Eight Reactions After the Patriots Took Care of the Falcons

[PatsFans.com Article]

Eight Reactions After the Patriots Took Care of the Falcons

Ian Logue

The Patriots improved to 5-2 on the season after their 23-7 win over the Falcons Sunday night, and there are plenty of reasons to be feeling pretty good about this one.

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[maineman209]

Agree about the inequity of PI calls involving Gronk.

While there have certainly been occasions where Gronk had clearly pushed off, quite a few of the flags that have been dropped on him were for actions that other pass-catchers are rarely flagged for.

In contrast, there have been numerous occasions where defenders appear to have been given more leeway on contact they've initiated with Gronk, that might've earned them a flag with other pass-catchers.

Bottom line, though, is that Gronk needs to refine his technique for shedding such contact, because the refs are obviously scrutinizing him now.

 

[brdmaverick]

Cooks got away with a push off (on the last drive of the first half) that was far worse than Gronks. While I was glad they didn't call it the inconsistency is frieghtening as it's just another indicator of how easily refs can control a game.

 

[seven]

Excellent piece, Ian.

OPI vs Gronk
Ty Law Rule etc,
over and over again.

Okay then, we will beat you another way.

Gronk wants to play some D?
!
Edge rusher.
Yeah, I bet he could do that.

Situationally ensituated
Practice in secret!
*
Great to see the team come together, in control, game never in doubt.
Crazy, Rodney Harrison picked Atlanta. Dungy picked the Pats.
Shtick?
or a very big Heh?

Thanks!

 

[brdmaverick]

An oddity from the game........I actually respected the Falcons for their aggressiveness in going for it on fourth down in unconventional situations. I'm glad it didn't pay off for them, but I still respect the decisions none-the-less.

 

[PatsDeb]

Yes, Gronk is clearly being targeted. That call last night was BS, and usually if Gronk does push off, it's to push off a guy who is draped all over him. My favorite tidbit about Gronk from last night, though, was when Cooks ran into the end zone (literally) on Gronk's coattails. Apparently Cooks yelled, "Gronk, go!" when he came up behind him, and Gronk did!

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Areas that stood out to me:

• special teams: Allen forcing returns and the team covering to (generally) force teams to start within the 25 (better than a touch back). Blocked Field goal early was a nice tone setter and something I thought would be non-existent given the rules.
• 3rd/4th down defense - Let's see if they can make this a habit. As the yards per play were about equal, getting the Falcons offense off the field was a key to victory.
• Time of Possession/Number of plays favored the Patriots
• Offensive line pushing edge rushers out and Brady managing the pocket worked well. Thanks to the interior line for holding up their DL.

 

[PatsDeb]

An oddity from the game........I actually respected the Falcons for their aggressiveness in going for it on fourth down in unconventional situations. I'm glad it didn't pay off for them, but I still respect the decisions none-the-less.

I thought it was dumb except for the goal-line stand, which I understood. Maybe the first one was ok as they expected to catch the Pats by surprise and they did (that and a blantant hold that wasn't called). That 2nd one at the end of the first half was just stupid hubris, IMO. You were only down by 10 and you are getting the ball in the 2nd half. Punt them deep, you dopes! Instead they expect lightening to strike twice (converting 4th and long at midfield), and give the ball to Brady with 2 minutes & all his TOs. Dumb, dumb, dumb. They deserved what they got.

Another head-scratcher - taking your sweet time in scoring the one TD you got (they appeared to be playing to prevent the shut-out), then suddenly taking your TO's when the Pats got the ball back. Huh? If you were playing to win why didn't you go hurry up as you did through much of the 1st 3 quarters? Curious tactics my dear Watson!

 

[brdmaverick]

I thought it was dumb except for the goal-line stand, which I understood. Maybe the first one was ok as they expected to catch the Pats by surprise and they did (that and a blantant hold that wasn't called). That 2nd one at the end of the first half was just stupid hubris, IMO. You were only down by 10 and you are getting the ball in the 2nd half. Punt them deep, you dopes! Instead they expect lightening to strike twice (converting 4th and long at midfield), and give the ball to Brady with 2 minutes & all his TOs. Dumb, dumb, dumb. They deserved what they got.

Oh trust, I certainly get the counter-argument and can understand why people would find that to be an odd move.

I guess the way I saw it was that they knew they would have to put up 30 points to beat us, and that they were determined to get those points even if it meant going for unconventional fourth downs.

Like in the 2003/2004 AFC Championship game against the Colts, on the opening drive of the game the Pats converted a fourth down on their own side of the field (because they knew what it would take to beat the high powered Colts).

But, yes, maybe I overly like aggressive play calling in general. I know I'd be cheering Bill on if he made the same decision so I should at least give the Falcons props for doing the same.

 

[oldrover]

Yes, Gronk is clearly being targeted. That call last night was BS, and usually if Gronk does push off, it's to push off a guy who is draped all over him. My favorite tidbit about Gronk from last night, though, was when Cooks ran into the end zone (literally) on Gronk's coattails. Apparently Cooks yelled, "Gronk, go!" when he came up behind him, and Gronk did!

That Gronk-convoy-of-one was awesome... and the last thing the defender saw was...

 

[stinkypete]

My big takeaway from the game is the defense. They looked like a Patriots defense again, guys were in position and they largely kept the plays in front of them. Butler, Marsh and VanNoy are making plays in situations in which they looked lost a month ago.

Throw Harris into the mix, along with a productive Branch and the healthy returns of Gilmore, Rowe, and McClellan, and you could have a defense that plays like a top 10 unit by season's end.

 

[irishfanatic]

Thrilled with W and performance last night.
On a personal note w/o going into detail on my life experiences, my heart and thoughts go out to Nate and his family with Hudson.
I can understand fans on a football forum dissecting and identifying sub par performances of players but in past weeks I felt in my gut that Nate's focus was elsewhere and I was hoping that Hudson was not the reason for that.
I wish Hudson all the very best in his fight and I give a sincere "tip of my cap" to Nate for his professionalism and strength of character in what he is dealing with whilst being a Patriot.

 

[IcyPatriot]

.

 

[captain stone]

The offense might also want to self-scout their GTG production during the bye.
They could stand to find more ways to convert more of them into TDs, especially during their upcoming road stretch. Best-case scenario would be using Gillislee behind Devlin, with Mason & Cannon pushing the pile. Disappointed to see it fail when it had the chance.