Doug Gabriel is halfway to...

[patsox23]

matching David Givens' TD total for 2005. Think of it that way.

 

[jczxohn1]

matching David Givens' TD total for 2005. Think of it that way.

Not saying Givens couldn't have made that catch, but it was a very good, atheletic effort by Gabriel on a pass that was high and wide.

 

[patsox23]

Givens couldn't have made that catch. It remains to be seen if he can be the consistent target for Brady that Givens was.

 

[R_T26]

Givens was a first down machine. branch and Givens may not have had a lot of td's, but they sure helped us get them.

 

[patsox23]

Givens was a first down machine. branch and Givens may not have had a lot of td's, but they sure helped us get them.

certainly fair. FYI, Caldwell has 7 catches this year, ALL for first downs.

 

[zippo59]

That suprises me that Givens only had two TD's last year. Given his size you would think the end zone is where he would excel.

 

[smg93]

I really liked what I saw out of Doug Gabriel. There was one play where he should have gotten out of bounds but he made up for it in his next catch when he fought for yards and then forced himself out of bounds to stop the clock. There were a number of lowlights during that denver game as we all know but Gabriel's play gave me a positive outlook towards the end of the game despite all the disappointing play in the earlier parts of the game.

I think we are on our way towards a lot of improvement beginning with this Cincy game on the offensive front with Gabriel as a real option not just deep (because he is fast) but also on first down type catches because the guy is just big and physical. Brady must have gained a lot of confidence in that last series with Gabriel. Even if it didn't end the way we wanted it to, those plays are a harbinger of good things for the future.

 

[patsox23]

agree. hope brady-to-gabriel can continue to progress, and not just in garbage time.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Gabriel has upside and potentially a lot of it. So does Chad Jackson, if he ever gets on the field consistently.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

agree. hope brady-to-gabriel can continue to progress, and not just in garbage time.

I don't believe it was garbage time... yes, we were down by 17 points, but you could tell that Denver cared... it was NOT meaningless.

Check out the gamebook for the game on nfl.com for that drive:

(Beginning of the drive ommitted for brevity)
1-10-DEN 35 (10:35) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short left to 33-K.Faulk to DEN 28 for 7 yards (61-G.Warren). DEN-54-P.Chukwurah was injured during the play.
Timeout #3 by DEN at 10:12.
2-3-DEN 28 (10:12) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short left to 85-D.Gabriel to DEN 22 for 6 yards (27-Da.Williams). P16
1-10-DEN 22 (9:50) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short middle to 39-L.Maroney to DEN 8 for 14 yards (27-Da.Williams). DEN-27-Da.Williams was injured during the play. P17
1-8-DEN 8 (9:18) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short middle to 85-D.Gabriel for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. P18
3-S.Gostkowski extra point is GOOD, Center-66-L.Paxton, Holder-8-J.Miller.

They called a timeout and took another timeout because of an injury (Faked injury? They didn't have any actual timeouts left). It is clear that they were doing EVERYTHING possible to slow down our momentum.

They weren't treating it as garbage time IMO.

 

[mdhprime]

I just hope for continued improvement and consistency. Not every pass has to go over over ten yards. If the Patriots can just get 3 to 4 receivers on the field that the opposing defense at least has to respect, that will spread them out and hopefully help the running game out a lot. A deep threat would nice, but I think that consistency is a bigger need right now. I think Gabriel will be huge in this department. Until now it has really just been Caldwell and Brown out there and while they are good receivers the defense probably has no problem covering just the two of them. Adding Gabriel and Jackson and taking the tight ends and backs into account adds a totally new dimension. I can't wait to see them all at full strength...hopefully sometime soon!

 

[rabthepat]

Excellent point...2 TDs ties Givens...