Belichick Admires Gronk Spike

[SlowGettingUp]

Never thought I'd see this:

"Wonder how high that ball went?" says Belichick admiringly, with a big smile on his face.

Also exuberant praise for an Allen block.

 

[RobertWeathers]

BB loves Gronk.

I remember when the Pats killed the Colts in the 2014 regular season game and Gronk was dancing on the sidelines during the game BB looked over and smiled...

 

[luuked]

I like how the two final plays (the Burkhead run and the KVN strip) just highlight the difference between having a great blocker as TE like Dwayne Allen and then a soft, oversized WR who just cant block like Julius Thomas.

Allen had another very strong blocking game against the Dolphins. Between the block for Burkhead here and the block on the Cooks sweep TD he continues to contribute in ways that are not immediately obvious in the stats.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I like how the two final plays (the Burkhead run and the KVN strip) just highlight the difference between having a great blocker as TE like Dwayne Allen and then a soft, oversized WR who just cant block like Julius Thomas.

Allen had another very strong blocking game against the Dolphins. Between the block for Burkhead here and the block on the Cooks sweep TD he continues to contribute in ways that are not immediately obvious in the stats.

I suspect BB went out of his way to put in and praise a good Allen blocking play. They really need him now and he previously was the recipient of brutal press coverage (of the journalistic variety) earlier in the season.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

Nice. ...
I know the team feels sore after playing Miami,
But it always feels like the team takes a little extra beating.

Never an easy game against Miami. But a division win is good, but tough.

 

[luuked]

I suspect BB went out of his way to put in and praise a good Allen blocking play. They really need him now and he previously was the recipient of brutal press coverage (of the journalistic variety) earlier in the season.

What are you talking about ? He has been blocking great through the entire season. He doesnt need to go out of his way to do anything because you can find plays like that in every game.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

What are you talking about ? He has been blocking great through the entire season. He doesnt need to go out of his way to do anything because you can find plays like that in every game.

Well, let's pump the brakes a bit. Allen earlier in the season did not have great blocking every game. I'd have to go back through my notes, but one game in particular he gave up on the block too early allowing brady to get smashed. Another game, Dion Lewis got blown up because he missed a key block . This was during the early part of the season where he showed a case of the dropsies and brady had zero confidence in him

That said..It looks like Allen has turned the corner. His blocking is much more consistent the past three weeks, his snaps are increasing, he is now catching the football and producing in passing game. I hope this continues, we need it. He could play a pivotal role in the postseason. I'm glad he's found himself.


Your post on "oversized WR" has some merit, but you go overboard with it. I believe you once said Jimmy Graham is not a tight end and you would prefer Allen over Graham. If you didn't say those words please correct me. I disagree with that opinion. I also believe there are plenty of pass catching tight ends in the NFL who can block well enough

 

[luuked]

Well, let's pump the brakes a bit. Allen earlier in the season did not have great blocking every game. I'd have to go back through my notes, but one game in particular he gave up on the block too early allowing brady to get smashed. Another game, Dion Lewis got blown up because he missed a key block . This was during the early part of the season where he showed a case of the dropsies and brady had zero confidence in him

So what ? Nobody wins 100% of their reps. By your logic any game where Brady is below 80% completion rate he should be scorned for it because he didnt win them all. And if you want to talk about passing then his stats would have looked a lot better if that supposed GOAT QB of ours wouldnt had missed more than one easy shot to him where Allen was totally open. But we have been through all of this multiple times.

That said..It looks like Allen has turned the corner. His blocking is much more consistent the past three weeks, his snaps are increasing, he is now catching the football and producing in passing game. I hope this continues, we need it. He could play a pivotal role in the postseason. I'm glad he's found himself.

No absolutely wrong. His blocking has been good-to-great since early in the season. But go on with your narrative about how he is inconsistent and see how from week-to-week you have more egg on your face for it.

Your post on "oversized WR" has some merit, but you go overboard with it. I believe you once said Jimmy Graham is not a tight end and you would prefer Allen over Graham. If you didn't say those words please correct me. I disagree with that opinion. I also believe there are plenty of pass catching tight ends in the NFL who can block well enough

In our offense of course I prefer Allen over someone like Graham. We have enough passing options. What we want are versatile players that can be lined up all over the place and add dimensions to the offense to make it more unpredictable. Graham cant be trusted to pass or run block, rarely shows that he can fight through press when matched up against a bigger physical corner and has regressed to be a pure redzone presence when the Seahawks can isolate him on a smaller guy. He is not a football player but a strong, tall athlete that can catch a ball when matchups permit it. To me there is not much value to a player like that unless your offense lacks firepower around him.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

What are you talking about ? He has been blocking great through the entire season.

I take the view that everything BB does has a purpose behind it. He has a wide selection of plays that he could chose to highlight. I think he often chooses to highlight stuff the average fan doesn't see or properly appreciate - things like blocking on special teams.

So the issue I was talking about was not whether Allen has been blocking great the whole year or not. The issue instead was whether he had received the proper recognition by the fans and press for what he has been doing. And BB chose to focus here not on the "brute force" aspect of blocking but instead on the mental/football aspect - the choice by Allen not to block his initial assignment but instead to go after a second-level guy.

 

[Tony2046]

Well, let's pump the brakes a bit. Allen earlier in the season did not have great blocking every game. I'd have to go back through my notes, but one game in particular he gave up on the block too early allowing brady to get smashed. Another game, Dion Lewis got blown up because he missed a key block . This was during the early part of the season where he showed a case of the dropsies and brady had zero confidence in him

That said..It looks like Allen has turned the corner. His blocking is much more consistent the past three weeks, his snaps are increasing, he is now catching the football and producing in passing game. I hope this continues, we need it. He could play a pivotal role in the postseason. I'm glad he's found himself.


Your post on "oversized WR" has some merit, but you go overboard with it. I believe you once said Jimmy Graham is not a tight end and you would prefer Allen over Graham. If you didn't say those words please correct me. I disagree with that opinion. I also believe there are plenty of pass catching tight ends in the NFL who can block well enough

I prefer Allen over Graham. I'm sure Graham would make some fans happier because he'd have more pass catching stats and a couple of highlight reel catches but the losses in the running game and additional pressures/sacks due to his subpar blocking would more than offset those gains.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

At the end of this video from the sideline, BB again talks excitedly about the "great block by Dwayne." Contrast that with his impassive demeanor on each of the touchdowns.

So maybe I'm overthinking things about what he chose to highlight - looks like he just chose the play that turned him on most:

Bill Belichick Mic’d Up: Patriots Head Coach Has No Reaction To Touchdowns

 

[oldrover]

BB loves Gronk. I remember when the Pats killed the Colts in the 2014 regular season game and Gronk was dancing on the sidelines during the game BB looked over and smiled...

That was hilarious.

 

[RobertWeathers]

That was hilarious.

Thats it!

BB didn't actually smile I guess but it looked like a, 'What in the world is he doing now?', look.

 

[loosebearing]

When talking about the opponent on these Bellestrator plays, Bill usually refers to them by their position. (Unless he wants to say something good about the player - then he uses the player's name). On the Gronk play Bill says (after he called him "the safety" 3 or 4 times):

“Alonzo drops him (Gronk) - but he wasn’t in a good position anyway”

I think that says a lot about what he thinks about that player.