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It's taken me a bit longer to get to the point when I can get this started. I hadn't even gone to the site to check on other's comments. But it's Monday and it's time to face the reality of this game, both the good (and there WAS a lot of good) and bad. Clearly there was a lot of good, just as a lot of bad reared its ugly head in the 2nd half. Let's unpack it all and hope it leads to better things.
It has been a while since this team has seen some adversity and adversity is the fire on which great teams are hardened. We took a step back today that's for sure. We have a tough AWAY game next week against another MVP QB, who is rounding into that mvp shape after an injury filled season. I will be interested to see how this team responds this week. All is not lost, though the bye week seems like it's off the table. So let's unpack this mess and see if we can make some sense of it.
It couldn't have started better. 3 three and outs to START the game in stark contrast to most of the season, and 4 scoring drives, all on the ground. Stevenson was having his best game of the year. The OL were creating visible holes to run thru and for the first time (it seems) our RB's were getting to the 2nd level without being touched. We even had a nice drive at the end of the half to answer the only Buffalo score. Though, I wonder about the strategy of trading the 4 more points we might have gotten from a TD vs the risk of leaving Buffalo with about a minute left if we failed to move the ball. I understand the calculation, and it's not wrong most of the time, but given how the game was going at THAT point, I might have gone all out for the TD and saved some time for the Red zone.
So how does a team that usually makes the better adjustments after half time come out and allows 28 points and scores only 7 and not give up a TO? I think it comes down to these factors.
1. Key injuries - Losing Williams has hurt more than expected. Going from one of the best run defenses in the league to one of the worst right after his injury can't just be a coincidence. And then there was the fact Spillane never got off the bench accounts for the other part of the problem. He has been a ROCK in the middle during the run. Well, the rock wasn't there, and other people had to move and leave position where they have thrived to compensate, and the second level got a little bit weaker all around and with a guy like Cook, just a little bit can make all the difference.
2. Drake Maye - Maye actually LOOKED like an up-and-coming 2nd year 23-year-old tackling a new system and coaching staff. The pinpoint accuracy wasn't always there. The picture-perfect decision making didn't always show up. He was sacked 3 times and imo on 2 he seemed to have run himself INTO the sack when he had a opportunity to run away from it. Horror of horrors the kid made some WRONG decisions. But what was worse was that he had a chance to get his FIRST game winning 4th quarter drive and failed... miserably. There was the chance to make an MVP statement and he bombed, plain and simple
3. The receiving corps - This one is a bit nitpicking to say the least. There were 2 plays where missed catches dearly cost the Pats. The most obvious was the Henry "drop" on the final drive. It wasn't a great pass, and behind him, but one he usually makes and MIGHT have been the spark that got them going. 2nd, was a long pass in the endzone that hit Hollins' hands. Granted it would have been a remarkable catch in a game when Hollins had already made multiple remarkable catches, but it's the kind of a timely catch that our receivers have been making all year. Like I said, I'm nitpicking here. And how about Boutte getting only ONE target?
4. Coaching - Not saying I had the answers, but it seemed all year Josh was scheming our receivers open and suddenly in THIS game that wasn't happening very often, and I don't know why (though I plan to watch again later this week). So naturally I'll blame Josh for it. BTW GREAT job on the scheming up the run game. Then there was the stat they showed where they noted the Pats had called 6 designed runs this season for Drake and added another yesterday, that is WAY too few. 2-3 per GAME should be more like it. First, he's good at it, 2nd if you make it a real threat, then it will open up other things because you have to defend it,
5. On the defensive side, I saw early in the game the use of the 5-man front with someone on the nose a few times on run downs and it was pretty successful. I don't remember seeing much in the 2nd half except a few times on passing down when they were looking to blitz. Also, there were a LOT of missed tackles on Allen in the backfield in this game, but that's on the players. They should have had at LEAST 3 more sacks and that would have made a difference.
6. The refs - I don't usually cite the refs because I expect bad or suspect calls to go against because they also go for me at times. Take for example the long pass on the first TD drive that a case could have been made wasn't a catch was missed. But a case could also be made that AFTER that play the refs spent the rest of the game trying to make up for that call. What I cannot abide is when they made several ticky tack calls AGAINST the Pats and then let EGGREGIOUS holding calls go unnoticed time and time again. It was infuriating and needs to be called out.
7 Take aways, or lack thereof. - Every year you get teams like the Bears and Broncos who have huge pluses in TO ratio and that has helped them in winning a LOT of their games or rather keeps them from losing them. We didn't lose any TO's on Sunday but if you want to look at the difference in the 2 Bills games just look at the TOs We have had teams which seemed to be good at taking the ball away but why that happens cannot be counted on. Every team is teaching their tacklers to punch at the ball
8. KO coverage - Someone on the Bills spotted something on the tape because our usually reliable KO coverage shat the bed and gave up over 40 yds in returns on average. 2 times in a row the KO was brought back to our side of the 50 on the first 2 drives of 2nd half. We didn't have any TO's but those 2 returns in particular were like TOs to some degree in that with just one play they completely changed field position.
Now, this wasn't a disaster either. We lost a game by 4 points to one of the heavy favorites for the superbowl with the MVP QB who threw for just 197 yds There were some good things,
1. Tre Henderson continued his upward trajectory. I actually saw him make someone miss a tackle on a cut back instead of just blindly running straight ahead as hard as he can. His 2 long TD's were his usual just running away from everyone and were spectacular. It should also be mentioned that Stevenson averaged 8ypc as well as the OL opened some gaping holes today. Those were the 3 obvious standouts today, Henderson, Stevenson, and the OL
2. Mack Hollins looked like an elite #1 out there today. Well, that may be an overstatement, but he made some great grabs and seemed to be more open more often than our other receivers. BTW- Boutte had just ONE target and made a great catch. Why didn't he get more?
On to the Ravens - We go and play another desperate team, on the road, with an improving defense that just pitched a shutout (yeah, I know it was against the Jete, but I'm trying to make a point here). It will be a real hostile environment. I think I hate the Ravens more than any other team, they are a sneaky backstabbing organization. First to bend the rules and first to run to the league and claim foul, RLKAG!!!!!!!!\
At any rate, let us see how we react to a bad game, How we respond to this adversity, Is Drake just another nice young QB prospect, or is he really the "second coming",
It has been a while since this team has seen some adversity and adversity is the fire on which great teams are hardened. We took a step back today that's for sure. We have a tough AWAY game next week against another MVP QB, who is rounding into that mvp shape after an injury filled season. I will be interested to see how this team responds this week. All is not lost, though the bye week seems like it's off the table. So let's unpack this mess and see if we can make some sense of it.
It couldn't have started better. 3 three and outs to START the game in stark contrast to most of the season, and 4 scoring drives, all on the ground. Stevenson was having his best game of the year. The OL were creating visible holes to run thru and for the first time (it seems) our RB's were getting to the 2nd level without being touched. We even had a nice drive at the end of the half to answer the only Buffalo score. Though, I wonder about the strategy of trading the 4 more points we might have gotten from a TD vs the risk of leaving Buffalo with about a minute left if we failed to move the ball. I understand the calculation, and it's not wrong most of the time, but given how the game was going at THAT point, I might have gone all out for the TD and saved some time for the Red zone.
So how does a team that usually makes the better adjustments after half time come out and allows 28 points and scores only 7 and not give up a TO? I think it comes down to these factors.
1. Key injuries - Losing Williams has hurt more than expected. Going from one of the best run defenses in the league to one of the worst right after his injury can't just be a coincidence. And then there was the fact Spillane never got off the bench accounts for the other part of the problem. He has been a ROCK in the middle during the run. Well, the rock wasn't there, and other people had to move and leave position where they have thrived to compensate, and the second level got a little bit weaker all around and with a guy like Cook, just a little bit can make all the difference.
2. Drake Maye - Maye actually LOOKED like an up-and-coming 2nd year 23-year-old tackling a new system and coaching staff. The pinpoint accuracy wasn't always there. The picture-perfect decision making didn't always show up. He was sacked 3 times and imo on 2 he seemed to have run himself INTO the sack when he had a opportunity to run away from it. Horror of horrors the kid made some WRONG decisions. But what was worse was that he had a chance to get his FIRST game winning 4th quarter drive and failed... miserably. There was the chance to make an MVP statement and he bombed, plain and simple
3. The receiving corps - This one is a bit nitpicking to say the least. There were 2 plays where missed catches dearly cost the Pats. The most obvious was the Henry "drop" on the final drive. It wasn't a great pass, and behind him, but one he usually makes and MIGHT have been the spark that got them going. 2nd, was a long pass in the endzone that hit Hollins' hands. Granted it would have been a remarkable catch in a game when Hollins had already made multiple remarkable catches, but it's the kind of a timely catch that our receivers have been making all year. Like I said, I'm nitpicking here. And how about Boutte getting only ONE target?
4. Coaching - Not saying I had the answers, but it seemed all year Josh was scheming our receivers open and suddenly in THIS game that wasn't happening very often, and I don't know why (though I plan to watch again later this week). So naturally I'll blame Josh for it. BTW GREAT job on the scheming up the run game. Then there was the stat they showed where they noted the Pats had called 6 designed runs this season for Drake and added another yesterday, that is WAY too few. 2-3 per GAME should be more like it. First, he's good at it, 2nd if you make it a real threat, then it will open up other things because you have to defend it,
5. On the defensive side, I saw early in the game the use of the 5-man front with someone on the nose a few times on run downs and it was pretty successful. I don't remember seeing much in the 2nd half except a few times on passing down when they were looking to blitz. Also, there were a LOT of missed tackles on Allen in the backfield in this game, but that's on the players. They should have had at LEAST 3 more sacks and that would have made a difference.
6. The refs - I don't usually cite the refs because I expect bad or suspect calls to go against because they also go for me at times. Take for example the long pass on the first TD drive that a case could have been made wasn't a catch was missed. But a case could also be made that AFTER that play the refs spent the rest of the game trying to make up for that call. What I cannot abide is when they made several ticky tack calls AGAINST the Pats and then let EGGREGIOUS holding calls go unnoticed time and time again. It was infuriating and needs to be called out.
7 Take aways, or lack thereof. - Every year you get teams like the Bears and Broncos who have huge pluses in TO ratio and that has helped them in winning a LOT of their games or rather keeps them from losing them. We didn't lose any TO's on Sunday but if you want to look at the difference in the 2 Bills games just look at the TOs We have had teams which seemed to be good at taking the ball away but why that happens cannot be counted on. Every team is teaching their tacklers to punch at the ball
8. KO coverage - Someone on the Bills spotted something on the tape because our usually reliable KO coverage shat the bed and gave up over 40 yds in returns on average. 2 times in a row the KO was brought back to our side of the 50 on the first 2 drives of 2nd half. We didn't have any TO's but those 2 returns in particular were like TOs to some degree in that with just one play they completely changed field position.
Now, this wasn't a disaster either. We lost a game by 4 points to one of the heavy favorites for the superbowl with the MVP QB who threw for just 197 yds There were some good things,
1. Tre Henderson continued his upward trajectory. I actually saw him make someone miss a tackle on a cut back instead of just blindly running straight ahead as hard as he can. His 2 long TD's were his usual just running away from everyone and were spectacular. It should also be mentioned that Stevenson averaged 8ypc as well as the OL opened some gaping holes today. Those were the 3 obvious standouts today, Henderson, Stevenson, and the OL
2. Mack Hollins looked like an elite #1 out there today. Well, that may be an overstatement, but he made some great grabs and seemed to be more open more often than our other receivers. BTW- Boutte had just ONE target and made a great catch. Why didn't he get more?
On to the Ravens - We go and play another desperate team, on the road, with an improving defense that just pitched a shutout (yeah, I know it was against the Jete, but I'm trying to make a point here). It will be a real hostile environment. I think I hate the Ravens more than any other team, they are a sneaky backstabbing organization. First to bend the rules and first to run to the league and claim foul, RLKAG!!!!!!!!\
At any rate, let us see how we react to a bad game, How we respond to this adversity, Is Drake just another nice young QB prospect, or is he really the "second coming",
