- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 15,519
- Reaction score
- 27,515
This one is going to be structure less. Just some disorganized observations that will help me digest what I just saw.
1. A family emergency caused me to miss the first half, and I'm sure that was one of the reasons my blood pressure remained so low. After looking at the stats and hearing about that first half, I image it must have been extremely frustrating, especially given how well the defense was playing.
2. I knew about the Brady pick, which after I saw a replay of it, wasn't as horrible as I thought. Coleman made a nice play on the ball, it gets deflected, and unfortunately falls right to the wrong guy. Deflections like that are usually what happens to the winning team. You just got to have them.
When the CJ Williams fumble just barely squeezed out of bounds before a Patriot could recover it, I got a bad feeling. Reminded me of the 2011 Superbowl, when the Giants fumbled 4 times and the only one we fell on was negated by a penalty. Usually fumbles are 50-50 affairs. THAT game would have changed if those odds had born out in 2011.
I thought before the game that we had pretty much gone the playoffs WITHOUT doing much in the TO battle. You don't often win playoff games losing the TO battle -2. like in KC. I had hoped that THIS game would mark a significant change. Instead right at the start of the game the Rams get a deflection TO when we were in FG range, and 2 plays later, Hightower makes a great move jumping a route, and drops the ball. Again, not a good trend.
3. I know how frustrated you guys must have been watching it because in the brief moments that I could catch some of the game on Radio, Zolak was getting really frustrated on the way the offense was going, making complaints about BOTH Brady and McDaniels.
4. In the end, much to my surprise (again) both the AFCCG and the Superbowl were games that the Pats should have won much more convincingly, but shot themselves in the foot enough times that they allowed the opponent to either stay in the game or get back into it. That is NOT usually a recipe for success when you are playing the best teams in the league.
5. OK raise your hand if you had 13-3 in the pool?
Wow, what a slug fest. I was really impressed with the Rams DL. Michael Brockers doesn't get much national pub, but he made a number of significant plays for the Rams in this game. Granted they only had the one sack and 4 QB hits, but they definitely made Brady "feel" them for most of the night.
6. That being said, if you had told me the Pats would have 155 yds rushing, I would have expected the Pats to have won in a romp. Then again if you had told me the Pats would have 12 first downs in the first half to 2 for the Rams, I wouldn't expect the score to be 3-0 midway through the game.
7. The offense WAS moving the ball over the first 3 quarters, but never with anything like the consistency they did in the TD drive in the 4th quarter. It was about the only time the offense seemed to have had any kind of rhythm at all.
8. Speaking of that last TD drive. Brady has been to 9 superbowls and in EIGHT of them he has led his team to 4th Quarter drives that either won the game (in 6 occasions) or put his team ahead, only to have the defense fail to hold the lead. (sadly twice)
9. IIRC the Pats D was 7th in the league in points allowed, which is pretty good. But that being said, we NEVER saw the kind of pressure put on opposing QB's during the regular season that we witnessed over the course of these 3 playoff games.
I mean every was worried about Tom Brady's heath against their all star DL, while the no names not only sacked Goff 4 times, they got TWELVE hits on him. That was against an OL that allowed the fewest sacks in the regular season It was AWESOME. Not only that, the DL held the Rams to just 55 rushing yards, and literally half the 34 yards Todd Gurley managed came on a 16 yd run that looked like the Pats had covered at the hole, but a nice cutback by Gurley to go along with the backside over running the play allowed for the run. If not for that run, Gurley, one of the top RB's in the game would have averaged UNDER 2 yds per carry.
10. I was surprised to see that Brandon Gooks had 120 yds receiving. Pretty impressive since he was covered so closely all night. Most of the receptions he DID have required a really good throw and catch to make it happen. The only time I remember seeing him with any real space was when there was a bust and he was wide open in the endzone. Fortunately Jason McCourty came out of no where to make the play of the game.
11. BTW - Goff had a "respectable" 223 passing yard, but remember about 50 of them came in the complete garbage time of the last drive of the game. CBS did a great job of showing us how often the Pats had everyone covered. It sometime looked like the DB's and LBs knew the routes better than the receivers.
12. I was a bit worried with Chung went down, but we REALLY have a lot of quality depth in our secondary which is only going to get better next year with Jackson having a year under his belt and a healthy Duke Dawson joining JJones in a very talented deep secondary. (and no I don't believe Devon is retiring, though I wouldn't shock me if his brother did.
13. The Pats have gone through stretches during this run where they have been crushed by injuries. Imagine the kind of Game Brady would have had against the Eagles if Edelman was healthy and Cooks had played more than a quarter of the game. But THIS season might have been the best I can recall in the area of injuries.
14. I waited all year to see HIghtower make a real impact on the defense and earn that big money. Tonight he earned every penny.
15. I have to say that I was more impressed with Sony Michel in THIS game than I have been in any previous game, even when he put up more yds. The Rams front seven pretty much neutralized BOTH the Dallas and Saints running game in their 2 previous playoff games. Tonight Sony averaged 5.2 ypc on 18 carries. And these were HARD yards.
In previous posts I commented that Michel doesn't impress you as big back, or a quick back like Deion Lewis, who makes people miss. But what I noticed and it was confirmed tonight was that Michel finds the hole. To me he doesn't have first round size, power, or elusiveness. But what he DOES have is first round "eyes". He is EXCELLENT at finding the hole and maximizing whatever yards are there. I think next season we will see him integrated more in the passing game and he will become even more valuable.
16. I think we have seen the last game here for Hogan, Claybourn, and Shelton. I actually see Gronk coming back, though it wouldn't surprise if he hangs it up. At best we keep Flowers or Brown, not both. It will be interesting on who they end up choosing to keep. If you could only keep one, who would YOU pick?
17. Miguel has the Pats roughly at $20MM under the cap. I can see another $15MM or so added to that number before FA. That's not a lot of room compared to some teams, but enough to begin building next year's group.
18. With 12 picks currently, this can be a seminal year for the Pats in the draft, much like 2010 was in building this latest iteration. I can see a significantly rebuilt WR group.
19 Amazing, but Tuesday's parade will mark the TWELVETH such event for the City of Boston since 2001. I can't imagine how the city is managing they current drought of about 100 DAYS. Talk about being spoiled. Its like EVERY year, EVERY major sport is either winning a championship of competing for one in the playoffs. I know I have lost any perspective of what it must be like to live somewhere OTHER than the greater Boston area.
20. The fans at the game in Atlanta were LOUD. I mean, affecting the other team loud. You don't see that happening much in Superbowls. Very impressive.
You know for a team that everyone else in the country is supposed to hate, we have a LOT of fans across the country. Tom Brady's shirt is almost always one of the top 10 best sellers. I mean, think about it. Everyone has had 18 years to buy their Brady shirt. You would think that everyone who wanted one would have it already....years ago. Yet every year Brady is one of the best sellers. Maybe the haters are buying his shirt to throw Darts at..
21. I hope there is a rewatch thread. I'd like to figure out just what the Rams were doing to disrupt the Pats early one, AND investigate what the Pats did to shut down the Rams so completely.
22. After watching that game, I have a feeling Miami fans are VERY excited to see Brian Flores coming to town. I just wish Romo mentioned his importance to the defense strategy more. I also wish we had another year or two of him being the DC.
23. Always love to read what the draftnicks have to say about the Pats prospect. But I have to say that because the Pats are always picking so low it takes away from the draft because you know that so few of the players that will get talked about, will NEVER reach the Pats. Though this year (as last) it will be interesting to try and figure out which QB prospect the Pats will bring in.
OK. I hit the 2am limit, Congratulations to us all. What an amazing run that shows no signs of slowing down. What a privilege to be a fan of this team, and in a community of people like yourselves.
1. A family emergency caused me to miss the first half, and I'm sure that was one of the reasons my blood pressure remained so low. After looking at the stats and hearing about that first half, I image it must have been extremely frustrating, especially given how well the defense was playing.
2. I knew about the Brady pick, which after I saw a replay of it, wasn't as horrible as I thought. Coleman made a nice play on the ball, it gets deflected, and unfortunately falls right to the wrong guy. Deflections like that are usually what happens to the winning team. You just got to have them.
When the CJ Williams fumble just barely squeezed out of bounds before a Patriot could recover it, I got a bad feeling. Reminded me of the 2011 Superbowl, when the Giants fumbled 4 times and the only one we fell on was negated by a penalty. Usually fumbles are 50-50 affairs. THAT game would have changed if those odds had born out in 2011.
I thought before the game that we had pretty much gone the playoffs WITHOUT doing much in the TO battle. You don't often win playoff games losing the TO battle -2. like in KC. I had hoped that THIS game would mark a significant change. Instead right at the start of the game the Rams get a deflection TO when we were in FG range, and 2 plays later, Hightower makes a great move jumping a route, and drops the ball. Again, not a good trend.
3. I know how frustrated you guys must have been watching it because in the brief moments that I could catch some of the game on Radio, Zolak was getting really frustrated on the way the offense was going, making complaints about BOTH Brady and McDaniels.
4. In the end, much to my surprise (again) both the AFCCG and the Superbowl were games that the Pats should have won much more convincingly, but shot themselves in the foot enough times that they allowed the opponent to either stay in the game or get back into it. That is NOT usually a recipe for success when you are playing the best teams in the league.
5. OK raise your hand if you had 13-3 in the pool?
Wow, what a slug fest. I was really impressed with the Rams DL. Michael Brockers doesn't get much national pub, but he made a number of significant plays for the Rams in this game. Granted they only had the one sack and 4 QB hits, but they definitely made Brady "feel" them for most of the night. 6. That being said, if you had told me the Pats would have 155 yds rushing, I would have expected the Pats to have won in a romp. Then again if you had told me the Pats would have 12 first downs in the first half to 2 for the Rams, I wouldn't expect the score to be 3-0 midway through the game.
7. The offense WAS moving the ball over the first 3 quarters, but never with anything like the consistency they did in the TD drive in the 4th quarter. It was about the only time the offense seemed to have had any kind of rhythm at all.
8. Speaking of that last TD drive. Brady has been to 9 superbowls and in EIGHT of them he has led his team to 4th Quarter drives that either won the game (in 6 occasions) or put his team ahead, only to have the defense fail to hold the lead. (sadly twice)
9. IIRC the Pats D was 7th in the league in points allowed, which is pretty good. But that being said, we NEVER saw the kind of pressure put on opposing QB's during the regular season that we witnessed over the course of these 3 playoff games.
I mean every was worried about Tom Brady's heath against their all star DL, while the no names not only sacked Goff 4 times, they got TWELVE hits on him. That was against an OL that allowed the fewest sacks in the regular season It was AWESOME. Not only that, the DL held the Rams to just 55 rushing yards, and literally half the 34 yards Todd Gurley managed came on a 16 yd run that looked like the Pats had covered at the hole, but a nice cutback by Gurley to go along with the backside over running the play allowed for the run. If not for that run, Gurley, one of the top RB's in the game would have averaged UNDER 2 yds per carry.
10. I was surprised to see that Brandon Gooks had 120 yds receiving. Pretty impressive since he was covered so closely all night. Most of the receptions he DID have required a really good throw and catch to make it happen. The only time I remember seeing him with any real space was when there was a bust and he was wide open in the endzone. Fortunately Jason McCourty came out of no where to make the play of the game.
11. BTW - Goff had a "respectable" 223 passing yard, but remember about 50 of them came in the complete garbage time of the last drive of the game. CBS did a great job of showing us how often the Pats had everyone covered. It sometime looked like the DB's and LBs knew the routes better than the receivers.
12. I was a bit worried with Chung went down, but we REALLY have a lot of quality depth in our secondary which is only going to get better next year with Jackson having a year under his belt and a healthy Duke Dawson joining JJones in a very talented deep secondary. (and no I don't believe Devon is retiring, though I wouldn't shock me if his brother did.
13. The Pats have gone through stretches during this run where they have been crushed by injuries. Imagine the kind of Game Brady would have had against the Eagles if Edelman was healthy and Cooks had played more than a quarter of the game. But THIS season might have been the best I can recall in the area of injuries.
14. I waited all year to see HIghtower make a real impact on the defense and earn that big money. Tonight he earned every penny.
15. I have to say that I was more impressed with Sony Michel in THIS game than I have been in any previous game, even when he put up more yds. The Rams front seven pretty much neutralized BOTH the Dallas and Saints running game in their 2 previous playoff games. Tonight Sony averaged 5.2 ypc on 18 carries. And these were HARD yards.
In previous posts I commented that Michel doesn't impress you as big back, or a quick back like Deion Lewis, who makes people miss. But what I noticed and it was confirmed tonight was that Michel finds the hole. To me he doesn't have first round size, power, or elusiveness. But what he DOES have is first round "eyes". He is EXCELLENT at finding the hole and maximizing whatever yards are there. I think next season we will see him integrated more in the passing game and he will become even more valuable.
16. I think we have seen the last game here for Hogan, Claybourn, and Shelton. I actually see Gronk coming back, though it wouldn't surprise if he hangs it up. At best we keep Flowers or Brown, not both. It will be interesting on who they end up choosing to keep. If you could only keep one, who would YOU pick?
17. Miguel has the Pats roughly at $20MM under the cap. I can see another $15MM or so added to that number before FA. That's not a lot of room compared to some teams, but enough to begin building next year's group.
18. With 12 picks currently, this can be a seminal year for the Pats in the draft, much like 2010 was in building this latest iteration. I can see a significantly rebuilt WR group.
19 Amazing, but Tuesday's parade will mark the TWELVETH such event for the City of Boston since 2001. I can't imagine how the city is managing they current drought of about 100 DAYS.
Talk about being spoiled. Its like EVERY year, EVERY major sport is either winning a championship of competing for one in the playoffs. I know I have lost any perspective of what it must be like to live somewhere OTHER than the greater Boston area.20. The fans at the game in Atlanta were LOUD. I mean, affecting the other team loud. You don't see that happening much in Superbowls. Very impressive.
You know for a team that everyone else in the country is supposed to hate, we have a LOT of fans across the country. Tom Brady's shirt is almost always one of the top 10 best sellers. I mean, think about it. Everyone has had 18 years to buy their Brady shirt. You would think that everyone who wanted one would have it already....years ago. Yet every year Brady is one of the best sellers. Maybe the haters are buying his shirt to throw Darts at.
.21. I hope there is a rewatch thread. I'd like to figure out just what the Rams were doing to disrupt the Pats early one, AND investigate what the Pats did to shut down the Rams so completely.
22. After watching that game, I have a feeling Miami fans are VERY excited to see Brian Flores coming to town. I just wish Romo mentioned his importance to the defense strategy more. I also wish we had another year or two of him being the DC.
23. Always love to read what the draftnicks have to say about the Pats prospect. But I have to say that because the Pats are always picking so low it takes away from the draft because you know that so few of the players that will get talked about, will NEVER reach the Pats. Though this year (as last) it will be interesting to try and figure out which QB prospect the Pats will bring in.
OK. I hit the 2am limit, Congratulations to us all. What an amazing run that shows no signs of slowing down. What a privilege to be a fan of this team, and in a community of people like yourselves.
