Content Post Idle thoughts: Moral victory, or Lost opportunity....

[Thunderhead]

I see far more reason to be concerned than optimistic after yesterday. That game was like a microcosm of the post Brady era. Just not good enough, stupid mistakes, finding ways to lose games.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

I get it.

I was looking at something, and even the great game-winning drive QBs average about 2 per season. I partially think we've been spoiled seeing it happen by the great QBs to think it's a lot easier than it is. But I also think the team has potential to get a lot better between now and Thanksgiving. If the team gets better, that makes it a lot easier for Mac, too.

We'll see. I'm an optimistic homer, so that's just how I see things.

Generally I would say that the best QB in the league don’t have to come back in the 4th quarter every week.

even Zach « I am f*cking your mom » Wilson has more 4th quarter come back and winning drive than Mac Jones.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

There was no need for that Bourne was wide open. The ball was under thrown and room so much time to get there that he brought slay back on play to the point where that pass should have been intercepted. Slay flat out dropped it

Yup. Agreed.

My point was that being a high pass and being underthrown are independent issues. Mac can thrown it higher and farther. Some people see a high ball and think that means Mac's arm is not strong enough.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

which has been said year in year out for the last 4 years (including this one)

whch has been said year in year out for the last 4 years (including this one)

glad he's here, glad klemm is here, glad mayo is still here...

Those who fail to learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. You have to look at what has happened in the past - you have to disect the problems and learn how to fix them in order to solve them. Can't do that by burying your head in the sand saying "its a new season..."

Not burying anything. Just stating the obvious that it's a very new and different offensive team, and give THIS edition a chance to show what it is before comparing it to LAST year's. THIS offense has little to do with THAT offense.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Yup. Agreed.

My point was that being a high pass and being underthrown are independent issues. Mac can thrown it higher and farther. Some people see a high ball and think that means Mac's arm is not strong enough.

Mac has to throw it high to throw it far.

 

[Pape]

Not burying anything. Just stating the obvious that it's a very new and different offensive team, and give THIS edition a chance to show what it is before comparing it to LAST year's. THIS offense has little to do with THAT offense.

Mac needs to grow as a quarterback. Period.

He showed the same tendencies he did last year in game one. Can we draw any conclusions from that? Yes, that the amount of growth has been limited. But I will grant you that one game is not conclusive proof of anything, and that as the sample size increases we will get a better understanding of Mac Jones this year... I fear that it will not change much... I hope I am wrong, and please point it out to me if I am wrong - would love a cold serving of crow at the end of the year. But i don't think i am.

I think Mac Jones would have blossomed with a coach like Kyle Shanahan or the guy from la rams... I just dont see it happening in year 3 in new england.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Mac has to throw it high to throw it far.

No, that was my point. Mac does not have to throw it high to throw it far. Putting and arc on the ball is a technique, not an arm strength issue. Watch Mac's Alabama tape, he threw lots of balls far without an arc.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Mac needs to grow as a quarterback. Period.

He showed the same tendencies he did last year in game one. Can we draw any conclusions from that? Yes, that the amount of growth has been limited. But I will grant you that one game is not conclusive proof of anything, and that as the sample size increases we will get a better understanding of Mac Jones this year... I fear that it will not change much... I hope I am wrong, and please point it out to me if I am wrong - would love a cold serving of crow at the end of the year. But i don't think i am.

I think Mac Jones would have blossomed with a coach like Kyle Shanahan or the guy from la rams... I just dont see it happening in year 3 in new england.

Mac had 3 TDs and 1 interception in game 1 this season and 1 TD and 1 interception in game 1 last season. If that's a trend for this season, I'll take it as growth.

 

[Ivan]

There was no need for that Bourne was wide open. The ball was under thrown and took so much time to get there that he brought slay back in play to the point that the pass should have been intercepted. Slay flat out dropped it

Agree, that was a really poor throw.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Generally I would say that the best QB in the league don’t have to come back in the 4th quarter every week.

even Zach « I am f*cking your mom » Wilson has more 4th quarter come back and winning drive than Mac Jones.

You do know that's all Zach Wilson has, right? Maybe we can get him and insert him for Q4 drives when we're down.

 

[mgteich]

At some point Mac needs to get over the hump and win one of these games. He seems to have a bunch of "moral victories" but really no signature win.

I don't see why Mac is responsible for Boutte going out of bounds.

IMO, Mac played well enough to win.

 

[203Pat]

I don't see why Mac is responsible for Boutte going out of bounds.

IMO, Mac played well enough to win.

If we're going to point to one single play to claim Mac played well enough to win then there a single plays you can point to that show he played poorly enough to lose.

 

[mgteich]

We played the very best with 3 key rookies on Defense, 2 on Special teams, and 2 as OG's. In addition, we had a new RT.

One of our top WR's was out.

I don't expect us to come anywhere near this close, although I thought and think that they will do well this season, competing for a playoff spot.

BOTTOM LINE
1) The rookie played well.
2) Our new RT played well.
3) Mac played fine, considering the Defense that he faced.
4) We have a new genius as OL coach.
5) Only ONE of the replacements played poorly. We made up for everything other than Parker not playing; Boutte's poor play and inexperience utlimately was a difference maker.

 

[SVN]

I see far more reason to be concerned than optimistic after yesterday. That game was like a microcosm of the post Brady era. Just not good enough, stupid mistakes, finding ways to lose games.

It does look like a lot games where we were close and didnt win since 2020. But the product on the field was watchable. Offense is going to be far more creative. A very simple stat- we had 3 RZ TDs. We probably had that over 10 games last yr . They need a playmaker though . Defensively we have 3 very good players from this yrs draft who played great.
Sometimes you need to pull out one of these wins even by luck to get a self belief and streak going. its not happening with mac yet.

 

[SVN]

 

[obgod3]

It was at least fun to watch. But also a little gut wrenching to get so close and fail. I just cant put much into one game, I want to see Mac actually complete a comeback or win a tough game. Until then for me Ill hold any judgement. But this goes for the overall offense also, while they played well they lost the game due to mistakes and a bad play call by the coaches, 4/17. Looked better but it wont convince me of anything. Hope the progress continues.

 

[HSanders]

on boutte,wasn't he the wr who saved an int by batting down a ball? heads up play.

 

[zydecochris]

No, that was my point. Mac does not have to throw it high to throw it far. Putting and arc on the ball is a technique, not an arm strength issue. Watch Mac's Alabama tape, he threw lots of balls far without an arc.

That is true, in college his long ball was his strength, he threw just about the prettiest long ball you’ve ever seen. However, importantly, at Alabama he normally had a fairly clean pocket and he could step into the throw.

If the pocket broke down or a play wasn’t there, rather than scramble around and “make something happen” he was coached at Alabama to take the sack, avoid a turnover, and “get them” next play, given that he was on a team with a superior OL and absolutely dynamic receivers (similar to what Hurts enjoys now on the Eagles).

Conversely, during Mac’s NEP tenure he clearly HAS been coached that if the pocket breaks down to move or scramble around and throw on the run (something he hardly ever did at Alabama) and while he is obviously not a truly gifted running threat, nor is he a phenomenal athlete who can launch a missile on the run with a flick of the wrist, he has somewhat added some mobility and ability to throw on the run to his game, to his credit. I’m impressed that he has developed his game as much as he has over two years (one with virtually no offensive coaching).

 

[sb1]

2021: Holding the GOAT to 19 points
2022: We made the Bills punt! Lol

 

[VJCPatriot]

QB- I think Mac showed that he's ready to move on from 2022 and be a respectable NFL starting QB and maybe more. He came back from a devastating start to ALMOST have a Brady moment. Whether he wasn't ready for it, or it was taken away from him because of 3 or 4 VERY questionable calls and bad luck, is up for discussion, but overall it was a pretty good job.

I'm still not sold on Mac Jones. He literally wet the bed in the 1st quarter. But he performed better as the game went on. There were still plenty of 'deer in headlights' moments where he felt pressure and ran into a sack or threw up panicked 'flutterballs' that fell short of the 1st down marker. The composure in the pocket and the arm strength clearly still needs work. At least in a competent offensive system he looks better than last year. He needs to show more. Especially against Miami next week.

RB- No one would have guessed that Stevenson would average 2.1ypc, even with that OL. But I recall near the end of the game he had a 9 or 10 yd run, but the stats had him with a long of 5, so I'm questioning his stat line, even though overall it was poor, even if you add the long run. On the other hand he was a very good receiver and I wish BOB would have called his number more with routes over the middle that often gained big yd, instead of the out wide or screens that were OK but gained fewer yds.. He had 66 yds on 6-6 catches. He is going to be a force in that part of his game. Elliot had a nice debut averaged 4ypc running and over 8ypc catching the ball. He had one fumble though.

54 combined yards for our two 'lead backs'. I'm not going to sip the koolaid on this one. That's HORRIBLE! Our offensive line didn't do them any favors either. There weren't a lot of holes to run through and all the fruitless runs up the middle, well you can also put some blame at the feet of BOB for those play calls as well. The running game clearly needs to improve if we're to stand a chance of winning in future games.

WR - The WRs accounted for about 140 receiving yds. Not horrible given who was out there. Not great either. Kendrick Bourne was the best of them with 65yds and 2 TD's. He's looking like the guy I hoped he would be LAST year. JJSS had just 4 catches and didn't particularly shine. Same goes for Douglas with who had 4 catches in 7 targets and only had 40. Maybe not a bad debut considering, but nothing impressive or made me go oooh!. Boutte unfortunately went 0-4 in targets, but had 2 which will likely be completions down the road, but not happening as a raw rookie. Too bad that both would have been key receptions.

FREE Kendrick Bourne!! I've been saying this since last season! The dude can play when you allow him to get onto the field.

As for Boutte, he had two big MISSED opportunities. The kid obviously needs to LEARN the crucial Toe Drag and Toe Tap techniques to become a factor at the pro level. Why this wasn't DRILLED into him is a mystery. Isn't Troy Brown our WRs coach? If I were this KID I would BEG Brown to teach me those two techniques than practice them relentlessly until they become instinctual. Boutte better remember this feeling of LOSING because he FAILED to perform basic techniques that all pro receivers need to perform on a daily basis and then USE it to motivate himself to become better.

As for the title of this thread the answer is easy. 0-1 in a game you could have won is clearly a MISSED opportunity. That just puts even more pressure to get a result against the Dolphins next week. You do NOT want to start in an 0-2 hole to begin the new season!