes no sense. A little off topic, but you can’t have both.

Apparently you've never been in a foxhole

 

[sb1]

So why was Bourne benched last year again? SMH

 

[Jim Beankie]

I didn’t watch the game but read that Zappe was 10-22 although he did throw a TD. Did he look bad given he completed less than 50% of his passes?

There were a fair number of drops, as well.

 

[Jim Beankie]

Just re-watched Boutte’s TD. Very impressive acceleration. Seems he will be a threat to break it any time he catches the ball. He mayve benefitted from catching the defense off guard, but if that’s really a factor it means the defense must always take him into consideration. Isn’t that the definition of a true #1 WR?

Reminds me of this play against 1st rounder 4.35 40 (1.48 10) Emmanuel Forbes:

 

[Dingleberry]

Apparently you've never been in a foxhole

Otherwise known as Quicksand Jesus.

When **** gets real, people will tend to hedge their bets and find some religion.

 

[RobertWeathers]

So why was Bourne benched last year again? SMH

I believe early in camp/OTAs last year, Bourne clearly saw the offense going sideways, opened his mouth/called out the coaches and subsequently doghoused by Fat Matt and supported by BB. Once that happened he checked out.

 

[jdlboot14]

Slater says Belichick quickly taking action to get the game canceled was tremendous leadership and is "his proudest moment playing for Bill in his 16 years here."

I understand it. But, at the same time, does this have to become the new en vogue thing in the NFL... anytime a guy gets concussed, they cancel the game? Where do you draw the line? Hamlin - we all get - that was unique, he died on the field. But, what happened to Bolden happens a lot, where guys get knocked out cold, they do all the neural/spinal protections and cart him off. I'm not being callous, I'm genuinely curious, where do you draw the line with when to end a game? I only hope this was because it was preseason, and had gone on long enough, and was in the 4th quarter.

 

[sb1]

I understand it. But, at the same time, does this have to become the new en vogue thing in the NFL... anytime a guy gets concussed, they cancel the game? Where do you draw the line? Hamlin - we all get - that was unique, he died on the field. But, what happened to Bolden happens a lot, where guys get knocked out cold, they do all the neural/spinal protections and cart him off. I'm not being callous, I'm genuinely curious, where do you draw the line with when to end a game? I only hope this was because it was preseason

Definitely. Also how chippy the week has been.

Remember how messed up the scheduling and standings/HFA calculation was after the Hamlin I’m sure they don’t want to make that chaos a recurring thing when the games count.

 

[sb1]

 

[EMpats]

Crazy thought, but with the re-emergence of Bourne and emergence of the rookies, could Juju be a trade candidate? Or are the salary cap ramifications too prohibitive. Douglas has more juice from the slot.

 

[jdlboot14]

Crazy thought, but with the re-emergence of Bourne and emergence of the rookies, could Juju be a trade candidate? Or are the salary cap ramifications too prohibitive. Douglas has more juice from the slot.

I doubt they trade any WR's because it's been such a lacking on this team for the last 4 years. But, I was very disappointed to see JuJu be absolutely invisible in his full quarter of play. I loved seeing Bourne do what most (smart) fans knew he was capable of, but I've been consistent that I'm concerned with JuJu and Parker being 1-trick ponies - they're not fast, not shifty. It's not what Mac needs - jump balls and bombs are fun in practice, but rarely work in games with real DL pressure (and a sieve for an OL). Mac needs DD, and what Boutte may be able to become... and yes - what Meyers was. We'll see when they start scheming for real, but I'm not sold.

 

[Dingleberry]

Crazy thought, but with the re-emergence of Bourne and emergence of the rookies, could Juju be a trade candidate? Or are the salary cap ramifications too prohibitive. Douglas has more juice from the slot.

Given the injury histories of Juju, Parker, and Thornton, 6 WR's does not seem remotely like overkill.

Keep them all.

 

[Sicilian]

First, prayers for Isaiah Bolden. Think I saw he's being released so that's good news. Hope whatever his future is this year he's healthy first.

Positives:

- OL was decent when all the "starters" were in there. Add Strange/Onwenu back in and I think they'll be alright, at least until there are a few injuries (which is every team, really).
- Bourne, Douglas, and Boutte all showed good flashes.
- Run game found some rhythm, Stevenson still looks like Stevenson. And Mac's check into Mondre's biggest run was an encouraging sign in general for the offensive operation.
- Mills looks explosive and versatile. I think he's going to make plays in a lot of areas this year.
- Barringer's punts were MASSIVE. He didn't get a chance to try to pin anyone, but no doubt the kid has a leg.

Negatives:

- Steuber.
- Kevin Harris gets stuffed at the line too much for a guy who I thought was more of a bruiser coming out of college. Normally I would blame some of it on the OL, but Taylor had success behind the same group.
- Pass rush wasn't as good as I would have liked, though GB does have a good OL. DL needs to put on some big boy pants in the run game too before week 1.

Neutrals:

- Gonzalez is still getting up to speed on the pro game, especially in zone. He looks like he's thinking a bit too much, which is to be expected, he's had a lot thrown at him I'm sure. BUT, he's in the Neutral section because I thought he showed great tackling and physicality, which was a knock on him coming out of college. The other stuff will come with time and reps, so it's good to see the effort and athleticism. He had one open field tackle that was textbook.
- The overthrows on Parker and Henry look like timing things to me. First real game action for those guys with Mac, so that's something they need to clean up. But I'm encouraged that those plays are there for the taking. They didn't miss by much.

 

[raduray]

Guys get beat and I get it but Steuber's effort to recover the fumble was one of the worst things I've seen in 10+ years. He was the first to see the ball and looked at it as if it was a radioactive hot potato.

It certainly looked like a momentary brain fade, but there's no way he was going to get back and be first to the ball.

 

[signbabybrady]

Crazy thought, but with the re-emergence of Bourne and emergence of the rookies, could Juju be a trade candidate? Or are the salary cap ramifications too prohibitive. Douglas has more juice from the slot.

Re-Bourne


And hell no to trading JuJu.

 

[sb1]

Not saying they should or shouldn’t have done it but the decision to not sign Hopkins rings a little differently today. I don’t think many of us figured a real weakness on the team at WR may not be as much of a weakness as we thought.

 

[Sicilian]

It certainly looked like a momentary brain fade, but there's no way he was going to get back and be first to the ball.

Yeah, it almost looked like he thought it was a batted down pass or something. He moved like the play was dead. Still, teachable moment about always assuming it's a fumble unless you hear the whistle. I mean, teachable for the other guys. I don't think Steuber is making the team.

 

[jdlboot14]

Have to feel a bit better about OL - even only that Brown was out there for basically 1 series.
Mafi is raw, but I like his energy, seems like a real team guy.
Sow is slow, but could develop at RT (made me pine for McDermott to return)
After that, it gets really bad. Stueber should be gone today. Hines & Murray are now an after thought.
I have to believe the inside run game, and immediate pressure Mac was getting will be solidified when Strange & Onwenu return.
But I'd say Reiff looked okay at RG - and should be a good swing backup
Who knows about Russey, Ferentz, J. Andrews.

 

[Wozzy]

What I saw...

The first team offense looks good, Rhamondre averaged nearly 7 yards per rush.

The starting O-Line is very good, but the offense as a whole still has to improve... or this could have been a result of vanilla offense. Not a lot of guys getting open or when they were open the QB and receiver not connecting.

Sow, Mafi are starting caliber linemen, and for the first time Jake Andrews started to come on later in the game in a noticeable way.

Demario Douglas is a good way to jump start the offense, looks like they are hiding him for the regular season.

Zappe is your backup QB, but will be a starter in this league one day.

Cunningham might make the practice squad as a backup QB who can run the scout team... maybe.

Just as in the past few years Carl Davis was playing late into the game as if he needs to prove himself. Early in the game they could have used him on early downs next to Barmore, they can't stop third and short without a big body in there.

Taivai is a decent LB but he is not much of an athlete, he'll make tackles, play snaps... but at the end of the day they could be much better with an upgrade there.

Jack Jones doesn't seem as confident as he was last year, and he isn't fast enough to doubt himself. He'll get beat deep if he doesn't play ahead of the receiver.

I thought Rodney Randle after a tough game one looked much better in this game.

Schooler is a great guy to take over once Slater decides to hang them up.

I want to see more of Thyrick Pitts, especially if Thornton is injured to start the season. They could use more size and speed outside.

For those telling us this offseason that Trent Brown isn't good... pray for his health. You don't want Andrew Stueber out there at all.

 

[Toofy]

Does Carl Davis and godchaux play different positions. I thought godchaux was practically invisible.

Juju is also invisible. I feel Parker will have more mismatches because of Bourne and DD. But Boutte looks more explosive and higher potential than JuJu for now .

Has tyquan shown even 1 explosive playsimilar in nature to that we saw from Boutte yesterday across 2 preseasons and postseason.

Right now Boutte seems to have more potential than Thornton and should possibly be WR 4. I would keep 6 receivers . No way JuJu or parker or Thornton last the season.

Just based on whatever saw yesterday and what we have heard from camp my order is
Bourne, Parker, DD, Boutte, JuJu, Thornton.