I usually wait for Ken or Rob

[everlong]

Because they're much more thorough than I am when compiling a game thoughts which allows me to fill in some blanks with my points. Since they haven't posted yet and I need to get it all out there I'll start.

1. The NFL all year calls those plays TDs one way and in the biggest game to avoid controversy they call them the other. The Ertz TD in concept in a TD to me but if you're going to not call the Eifert or Freeman catches TDs sorry that's not. The Clement one he clearly bobbles the ball I don't see how that's a TD. The pick play on 4th down was a blatant miss that allowed Ertz to get open. You won't hear about any of these today because they happened against the Patriots. Yet next year we'll hear how the Pats get all the calls. I'm not saying it's why they lost and I'll admit the two TDs were borderline but that pick play was off the charts. If Gronk did that? Every ref on the field throws a flag.

2. Has anybody heard a reason why Gilmore wasn't on Jeffries from the start? I just don't get it and that changed the early part of this game. I'm sure Bill will give "we did what we thought was best for the team", but come on.

3. I also don't get the Butler decision. There's zero F'in chance he was going to be worse than Jordan Richards. I'm one of the people who has been down on Butler but this reeked of Wes Welker 2010. Butler really since the last quarter of 2016 hasn't been good but he does battle and bring energy. The people who were calling him a cry baby are dirtbag fans. Guy made the biggest interception in team history and played with a lot of heart that perhaps his talent didn't match in the end. There's no way he's back. I wish him well, hopefully in the NFC. Jones getting hurt is going to be overlooked as well but he was having a great season.

4. I'm not sure if Allen Branch was this years Adalius Thomas but they could have used him. The DL was awful. I heard Brown being compared to Vince last week. Sorry, he's a good player but that Philly line had him playing on skates most of the night.

5. I disagree with those blaming Patricia. I think he did an amazing job with the talent, or lack thereof, he was given. Your best LB is Van Noy who is average at best and after that the drop off is significant. Brown and Flowers are your two best lineman and both are good but not world beaters. I don't want to start the debate over letting these guys all go because they had to for cap reasons or otherwise but in three years you don't lose Jones, Long, Sheard, Collins, Ryan, Ninkovich plus lose Hightower to injury without a drop off. In the end they didn't have the horses to make a play one on one and Philly had too diverse of a talent set for Bill and MP to just take away their strength.

6. Let's give Philly some credit. They took it to the Pats and weren't afraid to try to win. Also how many times in a row can you fall behind by double digits and expect not to get burned? And they still almost pulled it off.

7. Although I didn't like all of Josh's calls they put up almost 600 yards of offense without Cooks for most of the game and Edelman and Mitchell for the entire season.

8. I know it was the hold but SG never fails to miss an XP in these big games. Solid kicker, great on pinning teams deep, although credit Philly ST's they played NE to a standstill, but I don't have the confidence I have in him that I had in AV.

9. This isn't revisionist history I thought going for it on 4th and 5 at the Philly 35 was a bad call. It gave Philly field position and momentum.

10. Cooks is a superior athlete. I don't think he's a smart of tough player. The defender had his head up. He was never going to vault that guy. So stupid and cost them 4 points. Make a move and get your ass up field. Then he gets hurt dancing around. You better believe DA, Deion Branch.......all dive forward getting the yards they could. I think in both cases, fairly or not, he was looking to avoid contact.

11. The future: I think there will be the usual great divide where some are going to claim they will be right back there while others will proclaim this is the death of a dynasty. The truth is in the middle. They have a lot of work to do.

A. I think they need to get Solder and DA resigned. I have a bad feeling Josh is going to pilfer both.

B. That DL needs a lot of help.

C. They need another impact LB beyond Hightower.

D. Rowe is the guy who is always in position but rarely makes the play. I hope they are adding a corner to go with Gilmore.

E. I think Dion Lewis has priced himself out of town and will leave for more money and a bigger role. Again I wouldn't be shocked if he's a Colt.

F. Both McCortey and Chung turn 31 just before the season ends. While not the most immediate of needs it is the time when players in the back four tend to fade.

12. Phenomenal games by Brady, Gronk, White, DA and Hogan. The OL was pretty amazing as well. That team was giving up less than 10 points per game in the playoffs and they shredded them. 505 yards for Brady, Gronk 116 and 2 TD, Hogan 128 and a TD, Danny Playoff Amendola 152 yards. Amendola is in the top 5 of SB receiving yards in a career. Career SB passing yards Brady 2576 and second place 1156 by Warner. Top passing yardage games Brady owns 1,2 & 9.

 

[borg]

The controversial Philly TDs were TDs...get over it.
The first.....Called a TD by refs. Replay evidence was inconclusive. I saw the ball shift / I didn't see the WR lose control. I call that TD every time.
And despite how that type of "action" on the ball may have perceived by refs/NFL for the past 19 weeks, we have been forewarned changes are ahead. Expecting the NFL to wait until after the season to dial in new changes is foolish.
Do you really think the NFL would negate that TD....then after the game, announce new rules, and declare that ruled incompletion would now be a TD.
NEVER
Also, the guy had two feet down prior to the ball "shift" ...legally sufficient under the old rules.
The NFL transitioning early in no way changes the way teams play...just the way it's called. No issue with the TD at all.
The second "controversial" TD...The TE wasn't falling when he made the catch unlike a few games ago. He ran for 3 steps....then fell forward breaking plane of goal. Perhaps the easiest replay call of the season....TD

Regarding the Butler deployment....I get the game plan. Patricia wanted 3 safeties / 2 big CBs. What I don't get is not using Butler on a single down, especially given the track meet nature of the game. Using Chung as the example, the dude was so gassed out there (and dinged)....I have to believe the entire secondary could have used occasional breathers. Seeing Rowe trail behind his assignment in the second half had me screaming at my TV....where the eff is Butler!!!

NE's front 7 was exactly who I thought they were....exploitable. Hats off to Philly for carving them up/pushing them around/breaking tackles every other play. BB the GM failed big time and it was clear in preseason.
Besides BB's roster building failure with the front 7, his refusal to deploy Gillislee was a mistake IMO. As elusive as Lewis is, he doesn't break many tackles....unlike the monsters of Philly who shredded NE's LB corp...and safeties.

Hats off to Brady who pitched a hell of a game. Big hats off to Hogan.

In the end.....NE's offense was championship caliber....but the defense was anything but. Warning signs were flashing at various points of the season.....and Philly diagnosed NE's defensive vulnerabilities and attacked these liabilities with precision. Pieces of NE's front 7 need major upgrading

 

[Nehalem]

2. Has anybody heard a reason why Gilmore wasn't on Jeffries from the start? I just don't get it and that changed the early part of this game. I'm sure Bill will give "we did what we thought was best for the team", but come on.

3. I also don't get the Butler decision. There's zero F'in chance he was going to be worse than Jordan Richards. I'm one of the people who has been down on Butler but this reeked of Wes Welker 2010. Butler really since the last quarter of 2016 hasn't been good but he does battle and bring energy. The people who were calling him a cry baby are dirtbag fans. Guy made the biggest interception in team history and played with a lot of heart that perhaps his talent didn't match in the end. There's no way he's back. I wish him well, hopefully in the NFC. Jones getting hurt is going to be overlooked as well but he was having a great season.

My guess is the plan was Butler on Jeffries with safety help. Then BB decided bench Butler, and so as to minimally disrupt his game plan Rowe simply replaced Butler on Jeffries

 

[Nehalem]

Regarding the Butler deployment....I get the game plan. Patricia wanted 3 safeties / 2 big CBs. What I don't get is not using Butler on a single down, especially given the track meet nature of the game. Using Chung as the example, the dude was so gassed out there (and dinged)....I have to believe the entire secondary could have used occasional breathers. Seeing Rowe trail behind his assignment in the second half had me screaming at my TV....where the eff is Butler!!!

Except that wasn't the game plane. Rowe said he didn't find out he was starting until game time. Butler was part of the game plan.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

The controversial Philly TDs were TDs...get over it.
The first.....Called a TD by refs. Replay evidence was inconclusive. I saw the ball shift / I didn't see the WR lose control. I call that TD every time.
And despite how that type of "action" on the ball may have perceived by refs/NFL for the past 19 weeks, we have been forewarned changes are ahead. Expecting the NFL to wait until after the season to dial in new changes is foolish.
Do you really think the NFL would negate that TD....then after the game, announce new rules, and declare that ruled incompletion would now be a TD.
NEVER
Also, the guy had two feet down prior to the ball "shift" ...legally sufficient under the old rules.
The NFL transitioning early in no way changes the way teams play...just the way it's called. No issue with the TD at all.
The second "controversial" TD...The TE wasn't falling when he made the catch unlike a few games ago. He ran for 3 steps....then fell forward breaking plane of goal. Perhaps the easiest replay call of the season....TD

Regarding the Butler deployment....I get the game plan. Patricia wanted 3 safeties / 2 big CBs. What I don't get is not using Butler on a single down, especially given the track meet nature of the game. Using Chung as the example, the dude was so gassed out there (and dinged)....I have to believe the entire secondary could have used occasional breathers. Seeing Rowe trail behind his assignment in the second half had me screaming at my TV....where the eff is Butler!!!

NE's front 7 was exactly who I thought they were....exploitable. Hats off to Philly for carving them up/pushing them around/breaking tackles every other play. BB the GM failed big time and it was clear in preseason.
Besides BB's roster building failure with the front 7, his refusal to deploy Gillislee was a mistake IMO. As elusive as Lewis is, he doesn't break many tackles....unlike the monsters of Philly who shredded NE's LB corp...and safeties.

Hats off to Brady who pitched a hell of a game. Big hats off to Hogan.

In the end.....NE's offense was championship caliber....but the defense was anything but. Warning signs were flashing at various points of the season.....and Philly diagnosed NE's defensive vulnerabilities and attacked these liabilities with precision. Pieces of NE's front 7 need major upgrading

Well judging by Rowe’s comments, if 2 big corners 3 safeties was the plan it would’ve been nice to let the entire team in on it.

 

[upstater1]

Disagree borg. He didn't have 2 feet down before the shift, nor do i think it was a shift.

First, he got one foot down, then he lost control when the ball squeezed out under his forearm, regained control, got one foot down.

I also don't think the new rule are going to address this kind of thing. They will only address going to the ground. I can't imagine how a rule would address this other than saying don't rely on IR to overturn such plays.

As for the Eagles aggression, one could argue the Falcons were even more aggressive last year, but it backfired on them with 2 sacks and a fumble. Patriots had Hightower and Butler on the field last year though.

 

[borg]

Except that wasn't the game plane. Rowe said he didn't find out he was starting until game time. Butler was part of the game plan.

I get what your saying.....roles get defined during the season.
But....lets look back on some Belichick history. BB has his Giants defensive scheme from their 1st SB prominently displayed in the HOF.....a scheme where he switched up his personnel deployment dramatically....under the cloak of secrecy.
Another factor...maybe....how a player practices during the build up week knowing that player had been marginalized in the game plan.....or elevated.
We saw how Butler handled the news last night. How would that news have been received 5 days ago?
Regarding Rowe's lack of knowledge...if we learned he never practiced his role and was unprepared for starting....then NE effed up. But...I have to believe he was prepared for his role regardless of his pregame awareness of his starting role.
The game plan I posted came from Reiss: "....the plan called for a lot of "big nickel, the three-safety package that seemed to be their way of trying to be sturdy enough against the run while helping the secondary with some additional speed on the back end..."

 

[PrairiePat]

In retrospect, it's clear that the Pats have trouble trying to defend an offense with multiple similar threats, and a decent running game. There was no single 'thing' that BB could scheme to take away, really.

Add to that the apparently unresolved problems with bunch formations, and you get what we saw last night.

As for Butler, it looks like a combination of the Pats wanting a bigger body on the receivers (the 3-safety look described above), some late season tailing off of Butler's play, and maybe the fact that he missed preparation time fighting the flu or whatever he had. Remember against Jacksonville, Butler was repeatedly burned on short crossing patterns, to the point even Romo was telling the audience it was coming on several plays. I'm guessing MP and BB got tired of watching that, it wasn't getting better at practice, and they just decided to go with Rowe instead.

 

[Wheelssps]

Point One
I understand that a lot of this has to be in Bill we Trust, and that has done amazing things for this dynasty. I rarely question personnel moves or think that the coaches don't see something that we as fans can see. Football is just so complicated and nuanced that the coaches, and we have great ones, give the team the best chance to win.

I make an exception for my above statement regarding Jordan Richards. I can't understand why he plays. I've felt that way since his rookie year, thinking that he simply wasn't ready then for the speed of the game, and when he felt more comfortable, that his playing speed would improve once he could react more instinctively. He just hasn't ever gotten his playing speed up to snuff. I can think of teams, like Jacksonville, which have most or all of their linebacking core faster than Richards. I bet Flowers, maybe even both of them, are faster than Richards. And I undertstand that straightline speed isn't everything, but I used to be less frustrated watching Spikes in coverage than I have watching Richards.

Butler is a tough corner and a great tackler. I am having a very hard time believing that Richards had any business being on the field when Butler was available for that role.

I know that a lot of the game plan was to balance stopping the run vs. being good enough in pass defense, but to me Richards doesn't do either task well enough. I'm rarely frustrated watching any Pats player, but he is just an exception for me.

 

[Wheelssps]

Point Two
I didn't see much use of a blitz this game. Philly's O line was doing a great job giving Foles time, but I thought that some blitzes would be in order. Foles was just getting too comfortable. He made some excellent throws into some very tight windows, and it's the NFL, everyone is skilled, but Foles is as his best when he can setup and not be hurried. Did we try many blitzes? A corner blitz has been a great weapon for us, but I don't remember any. We were getting picked apart, and I would have liked to have seen a couple change ups with pressure.

 

[TB_Helmet]

The first.....Called a TD by refs. Replay evidence was inconclusive. I saw the ball shift / I didn't see the WR lose control. I call that TD every time.
And despite how that type of "action" on the ball may have perceived by refs/NFL for the past 19 weeks, we have been forewarned changes are ahead. Expecting the NFL to wait until after the season to dial in new changes is foolish.
Do you really think the NFL would negate that TD....then after the game, announce new rules, and declare that ruled incompletion would now be a TD.
NEVER

Yeah I was mildly annoyed they upheld the Clement TD, since all year we were taught that WASN'T a TD. But I agree they don't want that controversy on the biggest stage, so they changed how they called it.

Ultimately it wasn't the difference. I would have been more upset if it was the end of the game or something, but it would have been a 4 point swing assuming they make the FG, and while the game might have played out differently, we lost by more than 4 points, Brady's fumble still happens, etc.

Also someone made a good point on the Nick Foles TD catch that even though there was illegal formation, Jeffery motioned to the ref to double check he was lined up correctly and the ref didn't correct him, so you can't really fault anyone. And the illegal formation doesn't really change what happened on that play, where we just got caught with our pants down.

Sorry folks, can't blame the refs for this one. We got beat. I put the blame on a certain high-end CB2 / Super Bowl hero not getting any playing time.

 

[sambam94]

butler needed to be on agholor. So he's good enough to cover antonio brown, but not agholor? please
Agholor had 3 catches for 38 yards on the go ahead drive, against 3 different safeties.

 

[holyredeemer]

Here’s the problem in regards to Butler. If your game plan was to have the big nickel and all that, fine. But, when it clearly isn’t working and you’ve already given up 28 pts.....you adjust. Butler didn’t play a single snap of Defense, did he? There’s no football excuse for that. Then again, we shouldn’t have expected any adjustments when we were showing the same damn problems on defense from the first 4 games of the season even though we had another 14 games and 3 weeks worth of byes to fix it.