DaBruinz's takes from Eagles/Pats Pre-Season game

[DaBruinz]

Before replying, please note that these are done with the understanding that the offense and defense were pretty vanilla and that it is just the 1st pre-season game. The Pats clearly didn't run their quick huddle, though the Eagles did. The Pats didn't run any stunts or twists, though the Eagles did.

PRO:
Thompkins and Dobson come as advertised. Both looked really good except for the 1 dropped pass by Dobson.
Fells looked really comfortable.
Blount ran better than expected.
Ridley looks like he's in mid-season form.
Brady looks ready.
Dane Fletcher looks like he's ready to step back in as the back-up MLB.
Zach Sudfeld looked good on the 1 pass thrown to him.
Edelman looks like he's recovered from his injury. Needs to be a bit better on handling the punts.
Vereen looked really good on the Endzone catch. Made a point to make sure he got his right knee down in the Endzone


CON:
Brandon Bolden seems to be playing his way off the team. He was slow to start a run. He took a horrible roughing the punter penalty.
Leon Washington isn't going to be our 3rd down back if he continued to block the way he did tonight.
Marquice Cole was horrible in coverage again.
Ryan Allen outkicked the coverage on the 1 punt. This was mentioned as an issue during some practices.
Tebow was just horrible on his passing reads and his throws. Also, there was clearly some miscommunications as some of the runs took way too long to develop. Not sure what the issue was, but when the RB hasn't even started to move when Tebow turns around, it's an issue.
Hoomanawanui was horrible for the most part in his blocking.
Reserve O-linemen: This is an area of concern. None of them looked good tonight. One who stood out was Mattes who gave up on the screen go Vereen which allowed the defender to get to Vereen from behind.

Other:
Pats didn't use Sudfeld enough in the passing game.
Amendola seemed non-existent in the game plan. As did Ballard.
Gostkowski missing the 44 yarder isn't a big deal to me as it's pre-season. If it was a play-off game, it would be a different story. He powered plenty of his kicks for TBs.

 

[PatsDeb]

Yes it's the first preseason game and some guys were out, but...

1. Are we EVER going to fix our secondary?
2. Are we EVER going to get a pass rush?

Run D looked good, but pass D still stinks most of the time.

Offense looked good. Amendola was targeted on one pass that I saw and he caught it and looked like Welker doing it. Rookie receivers looked good. Brady looked to be in mid-season form. Running game looked really good. Ridley, Vereen & Blount look to be a good combo.

It's weird, but with all the changes the team looked eerily similar to last year - great offense; mediocre defense.

Tebow is way too slow. I don't know that I'd bother to keep him as the 3rd QB. If we ever have to use him we are in deep doo doo.

 

[reflexblue]

Before replying, please note that these are done with the understanding that the offense and defense were pretty vanilla and that it is just the 1st pre-season game. The Pats clearly didn't run their quick huddle, though the Eagles did. The Pats didn't run any stunts or twists, though the Eagles did.

PRO:
Thompkins and Dobson come as advertised. Both looked really good except for the 1 dropped pass by Dobson.
Fells looked really comfortable.
Blount ran better than expected.
Ridley looks like he's in mid-season form.
Brady looks ready.
Dane Fletcher looks like he's ready to step back in as the back-up MLB.
Zach Sudfeld looked good on the 1 pass thrown to him.
Edelman looks like he's recovered from his injury. Needs to be a bit better on handling the punts.
Vereen looked really good on the Endzone catch. Made a point to make sure he got his right knee down in the Endzone


CON:
Brandon Bolden seems to be playing his way off the team. He was slow to start a run. He took a horrible roughing the punter penalty.
Leon Washington isn't going to be our 3rd down back if he continued to block the way he did tonight.
Marquice Cole was horrible in coverage again.
Ryan Allen outkicked the coverage on the 1 punt. This was mentioned as an issue during some practices.
Tebow was just horrible on his passing reads and his throws. Also, there was clearly some miscommunications as some of the runs took way too long to develop. Not sure what the issue was, but when the RB hasn't even started to move when Tebow turns around, it's an issue.
Hoomanawanui was horrible for the most part in his blocking.
Reserve O-linemen: This is an area of concern. None of them looked good tonight. One who stood out was Mattes who gave up on the screen go Vereen which allowed the defender to get to Vereen from behind.

Other:
Pats didn't use Sudfeld enough in the passing game.
Amendola seemed non-existent in the game plan. As did Ballard.
Gostkowski missing the 44 yarder isn't a big deal to me as it's pre-season. If it was a play-off game, it would be a different story. He powered plenty of his kicks for TBs.

I had read on here that Blount was soft and slow, that he was unlikely to make the team.............:nono:

 

[DaBruinz]

Yes it's the first preseason game and some guys were out, but...

1. Are we EVER going to fix our secondary?
2. Are we EVER going to get a pass rush?

I'm sorry, but if you ignore that Dennard, Dowling and McCourty were out and the fact that we played using a vanilla defense, then let's ignore that Brady played. Let's ignore Tebow's horrible play. Let's ignore everything including pre-season.

You can't ignore the fact that Dennard, Dowling and McCourty were out. Nor can you ignore that the Pats were using a vanilla defense with no twists, stunts, and what, 2 blitzes the entire game.

The Secondary played better than people are giving credit for. Especially the 1st teamers. On the play to Avant, there should have been a flag for holding as Kelly had his jersey damn near pulled off him as he was trying to get to Vick. On the very next play, they should have called a false start on the O-line for a false start. Had those been called, the 1st team doesn't give up a score.

Furthermore, later in the game, one of the Eagles runningbacks was standing next to Finne moving his feet up and down as if he was doing the tire drill which also would have been called as a false start.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Yes it's the first preseason game and some guys were out, but...

1. Are we EVER going to fix our secondary?
2. Are we EVER going to get a pass rush?

Run D looked good, but pass D still stinks most of the time.

Don't forget that we had our starting S (and the QB of the secondary) and our RCB out.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

You forgot to mention that tavon wilson and logan ryan sucked.

 

[Joker]

UH...I agree about 90% DaB...but how you did not see Tavon Wilson stick out like a festering sore in the 2nd half puzzles me...#27...that's him...did he MAKE a play all night?...he certainly made ME notice him and I wasn't even looking...he was HORRIBLE...out of position all 2nd half...late on breaks...late on cover responsibility...he jumped out of the TV screen to me...at the end of the game, Salas gets behind the corner with tinme running down and the D in a deep zone...and Wilson STILL was a good five yards and two seconds TOO LATE on the pass coverage!!! Horrible ending to a horrible night....other than that I watched the play of all the others and came away with...yeah, firsr preseason game...some good some bad...I enjoyed it...Wilson I did NOT enjoy watching and before this I really had no negative feelings toward him at all...

 

[DaBruinz]

UH...I agree about 90% DaB...but how you did not see Tavon Wilson stick out like a festering sore in the 2nd half puzzles me...#27...that's him...did he MAKE a play all night?...he certainly made ME notice him and I wasn't even looking...he was HORRIBLE...out of position all 2nd half...late on breaks...late on cover responsibility...he jumped out of the TV screen to me...at the end of the game, Salas gets behind the corner with tinme running down and the D in a deep zone...and Wilson STILL was a good five yards and two seconds TOO LATE on the pass coverage!!! Horrible ending to a horrible night....other than that I watched the play of all the others and came away with...yeah, firsr preseason game...some good some bad...I enjoyed it...Wilson I did NOT enjoy watching and before this I really had no negative feelings toward him at all...

Probably because I saw Harmon as the guy on the side of the field with Ryan and not Wilson. I'll go back and re-watch the 2nd half tomorrow afternoon.

 

[JMC00]

Yes it's the first preseason game and some guys were out, but...

1. Are we EVER going to fix our secondary?
2. Are we EVER going to get a pass rush?

Run D looked good, but pass D still stinks most of the time.


It's weird, but with all the changes the team looked eerily similar to last year - great offense; mediocre defense.

When the defense of

Nink-Wilfork-Kelly-Jones

Hightower-Spikes-Mayo

Dennard/Arrington Talib

McCourty A.Wilson/?Harmon?

Can't rush the passer and are getting carved up every game, i'll worry.

Until then i'm not going to worry about it.

If McCourty is in game form, DeSean Jackson isn't coming down with that ball because McCourty would have been over there to help. Just go look at that play again, Gregory was so out of position.

 

[Don Kipines]

Yes it's the first preseason game and some guys were out, but...

1. Are we EVER going to fix our secondary?
2. Are we EVER going to get a pass rush?

Run D looked good, but pass D still stinks most of the time.

Offense looked good. Amendola was targeted on one pass that I saw and he caught it and looked like Welker doing it. Rookie receivers looked good. Brady looked to be in mid-season form. Running game looked really good. Ridley, Vereen & Blount look to be a good combo.

It's weird, but with all the changes the team looked eerily similar to last year - great offense; mediocre defense.

Tebow is way too slow. I don't know that I'd bother to keep him as the 3rd QB. If we ever have to use him we are in deep doo doo.

The first team D had a sack/fumble on one of its two series. Apart from that they basically gave up two long pass plays. The front 7 looked pretty stout to me in the first unit.

 

[muslimman]

UH...I agree about 90% DaB...but how you did not see Tavon Wilson stick out like a festering sore in the 2nd half puzzles me...#27...that's him...did he MAKE a play all night?...he certainly made ME notice him and I wasn't even looking...he was HORRIBLE...out of position all 2nd half...late on breaks...late on cover responsibility...he jumped out of the TV screen to me...at the end of the game, Salas gets behind the corner with tinme running down and the D in a deep zone...and Wilson STILL was a good five yards and two seconds TOO LATE on the pass coverage!!! Horrible ending to a horrible night....other than that I watched the play of all the others and came away with...yeah, firsr preseason game...some good some bad...I enjoyed it...Wilson I did NOT enjoy watching and before this I really had no negative feelings toward him at all...

Just wanted to say that I agree completely with about T Wilson to emphasize how terrible he was. This in context of the 1st preseason game that means squat where we running a vanilla offense, Wilson still managed to stick out like a sore thumb against 2nd/3rd team Eagles scrubs.

 

[PatsDeb]

Ok guys, I guess I'll take your word for it, but all I saw was someone blowing right by Talib who is supposed to be our best corner. Are all those other guys close to being back?

 

[brady199]

Ok guys, I guess I'll take your word for it, but all I saw was someone blowing right by Talib who is supposed to be our best corner. Are all those other guys close to being back?

Well that someone was DeSean Jackson who blows by a lot of people. Talib matches up against bigger type of WR's like Andre Johnson. Also he had a step on Talib, I wouldn't say he really blew by him, it was a perfect pass, not much you can do about that except have the safety playing over the top.

 

[PatsDeb]

Well that someone was DeSean Jackson who blows by a lot of people. Talib matches up against bigger type of WR's like Andre Johnson. Also he had a step on Talib, I wouldn't say he really blew by him, it was a perfect pass, not much you can do about that except have the safety playing over the top.

And isn't this a problem we had a lot last year? And the year before that? I know it's the 1st preseason game and that guys were out, but we had problems last year with guys being out and nobody to step up. Just worried that we haven't fixed or improved a critical area.

 

[BadMoFo]

I didn't think Collins had the greatest game. Missed a sack on Foles.

Dobson had the one long catch, but he couldn't really get much separation, not like Thompkins or Boyce in the one pass that should have been a TD.

Thought Benard and Buchanan outplayed Bequette, but Bequette did have a few good rushes at the end of the game. Either way, I think all three are far ahead of Cunningham.

Also, I know Blount had the big game, but I still like Bolden's running style over his. Blount might be big, but he seems so much more finesse and slower. If we were playing a team with a halfway decent defense, no way he scores on that 51-yarder.

 

[Ozymandias]

While we're still on the same subject, the long TD pass to Desean Jackson was all on Gregory than it was Talib - once again Gregory took a bad angle in his pursuit like he always does. You would hope to see improvements in that regard but he just flat-out sucks.

The coverage by the safeties was horrendous tonight. Both T. Wilson and Gregory should be cut immediately if this is how they plan on playing this coming season. The Patriots defense will resemble 2011 if these two are the starting safeties at any point this year.

 

[Hael]

And isn't this a problem we had a lot last year? And the year before that? I know it's the 1st preseason game and that guys were out, but we had problems last year with guys being out and nobody to step up. Just worried that we haven't fixed or improved a critical area.

Our problem was big wrs catching deep sideline throws over our undersized CBS and slow safeties who lacked cover skills. Many times when the CBs were literally right there.

DJ is a small wr with burner skills, he lives or dies by separation and not by fighting for a jump ball. It's perfectly normal that he gets, and maintains a step in 1-1. Not even Revis could cover that guy 1-1 for longer than 3seconds so if the pass is perfect there's not much u can do about it. The flip side is that it's a low percentage play. Hard for the qb to hold the ball that long and drop it on a dime.

 

[Claremonster]

I had read on here that Blount was soft and slow, that he was unlikely to make the team.............:nono:

Who said this?

He will make the roster easily if he keeps playing like he did tonight.

 

[Claremonster]

UH...I agree about 90% DaB...but how you did not see Tavon Wilson stick out like a festering sore in the 2nd half puzzles me...#27...that's him...did he MAKE a play all night?...he certainly made ME notice him and I wasn't even looking...he was HORRIBLE...out of position all 2nd half...late on breaks...late on cover responsibility...he jumped out of the TV screen to me...at the end of the game, Salas gets behind the corner with tinme running down and the D in a deep zone...and Wilson STILL was a good five yards and two seconds TOO LATE on the pass coverage!!! Horrible ending to a horrible night....other than that I watched the play of all the others and came away with...yeah, firsr preseason game...some good some bad...I enjoyed it...Wilson I did NOT enjoy watching and before this I really had no negative feelings toward him at all...

That Salas guy is perty good...

Tavon Wilson is looking like another secondary bust so far...no doubt.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Before replying, please note that these are done with the understanding that the offense and defense were pretty vanilla and that it is just the 1st pre-season game. The Pats clearly didn't run their quick huddle, though the Eagles did. The Pats didn't run any stunts or twists, though the Eagles did.

PRO:
Thompkins and Dobson come as advertised. Both looked really good except for the 1 dropped pass by Dobson.
Fells looked really comfortable.
Blount ran better than expected.
Ridley looks like he's in mid-season form.
Brady looks ready.
Dane Fletcher looks like he's ready to step back in as the back-up MLB.
Zach Sudfeld looked good on the 1 pass thrown to him.
Edelman looks like he's recovered from his injury. Needs to be a bit better on handling the punts.
Vereen looked really good on the Endzone catch. Made a point to make sure he got his right knee down in the Endzone


CON:
Brandon Bolden seems to be playing his way off the team. He was slow to start a run. He took a horrible roughing the punter penalty.
Leon Washington isn't going to be our 3rd down back if he continued to block the way he did tonight.
Marquice Cole was horrible in coverage again.
Ryan Allen outkicked the coverage on the 1 punt. This was mentioned as an issue during some practices.
Tebow was just horrible on his passing reads and his throws. Also, there was clearly some miscommunications as some of the runs took way too long to develop. Not sure what the issue was, but when the RB hasn't even started to move when Tebow turns around, it's an issue.
Hoomanawanui was horrible for the most part in his blocking.
Reserve O-linemen: This is an area of concern. None of them looked good tonight. One who stood out was Mattes who gave up on the screen go Vereen which allowed the defender to get to Vereen from behind.

Other:
Pats didn't use Sudfeld enough in the passing game.
Amendola seemed non-existent in the game plan. As did Ballard.
Gostkowski missing the 44 yarder isn't a big deal to me as it's pre-season. If it was a play-off game, it would be a different story. He powered plenty of his kicks for TBs.

A few other itesm I would add.

The Pats Pass Rush without any stunts produced 3 sacks, one of which was a strip sack that should have been a TD return by Spikes. He was all alone at the thirty, ten yards ahead of others as he headed toward the end zone, when a Ref blew the return dead. Why?

Three sacks a game over 16 games give 48 sacks a season, first or second in the League.

The pass defense even without McCourty, Dennard, or Dowling playing, allowed only a 58% completion rate.

The Run Defense was very good.

The fumble of the Eagle's FG holder should have been another TD. Why was it blown dead by a Ref?

The Pats entered this season with fears they could not score. They were in a position to have scored 50 points. They could have scored 20 more points on two overeager Ref's whistles negating certain touchdowns, and two missed FG attempts. I'd judge that the fears are misplaced.