Idle thoughts - the "cast off" edition

[drewskie]

I read speculation somewhere that seemed plausible: They were trying to start fast and get a big lead so they could shut down some starters earlier.

That, and also due to the weather conditions (specifically the wind).

 

[Wax Frog]

 

[rochrist]

I believe that this has been verified, as they wanted to take the ball and score first.. it worked.

Bellichick said it was because they wanted to be able to control which direction they'd be going in the fourth quarter in case they needed a kick and it was a bad day for kicking.

 

[mosey threetupu]

My thread is some immediate observations based on what I saw on the TV. I leave the technical side to the "rewatch" thread, which for some reason hasn't been started this week, and I want to know why! It's my favorite thread of the week.

Fair enough. I mean if you can’t break it down you can’t break it down

 

[supafly]

With Hogan missing the last half of the season and Edelman on IR, Brady has essentially been in his first year with most of his outside receivers. Cooks has been very good, but you can see there are still moments where he an Brady aren't quite in synch. Unfortunately this is something only time can cure. Brady was throwing to Julian for 4 years before Edelman "broke out" as his go to receiver. That was a LOT of practices when they could develop that kind of communication level. So like I've said on several occasions, its been good with Cooks, not great. That we hope will only come with time.

Totally agree re:Cooks, but his “good” was probably worthy of the trade this year, alone. That rings true even more when you take into account the fact that Edelman and Hogan together played like 1/4 of the season. Imagine not having either one of them AND no Brandin Cooks. It would’ve been like 2013 up in this mofo.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Cooks needs to improve upon his first year here and become a more complete receiver. If that happens, look out. I expect a nice year two leap.

 

[patfanken]

Totally agree re:Cooks, but his “good” was probably worthy of the trade this year, alone. That rings true even more when you take into account the fact that Edelman and Hogan together played like 1/4 of the season. Imagine not having either one of them AND no Brandin Cooks. It would’ve been like 2013 up in this mofo.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Cooks needs to improve upon his first year here and become a more complete receiver. If that happens, look out. I expect a nice year two leap.

I'm on record as saying NO WR is worth the huge money that they get. But that being said, while I don't think Cooks is worth even a pick as high as 20 in the first round, I'm OK giving up the 32nd pick for him.

IIRC, I read some where on the draft board that picks that go from the mid-20's to the mid 40's often have the same draft grades. It brings to mind that given where the Pats have drafted the last 18 years it is remarkable how well they've done with their first round picks. Also why BB will trade out of the first round if he isn't in love with any particular player when he picks low in that round. Here we are 13-3 AGAIN, with our roster littered with players taken in the 3rd round and below

 

[The Brandon Five]

Totally agree re:Cooks, but his “good” was probably worthy of the trade this year, alone. That rings true even more when you take into account the fact that Edelman and Hogan together played like 1/4 of the season. Imagine not having either one of them AND no Brandin Cooks. It would’ve been like 2013 up in this mofo.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Cooks needs to improve upon his first year here and become a more complete receiver. If that happens, look out. I expect a nice year two leap.

Edelman played 0/4 of the season.

 

[supafly]

Edelman played 0/4 of the season.

You either read too fast or simply misunderstood what I said.

“Edelman and Hogan together played about a 1/4 of the season.” In other words, out of 32 possible games, they played approx. 8/32 or 25%, meaning that Brady was missing both his WR1 and WR2 in 75% of the games this year.