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When we all look back at the history of this season, your petty observations that you WEREN'T being entertained enough during today's game, will be totally forgotten and all will be remembered was Marcus Jones' great run and it was a WIN!!. No team in my entire memory (and its a long one....at least so far) has been so vilified during a period where they have won 5 of their last 6 games.
Now I should know better to participate on the game day thread, but it's fun to express one's frustrations, etc immediately and get feedback from others like minded souls. But the WHINING coming from that thread yesterday was unbelievable. It like they all wanted their money back because the offense wasn't impressive enough for them. Bah Humbug, I say. The Pats were in control for the entire game and despite the wind, the loss of 2 starting OLmen, and having another starter hobbling, Mac Managed to pass for about 250 yds with no picks and we ram for about 100 more. WHAT do you want people. What about 5 of 6 Wins don't you get. JEEEEEEES!
Assorted offensive observations
When Brady was at his best, there majority of his passes were thrown in a rhythm. Take his drop, and step up off his back leg and throw. On at least 4 of those sacks, I saw Mac, take his drop step up and......NOT throw the ball, and then after a second later get sacked. I wonder if people who get the all 22 can tell me if the first read was covered, or did Mac just miss the open man. In every game I watch the really good QB's throw balls to covered guys ALL the time and often get results. Have the Pats over reacted to the picks so that Mac is afraid to "just sling it". I hope not.
Teams that lose 2 starting OLmen during a game have a lot of trouble in pass protection AND run blocking by definition. Don't you get it. Add to this that Brown was knocked out of the game but HAD to return when Wynn got hurt. What did you expect. Bottom line the Pats dropped back 33 times and the protection was good enough to throw 27 passes down field. Given what they had on the field for most of the game, AND they were playing against one of the best DL's in the league, that is NOT a horrible job. It is more or less what you'd expect.
Bottom line Mac through the ball accurately and well. 250 yds is a decent result this year. The fact that all those yds, AND the 100 rushing yds didn't add up to more than 3 points SHOULD be what the discussion is about. I think first and foremost, penalties were a big reason, and it's been a long time since I was this pissed at a set of refs than I was in this game. Time and time again we saw replay after replay where a Pats player was being bear hugged WITHOUT holding call. Yet some VERY ticky tack calls were being called on the Pats. The worst one was the roughing the punter call even though the punter was never touched by a Pats player. But there were a few other calls including a real weak holding call away from the play that gifted the Jets a rare first down. IIRC correctly the Pats had about 50 or 60 yds in penalties and when you add that to the 48 yds lost to the sacks, you have over 100yds to make up and THAT will limit your scoring chances by a lot.
Some Defensive observations.
The Pats defense AGAIN played lights out. The best Jet offensive play was a success because of a badly underthrown ball and a push off by the well covered WR. The other 2 good jet plays were QB runs by Wilson. The rest of the Jets rushing attack came on 20 carries for 53yds. Outside of up to 3 dropped picks, the defensive backfield was again outstanding.
Mac Wilson spying on the QB was a good touch. Wilson is limited for sure, but he CAN run the ball and he DID have a couple of effective runs that led him to be their best runner with about 30 odd yds. Outside of those 2 or 3 runs the defense really did a GREAT job of corralling him. Really I think he had just 4 or 5 passes that were NOT made under duress.
The Pats DL and LB's do a WONDERFUL job scheming and executing twists during their pass rushes. I noticed it very early on because I was expecting it.. I would say at least half of Judon's sacks have come on twists that free him with direct access to the QB. But its the execution I want to talk about. For every sack Judon gets using this scheme REQUIRES that at least one DLman to sacrifice himself creating the opening that Judon goes through. And remember its not like the Jets were surprised. The Pats have been using this tactic all season. So the reason it was so successful was the EXECUTION. Even if you know it is coming if it's executed well a guy gets open. Just like a good pass route that frees a receiver. '
Again, in my opinion, it is less about the scheme itself. Every team has this in it's arsenal. But when it is executed well, it is a thing of beauty Something even Uche has benefited on. That is why we SHOULD remember that while we root for Judon to break sack records, HIS success comes as a direct result of the work of others. BTW - Judon's execution of this stunt greatly aids its success. He is patient, meaning he take a few HARD steps like he's going to rush from the outside. IMHO, it is his footwork in freezing the OT then so very quickly transition to the inside and then exploding into the gap that is created by the DT or NT who is driving his man in the other direction. If you recorded this game, go back and look for this game the Pats play and how often it worked.
The Pats had a LOT of different LB/S combinations roaming the 2nd level today, but the major constant in all this was Bentley. I don't know, but he was everywhere snuffing out and erasing the Jets running attack. This year he seems less likely to over run plays. He doesn't seem to get caught up in the wash. THIS is the Jujaun Bentley we hoped he would be after his promising first year.....but never got. It took a long time, but it seems fair to say it was worth the wait.
Jets fans might take hope in the fact that at least Wilson didn't throw any picks this game, but that was only because our DB's don't have great hands (which is probably why they are DB's and not WR's) McCourt had the worst drop. Jones' was a great DB play, but he dropped it too. There was another close one by Jack Jones along the sideline, but that would have taken a remarkable catch but it WAS great coverage on the play
Bottom line: Whatever coverages they were running, the Pats had their usual glue like runs with the Jets receivers. It has happens so often that no one can claim it's a one shot thing. Strong defense on all THREE levels......and we are going to need it this thursday.
The Thursday game is so close I might as well give my two cents on what will happen.
The truth is despite the records differential and the fact we have to travel, on a short week, I would have been fairly confident about this game because the Vikings defense, despite have a bunch of "name players" on their team has been clearly the weak link of their team. I would have felt the Pats would be able to move the ball, while the defense would be able to hold the Vikings under 24. BUT given the state of the Pats OL, I HAVE to wonder.
There is no planning for injuries, ESPECIALLY ones that happen during the game. Subpar replacements do better when they have a week to prepare when they know they are the starter, than when they have to take the field cold after getting just 2nd team reps. So we have THAT going for us....I think.
Ferentz is going to be a focal point of very defensive game plan. It's not like he's going to fail every play, but instead of losing 5-10% of the time, he's losing 20-25% of the time and that is just NOT good enough. Personally I have NO idea how they fix that. Like everyone else I was hoping Roussey would be the back up C, but it hasn't panned out. He's on the roster now, but I don't see him playing the next 2 games. My best hope (if it's true Andrews is done for the year) is Roussey might be ready to take over after the Buffalo game and we have that mini bye. SO on Thursday the Pats will likely have an OL of Brown, Strange, Ferrentz, Owenu, and Cajuste.
.
I earlier opined that as bad as the OL seemed to be, they DID allow enough time for Mac to throw 27 times in 33 drop backs and accumulate 246 yds. If they can cut that sack number down from 6 to 3 against a DL that is descent with LSmith but a big step down from the Jets DL. THAT would give me hope we will see a better result from even THIS scary OL.
IT would be ridiculous to think that Mac will complete 83% of his passes this week too, but I hope that this drop of percentage will be mitigated by the number of completions down field, because it's their secondary that is their weakness. And we should get more down field openings this week
While the secondary has been the strength of this team, it will need to step it up a notch to contend with this passing attack. Just being in proximity of the receiver is NOT going to be been enough Thursday. These receivers MAKE plays when they are covered. So this game so must our secondary. Not an easy task. So the name of the game is your best defense is a good offense. And THIS is a game where the offense finally has to come and play. They need to score points and take time off the clock. They don't have to score everytime they have the ball, but they DO have to get at least one first down.
Will they win? Bill usually done well in preparing for short weeks. On the other hand, Bill hasn't done well playing this disciples recently. O'Connor has done a great job so far in Minnesota, whether the the decline in the Rams offense is all about KOC, I'll leave that to your imagination. But he's on his first short week as a HC so.........
OK that's enough. I have more, it will probably come out during my responses to the comments. Enjoy (I hope)
Now I should know better to participate on the game day thread, but it's fun to express one's frustrations, etc immediately and get feedback from others like minded souls. But the WHINING coming from that thread yesterday was unbelievable. It like they all wanted their money back because the offense wasn't impressive enough for them. Bah Humbug, I say. The Pats were in control for the entire game and despite the wind, the loss of 2 starting OLmen, and having another starter hobbling, Mac Managed to pass for about 250 yds with no picks and we ram for about 100 more. WHAT do you want people. What about 5 of 6 Wins don't you get. JEEEEEEES!
Assorted offensive observations
When Brady was at his best, there majority of his passes were thrown in a rhythm. Take his drop, and step up off his back leg and throw. On at least 4 of those sacks, I saw Mac, take his drop step up and......NOT throw the ball, and then after a second later get sacked. I wonder if people who get the all 22 can tell me if the first read was covered, or did Mac just miss the open man. In every game I watch the really good QB's throw balls to covered guys ALL the time and often get results. Have the Pats over reacted to the picks so that Mac is afraid to "just sling it". I hope not.
Teams that lose 2 starting OLmen during a game have a lot of trouble in pass protection AND run blocking by definition. Don't you get it. Add to this that Brown was knocked out of the game but HAD to return when Wynn got hurt. What did you expect. Bottom line the Pats dropped back 33 times and the protection was good enough to throw 27 passes down field. Given what they had on the field for most of the game, AND they were playing against one of the best DL's in the league, that is NOT a horrible job. It is more or less what you'd expect.
Bottom line Mac through the ball accurately and well. 250 yds is a decent result this year. The fact that all those yds, AND the 100 rushing yds didn't add up to more than 3 points SHOULD be what the discussion is about. I think first and foremost, penalties were a big reason, and it's been a long time since I was this pissed at a set of refs than I was in this game. Time and time again we saw replay after replay where a Pats player was being bear hugged WITHOUT holding call. Yet some VERY ticky tack calls were being called on the Pats. The worst one was the roughing the punter call even though the punter was never touched by a Pats player. But there were a few other calls including a real weak holding call away from the play that gifted the Jets a rare first down. IIRC correctly the Pats had about 50 or 60 yds in penalties and when you add that to the 48 yds lost to the sacks, you have over 100yds to make up and THAT will limit your scoring chances by a lot.
Some Defensive observations.
The Pats defense AGAIN played lights out. The best Jet offensive play was a success because of a badly underthrown ball and a push off by the well covered WR. The other 2 good jet plays were QB runs by Wilson. The rest of the Jets rushing attack came on 20 carries for 53yds. Outside of up to 3 dropped picks, the defensive backfield was again outstanding.
Mac Wilson spying on the QB was a good touch. Wilson is limited for sure, but he CAN run the ball and he DID have a couple of effective runs that led him to be their best runner with about 30 odd yds. Outside of those 2 or 3 runs the defense really did a GREAT job of corralling him. Really I think he had just 4 or 5 passes that were NOT made under duress.
The Pats DL and LB's do a WONDERFUL job scheming and executing twists during their pass rushes. I noticed it very early on because I was expecting it.. I would say at least half of Judon's sacks have come on twists that free him with direct access to the QB. But its the execution I want to talk about. For every sack Judon gets using this scheme REQUIRES that at least one DLman to sacrifice himself creating the opening that Judon goes through. And remember its not like the Jets were surprised. The Pats have been using this tactic all season. So the reason it was so successful was the EXECUTION. Even if you know it is coming if it's executed well a guy gets open. Just like a good pass route that frees a receiver. '
Again, in my opinion, it is less about the scheme itself. Every team has this in it's arsenal. But when it is executed well, it is a thing of beauty Something even Uche has benefited on. That is why we SHOULD remember that while we root for Judon to break sack records, HIS success comes as a direct result of the work of others. BTW - Judon's execution of this stunt greatly aids its success. He is patient, meaning he take a few HARD steps like he's going to rush from the outside. IMHO, it is his footwork in freezing the OT then so very quickly transition to the inside and then exploding into the gap that is created by the DT or NT who is driving his man in the other direction. If you recorded this game, go back and look for this game the Pats play and how often it worked.
The Pats had a LOT of different LB/S combinations roaming the 2nd level today, but the major constant in all this was Bentley. I don't know, but he was everywhere snuffing out and erasing the Jets running attack. This year he seems less likely to over run plays. He doesn't seem to get caught up in the wash. THIS is the Jujaun Bentley we hoped he would be after his promising first year.....but never got. It took a long time, but it seems fair to say it was worth the wait.
Jets fans might take hope in the fact that at least Wilson didn't throw any picks this game, but that was only because our DB's don't have great hands (which is probably why they are DB's and not WR's) McCourt had the worst drop. Jones' was a great DB play, but he dropped it too. There was another close one by Jack Jones along the sideline, but that would have taken a remarkable catch but it WAS great coverage on the play
Bottom line: Whatever coverages they were running, the Pats had their usual glue like runs with the Jets receivers. It has happens so often that no one can claim it's a one shot thing. Strong defense on all THREE levels......and we are going to need it this thursday.
The Thursday game is so close I might as well give my two cents on what will happen.
The truth is despite the records differential and the fact we have to travel, on a short week, I would have been fairly confident about this game because the Vikings defense, despite have a bunch of "name players" on their team has been clearly the weak link of their team. I would have felt the Pats would be able to move the ball, while the defense would be able to hold the Vikings under 24. BUT given the state of the Pats OL, I HAVE to wonder.
There is no planning for injuries, ESPECIALLY ones that happen during the game. Subpar replacements do better when they have a week to prepare when they know they are the starter, than when they have to take the field cold after getting just 2nd team reps. So we have THAT going for us....I think.
Ferentz is going to be a focal point of very defensive game plan. It's not like he's going to fail every play, but instead of losing 5-10% of the time, he's losing 20-25% of the time and that is just NOT good enough. Personally I have NO idea how they fix that. Like everyone else I was hoping Roussey would be the back up C, but it hasn't panned out. He's on the roster now, but I don't see him playing the next 2 games. My best hope (if it's true Andrews is done for the year) is Roussey might be ready to take over after the Buffalo game and we have that mini bye. SO on Thursday the Pats will likely have an OL of Brown, Strange, Ferrentz, Owenu, and Cajuste.
.I earlier opined that as bad as the OL seemed to be, they DID allow enough time for Mac to throw 27 times in 33 drop backs and accumulate 246 yds. If they can cut that sack number down from 6 to 3 against a DL that is descent with LSmith but a big step down from the Jets DL. THAT would give me hope we will see a better result from even THIS scary OL.
IT would be ridiculous to think that Mac will complete 83% of his passes this week too, but I hope that this drop of percentage will be mitigated by the number of completions down field, because it's their secondary that is their weakness. And we should get more down field openings this week
While the secondary has been the strength of this team, it will need to step it up a notch to contend with this passing attack. Just being in proximity of the receiver is NOT going to be been enough Thursday. These receivers MAKE plays when they are covered. So this game so must our secondary. Not an easy task. So the name of the game is your best defense is a good offense. And THIS is a game where the offense finally has to come and play. They need to score points and take time off the clock. They don't have to score everytime they have the ball, but they DO have to get at least one first down.
Will they win? Bill usually done well in preparing for short weeks. On the other hand, Bill hasn't done well playing this disciples recently. O'Connor has done a great job so far in Minnesota, whether the the decline in the Rams offense is all about KOC, I'll leave that to your imagination. But he's on his first short week as a HC so.........
OK that's enough. I have more, it will probably come out during my responses to the comments. Enjoy (I hope)
