Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da 2nd

[Rob0729]

Here we go:

• Ugly, ugly first half. Looked like the Pats had a hangover from the Jets' game. Saw all the things wrong in the second half of that game return in this game. Poor coverage, no pressure, Brady off, the o-line sucking etc.
  
  
• Give credit to the Coordinators for some incredible halftime adjustments. Ok, it took a failed offensive drive in the first and an almost failed defensive stand to get to that point, but after the missed field goal, the Pats figured out how to exploit the Dolphins on both sides of the ball.
  
  
• I know Jets fans always complain the Pats get all the calls, but they got a lot of favorable calls today. I thought the swat call was iffy, but in real time looked like the right call in real time. There was a bad call on Peterson. And there was one more really bad call that went in the Pats' favor. That said, I felt it was a bad holding call on Solder on the Gronk TD that was called back. Solder was holding inside the pads which is legal and the defender fell on the play.
  
  
• Arguably the best game from Dobson all season. Had one drop, but he was making some great catches too. Got the back should down. Faked out the defender on the TD pass.
  
  
• Chris Jones is a real find. He has 4.5 sacks in 5 games. He is a little spark plug. I can't wait until he lines up on passing downs with Kelly. The front four might be formidable on passing downs with the two Joneses, Kelly, and Ninkovich.
  
  
• I think we saw why they used Blount so much. He just wore down the Dolphins' defense. What didn't work in the first quarter paid off in the fourth. I don't know if it will work on a weekly basis, but it was a good strategy for this game.
  
  
• That said, I think Ridley's knee still might be an issue. He was seen icing it a few weeks back. I wonder if he is still getting swelling and they are limiting his carries so they don't lose him next week.
  
  
• Back to Blount. People need to stop complaining about his returns. Like it or not, he is the best kick returner the Pats have had in years.
  
  
• I was lukewarm on the Logan Ryan pick. I am starting to like it. The guy is turning into a baller. He was making a lot of plays all over the field.
  
  
• Unsung Hero Award goes to Dennard. He shadowed Hartline all over the field and Hartline had a very quite 4 catch 37 yard game.
  
  
• Kudos to McCourty. He got burnt a couple of times by Clay, but his heads up play on the Cole INT was amazing. And he also made a lot of heads up plays in the second half.
  
  
• The Pats are 6-2 and looking to have a two game lead in the AFC East after today. Get past Pittsburgh and get a much needed break and hopefully get back some players like Talib, Kelly, and Vereen.

 

[juny]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Here we go:

• Ugly, ugly first half. Looked like the Pats had a hangover from the Jets' game. Saw all the things wrong in the second half of that game return in this game. Poor coverage, no pressure, Brady off, the o-line sucking etc.
• Give credit to the Coordinators for some incredible halftime adjustments. Ok, it took a failed offensive drive in the first and an almost failed defensive stand to get to that point, but after the missed field goal, the Pats figured out how to exploit the Dolphins on both sides of the ball.
• I know Jets fans always complain the Pats get all the calls, but they got a lot of favorable calls today. I thought the swat call was iffy, but in real time looked like the right call in real time. There was a bad call on Peterson. And there was one more really bad call that went in the Pats' favor. That said, I felt it was a bad holding call on Solder on the Gronk TD that was called back. Solder was holding inside the pads which is legal and the defender fell on the play.
• Arguably the best game from Dobson all season. Had one drop, but he was making some great catches too. Got the back should down. Faked out the defender on the TD pass.
• Chris Jones is a real find. He has 4.5 sacks in 5 games. He is a little spark plug. I can't wait until he lines up on passing downs with Kelly. The front four might be formidable on passing downs with the two Joneses, Kelly, and Ninko.
• I think we saw why they used Blount so much. He just wore down the Dolphins' defense. What didn't work in the first quarter paid off in the fourth. I don't know if it will work on a weekly basis, but it was a good strategy for this game.
• That said, I think Ridley's knee still might be an issue. He was seen icing it a few weeks back. I wonder if he is still getting swelling and they are limiting his carries so they don't lose him next week.
• Back to Blount. People need to stop complaining about his returns. Like it or not, he is the best kick returner the Pats have had in years.
• I was luke warm on the Logan Ryan pick. I am starting to like it. The guy is turning into a baller. He was making a lot of plays all over the field.
• Unsung Hero Award goes to Dennard. He shadowed Hartline all over the field and Hartline had a very quite 4 catch 37 yard game.
• Kudos to McCourty. He got burnt a couple of times by Clay, but his heads up play on the Cole INT was amazing. And he also made a lot of heads up plays in the second half.
• The Pats are 6-2 and looking to have a two game lead in the AFC East after today. Get past Pittsburgh and get a much needed break and hopefully get back some players like Talib, Kelly, and Vereen.

Agree with just about every one of your points. But it's pretty sad if Blount is their best KR, considering he's ranked 18/21 in KR avg of those who have enough returns to qualify.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Agree with just about every one of your points. But it's pretty sad if Blount is their best KR, considering he's ranked 18/21 in KR avg of those who have enough returns to qualify.

The only difference between Blount and a lot of the guys ahead of his is that the guys ahead of him had one, maybe two very good run back that skewed their average higher. Blount isn't likely to break a long one, but he is more likely to get over 20 yards on every return.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

One point I forgot:

I wonder if this was the game where the Pats flip the switch and become far more aggressive on defense. Many years, there is a game around midseason where they go from a far more vanilla offense and then getting far more exotic.

A lot of safety and CB blitzes today. I know it is likely because of the poor o-line they faced, but it could be a sign of things to come.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

6 sacks of Tannehill in the 2nd half and 3 forced turnovers! This defense came alive and the offense fed off that. Liked what I saw from Dobson today and Gronk was Gronk. There's light at the end of the tunnel folks, and we're sitting at 6-2 with a YOUNG team that's STILL learning to be its best! I'll definitely take that!

 

[Kdo5]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Here we go:

• Ugly, ugly first half. Looked like the Pats had a hangover from the Jets' game. Saw all the things wrong in the second half of that game return in this game. Poor coverage, no pressure, Brady off, the o-line sucking etc.
• Give credit to the Coordinators for some incredible halftime adjustments. Ok, it took a failed offensive drive in the first and an almost failed defensive stand to get to that point, but after the missed field goal, the Pats figured out how to exploit the Dolphins on both sides of the ball.
• I know Jets fans always complain the Pats get all the calls, but they got a lot of favorable calls today. I thought the swat call was iffy, but in real time looked like the right call in real time. There was a bad call on Peterson. And there was one more really bad call that went in the Pats' favor. That said, I felt it was a bad holding call on Solder on the Gronk TD that was called back. Solder was holding inside the pads which is legal and the defender fell on the play.
• Arguably the best game from Dobson all season. Had one drop, but he was making some great catches too. Got the back should down. Faked out the defender on the TD pass.
• Chris Jones is a real find. He has 4.5 sacks in 5 games. He is a little spark plug. I can't wait until he lines up on passing downs with Kelly. The front four might be formidable on passing downs with the two Joneses, Kelly, and Ninko.
• I think we saw why they used Blount so much. He just wore down the Dolphins' defense. What didn't work in the first quarter paid off in the fourth. I don't know if it will work on a weekly basis, but it was a good strategy for this game.
• That said, I think Ridley's knee still might be an issue. He was seen icing it a few weeks back. I wonder if he is still getting swelling and they are limiting his carries so they don't lose him next week.
• Back to Blount. People need to stop complaining about his returns. Like it or not, he is the best kick returner the Pats have had in years.
• I was luke warm on the Logan Ryan pick. I am starting to like it. The guy is turning into a baller. He was making a lot of plays all over the field.
• Unsung Hero Award goes to Dennard. He shadowed Hartline all over the field and Hartline had a very quite 4 catch 37 yard game.
• Kudos to McCourty. He got burnt a couple of times by Clay, but his heads up play on the Cole INT was amazing. And he also made a lot of heads up plays in the second half.
• The Pats are 6-2 and looking to have a two game lead in the AFC East after today. Get past Pittsburgh and get a much needed break and hopefully get back some players like Talib, Kelly, and Vereen.

Blount the best returner in a long while? Whaaat. Zero playmaking as a returner.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Blount the best returner in a long while? Whaaat. Zero playmaking as a returner.

I said in years. If you look at the last few years, the Pats kick returners have sucked. Other than one TD return by McCourty, the Pats haven't have a play making kick returner since..... I can't remember the last playmaking kick returners.

The kick return is becoming obsolete. I will take a guy who has consistently gotten more than 20 yards per return every day at this point over a guy who consistently gets 10-15 yards and then breaks one for a 105 yard TD once a season to have a better per return average.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Well 'the guy' was supposed to be Leon Washington but he hasn't been healthy. So we've had to settle for Blount. As long as he doesn't turn the ball over and gets it past the 20, I'm satisfied for now. Hopefully LW gets healthy or we just get a new kick returner next season. Adequate is preferable to BAD.

Would have loved Trindon Holliday btw. He only cost Denver a 6th round pick.
As an everyday RB I'd rather have Blount over "I'm focusing on the Olympics" Demps any day and twice on Sunday though.

 

[Batroc]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Congrats. Once again You guys were clutch when it mattered and we were un-clutch when it mattered. We were outplayed, outcoached and overwhelmed by the end of the game and there really isn't much more to say about it than that. I can tell from my short time posting here that there are some good folks on this board. Enjoy your win.

 

[Its_The_Patriots]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Thanks or a break down of the entire game, since I was unable to see any of it today. Nice team win!

 

[Kulko]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

The only difference between Blount and a lot of the guys ahead of his is that the guys ahead of him had one, maybe two very good run back that skewed their average higher. Blount isn't likely to break a long one, but he is more likely to get over 20 yards on every return.

Maye true, but when you plan to run them back to the 23 each time, this 3 yards are not worth the chance of a fumble. The only reason to return kicks at all with the new rules ist the chance for a TD once or twice in the season.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

I said in years. If you look at the last few years, the Pats kick returners have sucked. Other than one TD return by McCourty, the Pats haven't have a play making kick returner since..... I can't remember the last playmaking kick returners.

The kick return is becoming obsolete. I will take a guy who has consistently gotten more than 20 yards per return every day at this point over a guy who consistently gets 10-15 yards and then breaks one for a 105 yard TD once a season to have a better per return average.

The Pats "failed" WR/KR just returned one 71 yards for the Bengals

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Maye true, but when you plan to run them back to the 23 each time, this 3 yards are not worth the chance of a fumble. The only reason to return kicks at all with the new rules ist the chance for a TD once or twice in the season.

Personally, I don't know why any team returns a kick anymore if it is caught in the end zone. I am just not talking the Pats. Most teams rarely even get back to the 20 on most returns. The slight chance of a big return really isn't worth it.

But I don't think Blount has had a fumbling issue.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Here we go:

• Chris Jones is a real find. He has 4.5 sacks in 5 games. He is a little spark plug. I can't wait until he lines up on passing downs with Kelly. The front four might be formidable on passing downs with the two Joneses, Kelly, and Ninko.

Chris Jones is little only in comparison to Wilfork and Kelly (and I guess Cannon).

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Game Thoughts - Pats looked like sushi in the 1st half & grilled some fish in da

Chris Jones is little only in comparison to Wilfork and Kelly (and I guess Cannon).

My bad. When I was thinking of a spark plug, I confused him with Vellano who is small.