Texans @ Patriots, pregame analysis

supafly said:

I’m going to sacrifice a chicken in the hope that Cannon plays. Not a big fan of LaAdrian Waddle.

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Cannon not playing Huge blow for the Pats against this Watt lead Defense. Gronk might be Blocking some also our RB's. This Offense also always have a quality #3 WR or Slot wide out... who is that player on this Team? If Brady have to drop back alot Today it ain't going to be pretty. Hope the running game is effective.

supafly said:

I assume that you mean 2004. ‘05 was the year that Duane Starks was here.

Not exactly sure how you’re arriving at that conclusion with the swap of Butler/Rowe, but I obviously hope that you’re correct. Fingers crossed.

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What? you been under a rock sup?? Didn't you hear Butler was mediocre last year??

If nine route Fuller doesn't suit up Pats D can breathe a little easier. Fuller could torch this D on the other side of Hopkins.

PatsFan2 said:

What? you been under a rock sup?? Didn't you hear Butler was mediocre last year??

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I just don’t see Eric Rowe as anything of an improvement, that’s all. At best, it’s a trade off. Hope that I’m wrong about my feelings on Rowe, of course. He just hasn't shown enough on a consistent basis for me to see him as an upgrade over Malcolm Butler, even after Butler’s worst year to date.

supafly said:

I just don’t see Eric Rowe as anything of an improvement, that’s all. At best, it’s a trade off. Hope that I’m wrong about my feelings on Rowe, of course. He just hasn't shown enough on a consistent basis for me to see him as an upgrade over Malcolm Butler, even after Butler’s worst year to date.

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A one-to-one comparison of Butler to Rowe doesn't really work for me since the roles they're capable of playing are significantly different.

Butler was exceptional playing LCB (at least in 2016), but not consistently good in the slot. He didn't play the right side very much, but didn't look particularly comfortable there, even in 2016 (I'm not sure that he even took a snap on the right side in 2017). Not a lot of high-level versatility with Butler.

Gilmore is excellent on the left side, but he has also played the right side and the slot at a fairly high level during his career.

JJ was very good in the slot last season (better than Rowe, probably as well as or better than Gilmore, and much, much better than Butler), and he certainly didn't appear to be a liability playing either boundary. JJ only lined up a few times at LCB, IIRC, and seemed pretty okay there, although he played more on the right boundary, and probably well enough to be a regular starter there, IMHO.

Rowe was inconsistent last season due to missing a lot of practices and games to a groin injury which apparently bothered him enough to be on the injury report through week-14. However, he showed some flashes of being very good at RCB, and of being better than Butler in the slot. I have no idea what he might be like at LCB, though.

Although primarily a zone-guy, JMac has been very good at LCB over the course of his career and more than adequate at RCB when he's played that side.

My point being that a more appropriate comp for Butler might be Gilmore, and that a "base" lineup of Gilmore (LCB), JJ (slot) and Rowe (RCB) should be offer more versatile coverage packages, and perhaps be more effective in the long run.

PP2 said:

Some good stuff:

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Thanks for opening the thread and a promising start @PP2

Hopefully next time it stays on topic, on film..

Update:

PatsFan2 said:

Joe Thuney and Andrews were abused by that Front last time around they are in a long line though. We better not fall behind and make the most of our opportunities I see a lot of FG's on our part. They have a lot of fire power in that Front Seven.

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It would be great if you could support this with some tape here.. Maybe you're still stuck on 2016 game? Andrews was somewhat abused in that game but improved a lot since getting bigger, tougher in the process. In fact, he was best Pat OL week 3 together with Mason. (btw- he was #4 C in the league in 2017 by PFF).

By far the biggest liability of last HOU game was Nate Solder (2 sacks, 5 pressures) coming back from preseason injury. True, Thuney was not his best, but at leat partially it was due to Solder not being there in preseason with him and visibly suffering from snap 1 on his side.

Also, Waddle played instead Cannon - his first game of the season after being injured two times during preseason.

Its true that Cannon might suffer upon his return as well . but this looks like much more solid, healthier and above all more glued OL than week 3 last season..

Interesting article in how JJ Watt changed his entire approach on how he prepares for the season

How Houston Texans' J.J. Watt Bounced Back From His Injury

At 290 now, I say run right at the bastid. Heavy dose of Burk and Smith with Dev putting Watt on his azz. Too bad Sony isn't quite ready.

PatsFan2 said:

If nine route Fuller doesn't suit up Pats D can breathe a little easier. Fuller could torch this D on the other side of Hopkins.

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You have become the most negative poster on this board. Everything is gloom and doom with you. Draft sucks. Getting torched. BB sucks. O line sucks. Defense sucks.

Christ.

robertweathers said:

You have become the most negative poster on this board. Everything is gloom and doom with you. Draft sucks. Getting torched. BB sucks. O line sucks. Defense sucks.

Christ.

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Nobody out-negatives Fred from Dartmouth. Nobody.

PP2 said:

Nobody out-negatives Fred from Dartmouth. Nobody.

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Yeah he's bad too.

robertweathers said:

You have become the most negative poster on this board. Everything is gloom and doom with you. Draft sucks. Getting torched. BB sucks. O line sucks. Defense sucks.

Christ.

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He is a loser projecting his loser life here. I wish they would just ban this idiot.

UptownPatsFan said:

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That blows. Oh well. Give the kid more time to be conditioned and learn the offense.

Bruins29 said:

He is a loser projecting his loser life here. I wish they would just ban this idiot.

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We all have our concerns with this team but with him it's Every. Single. Post.

PatsFan2 said:

Cannon not playing Huge blow for the Pats against this Watt lead Defense. Gronk might be Blocking some also our RB's. This Offense also always have a quality #3 WR or Slot wide out... who is that player on this Team? If Brady have to drop back alot Today it ain't going to be pretty. Hope the running game is effective.

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I'm surprised they didn't keep another tackle (such as Tobin) if they thought Cannon might not be ready. Supposing that Cannon is inactive and Waddle starts at RT, who is the backup at tackle if one of the starters goes down? Do they reshuffle the line with Thuney at tackle?

Breaking out the new McCourty jersey for today