- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 15,519
- Reaction score
- 27,509
Disclaimer: Normally I watch the game closely, but today I had a chance to play poker, So with a chance to get out of the house, play in a reasonably safe environment (masks worn, temperatures taken, only 8 of us, including the dealer, in a large well ventilated room), AND the chance to make some money, I watched the game with a lot less of my usual concentration. So apologies for any mistakes I might make below.
OK, my plan is to post a brief list of comments, but I've said that before and gone over 10K words on many occasions. When I do these, its an entirely organic process and I'm old so you know we are prone to ramble on. Here's hoping this isn't going to take over 2 hours to write.
1. The good (and as is the case when you win 45-0, there will be a lot of these) So in no particular order.....
a. Raise your hands if you were kind of puzzled when the Pats drafted TWO OT's in the sixth round last April? I think that would have been most of us, right? NOW raise your hands if you are not surprised to see BOTH of those players (Onwenu and Herron) playing major roles at this point of the season. ANNNND that would none of us.. Now this 2020 draft class has taken a LOT of crap, mostly because of the absence of ANY production coming from our 3rd round TE's and PS kicker. BUT at this point of the season we are seeing MAJOR contributions from 5 of that draft class. (Duggar - 3rd in team tackles, Uche - 3 QB hits, Jennings- 2 tackles one QB hit- and as mentioned Herron and Onwenu. That is a LOT of production from a rookie draft that usually takes a year or two before we see results.
There will be misses from the draft, just like always, but for THIS particular draft class, it's turning out to be looking like a good one.
b. I couldn't help notice that when the game ended, it seemed to me that Bill made a beeline to Charger TE Hunter Henry. If found this odd since Henry had just one catch for 5 yds. He shook the kid's hand and patted him on the back and had something to say to him. Just sayin'....
c. This really IS a very good secondary. One of the most surprising thing to me was finding out that Charger QB Justin Herbert had 209 yds of passing. I NEVER would have guess it was as much as that. Until the 4th quarter I couldn't recall a pass over 10 yds that didn't have defender right in the receivers' pocket.
That's 2 weeks in a row that the Pats secondary has played at top 4 WR and held them to 10 yds per catch or LESS. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are top notch WR's. The kind we all wished we had here, AND neither had a scintilla of impact on the game. Just like DHopkins (the BEST WR in the game,) had no impact last week. So big thanks to Gilmore and Jackson for doing the heavy lifting on these 2 guys.
d. Prior to this week Herbert had 23 TD passes with just 7 picks, averaged over 300 passing yds per game, with a 66% completion rate. Against the Pats (at home) he add 2 picks, zero TD passes and a 49% completion rate. Not saying I wouldn't take Herbert off the Chargers hands in a NY minute given the chance. But there is a REASON Bill is now 30-5 against rookie QB's since he's been here. (BTW - interesting fact. Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith are 2 of those 5 )
This week Bill and his defensive staff turned the Best Rookie QB since Andrew Luck (who was also among the 5) into a quivering mass of melting Jello on his own field, DESPITE a no-name DL and LB corps.
e. Speaking about that no name front 7, they managed to CONSISTENTLY make Herbert very uncomfortable all night to the tune of 11 QB hits and many more hurries, Adam Butler continued to provide inside terror to his surprising late season run of excellence. I find this very surprising. We didn't see it earlier in the season to my knowledge. Only after he came back from an injury. I wonder what happened to have "flipped the switch" on that kid. Any suggestions? And have I mentioned lately that Lawrence Guy is the most UNDERRATED DLman in the league (and I will continue to say that until he finally gets his due).
Also someone who should be getting some more kudo's is Terez Hall. I mean this was an undersized UDFA LB we signed and CUT and re-signed to the PS in 2019, who has slowly become a really consistent performer for us. He not only tied Dugger as the #3 tackler this game, he more importantly has TWO pass defenses. I have thought that one of the must have additions we need to make this off season, is an athletic ILB who can play pass defense as well as LB. You know, a guy like....Terez Hall....
f. Speaking of underrated. I was among those who DIDN'T feel any concern when Pat Chung opted out when I found out we signed Adrian Phillips. I felt that had Chung stayed, Phillips would have beaten him out. And nothing in his play this year makes me feel any different. Today he led the team in Tackles with 12 as well as a PB. Many of his tackles came on short pass plays that were designed to produce YAC. Phillips rarely let that happen (along with the rest of the secondary). HIs ability to play LB (as well as Duggar) has allowed our defense to become much more flexible as this season has gone on.
g. Chase Winovich only had one tackle, but again he was very active in the pass rush with 2 QB hits and several hurries, but like Hall, what impressed me more was his impact on the pass game. His pick was an awesomely athletic play, but I also noted he had 2 PD's as well. Good to see our LB's getting more involved with the pass game other than pass rushing.
h. DHarris @5.1ypc again has shown a rare ability to combine both speed AND power. I can see him become in the very near future considered a top 5 RB in this league. That is if BB allows him to carry the ball 20-25 times a game.
i. Hey it's taken me until "i" to start talking about ST's. but they once again stole the show. They really deserve their own "good" list, they were THAT good. And its not JUST the punt returns that make it so. There were several ST's plays and players that deserve notice.
j. The OL in general was good once again. Given the fact the Charger pass rush with Bosa is supposed to be top notch AND the fact you don't have your best OLman this season in Wynn again, they once again provided enough holes against stacked defenses to create 170 yds and 4.0 ypc of rushing (not counting the 2 kneel downs) They also provided Cam with good overall protection. (1 sack and just 2 QB hits)
2. The Bad (this will be a short list)
a. The passing game. - 2 wins and 2 games where Cam throws for less than 100 yds. That is a stat that is nearly inconceivable in this day and age. Christ, Justin Herbert just had the worst game of his short NFL career, was embarrassed in a prime time game, had an under 50% completion rate, and STILL threw for over 200yds. To make matters worse Jerad Stidham threw for almost the same amount of yds in just 2 passes, than Cam did in 19.
I think that plays that pissed me off the most was when the Pats had 3rd and 10 and Cam, with no immediate pressure, immediately threw the ball to a fairly well covered James White who was ONE yd down field for a 2 yd gain. . He never looked at any other receiver. It made NO sense.
b. I think that as long as there is a chance to get to the playoffs, Cam's leadership and running abilities make it clear that he needs to be the Pats starting QB. The offensive players love him. They follow him. He also runs that veer option look play very well. He really rides that RB right into the hole. But if they lose against the Rams AND the passing game is more of the same, then I think we need to give Stidham a chance to really see what he has before we go and plan for the off season. There was a reason that in a blowout game, Bill allowed Stidham to throw the ball a bit. And what he saw was a guy who threw the ball in rhythm accurately and to the correct receiver. Really cool to see Jared look off the LB opening the lane for Gunner. But we need to see a lot more of him to make an intelligent determination.
3. General comments
a. Coaching matters - Listen to the players echo the mantra we've heard for the last 20 years. "when we follow and execute the game plan, then we know we will win." Which is saying is that they BELIEVE down to their souls that if they can execute the game plan that their coaches present them with, they WILL win. These guys are telling us that they BELIEVE in their coaching staff; Which in my mind is the single most important aspect in building the kind of trust that builds winning programs, Granted that trust will quickly fall away if you don't win games, but Bill has slowly built that over the last 20 yrs, so when a player comes into the building they already believe it.
b. Nice to see Joe Judge come away with a big win at Seattle. Yeah he may be just 5-7 in an HISTORICALLY bad division, but it seems that his players are buying into his process, and it will be interesting if we see the Giants end up having a winning record in December. It may sound odd, but the Giant's road to the playoffs is a LOT clearer than the Pats.
c. Once again the Jets find a way to screw the Pats. Had they managed to win that game, the Pats would have had one less team ahead of them. Just so JET-like. I can't imagine what their fans think. Well I guess they will always have 2010 to warm their twisted souls.
d. Well their were several very surprising results this week. The Bears lose to the freakin; Lions. The Giants beat Seattle. KC, NO, Minn, and the Colts just BARELY beat far inferior teams. So while the Pats will likely be an underdog this week against a team to be perceived as have far more "talent", maybe there IS a chance for a west coast sweep.
Well I DIDN'T finish this in less than 2 hours. I WASN'T brief. And I DID ramble on....a bit But it is what it is and I hope you both enjoy it and comment on this occasional offering of muddled prose. Good night.
OK, my plan is to post a brief list of comments, but I've said that before and gone over 10K words on many occasions. When I do these, its an entirely organic process and I'm old so you know we are prone to ramble on. Here's hoping this isn't going to take over 2 hours to write.
1. The good (and as is the case when you win 45-0, there will be a lot of these) So in no particular order.....
a. Raise your hands if you were kind of puzzled when the Pats drafted TWO OT's in the sixth round last April? I think that would have been most of us, right? NOW raise your hands if you are not surprised to see BOTH of those players (Onwenu and Herron) playing major roles at this point of the season. ANNNND that would none of us.
. Now this 2020 draft class has taken a LOT of crap, mostly because of the absence of ANY production coming from our 3rd round TE's and PS kicker. BUT at this point of the season we are seeing MAJOR contributions from 5 of that draft class. (Duggar - 3rd in team tackles, Uche - 3 QB hits, Jennings- 2 tackles one QB hit- and as mentioned Herron and Onwenu. That is a LOT of production from a rookie draft that usually takes a year or two before we see results.There will be misses from the draft, just like always, but for THIS particular draft class, it's turning out to be looking like a good one.
b. I couldn't help notice that when the game ended, it seemed to me that Bill made a beeline to Charger TE Hunter Henry. If found this odd since Henry had just one catch for 5 yds. He shook the kid's hand and patted him on the back and had something to say to him. Just sayin'....
c. This really IS a very good secondary. One of the most surprising thing to me was finding out that Charger QB Justin Herbert had 209 yds of passing. I NEVER would have guess it was as much as that. Until the 4th quarter I couldn't recall a pass over 10 yds that didn't have defender right in the receivers' pocket.
That's 2 weeks in a row that the Pats secondary has played at top 4 WR and held them to 10 yds per catch or LESS. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are top notch WR's. The kind we all wished we had here, AND neither had a scintilla of impact on the game. Just like DHopkins (the BEST WR in the game,) had no impact last week. So big thanks to Gilmore and Jackson for doing the heavy lifting on these 2 guys.
d. Prior to this week Herbert had 23 TD passes with just 7 picks, averaged over 300 passing yds per game, with a 66% completion rate. Against the Pats (at home) he add 2 picks, zero TD passes and a 49% completion rate. Not saying I wouldn't take Herbert off the Chargers hands in a NY minute given the chance. But there is a REASON Bill is now 30-5 against rookie QB's since he's been here. (BTW - interesting fact. Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith are 2 of those 5
)This week Bill and his defensive staff turned the Best Rookie QB since Andrew Luck (who was also among the 5) into a quivering mass of melting Jello on his own field, DESPITE a no-name DL and LB corps.
e. Speaking about that no name front 7, they managed to CONSISTENTLY make Herbert very uncomfortable all night to the tune of 11 QB hits and many more hurries, Adam Butler continued to provide inside terror to his surprising late season run of excellence. I find this very surprising. We didn't see it earlier in the season to my knowledge. Only after he came back from an injury. I wonder what happened to have "flipped the switch" on that kid. Any suggestions? And have I mentioned lately that Lawrence Guy is the most UNDERRATED DLman in the league (and I will continue to say that until he finally gets his due).
Also someone who should be getting some more kudo's is Terez Hall. I mean this was an undersized UDFA LB we signed and CUT and re-signed to the PS in 2019, who has slowly become a really consistent performer for us. He not only tied Dugger as the #3 tackler this game, he more importantly has TWO pass defenses. I have thought that one of the must have additions we need to make this off season, is an athletic ILB who can play pass defense as well as LB. You know, a guy like....Terez Hall....
f. Speaking of underrated. I was among those who DIDN'T feel any concern when Pat Chung opted out when I found out we signed Adrian Phillips. I felt that had Chung stayed, Phillips would have beaten him out. And nothing in his play this year makes me feel any different. Today he led the team in Tackles with 12 as well as a PB. Many of his tackles came on short pass plays that were designed to produce YAC. Phillips rarely let that happen (along with the rest of the secondary). HIs ability to play LB (as well as Duggar) has allowed our defense to become much more flexible as this season has gone on.
g. Chase Winovich only had one tackle, but again he was very active in the pass rush with 2 QB hits and several hurries, but like Hall, what impressed me more was his impact on the pass game. His pick was an awesomely athletic play, but I also noted he had 2 PD's as well. Good to see our LB's getting more involved with the pass game other than pass rushing.
h. DHarris @5.1ypc again has shown a rare ability to combine both speed AND power. I can see him become in the very near future considered a top 5 RB in this league. That is if BB allows him to carry the ball 20-25 times a game.
i. Hey it's taken me until "i" to start talking about ST's. but they once again stole the show. They really deserve their own "good" list, they were THAT good. And its not JUST the punt returns that make it so. There were several ST's plays and players that deserve notice.
1. Gunner - maybe not having to deal with KO's has helped Gunner become the impact punt returner he's become the last 2 weeks. Today he had over 140 yds in punt returns as well as a ST's tackle. Making him likely to be the ST's team's player of the week. He also had his first passing TD and led the team in passing yds. IF he never turns out to be the 2nd coming of Julian Edelman, he will always have this week to remember. Who ever the new ST's coach is, and I don't know who he is, deserves a pat on the back too.
IF he never turns out to be the 2nd coming of Julian Edelman, he will always have this week to remember. Who ever the new ST's coach is, and I don't know who he is, deserves a pat on the back too.
2. But there were others who deserve Kudos. Tony Davis who not only had the FG block that led to the TD that broke the Chargers heart, he had a really athletic and savvy play on a punt which kept the Charger inside their 5.
3. Kudos also to the Pats KO coverage team that constantly kept the chargers inside the 20. And kudos to Baily for deftly kicking the ball to the Chargers GL forcing them run the ball back. I sometimes wonder why teams don't do that more often.
4. It was a game where the Pats ST's simply DOMINATED a team that didn't look like they took ST's seriously. Maybe ALynn won't lose his job this week, but his ST's coach DEFINITELY should.
j. The OL in general was good once again. Given the fact the Charger pass rush with Bosa is supposed to be top notch AND the fact you don't have your best OLman this season in Wynn again, they once again provided enough holes against stacked defenses to create 170 yds and 4.0 ypc of rushing (not counting the 2 kneel downs) They also provided Cam with good overall protection. (1 sack and just 2 QB hits)
2. The Bad (this will be a short list)
a. The passing game. - 2 wins and 2 games where Cam throws for less than 100 yds. That is a stat that is nearly inconceivable in this day and age. Christ, Justin Herbert just had the worst game of his short NFL career, was embarrassed in a prime time game, had an under 50% completion rate, and STILL threw for over 200yds. To make matters worse Jerad Stidham threw for almost the same amount of yds in just 2 passes, than Cam did in 19.
I think that plays that pissed me off the most was when the Pats had 3rd and 10 and Cam, with no immediate pressure, immediately threw the ball to a fairly well covered James White who was ONE yd down field for a 2 yd gain. . He never looked at any other receiver. It made NO sense.
b. I think that as long as there is a chance to get to the playoffs, Cam's leadership and running abilities make it clear that he needs to be the Pats starting QB. The offensive players love him. They follow him. He also runs that veer option look play very well. He really rides that RB right into the hole. But if they lose against the Rams AND the passing game is more of the same, then I think we need to give Stidham a chance to really see what he has before we go and plan for the off season. There was a reason that in a blowout game, Bill allowed Stidham to throw the ball a bit. And what he saw was a guy who threw the ball in rhythm accurately and to the correct receiver. Really cool to see Jared look off the LB opening the lane for Gunner. But we need to see a lot more of him to make an intelligent determination.
3. General comments
a. Coaching matters - Listen to the players echo the mantra we've heard for the last 20 years. "when we follow and execute the game plan, then we know we will win." Which is saying is that they BELIEVE down to their souls that if they can execute the game plan that their coaches present them with, they WILL win. These guys are telling us that they BELIEVE in their coaching staff; Which in my mind is the single most important aspect in building the kind of trust that builds winning programs, Granted that trust will quickly fall away if you don't win games, but Bill has slowly built that over the last 20 yrs, so when a player comes into the building they already believe it.
b. Nice to see Joe Judge come away with a big win at Seattle. Yeah he may be just 5-7 in an HISTORICALLY bad division, but it seems that his players are buying into his process, and it will be interesting if we see the Giants end up having a winning record in December. It may sound odd, but the Giant's road to the playoffs is a LOT clearer than the Pats.
c. Once again the Jets find a way to screw the Pats.
Had they managed to win that game, the Pats would have had one less team ahead of them. Just so JET-like. I can't imagine what their fans think. Well I guess they will always have 2010 to warm their twisted souls. d. Well their were several very surprising results this week. The Bears lose to the freakin; Lions. The Giants beat Seattle. KC, NO, Minn, and the Colts just BARELY beat far inferior teams. So while the Pats will likely be an underdog this week against a team to be perceived as have far more "talent", maybe there IS a chance for a west coast sweep.
Well I DIDN'T finish this in less than 2 hours. I WASN'T brief. And I DID ramble on....a bit But it is what it is and I hope you both enjoy it and comment on this occasional offering of muddled prose. Good night.
Last edited:
