Content Post Idle thoughts: The reality check edition

[NFL Mystique]

Maye needs to throw the ball away to avoid sacks. You don't want to see him injured. McDaniels also needs to work with him on more dinking and dunking. That keeps the defense fresh and can tire out the opposing defense.

 

[Jim Beankie]

I'm worried about any correlation between high sack rates and likelihood of injury, and any exacerbation of the correlation when the QB is a ballcarrier at the time of a hit.

Maye is on pace for 6th all time for sacks taken. Granted he won't be facing Garrett again but... this is not the best list to be on.

1) David Carr
2) R Cunningham
3) Caleb Williams
4) Carr again
5) Sam Howell
6) Kitna
7) Bryce Young
8) Deshaun W
9) Beuerlein
10) Ken O'Brien
11) Lomax
12) Cunny again
13) Eason baby!

 

[rkarp1]

Maye is getting sacked after holding the ball for 5-7 seconds.
he is thriving with the long ball, but in order to do so, the QB has to hold the ball a few ticks longer.
by my count, 3 of the sacks were on the QB.
I like how the OL is playing.

 

[stinkypete]

I really appreciate the balanced patient and sensible approach. Interesting reading.

PS: I also rooted for KC to lose as I feel them not making it to the super bowl is a paramount objective ... and I feel slightly guilty about that.

If and when the Patriots are eliminated in the playoffs, I will be perfectly fine if KC makes the Super Bowl. All those years with Tom have made me appreciate greatness.

That said, I was rooting for Buffalo because I want to see KC out of the PLAYOFFS entirely. If they drop a few more games, Jacksonville could sneak into the last wild card. Imagine facing Jax and the Chargers instead of KC and Baltimore.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Imagine facing Jax and the Chargers instead of KC and Baltimore.

Wild thought, but the Chiefs and Ravens are not playing well.

 

[Tunescribe]

The Maye sack numbers are deceptive, in that some occur as he's tucked the ball and running out of the pocket. Perhaps someone else can clarify, but I assume it officially qualifies as a sack if he's stopped at/behind the LOS even if he intends to run after dropping back.

 

[p8ryts]

Dump offs to the flat are OK sometimes.

I feel Drake has been so successful downfield (he and Darnold are the best downfield throwers in the NFL right now) that McD has him focused on some really late developing routes. It leads to him abandoning the pocket too early or holding the ball too long. Would love to see him dump it to the flat once or twice.

Whenever you see him throw to a back, it's always by design, a screen of some sort.

The checkdown is the Qb's friend, especially when he is right in front of you.

 

[bormio]

What I’m hearing is we want Drake Maye to be more like Brady. Folks, there was only one TB12 - very few can play QB the way he did. He made it look easy - but what he was doing was hard. He was as comfortable in 3rd and 7 as in 3rd and inches. Yes, sometimes you take what the D gives you. Sometimes you impose your will. I think this offense will feature more chunk plays than in the past. We need to minimize the risk of those plays. It’s a process.

 

[Nikolai]

Nice write up. Not much to disagree with here.

I actually think the OL has improved, despite the sack numbers, which are inflated due to Maye being caught after scrambling behind the LOS, and the deep ball. More sacks are the cost of business, when business means 20+ yard distance throwing.

Hope you're right about Williams. It won't be a sudden 180 in his game, but marked, incremental and continuous improvement is more realistic and would be pretty good to see.

 

[stelfans]

The line is playing just fine. He has the higher % completion in the league, it’s not just the deep ball, he’s also throwing only when he really likes what he’s seeing. All in all Maye is holding onto the ball a lot longer than he should. Sacks don’t worry me, getting injured and the fumbles worry me.
He needs someone he can trust to get the ball out fast like Brady had Edelman. Maybe that’s Digga and he’s just looking for the long ball but they need to work on those short fast throws before something bad happens.

 

[Username]

Mate blatantly ignored a few simple 5 yard dump offs on Sunday and held the ball too long. But I have confidence he'll learn from that, maybe he needed that to keep his feet on the ground

 

[PP2]

Mate blatantly ignored a few simple 5 yard dump offs on Sunday and held the ball too long. But I have confidence he'll learn from that, maybe he needed that to keep his feet on the ground

You from Australia?

 

[Gumby]

...
11. Have to say that I rooted for the Bills last night. Yes, it would have allowed more of a margin of error for us to win the division, but I DON'T want to see KC in the superbowl again, and this loss will just make it harder for them.

We have 3 games we will probably be underdogs left. Tampa, Baltimore, and the Bills. And I hope while all those games are winnable, GB's loss at home to the Panthers, should warn us that for those 5 games we will be favored, are also losable if we don't play our best.
....

IMO you have no need to explain yourself.

Teams win your division ESSENTIALLY by beating their division opponents face-face. Not by them losing to other AFC/NFC teams.
Your competition for the Bye or playoff seeding you gain by those other Div losses. Particularly since you dont always meet those teams face-face.

BL: If Pats cant beat Bills again IN FOXBORO; plus 2 Jete / 1 Phish game wins; then they dont DESERVE Div Champs. (They could still lose to Jills at home, but beat the other 2 sad sacks and luck into the Div Champ as well.)

So I agree w/ your 'rooting principles'. (Which, really doesnt matter a hill of beans either way to the real world outcomes.)

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed on all fronts but one: I don’t think Williams has earned reps in practice or games. If he had, we’d see more of him.

I think Hollins is more likely to slot into Boutte’s spot, with Chism possibly getting some time, or Diggs snap count increasing.

Be careful UGA.. you don't want to get attacked for talking about K. Williams..
How dare you! .. it's worth noting that each time a pass is thrown in his direction it's never completed or it's 2,3 yards behind him. However Drakes completing passes to every else. At this point Williams likely needs more time to develop than the coaching staff may have initially thought.. if Downing were given truth serum he would admit as much.
If Boutte is out allow chism some reps at wr I say?

 

[Real fan 02]

IMO you have no need to explain yourself.

Teams win your division ESSENTIALLY by beating their division opponents face-face. Not by them losing to other AFC/NFC teams.
Your competition for the Bye or playoff seeding you gain by those other Div losses. Particularly since you dont always meet those teams face-face.

BL: If Pats cant beat Bills again IN FOXBORO; plus 2 Jete / 1 Phish game wins; then they dont DESERVE Div Champs. (They could still lose to Jills at home, but beat the other 2 sad sacks and luck into the Div Champ as well.)

So I agree w/ your 'rooting principles'. (Which, really doesnt matter a hill of beans either way to the real world outcomes.)

The bills we be motivated the second game against us.. I had us splitting with Buffalo this season anyway. We got them in Buffalo and they probably get us at home.. no big deal.. however we need to take care of business against the Jets and fins.. no matter what the records are division games are always tougher.

 

[Wozzy]

The Falcons are top five in sack percentage despite being the least passed against team in the NFL. They’re good at rushing the passer.

A veteran QB like Brady gets the ball out, hits the checkdown, insists Josh call more screens or short bang bang passes so the D can’t pin their ears back and tee off on him. He also throws the ball out of bounds instead of allowing a defender to push him out… which counts as a sack against the line.

Maye needs to do better, Josh needs to do better and of course the line can play better. It’s not all on the line. Tom Brady’s highest sack percentage of his entire career was 2001… young QB’s take sacks.

 

[Real fan 02]

Waiting to see that ^Guy.

Looks like we are going to keep waiting... starting to become frustrating now.. K. Williams has talent and he's basically outside of boutee the teams deep threat outside the numbers. He can give this offense a jolt on the outside..

 

[Toofy]

Waiting to see that ^Guy.

I am seeing majority of his routes are the short underneath routes and he runs into space. This is more like what henderson or rham does

With Maye he is expecting you to run for 3 seconds and sit on perimeter or beat man coverage on 10+ yarders.

I think we need to slowly ease him in with some screens , intermediate routes and then the perimeter catches.

Boutte has done this for 2 years now and that's why he has the success we see with Maye .

Expecting a rookie with different skill set to hit more vertical routes which is not his bread and butter seems not appropriate .

Maybe let's ask him to stop running after 3 seconds and sit in zone so that maye can do a quick pass.

I feel his key plays overlap with that of our pass catching backs. And consideribg he doesn't block , it's a catch 22 situation.

 

[Real fan 02]

Wild thought, but the Chiefs and Ravens are not playing well.

Thing of note... it's going to be interesting how the team plays post bye week... remember the last time we had a run like this in '21.. we faded post bye week.

Although we have such a great coaching staff that Vrabel's not allowing for complacency to set in.. Will be worth paying attention to. Just wanted to mention that...

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Thing of note... it's going to be interesting how the team plays post bye week... remember the last time we had a run like this in '21.. we faded post bye week.

Although we have such a great coaching staff that Vrabel's not allowing for complacency to set in.. Will be worth paying attention to. Just wanted to mention that...

Is any player from the '21 team still playing for the Pats? Onwenu? Barmore? Any others?

Are any coaches the same? McDaniels after leaving and coming back?

I don't see much similarity or correlation to the '21 team.