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- Jul 11, 2005
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You know the scores each week are ending up being pretty much like what I expected/hoped, but how we get there has been the interesting part. I mean when you have a game where your QB gets sacked 6 times and loses over 35yds in those sacks, you don't usually end up with 32 points and your QB throws for 285 yds in just 24 throws.
We did some other things that generally don't equate to blowout wins. We turned the ball over 3 times (I count the fact they recovered an onside kick as a TO even if the NFL doesn't) So it was fortunate we had 2 TO's ourselves. BTW- in a rare omission by the ST's coach, the team failed to execute a very simple defense against the pop-up kick the Browns used to recover the ball. And it's a very easy one. The pop up kick is designed to roll on the ground for about 3 or 4 bounces and on that 5th bounce, about 7-10 yds down the field pop up and give a chance to the sprinters (3 or 4 fast guys with good hands who line up to the side the kick is going to be made). It is easily defended by having designated 2-3 of the defenders to the side the ball is being kicked designated blockers who attack first attackers before they reach the 10 yds allowing a designate "hands" guy to be able to catch the ball as it starts to pop up. Instead, the ball popped up directly to Hooper who instead of attacking the ball waited for it come to him, and it didn't seem like anyone moved forward to block the attackers. This is something I am SURE the coach went over since this is HS stuff even in my day over 50 years ago. But they surely didn't execute it and Cleveland got there first and recovered the ball. Very disappointing.
But despite all these negatives, an explosive 3rd quarter propelled us to a 3 score win and we left the field with everyone relatively healthy and ending the game with a 2:00minutes of kneel downs that inflate Maye's rush attempts and lower his ypc average.
1. So, lets change the order of the breakdown as start with the elephant in the room, the 6 sacks of Drake Maye, 5 of which were done by Myles Garrett. GOD! he is good.
I missed seeing him in 22 and I don't have any real memories of him other than being a good rusher, but no different than any of a dozen good rushers around the league.
He was so good today, I rewatched our offense just to watch him work more closely, especially when he was matched up against Will. I think on second look, he was a bit better than is going to be portrayed the coming week. We dropped back 24 times and I'd estimate Garrett matched up against him about half the time.
Now most of those times Josh didn't leave him hanging and he had either a TE chipping and releasing or double teaming him full time. Looks good on paper maybe the kid can't take him one on one, but he really should control him with the help of a double team. We'll Will will be held responsible for 2 of those sacks. On one the TE whiffed on him and Garrett used a very accurate hand slap at a distance and ran around Will like he was rooted like a tree. IIRC that was the first sack. Campbell looked very uncomfortable, like he wasn't in synch with working with a TE and in so much space. It was a very slick move by Garrett and one I doubt Campbell had seen before.
The 2nd sack was an awesome, euro-step inside move that I though Will reacted well to, but it coincided with one of those times when Maye decided to step up in the pocket and not escape out and kind of ran into Garrett who kept pushing Will back into Maye where he grabbed him. If you look at it, it wasn't a horrible block. Will reacted to another awesome move and it was Garrett's 2nd effort that pushed him the step or two that put him in contact with Maye. If you look, Campbell is still in front of Garrett in pretty good position, if Maye hadn't climbed the pocket putting him into Garrett's grasp. There were 2 other times where Garrett just speed rushed Will and although Maye was able to get the pass off, Garrett got real close. It was early and I don't think Will was prepared for the explosiveness from a man that big.
The important thing was he got BETTER as the game went along, and I have no doubt that the next time the 2 pair off, Campbell will do better. He handled Wright who also made some good plays in the game, pretty well on pass pro.
2. Josh had his best game so far. He made on the fly adjustments to the run game to negate all the pinching Cleveland was doing and really got the running game going with 127 yds for the running backs. He made some nice half time adjustments as well. Josh makes a difference and is well worth the $10MM Oakland is paying him.
3. Drake Maye - The most impressive thing about his game wasn't the exceptional deep throw accuracy we keep seeing week to week, or his running prowess. It was. his demeanor and poise. Sacked 6 times and he seemed to have the same look and attitude the next play as he had in games he was hardly touched. It's like the last play never existed and all that matters is the next one, regardless of whether the last one was a disaster or a success. Truely remarkable for one so young. We all wondered how Drake would fare against one of the so called "top defenses". Well now we know.
4. I thought Stevenson was great even if his numbers weren't impressive (2.4 ypc) The catch he made on the long pass to the GL was on a 50-50 worthy of a WR, and even if he was forced out of bounds it was impressive and show potential for the future.
He also had a pass block on a blitzing LB where he didn't just block him. He slobber knocked him dead in his tracks and bounced him back, not something you usually see from a back. Stevenson simply makes the Pats a better team.
5. This is Kayshon Boutte's 3rd year with the Pats. It's hard to believe that he's just 23 years old, but it might explain his slow progress until this breakout year. True he had a drop, but that's just the exception that proves the rule. He's made at least one key catch in every game, and while he doesn't seem to impress anyone here, I'm sure he's starting impress the scouts of the teams that are left on our schedule.
6. On the defensive side. Is there anyone who wants to doubt that Robert Spillane was a great FA signing. Maybe he's not an all pro elite player, but he's been a solid tackling machine, and a decent middle of the field cover guy besides being a good leader and energy guy. 14 tackles is a great number that's a pretty impressive number considering Cleveland only rushed the ball 15 times (well yes, I know some of those tackles were on receivers down field, but you have to admit it sounds impressive when you first read it.
7. Another thing that impressed me was how well the defense rushed to the ball on short passes. Several times the Browns were stopped for no gain or even short losses by the Pats pursuit. I'd especially want to single out the CB's Jones, Gonzo, and Davis all were exceptional in their tackling and their willingness to hit. Christian and Marcus need to be LOCKED up after this season.
8. We were warned that this game was going to be a flag fest. Instead, although it seemed rather one sided, (especially in the first half) and Davis got hosed on that holding call that would have negated their first TD drive, the relative LACK of flags was rather refreshing.
9. Looks like our kicker has become pretty much automatic from just about anywhere inside of 60. I wonder just what the hell they are doing to those balls that make them go so much further. BTW- Yesterday PFT reported there were 2 FG's attempted without the K-balls, and BOTH missed. Curious.
10. I haven't seen much of Atlanta this year, but my impression was that they have a fast aggressive defense with a good pass rush. Again, that is an impression. They laid an egg yesterday, but they have weapons on both sides of the ball. However it is a game that will have us favored in the 7 point range, I'd suspect and a game we SHOULD win at home with a relatively healthy team.
11. I wonder what Baremore did to deserve that one quarter sit down? He DID still get a Vrabel hug at the door after the game.
12. Oh, I almost forgot this thought. Did you notice that Henderson seemed to have a bit of a breakthrough Sunday, leading the team in rushing and averaging almost 9ypc. This is what we hoped and expected when he was drafted, and we saw just a BIT of that expectation today (minus the fumble of course). Still it was progress, and far from a finished product. That kind of progress is still in the cards for Williams. Henderson's rise is in HIS future too. We just have to be patient. The guys currently in front of him are doing a great job and he is YOUNG.
OK sorry for the delay in getting this off. I fell asleep last night. Add your thoughts and comments and I'll go check out the post game thread.
We did some other things that generally don't equate to blowout wins. We turned the ball over 3 times (I count the fact they recovered an onside kick as a TO even if the NFL doesn't) So it was fortunate we had 2 TO's ourselves. BTW- in a rare omission by the ST's coach, the team failed to execute a very simple defense against the pop-up kick the Browns used to recover the ball. And it's a very easy one. The pop up kick is designed to roll on the ground for about 3 or 4 bounces and on that 5th bounce, about 7-10 yds down the field pop up and give a chance to the sprinters (3 or 4 fast guys with good hands who line up to the side the kick is going to be made). It is easily defended by having designated 2-3 of the defenders to the side the ball is being kicked designated blockers who attack first attackers before they reach the 10 yds allowing a designate "hands" guy to be able to catch the ball as it starts to pop up. Instead, the ball popped up directly to Hooper who instead of attacking the ball waited for it come to him, and it didn't seem like anyone moved forward to block the attackers. This is something I am SURE the coach went over since this is HS stuff even in my day over 50 years ago. But they surely didn't execute it and Cleveland got there first and recovered the ball. Very disappointing.
But despite all these negatives, an explosive 3rd quarter propelled us to a 3 score win and we left the field with everyone relatively healthy and ending the game with a 2:00minutes of kneel downs that inflate Maye's rush attempts and lower his ypc average.
1. So, lets change the order of the breakdown as start with the elephant in the room, the 6 sacks of Drake Maye, 5 of which were done by Myles Garrett. GOD! he is good.
I missed seeing him in 22 and I don't have any real memories of him other than being a good rusher, but no different than any of a dozen good rushers around the league.
He was so good today, I rewatched our offense just to watch him work more closely, especially when he was matched up against Will. I think on second look, he was a bit better than is going to be portrayed the coming week. We dropped back 24 times and I'd estimate Garrett matched up against him about half the time.
Now most of those times Josh didn't leave him hanging and he had either a TE chipping and releasing or double teaming him full time. Looks good on paper maybe the kid can't take him one on one, but he really should control him with the help of a double team. We'll Will will be held responsible for 2 of those sacks. On one the TE whiffed on him and Garrett used a very accurate hand slap at a distance and ran around Will like he was rooted like a tree. IIRC that was the first sack. Campbell looked very uncomfortable, like he wasn't in synch with working with a TE and in so much space. It was a very slick move by Garrett and one I doubt Campbell had seen before.
The 2nd sack was an awesome, euro-step inside move that I though Will reacted well to, but it coincided with one of those times when Maye decided to step up in the pocket and not escape out and kind of ran into Garrett who kept pushing Will back into Maye where he grabbed him. If you look at it, it wasn't a horrible block. Will reacted to another awesome move and it was Garrett's 2nd effort that pushed him the step or two that put him in contact with Maye. If you look, Campbell is still in front of Garrett in pretty good position, if Maye hadn't climbed the pocket putting him into Garrett's grasp. There were 2 other times where Garrett just speed rushed Will and although Maye was able to get the pass off, Garrett got real close. It was early and I don't think Will was prepared for the explosiveness from a man that big.
The important thing was he got BETTER as the game went along, and I have no doubt that the next time the 2 pair off, Campbell will do better. He handled Wright who also made some good plays in the game, pretty well on pass pro.
2. Josh had his best game so far. He made on the fly adjustments to the run game to negate all the pinching Cleveland was doing and really got the running game going with 127 yds for the running backs. He made some nice half time adjustments as well. Josh makes a difference and is well worth the $10MM Oakland is paying him.
3. Drake Maye - The most impressive thing about his game wasn't the exceptional deep throw accuracy we keep seeing week to week, or his running prowess. It was. his demeanor and poise. Sacked 6 times and he seemed to have the same look and attitude the next play as he had in games he was hardly touched. It's like the last play never existed and all that matters is the next one, regardless of whether the last one was a disaster or a success. Truely remarkable for one so young. We all wondered how Drake would fare against one of the so called "top defenses". Well now we know.
4. I thought Stevenson was great even if his numbers weren't impressive (2.4 ypc) The catch he made on the long pass to the GL was on a 50-50 worthy of a WR, and even if he was forced out of bounds it was impressive and show potential for the future.
He also had a pass block on a blitzing LB where he didn't just block him. He slobber knocked him dead in his tracks and bounced him back, not something you usually see from a back. Stevenson simply makes the Pats a better team.
5. This is Kayshon Boutte's 3rd year with the Pats. It's hard to believe that he's just 23 years old, but it might explain his slow progress until this breakout year. True he had a drop, but that's just the exception that proves the rule. He's made at least one key catch in every game, and while he doesn't seem to impress anyone here, I'm sure he's starting impress the scouts of the teams that are left on our schedule.
6. On the defensive side. Is there anyone who wants to doubt that Robert Spillane was a great FA signing. Maybe he's not an all pro elite player, but he's been a solid tackling machine, and a decent middle of the field cover guy besides being a good leader and energy guy. 14 tackles is a great number that's a pretty impressive number considering Cleveland only rushed the ball 15 times (well yes, I know some of those tackles were on receivers down field, but you have to admit it sounds impressive when you first read it.
7. Another thing that impressed me was how well the defense rushed to the ball on short passes. Several times the Browns were stopped for no gain or even short losses by the Pats pursuit. I'd especially want to single out the CB's Jones, Gonzo, and Davis all were exceptional in their tackling and their willingness to hit. Christian and Marcus need to be LOCKED up after this season.
8. We were warned that this game was going to be a flag fest. Instead, although it seemed rather one sided, (especially in the first half) and Davis got hosed on that holding call that would have negated their first TD drive, the relative LACK of flags was rather refreshing.
9. Looks like our kicker has become pretty much automatic from just about anywhere inside of 60. I wonder just what the hell they are doing to those balls that make them go so much further. BTW- Yesterday PFT reported there were 2 FG's attempted without the K-balls, and BOTH missed. Curious.
10. I haven't seen much of Atlanta this year, but my impression was that they have a fast aggressive defense with a good pass rush. Again, that is an impression. They laid an egg yesterday, but they have weapons on both sides of the ball. However it is a game that will have us favored in the 7 point range, I'd suspect and a game we SHOULD win at home with a relatively healthy team.
11. I wonder what Baremore did to deserve that one quarter sit down? He DID still get a Vrabel hug at the door after the game.
12. Oh, I almost forgot this thought. Did you notice that Henderson seemed to have a bit of a breakthrough Sunday, leading the team in rushing and averaging almost 9ypc. This is what we hoped and expected when he was drafted, and we saw just a BIT of that expectation today (minus the fumble of course). Still it was progress, and far from a finished product. That kind of progress is still in the cards for Williams. Henderson's rise is in HIS future too. We just have to be patient. The guys currently in front of him are doing a great job and he is YOUNG.
OK sorry for the delay in getting this off. I fell asleep last night. Add your thoughts and comments and I'll go check out the post game thread.
