NE @ TN rewatch thread

While McCourty had a strong outing, his defense did not. The Patriots allowed the Titans to win, 34-10, while putting up 385 yards of total offense and converting 5 of 12 third downs. The performance seemed strange with the Patriots allowing just 17 points to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the previous week.

“We sucked in the last game,” McCourty told Patriots Wire in the locker room on Wednesday.

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Jason McCourty gives blunt evaluation of Patriots defense: 'We sucked in the last game'

Lazar takes an extended look at Brady's mechanics:

Film Review: What's Behind Tom Brady's Recent Struggles? | CLNS Media

PP2 said:

Lazar takes an extended look at Brady's mechanics:

Film Review: What's Behind Tom Brady's Recent Struggles? | CLNS Media

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Nice work from Lazar there that highlights some of my concerns after watching his mechanics last week and in previous weeks. He notes that Brady’s mechanics mostly fall off from having to move in the pocket and when he gets time, they’re fine. I expect some heavy work with House this week for him.

KontradictioN said:

Nice work from Lazar there that highlights some of my concerns after watching his mechanics last week and in previous weeks. He notes that Brady’s mechanics mostly fall off from having to move in the pocket and when he gets time, they’re fine. I expect some heavy work with House this week for him.

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I think that, as I mentioned in the other thread, his mechanics got away from him because of two elements: inconsistent offense and poor O-line work.

Brady's achilles heel is his "anal-ness" when it comes to the offense. That both works for and against him. If nothing is going precisely the way he wants them to do, he gets out of sorts, and things tend to snowball for him.

But the important thing is, it's not a physical problem.

BaconGrundleCandy said:

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Bad look from the defense. That was a 4-point play against us, and an early warning that this was going to be a long...long...day.

BaconGrundleCandy said:

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That one's on Brady.

PP2 said:

Brady's achilles heel is his "anal-ness" when it comes to the offense. That both works for and against him. If nothing is going precisely the way he wants them to do, he gets out of sorts, and things tend to snowball for him.

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I am not even sure if that is "his achilles heel" or just a general limitation of how this offense is run. NE uses a lot of presnap tools to understand what he is facing and generally knows before the ball is snapped who should be open (based on the route combos on the two sides of the field) and where to throw the ball accordingly.

As soon as you throw wrench into this entire procedure by moving a player too far inside, making a motion too slow, someone running a wrong route the entire mental picture he had before the snap will collapse.

Make this happen a few times too often a game and the QB will become more hesitant. Maybe I just described exactly what you said in other words. If I did then nvm. Point is that I am not sure that's Brady thing as much as how BB/McDaniels run their EP style offense.

luuked said:

I am not even sure if that is "his achilles heel" or just a general limitation of how this offense is run. NE uses a lot of presnap tools to understand what he is facing and generally knows before the ball is snapped who should be open (based on the route combos on the two sides of the field) and where to throw the ball accordingly.

As soon as you throw wrench into this entire procedure by moving a player too far inside, making a motion too slow, someone running a wrong route the entire mental picture he had before the snap will collapse.

Make this happen a few times too often a game and the QB will become more hesitant. Maybe I just described exactly what you said in other words. If I did then nvm. Point is that I am not sure that's Brady thing as much as how BB/McDaniels run their EP style offense.

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Mostly a matter of Brady expecting the receivers to be on the same page as he is, and expecting them to read and understand what's going on with the defense and see what he sees- Edelman, White, and Gronk do this to a high level of execution, and after that, it's a big dropoff.

And not just that- it's also being able to incorporate all the small details that are dictated by the defense, process them real time which is something Gordon is having a hard time with. For example, if Gordon is to run a comeback out of the X and they both read zone (CB's asses are turned out) and it's a three step dropback on a 3rd and let's say 7, the three step dictates that your stem is positioned just ahead of the down marker (I know that's not in the EP playbook, but IIRC it's one of the countless tweaks that Brady has made and likes, hence his "anal-ness" and I could of course turn out to be wrong). That's just enough time for Brady to drop back 3 steps and launch into his throw and for the receiver to catch it before the CB can adjust enough to deny the pass.

This actually happened in a game- and I forgot which one, but Gordon didn't stop just beyond the marker, he kept going and Brady threw the ball at the down marker to drive home the point.

PP2 said:

This actually happened in a game- and I forgot which one, but Gordon didn't stop just beyond the marker, he kept going and Brady threw the ball at the down marker to drive home the point.

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Gordons lack of full comprehension is on display on numerous comeback routes. I think it took them about 5 games to just connect once on it. Which is in stark contrast to the few things that Dorsett seems to be allowed to do. Just goes to show that time to understand the offense and its dozens of adjustments is invaluable.

I think I must have created and posted at this point at least 5-6 gifs that show exactly that disconnect.

PP2 said:

Mostly a matter of Brady expecting the receivers to be on the same page as he is, and expecting them to read and understand what's going on with the defense and see what he sees- Edelman, White, and Gronk do this to a high level of execution, and after that, it's a big dropoff.

And not just that- it's also being able to incorporate all the small details that are dictated by the defense, process them real time which is something Gordon is having a hard time with. For example, if Gordon is to run a comeback out of the X and they both read zone (CB's asses are turned out) and it's a three step dropback on a 3rd and let's say 7, the three step dictates that your stem is positioned just ahead of the down marker (I know that's not in the EP playbook, but IIRC it's one of the countless tweaks that Brady has made and likes, hence his "anal-ness" and I could of course turn out to be wrong). That's just enough time for Brady to drop back 3 steps and launch into his throw and for the receiver to catch it before the CB can adjust enough to deny the pass.

This actually happened in a game- and I forgot which one, but Gordon didn't stop just beyond the marker, he kept going and Brady threw the ball at the down marker to drive home the point.

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Listening to Zolak, Perry and Bertrand today was worthwhile. Basic takeaways:

1. While first blush viewing, and even some surface level reviewing, might suggest that Brady's missing a lot of open guys, a better look at the film shows a different story. While he has missed an open guy on occasion (i.e. Hogan in the Tits game), which every QB does, it's been a lot more about receiver issues such as a failure to gain separation.
2. While outsiders see Brady as throwing too many balls away, it's a function of receivers not being open and Brady not wanting to risk another Devlin-type of "interception".
3. While it looks as if Brady's got happy feet, there's been a real problem with the line winning one-on-one battles (The Devlin pick came on a play where Thuney got beat and put Brady in position to have to make an eat it/throw it decision), and that's leading to an inability to get settled into plays. This is reflected in the news being pimped around about Brady being last in the NFL against the blitz (5 men rush), but much better against non-numbers rushes from what were being called "unexpected rushers".
   
4. The Titans apparently knew all the calls, including line and blitz protections, which made it a lot more difficult for the Patriots offense.

Deus Irae said:

Listening to Zolak, Perry and Bertrand today was worthwhile. Basic takeaways:

The Titans apparently knew all the calls, including line and blitz protections, which made it a lot more difficult for the Patriots offense.

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That is something that certainly requires better self scouting. Remember several years ago, either the Ravens or the Dolphins acquired an audio tape of Tom Brady and knew all of his lingo?

Another similar (but unrelated) example was when the Raiders faced the Bucs in the Super Bowl.

SammyBlueCat said:

That is something that certainly requires better self scouting. Remember several years ago, either the Ravens or the Dolphins acquired an audio tape of Tom Brady and knew all of his lingo?

Another similar (but unrelated) example was when the Raiders faced the Bucs in the Super Bowl.

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Dolphins in '06.

KontradictioN said:

Nice work from Lazar there that highlights some of my concerns after watching his mechanics last week and in previous weeks. He notes that Brady’s mechanics mostly fall off from having to move in the pocket and when he gets time, they’re fine. I expect some heavy work with House this week for him.

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Brady took a pass on sharing specifics of self-study methods during bye week, but did say of his footwork in the pocket, “I study my mechanics every day, and so I feel like I look like my normal self out there.”

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Keegan: Tom Brady under pressure, but still the 1