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1. The reason for even starting this thread was a thought that occurred to me the other day. When the season started the Pats ran a lot of RPO's which featured Cam doing what Cam does best. This continued through the 2nd game even though we saw the potential of what Cam's arm could do, even though we came a yard short of pulling out the win.
So here's the thing, the last several games we've watched a very painful regression of Cam's passing game. And I can't help but wonder if we didn't move off the RPO based offense too soon, because watching Cam trying to throw receivers Tom Brady routes that requires the kind of accuracy Brady had when at his best isn't realistic, especially when we constantly see his bad footwork create bad pass after bad pass.
In Cam's defense this was an offense that Tom Brady got to develop ln over a period of 20 years and 10's of thousands of reps which created the great footwork that went a long way to making him arguably the most accurate short and mid range passer in the history of the game. Cam had the short preseason AND the inability to take the full speed practice reps you'd normally have gotten with a full preseason and regular practices of a non-Covid year. (BTW- for all my complaining about Cam's bad passing, didn't I recently read that thus far he has his best completion percentage of his career)
The point being is, maybe this is the time to perhaps go BACK to some RPO looks that would allow him to take a series or two of RPO looks and add to his comfort level. Just a thought
2. Bill Bellichick's coaching tree has already lost 2 limbs this season now that Matt Patricia joined BOB on the sidelines. I didn't follow things closely enough to understand why they couldn't make it work there. My biggest impression was that the Lions have lost a LOT of very close games over the last 4 seasons. That shouldn't shock anyone since the margin of error between wins and losses is very small the NFL in general. Even so it seemed that losing close games in the last 2 minutes was the real reason for the Lion's demise.
Still no excuses for Matt. He had a talented QB, a GM he was on the same page with, and a decade of being trained by the best football mind in the history of the game. I don't think Matt can come back at DC, but I WOULDN'T mind getting Bob Quinn back in the front office in some capacity. We've lost a LOT of front office talent over the last several years and think it has shown in the spotty drafts we've had lately.
3. Can't help but wonder about the viability of the rest of the season with a lot of teams coming down with a slew of Covid positive tests.
4. In retrospect It wasn't all that surprising the Pats lost a close game to the 2-7 Texans. They very easily could have be 7-2 with a few better bounces. THey still have a TON of talent there. Plus it didn't help that Watson picked THAT game to play out of his mind. All I could think of while I was watching was that even his few incompletions were all catchable balls. The other thing Watson did very well was spread the ball around to a LOT of different receivers during the game.
4. We will likely see Sony back for this game. Let us not forget that his last game was his most productive game as a Patriot and I HOPE that when the Pats need 4 yds on the ground they DON'T give the ball to James White while they have Harris and Michel on the bench. OK to give him the ball once or twice to break a tendency, but more than that is a waste of talent.
5. While the media and most Pats fans have given up on the playoffs, I'm not until they get their 7th loss, and even THEN in this off year and and extra playoff slot7 a 9-7 team could get in. There are 6 games to play and if you look at winning all of them is unlikely, just remember, you only have to win ONE game at a time.
6. As to the Cardinals..... It will be a very interesting game. The Cards have been VERY good at some points this season and then....not so much. It is a fact of life that even very talented teams have LEARN to win on a consistent basis. In the Pats favor they will be seeing there 3rd straight running QB in a row. Overall I think the front 7 have did a pretty good job containing Jackson and Watson and providing occasional pressure on them. And I DON'T think thei QB will show the off the charts accuracy we saw last week. No question the team will have to play better to walk away with a win, but not a hell of a lot better.
So I hope one and all had a happy and SAFE Thanksgiving this week and we can all end this holiday week on a happy note.
So here's the thing, the last several games we've watched a very painful regression of Cam's passing game. And I can't help but wonder if we didn't move off the RPO based offense too soon, because watching Cam trying to throw receivers Tom Brady routes that requires the kind of accuracy Brady had when at his best isn't realistic, especially when we constantly see his bad footwork create bad pass after bad pass.
In Cam's defense this was an offense that Tom Brady got to develop ln over a period of 20 years and 10's of thousands of reps which created the great footwork that went a long way to making him arguably the most accurate short and mid range passer in the history of the game. Cam had the short preseason AND the inability to take the full speed practice reps you'd normally have gotten with a full preseason and regular practices of a non-Covid year. (BTW- for all my complaining about Cam's bad passing, didn't I recently read that thus far he has his best completion percentage of his career)
The point being is, maybe this is the time to perhaps go BACK to some RPO looks that would allow him to take a series or two of RPO looks and add to his comfort level. Just a thought
2. Bill Bellichick's coaching tree has already lost 2 limbs this season now that Matt Patricia joined BOB on the sidelines. I didn't follow things closely enough to understand why they couldn't make it work there. My biggest impression was that the Lions have lost a LOT of very close games over the last 4 seasons. That shouldn't shock anyone since the margin of error between wins and losses is very small the NFL in general. Even so it seemed that losing close games in the last 2 minutes was the real reason for the Lion's demise.
Still no excuses for Matt. He had a talented QB, a GM he was on the same page with, and a decade of being trained by the best football mind in the history of the game. I don't think Matt can come back at DC, but I WOULDN'T mind getting Bob Quinn back in the front office in some capacity. We've lost a LOT of front office talent over the last several years and think it has shown in the spotty drafts we've had lately.
3. Can't help but wonder about the viability of the rest of the season with a lot of teams coming down with a slew of Covid positive tests.
4. In retrospect It wasn't all that surprising the Pats lost a close game to the 2-7 Texans. They very easily could have be 7-2 with a few better bounces. THey still have a TON of talent there. Plus it didn't help that Watson picked THAT game to play out of his mind. All I could think of while I was watching was that even his few incompletions were all catchable balls. The other thing Watson did very well was spread the ball around to a LOT of different receivers during the game.
4. We will likely see Sony back for this game. Let us not forget that his last game was his most productive game as a Patriot and I HOPE that when the Pats need 4 yds on the ground they DON'T give the ball to James White while they have Harris and Michel on the bench. OK to give him the ball once or twice to break a tendency, but more than that is a waste of talent.
5. While the media and most Pats fans have given up on the playoffs, I'm not until they get their 7th loss, and even THEN in this off year and and extra playoff slot7 a 9-7 team could get in. There are 6 games to play and if you look at winning all of them is unlikely, just remember, you only have to win ONE game at a time.
6. As to the Cardinals..... It will be a very interesting game. The Cards have been VERY good at some points this season and then....not so much. It is a fact of life that even very talented teams have LEARN to win on a consistent basis. In the Pats favor they will be seeing there 3rd straight running QB in a row. Overall I think the front 7 have did a pretty good job containing Jackson and Watson and providing occasional pressure on them. And I DON'T think thei QB will show the off the charts accuracy we saw last week. No question the team will have to play better to walk away with a win, but not a hell of a lot better.
So I hope one and all had a happy and SAFE Thanksgiving this week and we can all end this holiday week on a happy note.
