idle thought - surviving a win

[ralmat55]

Offensive holding is another rule that really needs to be fixed.

I agree. Moving the umpire into the offense backfield hasn't helped either.

 

[everlong]

1. The fact the Bills had so much success running the ball was disturbing because they were so consistently successful. I think there were 2 reasons why. First Spiller and Jackson are 2 VERY very good RB's I think those who go over the game will find that most of Spiller's rushing yardage came AFTER he bounced out from the initial hole. In other words the Pats did do a decent job “at the point of attack” however after that, it was 'katie bar the door'.

Mike Flynn who was an NFL O-Lineman was on Sports Hub and said the the initial issue was with Jones and Ninkovich. He said both have done a fantastic job all year setting the edge and forcing the ball back inside where Wilfork, Love, Spikes and Mayo clean up. On Sunday however they weren't setting the edge well. Then what started to happen was Mayo and Spikes and to a lesser degree Wilfork and Love started getting wider to try and make up for this. What happened was cutback lanes that hadn't been there all year were huge. Some plays Jones and Ninkovich actually had the edge but the LBs lost their leverage getting too far outside and opened up these lanes. It was really a great segment and I wish sports radio was more of this and less of the TMZ crap.

Do your job.

EDIT: The one thing he didn't get into which I wish he did and I don't have the game taped like I normally do to see for myself is if Jones and Ninkovich were simply over match or did the Bills do something scheme wise to chip them or have the TE's coming down inside.....If anybody has the game tape I'd be interested.

 

[patfanken]

Mike Flynn who was an NFL O-Lineman was on Sports Hub and said the the initial issue was with Jones and Ninkovich. He said both have done a fantastic job all year setting the edge and forcing the ball back inside where Wilfork, Love, Spikes and Mayo clean up. On Sunday however they weren't setting the edge well. Then what started to happen was Mayo and Spikes and to a lesser degree Wilfork and Love started getting wider to try and make up for this. What happened was cutback lanes that hadn't been there all year were huge. Some plays Jones and Ninkovich actually had the edge but the LBs lost their leverage getting too far outside and opened up these lanes. It was really a great segment and I wish sports radio was more of this and less of the TMZ crap.

Do your job.

EDIT: The one thing he didn't get into which I wish he did and I don't have the game taped like I normally do to see for myself is if Jones and Ninkovich were simply over match or did the Bills do something scheme wise to chip them or have the TE's coming down inside.....If anybody has the game tape I'd be interested.

This is good stuff. I'll be interested to see if others who review the game see where the run defense was breaking down.

One would think that eventually teams would start to target our relatively small 260lb DE's Don't forget that the #3 guy is 255 (Cunningham), who is also playing some DT as well. Another thing that concerns me are the number of snaps Ninko and Jones have taken this season. You have to think that Jones has to be hitting the rookie wall.


'

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

This is good stuff. I'll be interested to see if others who review the game see where the run defense was breaking down.

One would think that eventually teams would start to target our relatively small 260lb DE's Don't forget that the #3 guy is 255 (Cunningham), who is also playing some DT as well. Another thing that concerns me are the number of snaps Ninko and Jones have taken this season. You have to think that Jones has to be hitting the rookie wall.


'

This could also help explain some of those wide open passes short middle and seeing two LBs within 10 ft of each other on the outside... People weren't doing their jobs and the usual bandaids got stretched thin once again.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

This could also help explain some of those wide open passes short middle and seeing two LBs within 10 ft of each other on the outside... People weren't doing their jobs and the usual bandaids got stretched thin once again.

Is zone inherently less complex than man coverage? I hope not :bricks: (well probably isn't for those people who have an assigned WR/TE), but the LBs that fall back into coverage.

Hopefully, BB is saving the non-vanilla for later in the seasn.

 

[PatsFanNM]

Good post, Ken. The only area I can't agree with you is Woodhead. Woodhead has skills that Vereen isn't close to having; that's why we haven't seen Vereen having nearly the impact in games. I don't think he ever will. Maybe other skills, not Woodhead's quickness and immediacy. I think they should definitely re-sign Woodhead, and pay him some money. Not too much, but I don't think it will require too much.

On the quick-snap near the goal line, I think that's something Josh has to drill out of himself. The quick snap works sometimes, but this wasn't a good situation for it, given the clock situation. In addition, the Pats frequently try coming back to the run right after a successful run. I've seen it a lot this year. I'm sure the opponents have seen it a lot, and get themselves ready for it. The runs are frequently not successful, or have limited success.

Something that might work better is a play-action pass, where the defense sells out to stop another run, and Gronk, Wes, or Deion are wide open on the other side of the field.

It will be interesting how the defense changes to play Indianapolis. If they can change.

 

[everlong]

This is good stuff. I'll be interested to see if others who review the game see where the run defense was breaking down.

One would think that eventually teams would start to target our relatively small 260lb DE's Don't forget that the #3 guy is 255 (Cunningham), who is also playing some DT as well. Another thing that concerns me are the number of snaps Ninko and Jones have taken this season. You have to think that Jones has to be hitting the rookie wall.

Francis flashed a few times and he's listed at 270 and looks bigger. I wonder if they'll also use Hightower at DB at some point since he has that size as well.

 

[supafly]

Will we get Chung back? If so, can he stay on the field? If so, could he be used as a cover LB for TEs in passing situations? Not that he can cover well, but he is actually better than our LBs at this important task. It was brutal watching Buff's TEs Sunday.

The tendency for other teams to take advantage of the passing matchups in the middle of the field has been overwhelming in the past couple/few years, and I think that it is still a huge problem for us moving forward.

We just don't have the kind of LB's who offer much in the coverage aspect at all, and the hype of Hightower has been nothing more than hype to this point, as he was supposed to be our quicker 'coverage' LB. I'm certainly not saying that I don't think that he has potential in the future, but I am not too impressed with what we've seen so far to date either.

I love the thought that you propose with Chung finally contributing something as the sort of Brandon McGowan type safety/TE specialist that we will need moving forward. Lord knows I really don't want to see him back in pass coverage too often, due to his obvious lack of skills.

 

[supafly]

On the quick-snap near the goal line, I think that's something Josh has to drill out of himself. The quick snap works sometimes, but this wasn't a good situation for it, given the clock situation. In addition, the Pats frequently try coming back to the run right after a successful run. I've seen it a lot this year. I'm sure the opponents have seen it a lot, and get themselves ready for it. The runs are frequently not successful, or have limited success.

Something that might work better is a play-action pass, where the defense sells out to stop another run, and Gronk, Wes, or Deion are wide open on the other side of the field.

It will be interesting how the defense changes to play Indianapolis. If they can change.

The single biggest gripe I have about the whole game is the fact that we had a 1st and goal at the 2 yd line with a little over 2:30 left in the game. That should have been a time where we run the clock down, or at the very least make BUF use their timeouts. Failing to run the play clock down is unacceptable in my opinion, and it literally practically cost them another game.

As far as the defense changing vs IND---with 25 counted missed tackles and a whole lot of poor execution, I would expect Belichick to be in a pissed off mood when it comes to defensive fundamentals this week in preparation. With that in mind, yes--I certainly think that they will be more focused and will not play nearly as sloppily on that side of the ball. I certainly hope that the pass defense can rise to the occasion on some level, and that we can possibly hold them to around 20 or so. I certainly don't want to have to score 37 again, while worrying that may not be enough...