Game Thoughts: No Brady, No Gronk, No Nink, No Solder, No Problem Edition

[FourierSeries]

This was easily one of the most impressive wins in recent years.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Great job Rob the only thing that bugs me about the game was them sitting on the football before halftime. Jimmy G played awesome as did the WR's.

I had the same reaction to the going into the shell before the half until I remembered BB's philosophy that his job is to put players in a position to win the game. Calling out for a Brady style move down the field for a FG aggressive O was too much to ask of a guy who had not even played one half of NFL regulation football. They had the ball to open the 2nd half and they already had a lead. Patience Grasshopper.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I think it may have something to do with the earlier sack-and-fumble. If that didn't happen and we were still up by 10 points the margin would've been bigger to try something. As it was they probably didn't want risking Garoppolo making a mistake that would've completely taken him out of rythm.

I mentioned that to my wife at halftime. After the strip sack/fumble, the Patriots had Garopollo throw only one pass the rest of the half - and that was a designed screen pass. I didn't think it was a case of the Patriots' "punishing" Garoppolo for the fumble. It was his first meaningful mistake in an NFL game, and I thought the Pats were trying boost his confidence by continuing to put him in controlled situations where he could succeed, and prevent any possibility of things snowballing any further. And Jimmy came out in the 2nd half and played very well again, and was able to step up and play big in the last drive of the 4th quarter. It was a sound strategy in my mind and I think it paid dividends in the 2nd half.

 

[Wordsmyth]

I suspect BB did not call the TO right away because he figured that's exactly what every other HC would do and what the Cards were expecting. They were out of TOs and could not afford a delay of game, so he wanted them to panic just like Seattle did at the end of SB49. When they didn't panic, he called the TO. Can't help but think it still rattled the Cards a bit when they realized he was not going to immediately help them with a TO.

The other coaches play checkers. Our GOAT coach plays 3-D chess.

 

[Wordsmyth]

Calling a time out helps the Cardinals. It was 4th down so they couldn't spike it and Arians burned through his time outs with 4 minutes to go. Made the FG unit rush on because the play clock was running and it was already a 47 yarder, so no way they are taking a delay of game. So they rush on get set then BB freezed them.

Well that's my thinking at least

Exactly. And what was up with that Cards' series near the end, and Arians calling three consecutive pass plays? Talk about piss-poor play-calling.

 

[n6249c]

Can't believe people were crying about the Collins leaping penalty. Didn't cost us at all. That's the exact time you call that stunt. Would have been huge.

 

[ChessToCheckers]

Bottom line, like the lack of T/O in the SB, the Patriots were in bad shape either way, there wasn't a good situation, just making the best of two bad options. Thankfully they both worked.

Agreed. In Blackjack terms, it's kinda like hitting 16 against an Ace. You're already screwed, but you do the best thing you can. This is one of the things I like about BB: Brains AND Balls.

 

[Ivan]

Just a thought on Jimmy G. What if a team calls week 5? I mean After this year he has only 1 more year left so it is possible a team calls earlier to get a look at him and decide if they think he is the guy and if so have him for over 1.5 years as opposed to 1,

That is a possibility too. I would still Trade Jimmy G week 5 if the right offer comes but it would be worth more and now that we know he is a reliable back up for Brady at that point do we take the risk moving him in the year?

Depends upon the offer.

 

[Ivan]

Then he has to trade Brady.

One of them has to go. We are talking about 2 big contracts here.

I don't think trading Brady is an option.

 

[mgteich]

Every unit played great, as well as lots of individuals. We should expect this kind of effort from special teams and from the defense. The defense might even do better (a turnover or two). However, the offense was truly unbelievable. The OL that played was (on paper) one of the very weakest in the NFL. Scar, Bennett and doing your job made the difference.

In the end, Belichick's emphasis on special teams (compared to ARIZ) was the difference maker. Our special teams were truly special. 6/7 kick were run back by ARIZ, all were held within the 25. ARIZ saved money and have a rookie snapper. Well, perhaps he'll be on the team next week after his poor snap.

Here we go:

• Three more games like this by Jimmy Garoppolo and Deflategate will blow up in the owners who wanted Goodell to go hard after the Patriots' faces. These owners wanted Goodell to take away the draft picks and suspend Brady to weaken the Pats and give their teams a chance. If Jimmy continues to play like this or better, the Pats are likely to get back their draft capital and so much more in a trade and the Pats could be 4-0 with a fresh Brady in return. I can see the Pats getting a top 5-10 draft pick in the 2017 draft and one or more higher draft picks for Garoppolo in the offseason. The irony of it all is that Deflategate may actually improve the Patriots for the future because the Pats may end up getting a far better trade package for Garoppolo than they ever could if he didn't get these four starts.
• So much for Garoppolo holding onto the ball too long. Sure there were a handful of plays where he did, but all QBs do that including Brady.
• I said this last night. Although Dion Lewis is a more complete RB, James White is a far better receiver. Just go back and look at the numbers last year, White was far more productive in the receiving game than Lewis.
• It is clear that Coach Gooch was the biggest problem with the o-line last year. Sure the o-line was far from perfect last night and they benefitted from the Cards not blitzing as much as they used to, but the o-line was mostly solid. And I think they found their LG for the next ten years. Kuddos to Scar.
• Last year I never got why Coach Gooch sat David Andrews for Stork. When Stork was injured at the beginning of the year last year, Andrews clearly out played the guy.
• Chris Long is yet another example of another team's trash is Bill Belichick's impact player. I was optimistic that the guy who would make an impact on the team, but I never thought he could be so dominant.
• I know Logan Ryan will get crap for Larry Fitzgerald's production, but I actually thought Ryan overall did a very good job. Neither Fitzgerald TD was Ryan's fault. The first Ryan was victim of a pick play he couldn't avoid and the second Ryan had perfect coverage and Fitzgerald just made a HOF WR type of catch. There were two catches on the Cards' final drive that you could blame on him, but the first and biggest on on that drive was in zone coverage and Fitzgerald wasn't in his zone when he caught the ball.
• Chris Hogan is living up to his reputation in Buffalo of that when you throw to him, he is wide open with no one around him.
• Edelman is still amazing. That is all.
• To address a question from the game thread why Amendola was returning punts. This is typical Belichick. Belichick has always preferred season veterans to field punts when it is closer to the end one. He just doesn't trust younger players to know whether to let the ball bounce into the end zone or field it. He used to do that with Kevin Faulk early in Edelman's early years of fielding punts.
• I still don't get why Belichick waited so long to call that last time out. He wasted 25 seconds that would have come back to bite the Pats if the Cards didn't miss the field goal.

 

[upstater1]

I don't think trading Brady is an option.

I don't think so either. That's why I wrote that in my initial post. We agree rather than disagree.

 

[long distance]

My only qualm with Bil (and it's a tiny one)l is that I'd have preferred to see Foster on the game roster than Bolden. But that's because I want to see what the kid can do. I think he's must more dynamic and explosive than any of the other RBs not named Lewis and I think his versatility in the running and passing games makes him much harder to defend against.

I have a feeling Bolden is having confidence problem after that fumble in preseason but also due to added competition especially on ST. I would really be disappointed if Foster doesn't get a chance at least to be on the active roster vs Dolphins.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I said they'd be the only winning team in the AFCE at night's end. I said the Pats would be 4-0 after the first four. I'm sticking to it all the way. Let's go boys!

 

[pazrul72]

do you think it's a given that BB is going to trade him? I mean what if BB thinks Grop is the heir to Brady?

I think if Jimmy keeps playing like a solid starting caliber QB, like last night, then he has to be traded. The draft capital is just too valuable and the pats do not have the cap room for both. Brady would cost 23 MILLION in dead money if cut or traded. No way, no how is that happening. Bill has clearly hitched his wagon on the Brady train for the next three years. Could he get hurt, fall off a cliff talent wise? Sure he is nearly 40 but for better or worse he is making too much money to not be on the team. That means it's Grop that has to go, he is clearly ready to be a starter somewhere and IMO won't sign a backup with starter incentives contract to stay here an extra 2-3 years to be the heir. It sucks because franchise QB's are so hard to find but this is the year to trade him. Jimmy G's value will never be higher and with another cheap year on his rookie contract other teams will be VERY interested. As ken said in his thread imagine a top 10 pick plus a 4th this year and a second next year. Not out of the realm of possibilities IMO

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I have a feeling Bolden is having confidence problem after that fumble in preseason but also due to added competition especially on ST. I would really be disappointed if Foster doesn't get a chance at least to be on the active roster vs Dolphins.

Bolden fan here.
Sadly for him, I expect him to go once folks start coming off suspensions, PUP...
Too may newbies who play STs and have potential (whether real or not, who knows?) upside.

 

[AtomicDawg]

Bolden fan here.
Sadly for him, I expect him to go once folks start coming off suspensions, PUP...
Too may newbies who play STs and have potential (whether real or not, who knows?) upside.

I'm not sure he gets the ax over one of the many DBs still on the roster, especially considering Rowe is going to be weeks into the system by that point and perhaps he'll be contributing more. I like Bolden too and I do hope he can stay.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

do you think it's a given that BB is going to trade him? I mean what if BB thinks Grop is the heir to Brady?

If you take emotion out of it, it makes much more sense to trade Brady. Brady is turning 40; JG is turning 25.

Let's hope Brady wins his 5th ring here and then beats all of Manning's longevity records on whatever team forks over the most draft picks in trade.

Brady's the greatest ever but he's not going to be playing like the greatest ever after age 40.

 

[pazrul72]

If you take emotion out of it, it makes much more sense to trade Brady. Brady is turning 40; JG is turning 25.

Let's hope Brady wins his 5th ring here and then beats all of Manning's longevity records on whatever team forks over the most draft picks in trade.

Brady's the greatest ever but he's not going to be playing like the greatest ever after age 40.

23 million dead money says trading Brady is not gonna happen

 

[PatsBoy12]

Halfway surprised there isn't a thread solely discussing trading Brady yet...just a few posts. If Jimmy really does go 4-0 (and I've been saying it since the ruling was handed down), look out... But whatever. I'm enjoying that we are 1-0 and Jimmy looked pretty damn decent out there against a team that will likely be the 1 or 2 seed in the NFC. I'm happy the Pats showed once again that they are the most mentally tough, most resilient team and organization around in any sport. I'm glad our coach teaches no one man is bigger than TEAM. If we do in fact go 4-0, and I'll say again we will, the league is in trouble when TB12 returns. F+ck it, they're in trouble either way.

I'm proud to be a fan of this team. There was never a doubt in my mind about last night's game, but they still showed me something. Jimmy showed me a lot. That OLine showed something. Blount showed something. And yeah, that D will be a force. It's on to MIA. The OLine has another strong test ahead.