****** First exhibition game postgame thread ******

[Deus Irae]

Sane comments and analysis preferred, but not required.

 

[Dingleberry]

I always thought buying my now ex-wife a new set of breasts months before the divorce was the worst investment of capital I had ever witnessed.

Thankfully, for my sanity, Nkeal with a 1st and Joejuan with a 2nd may be a worse waste than the Ta-Ta's I never touched touched.

 

[Love The Drake]

Going positive here.
We are absolutely stacked at running back.
D line is stacked.
Mac Jones bringing back the rhythm offense.

 

[Dingleberry]

Sorry Deus, I know you asked for sane comments, but I am feeling nuttier than squirrel squat.

Judon!

 

[Tony2046]

Stephenson - wow

Mac - looked good.

Damian - damn. Running hard.

Jakobe -. My Jerry Rice comparison is holding up.

Rain man- stick to counting toothpicks.

 

[sean10mm]

The crazy thing about Jones is he looks more comfortable running the offense than Newton and processes faster. He's also really calm with rushers near him, he's not an indecisive spaz.

 

[Sicilian]

Up:
Mac Jones
Judon
Taylor (just keep him off punt returns)
Stevenson (though we need to see it against better comp)
Nordin

Down:
Harry
Perkins (not worried, but he looked very much like a rookie out there)
The entire god-damn punt unit outside of Bailey.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Great games from the draft picks. Jones looked good, Perkins looked good, Stephenson looked great.

 

[Deus Irae]

Nkeal with a 1st and Joejuan with a 2nd may be a worse waste...

From what I saw, which was actually more than I'd planned on (dinner plans ended up changing, damn it!), neither one looked as if they should still be on the team by next week, IMO.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Stephenson - wow

Mac - looked good.

Damian - damn. Running hard.

Jakobe -. My Jerry Rice comparison is holding up.

Rain man- stick to counting toothpicks.

Lol. I like Mac and want him to start now. Calm down.

 

[n1997y]

Any word on Myles Bryant?

 

[Deus Irae]

Lol. I like Mac and want him to start now. Calm down.

What about "looked good" needs to be calmed down?

 

[TheRainMaker]

What about "looked good" needs to be calmed down?

He got offended because I criticized his arm strength on one drive. Other then that I liked what I saw. Great poise, throws a pretty ball.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

1st half thoughts from my thread. ..
Carl Davis has been pretty good. Making it difficult to step up - resetting the line, active/strong. He's been over best 0 up until this point. He just gets push off the line consistently.

Mentioned this on the first page but Harris gives you a little something Sony can't. His vision had been outstanding since college. His ability to press the line, draw / pause the 2nd level and bounce it outside is something we haven't had in a long time. That stuff separates guys.

Expanding a bit, our running game should be nasty. Harris is RB1 and looks the part. Physically, his play, finish ... He's a good one and I'm so happy he's working out. One of my favs from Bama. Can't tell you how many times I'd be watching someone else and his pass pro or vision can't be ignored. Plus Sony is running hard no doubt with a chip on his shoulder.

Bentley looks a lot better. Movements are much better.

Mac looked about as I expected. Should've had 6 on that pass. Wilkerson would love to have that back. He displayed poise & touch on two other passes. Arm strength is noticeable but it shouldn't be breaking news. It'll get better. He has plenty and everything else matters so much more. Moving the guys around, alerting his guys, recognizing what's in front of him, crisp movements in the pocket, decisiveness ... Very comfortable back there. A few really good decisions in real time - checkdown, back shoulder.

Matthew Slater will probably be coaching one day.

There's no way QN can be stashed. Kid is splitting it from 50 + with ease and has a live leg. Somebody is scooping him up.

Dugger & Bryant were communicating on that breakup. Both were poised & prepared. Lot of versatility & physicality between Phillips, Dugger & Bryant. Phillips has been an absolute stud since suiting up for us.

Judon's instincts stand out. Dude is a baller and will be a leader on & off the field. Vocal, accountable. Looks like a great signing already.

Not a bad first half. Some stuff needs tightening up. We'll still have some questions after the game but not bad.

I'll add Perkins looked decent. Few blown plays, few nice ones. Showed off his speed to power.

Uche looked vg from what I saw. Rushing, in coverage, he's going to be a player for us.

 

[scott99]

A lot to like about this game. Mac missed on a long pass to Gunner (still a nice throw), and should’ve had a TD pass to Wilkerson, Wilkerson should’ve caught that (dropped 2). BUT, should’ve been interference on the defender, the refs looked like they were preseason refs, missed a few with some bad ball placement. I felt Meyers caught Mac’s 1st pass. Also felt Mac made the 1st down on a 3rd down run. But overall, I thought Mac played really well for his 1st NFL game ever. Quick reads, quick getting rid of the ball.

I thought Cam made some nice throws when he had time. Wasn’t great, wasn’t awful. Looked a little better than 2020 Cam. I think when Agholor and Henry get back, the offense is gonna be dangerous. The running back depth is ridiculous. I think Taylor re-established himself. Harris ran hard, as always, Sony had some nice runs, and Stevenson, even if you take away his 91 yard run, still averaged over 4 yards a carry. His 1st TD showed what he can give this team, a battering ram red zone runner. I saw him in college, and my 1st thought was, he could be another Lagarrette Blount. And I loved Blount on the Pats.

Jonny Smith made a nice catch and run, he’s gonna be a beast. But like the last few years, the TE’s were invisible. LaCosse and Fumagalli did zilch, was hoping to see some offense out of them, though they did well blocking. Asiasi was invisible.

Defensively, the Pats are definitely gonna be tough to run against once guys get comfortable with each other. Judon came as advertised. Love seeing 54 & 53 out there. I thought Uche looked dangerous, and I thought Perkins flashed some. Barmore is going to be huge for this team as well, and Carl Davis looks like he’s going to be a factor on defense. In the secondary, was a little disappointed by Dugger, you can see the talent, but he never finds the ball. He would have good coverage and then not turn around and find the ball, winds up being completions.

Nordin has a leg on him, wow, but missing that extra point put a damper on a GREAT night for him, that hurt.

I think there’s a lot to be excited about. A lot of young talent that, if cultivated correctly, could lead to several years of contending.

 

[zydecochris]

The crazy thing about Jones is he looks more comfortable running the offense than Newton and processes faster. He's also really calm with rushers near him, he's not an indecisive spaz.

Although I am a Big Mac (pun intended) fan after following his career at Alabama, I have felt that it is better to not rush him until he had time to learn the offense, if Cam starts a few games to give Mac more time, I felt that was a positive.

…..and, most of me still feels that way….

But, when is the last time you saw a rookie look so poised in his first preseason game against an excellent (especially the pass rushing) defense? And, he didn’t really make big rookie mistakes.

I don’t care about his yardage, after his training by Saban and now BB I expect him to focus more on minimizing mistakes than “making something happen” (one of the reasons I think it would be good for him to get more comfortable with the offense before he starts).

But I have to say I was impressed by his composure. And I am starting to get excited by his potential.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Mac missed on a long pass to Gunner (still a nice throw),

Pretty sure it was Gunner’s fault.

 

[Kdo5]

A lot to like about this game. Mac missed on a long pass to Gunner (still a nice throw), and should’ve had a TD pass to Wilkerson, Wilkerson should’ve caught that (dropped 2). BUT, should’ve been interference on the defender, the refs looked like they were preseason refs, missed a few with some bad ball placement. I felt Meyers caught Mac’s 1st pass. Also felt Mac made the 1st down on a 3rd down run. But overall, I thought Mac played really well for his 1st NFL game ever. Quick reads, quick getting rid of the ball.

I thought Cam made some nice throws when he had time. Wasn’t great, wasn’t awful. Looked a little better than 2020 Cam. I think when Agholor and Henry get back, the offense is gonna be dangerous. The running back depth is ridiculous. I think Taylor re-established himself. Harris ran hard, as always, Sony had some nice runs, and Stevenson, even if you take away his 91 yard run, still averaged over 4 yards a carry. His 1st TD showed what he can give this team, a battering ram red zone runner. I saw him in college, and my 1st thought was, he could be another Lagarrette Blount. And I loved Blount on the Pats.

Jonny Smith made a nice catch and run, he’s gonna be a beast. But like the last few years, the TE’s were invisible. LaCosse and Fumagalli did zilch, was hoping to see some offense out of them, though they did well blocking. Asiasi was invisible.

Defensively, the Pats are definitely gonna be tough to run against once guys get comfortable with each other. Judon came as advertised. Love seeing 54 & 53 out there. I thought Uche looked dangerous, and I thought Perkins flashed some. Barmore is going to be huge for this team as well, and Carl Davis looks like he’s going to be a factor on defense. In the secondary, was a little disappointed by Dugger, you can see the talent, but he never finds the ball. He would have good coverage and then not turn around and find the ball, winds up being completions.

Nordin has a leg on him, wow, but missing that extra point put a damper on a GREAT night for him, that hurt.

I think there’s a lot to be excited about. A lot of young talent that, if cultivated correctly, could lead to several years of contending.

I don’t think the missed XP hurts his night much. Kickers nowadays miss bunnies like those here and there. What’s more important was drilling the longer kicks, and with ease.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Mac continues to be the highest potential rookie QB but no rookie QB is ready to just step in their first year.

Run defense is the biggest question mark for the D.

Return of the Boston TE Party plus Meyers is key for the offense.

 

[Kdo5]

Mac continues to be the highest potential rookie QB but no rookie QB is ready to just step in their first year.

Run defense is the biggest question mark for the D.

Return of the Boston TE Party plus Meyers is key for the offense.

Defense overall looked just okay. They caught some balls on us. Looking forward to seeing Gilmore back out there.