Idle Thoughts - the "Christmas comes early" edition

[PatriotsReign]

My main thought after the games was

"Tom MFing BRADY!!"

Holy schitzki the man isn't human!

I am very fortunate to have witnessed his magical career!

 

[PatriotsReign]

I think I found Patrodomous:

I'd really like to find that guy just to give him a good, hard dope-slap!

"The #33 people...for all you Truth-seekers"

The real truth is the guy needs intensive therapy

 

[shmessy]

In my 17 years of watching players stroll in/out of here in BB's tenure as HC I can't remember a player screwing up as much as Cyrus Jones and still seeing the field. Ridley is close. Clearly BB likes the kid and wants to give him every opportunity to succeed. Hes a 2nd rd pick and cutting a 2nd rd pick after 13 games or 2 years is bad for business.

With that said he needs to see a sports psychologist or something. This kid was a fine returner at ALA and from what I understand does a nice job in practice which is why they kept trotting him out there. These games are too important now.

He clearly has a confidence problem and should not be back on KR and PR for the remainder of the season.

Maybe he can help as a slot DB. Hes been up and down in that position as well. As we saw last night he should not be allowed on the outside.

We hear a lot about mental toughness and how important of an attribute it is for players to have if they want to succeed on this team.

As of right now Jones has zero. Too much on the line for him to play. Sorry, Cyrus. Grab some pine.

Yeah, I think we're dealing with a Chuck Knoblauch-type problem at this point and they need to get the kid a counselor. I'm rooting for him to correct this problem.

 

[aluminum seats]

--Brady has to stop obsessing over Edelman. He's getting about twice as many targets a game as he should.

--Gotta just tip your hat to Dixon for the extra yards. Tough little bastard, wouldn't go down.

--I understand the impulse of "wanting to see more" with HT, but people always said that about Mayo...until he wasn't on the field, and you saw his value. The guy's glue, and top-notch.

--No reason to "roll your eyes" about Jones, nobody here's scapegoating him. As others have noted, his fumbling rate is crazy, and on the turnover and one other punt, he did this bizarre thing of dancing over to the rolling ball, which I don't think I've ever seen (then just staring at the loose ball.) Not giving up on him, but he's done for the year returning kicks.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yeah, I think we're dealing with a Chuck Knoblauch-type problem at this point and they need to get the kid a counselor. I'm rooting for him to correct this problem.

Excellent analogy.

He has the dreaded "yips"

 

[luuked]

for the life of me, why didn't Flacco test the corners on deeper sideline patterns like in the past. In the past, both Baltimore and Denver worked over our corners and it seemed NE would be called for PI every other play. Does the league respect our corners more than me? Apparently so.

Give DMac/Harmon some credit. I think the Patriots safeties are in Flacco's head by now as he regularly gets picked in Foxboro by either of the two.

 

[IllegalContact]

this game should have been 38-10 or worse....the Ravens had no business being in this game and they're not the same team as in the past......they can't run the ball and don't give me anything about Dixon.....in the history of the sport, nobody has ever looked so good chalking up 3 yards per carry

the pats showed the ability to pound the rock against by far what is the stingiest run defense in the league and Blount is in a groove.

right now, Dion Lewis can't touch James White

I like how the Pats used their edge guys.......going to wreak havoc on Semen next weekend

 

[WaterfallJumper]

In my 17 years of watching players stroll in/out of here in BB's tenure as HC I can't remember a player screwing up as much as Cyrus Jones and still seeing the field. Ridley is close. Clearly BB likes the kid and wants to give him every opportunity to succeed. Hes a 2nd rd pick and cutting a 2nd rd pick after 13 games or 2 years is bad for business.

With that said he needs to see a sports psychologist or something. This kid was a fine returner at ALA and from what I understand does a nice job in practice which is why they kept trotting him out there. These games are too important now.

He clearly has a confidence problem and should not be back on KR and PR for the remainder of the season.

Maybe he can help as a slot DB. Hes been up and down in that position as well. As we saw last night he should not be allowed on the outside.

We hear a lot about mental toughness and how important of an attribute it is for players to have if they want to succeed on this team.

As of right now Jones has zero. Too much on the line for him to play. Sorry, Cyrus. Grab some pine. Get your head on straight and lets try again in 2017.

He's not a slot guy, though. He played outside at Bama, and he's played outside here. Here's pretty solid, the one sideline catch notwithstanding. Still, he needs time to correct his issues without being on the field. It's very tough for me to watch, because he was one of the guys I didn't like in the draft, but was certain we would take anyway. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's frustrating to see him play poorly. Hope he improves.

 

[Jackson 2]

-Edelman is not playing his best game for awhile now. He is 31 years old. Maybe it's time to look for a replacement.

-Chung has been worse this year than last year, but he has improved the last few games (I thought he deserved ProBowl last year)

- The brilliance of this defense is simple, in theory: Every player can do everything. Ryan has been blitzing. Chris Long has been dropping to coverage. It's a Carousel Defense, every one up and down the field, orderly chaotic.

-McCourty was clearly touched by the WR. His middle finger touched his hand. DBC was the correct call.

Edelman is 30.

 

[archstanton543]

"The Pats made 3 unforced turnovers, gave the Ravens anywhere between 17-21 points"

The Slater fumble was forced by contact with Ravens players. And the INT by Brady was forced by pressure from their D.

 

[RobertWeathers]

He's not a slot guy, though. He played outside at Bama, and he's played outside here. Here's pretty solid, the one sideline catch notwithstanding. Still, he needs time to correct his issues without being on the field. It's very tough for me to watch, because he was one of the guys I didn't like in the draft, but was certain we would take anyway. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's frustrating to see him play poorly. Hope he improves.

Seems to be he has played a majority of his snaps lining up vs the inside receiver but nonetheless hes been good and bad as a rookie which I'm ok with.

 

[ChessToCheckers]

Nice post, Ken, as always.

That was a very entertaining game! It looked to me like we won that one in the trenches. Excellent push up the middle against Flacco much of the evening. Very impressed with our running game against a stout opponent and Brady generally had plenty of time.

The defensive performance was fun to watch. Flacco looked confused most of the night but I thought he played well enough to keep it interesting.

I'm betting that the rookie in Denver won't handle it as well!

Go Pats!

 

[archstanton543]

'But go ahead, feel free to scapegoat him, if it makes you feel better.'

Done! Bad play is bad play. Rookie or not and those fumble numbers are misleading at best.

 

[archstanton543]

By that logic Denver should have won the game against the Chiefs. When DMac was graced he still didn't have full control of the ball and completed the process of the catch only 1-2 steps later.

He has control of the ball when his finger touches him. Look at the play again. The ball is not moving when he's touched. Yes, it's tough to see but there is contact. His middle finger bends backward when it contacts his hand and McCourty has possession.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Oddly enough Gronk and Hogan rate as #1 and #2 in YPC this season.

Hogan (and Mitchell) have really allowed the offense to hit all 3 zones of opposing defenses and Brady has capitalized on it. I agree that his focus on Edleman might need to be checked a bit and possibly use some check-downs (though not on 3rd down). Might be an issue with Amendola/Gronk out as well because those are security blankets as well (as Edleman).

 

[luuked]

He has control of the ball when his finger touches him. Look at the play again. The ball is not moving when he's touched. Yes, it's tough to see but there is contact. His middle finger bends backward when it contacts his hand and McCourty has possession.

I saw him still not fully having grasp of the ball (i.e. the ball was moving) until he took his first or second step backwards. In the end it doesn't matter but goes to show how much room for interpretation there is on plays like that.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

I have stopped paying you platitudes Ken because by now it is given and you are no doubt going to read many more from others. So, just a quick thank you for now.

Loved this non-game related para that distilled what a few of us feel:

"Wrong is Wrong, and when honest men turn their backs on it simply because it's inconvenient or hard, then Tyranny wins. It's as simple as that."

Simple words but so excellently put! I was unable convey this when I wanted express similar thoughts to those fans who yawn at the deflategate sage and claim that no one cares.

Thanks!!

 

[tasmlab]

Your write-ups are great, Patfanken. Thank you.

 

[tasmlab]

In my 17 years of watching players stroll in/out of here in BB's tenure as HC I can't remember a player screwing up as much as Cyrus Jones and still seeing the field. Ridley is close. Clearly BB likes the kid and wants to give him every opportunity to succeed. Hes a 2nd rd pick and cutting a 2nd rd pick after 13 games or 2 years is bad for business.

With that said he needs to see a sports psychologist or something. This kid was a fine returner at ALA and from what I understand does a nice job in practice which is why they kept trotting him out there. These games are too important now.

He clearly has a confidence problem and should not be back on KR and PR for the remainder of the season.

Maybe he can help as a slot DB. Hes been up and down in that position as well. As we saw last night he should not be allowed on the outside.

We hear a lot about mental toughness and how important of an attribute it is for players to have if they want to succeed on this team.

As of right now Jones has zero. Too much on the line for him to play. Sorry, Cyrus. Grab some pine. Get your head on straight and lets try again in 2017.

I agree, but they let like four or five other guys try returns last night and nothing really good happened until Lewis took a knee. I'll say a prayer for Amendola's health tonight.

 

[shmessy]

-Edelman is not playing his best game for awhile now. He is 31 years old. Maybe it's time to look for a replacement.

He broke his foot (and tried to play through it) and had his first of two surgeries on it AFTER Dion Lewis' injury and first surgery.

Doesn't he deserve the same patience we are affording #33 (who was used very sparingly last night)?