3 Patriots players who have impressed / Players who could use improvement

[shmessy]

The short yardage back takes a lot of pounding. It makes sense to be to have Evans in that role.

Sure does. Nobody gets SHORTER yardage than Heath Evans.

I wish they would bring back Patrick Pass. He did everything Evans does plus plays an excellent Special Teams.

 

[sebman2112]

WTH??????????????????

2 pages and no love for big Vince. This guy doesn't just take on double teams he eats them up! Every defensive play he just completely blows up the middle of that OL. Not to mention that by the end of the year the Bills might vote him MVP.

Yea, he's been very good so far. Also, I've got plenty of love for big Vince VVVVVV

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Impressed:

1. Moss. Jesus H. Christ he's been insanely good.

2. Adalius Thomas. I thought there would be an adjustment period for playing inside instead of outside like he has in the past, but I guess not.

3. Welker. Notice the Pats started coming alive vs. Buffalo once Brady started finding him? Until then, Welker was invisible. He is Troy Brown circa 2002.

Need improvement (mostly nits):

A. Stallworth. Kind of lost in the shuffle, especially with Moss looking so good, but for a guy with supposed burner speed he hasn't shown much ability to beat coverage. Those back-to-back bombs vs. San Diego he didn't get much separation if any.

B. Safeties in coverage. Both the Jets and Chargers were able to put together scoring drives by throwing across the middle. Even against the Bills, their lone scoring drive was helped by Josh Reed being open all alone in the middle of the field.

C. Bruschi. He comes off the field a lot in favor of Seau, especially for run D. Against the Chargers, the best D vs. LDT was having Seau and Thomas as ILBs. Against Buffalo, Seau was the designated Marshawn Lynch stopper in hopes of putting the games in young Edwards' hands.

Regards,
Chris

 

[IcyPatriot]

Players who could use improvement
2) LAWRENCE MARONEY - Has not played bad at all but would like to see more explosiveness like he showed a few flashes against the Bills,His best game as a Patriot came against the Bengals last season IMO and I hope he can duplicate that effort again this Monday Night,He still is not quite ready for heavy full time duty and has played his role well when in a duo back set splitting some time with Morris.

Football Outsiders ranks Maroney #3 RB in NFL thus far
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=62312

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[captain stone]

This is a little nit-picky, but here it goes.

Gostkowski-For some reason, he is a little off in his kicks.

Heath Evans- I wish he was a little more of a short yardage/goal-line/lead blocking force. I have not been impressed.

Hansen-I know BB protected him in the press conference yesterday, but he needs a little more distance on his kicks.

As far as Bruschi goes, he on the back 9. Hes a 1st and 2nd down LB now.

Warren has been fine.

Welker & Moss have been sensational

That's my list, too, esp. the kickers. BB seems to have lost some confidence in the Memphis Ghost, and I don't blame him. And those 2 punts by Hanson were Walter-esque, i.e. putrid. From whom was he kicking away? The FO should have signed Scott Player after he was released by the Cardinals.

Something else that needs improvement, besides red-zone defense, is 3rd-down defense. I don't like seeing those long drives against our old LBs.

And red-zone play-calling by Skippy isn't perfect, either. Bullet-passes from < 10 yards? QB sneaking from > 3 yards? Not my first choices.

As RWeathers stated at the top of the thread, this is picking nits, I know; but improvement in these areas will help us win games later in the year that will help us secure a 1st-round bye, and possibly home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

[jeffd]

I don't think either were called plays. By bullet pass do you mean the quick slant TD to Moss? That will happen EVERY TIME Moss is 1 on 1 on the outside. And the sneak was obviously Brady's call. He very good at this why stop him now?