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- Jul 11, 2005
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1.If you had told me that the Pats were going to hold the Cowboys to 16 points I would have bet the house that they would have won the game by 3 scores, instead of 3 points. But that's not all I was wrong about this game.
a. If I knew where to make an illegal bet, I would have lost a lot of money betting the over on this game.
b. I you'd told me that the Pats were going to turn the ball over 4 times, I would have guaranteed a loss
c. I though this would be a game where the Pats would use 3 WRs a lot. Ocho got 7 snaps.
2. Despite all the flaws in execution and all the turnovers this was by far the best game the Pats played this entire year.
It was the best game because they proved they can over come the adversity of 4 TOs. They could make the big 3 and out at a critical point in the game. That they could make a game winning drive when behind. I it might seem odd, but it was quite a refreshing change from the sprint out to a lead, then hold on for dear life strategy that we've seen for most of the last few years. It was almost "old school" Patriot football
3. They might not play a more talented team, or more dangerous offense the entire year. IIRC this was the 3rd best passing offense in the league. And while the Pats did a great job in the running game, you can't help but like Felix Jones. He had some of the best 3 yd runs I have seen, bouncing off several would be tacklers just to gain a yard or two (Great pursuit by the Pats most of the day) Murray also looked like a quality back.
Face it guys this really was the toughest test the Pats have faced so far this season.....and they passed it. I wouldn't surprised at all to see them win the NFCE
4 The offense -
a. Lets start with the run game. The good part was that, against the best rushing D in the league, we averaged 4 ypc. and just over 100 yds The bad was the 4 runs for losses. That's just not good. We might never see Vareen in the backfield unless their's an injury. It wasn't a great day for the runners, but they were adequately complementary.
b. One of the reason's the Pats will have an effective run game going on into the season is the 2 TE, 2WR, 1 RB set, that has become our predominant formation...by far. What makes it go is how effective BOTH Gronk and Hernandez are as receivers and how good a run blocking OL we have.
2 TEs force defenses to widen and spreads them. On passes, outside rushers are often one Man wider than they would be. You get great blocking match ups on runs and/or protection. So teams really have to align to protect the run.
But their's the rub, because the Pats STILL have 4 very effective receivers who can quickly get down field. You rarely can rrisk keeping 8 men in the box. Then when you add all the motion options, it can be a real problem, because motion forces the D to declare coverage
So in the run game if a team goes to a nickel or dime defense with 5 or 6 DB, it creates favorable match ups - But when they stay with 4 DBs to stop the run, they open themselves up to the pass.
c. The OL was a mixed bag today. For the first time this year you saw some consistent pressure up the middle. The 3 sacks can be broken down like this. Light got beat by the best rusher in the league. Connolly and Waters played "you got 'em....no YOU got 'em". and got split on the 3 man rush sack. And the 3rd was a cover sack from Ware. Also there was one egregious blown block by Mankins.
STILL Brady has a lot of drop backs where he had tons of time. That was a very good pass rushing team. Plus the run game was effective The OL would probably deserve a B- for the day. Decent Job....room for improvement.
BTW I am REALLY looking forward to the time when we can bring out the 3 OT formation with Solder as the 2nd TE and Hernandez on the wing AHHHHHH maybe someday.
d. Thank god Brady was Brady on that last drive, because he had some very unBrady-like moments in this game. It looked like the first pick was deflected on the LOS, which "might" have caused the ball to be behind Branch and led to the pick, but the second one was clearly Brady doing his best Romo imitation, throwing the ball right into the FOUR Dallas Players who seemed to surround the only Pats player close to the ball. Plus on Hernandez's fumble catch,. Brady was late getting him the ball
Still he had some great throws into tight places too. He had 27 completions, and there were very few where Pats receivers were wide open. An ordinary QB who had a game winning drive like that would get a B. But on the Brady scale, I'm sure he'd give himself a C
e. How long is it going to be before some talking head tells us that Dallas has given the dreaded "blueprint" on how to stop Wes Welker
f. The Pats had 5 penalties today....somehow it seemed like more
g. I think the last drive proved to me that one way to break down the Rob Ryan scheme that we didn't use enough is the RB getting into the pattern. Woody was wide open both times Brady hit him. We didn't use that enough
DEFENSE -
1. The DL was stupendous all around. And while this wasn't a great pass rush, I think the DL made Romo more uncomfortable more consistently than any other QB this season, even when they didn't get to him. Still not what we'd like to see, but better than the last game, which was better than the game before that.
2. I thought that the Dallas offense were present more problems for the Pats D than any Team other than the Saints or the Packers. Teams we won't play until the superbow. I feel better about our chances if we get there
3. I don't know if the Pats have a 10th player award but if they do, I'd give it to Rob Ninkovitch who has been quietly effective setting the edge and rushing the passer all year. The best example of "do YOUR job" on the D.
4. OTOH, Jerrard Mayo can't get back on the field fast enough for me. You know me. I'm not a player basher, but Gary Guyton is going to make me a hypocrite soon if BB doesn't get him out of there. He is a detriment in the run game, and doesn't seem to be much of an asset in coverage either.
Fletcher is MUCH better in the run game, and how much worse can be be in the pass game. I'd like to see him get more time. If the self flagellating masochists want to start a poll on Gary Guyton, I'd vote YES to sitting him down.
5. On the plus side for the DBs, I'd have to think that Romo would have thrown to Austin and Bryant more if they had been open more. So I expect that the coverage was pretty good overall. OTOH, the tackling wasn't good. It was not only the missed tackles like McCourty on Robinson, and Chung/Guyton on Bryant, but there were a LOT of instances where the Cowboy receivers were getting and extra 3-5 yds after being hit
6. I also find it strange that neither the Pats OR the Cowboys took a single shot deep in this game. Given the receivers the Cowboys have you'd think that they'd have tried a least a couple of times. and up until today, the Pats have taken their shots down field 3 or 4 times a game previously. I'd love to see the coaches tapes to see what each team was doing to shut that off.
7. Albert teases us with a few more impact plays with each game he plays. I think by game ten we will finally start to see what the excitement was all about when we got him. It will be perfect timing for the stretch run and playoffs
SPECIAL TEAMS
The coverage teams did real well today, however we haven't had a big play from the return teams in a while. I was hoping we'd get one today.
Miscellaneous
a. I am pleased that the Ryan portion of the season is 2/3rds over....with 2 wins so far. Say what you will, they seem to have more success slowing down this offense than anyone else in the league
b. How can TB lose 48-3 to the offensively challenged 49ers last week and then beat everyone's 2nd favorite team today
c. On Monday, we can get the 4 guys he has on PUP back on the field to practice. though I think we have up to 4 weeks before we have to make a roster decision Is that correct?
d. When you thing about it, beating the Cowboys coming off the bye makes this win even more impressive
e. It seems like we COULD have nearly EVERYONE back by the time we play Pittsburgh. SWEET I really think Dowling is going to make a big difference in coverage once he gets a game or 2 under his belt. He can give us a bigger CB to o\play against the taller WRs or more coverage ability at the S position...or a little bit of both
f. I know its VERY unlikely to happen, BUT if the Jets ever lose to the Dolphins Monday night, there will be blood in the water for the NY media. It would be UGLY BTW - I think that Jet fans are going to be very surprised when they finally have to play the Bills The Bills are good
g. They did a poll on TV on whether you thought the team had improved since last season. Even though Brady has gone from Godlike to "merely" mortal excellence, I'd think that answer is a resounding YES and I'd be happy to list the ways if anyone disagrees, but this is too long already and I"m running out of steam. Good night
a. If I knew where to make an illegal bet, I would have lost a lot of money betting the over on this game.
b. I you'd told me that the Pats were going to turn the ball over 4 times, I would have guaranteed a loss
c. I though this would be a game where the Pats would use 3 WRs a lot. Ocho got 7 snaps.
2. Despite all the flaws in execution and all the turnovers this was by far the best game the Pats played this entire year.
It was the best game because they proved they can over come the adversity of 4 TOs. They could make the big 3 and out at a critical point in the game. That they could make a game winning drive when behind. I it might seem odd, but it was quite a refreshing change from the sprint out to a lead, then hold on for dear life strategy that we've seen for most of the last few years. It was almost "old school" Patriot football
3. They might not play a more talented team, or more dangerous offense the entire year. IIRC this was the 3rd best passing offense in the league. And while the Pats did a great job in the running game, you can't help but like Felix Jones. He had some of the best 3 yd runs I have seen, bouncing off several would be tacklers just to gain a yard or two (Great pursuit by the Pats most of the day) Murray also looked like a quality back.
Face it guys this really was the toughest test the Pats have faced so far this season.....and they passed it. I wouldn't surprised at all to see them win the NFCE
4 The offense -
a. Lets start with the run game. The good part was that, against the best rushing D in the league, we averaged 4 ypc. and just over 100 yds The bad was the 4 runs for losses. That's just not good. We might never see Vareen in the backfield unless their's an injury. It wasn't a great day for the runners, but they were adequately complementary.
b. One of the reason's the Pats will have an effective run game going on into the season is the 2 TE, 2WR, 1 RB set, that has become our predominant formation...by far. What makes it go is how effective BOTH Gronk and Hernandez are as receivers and how good a run blocking OL we have.
2 TEs force defenses to widen and spreads them. On passes, outside rushers are often one Man wider than they would be. You get great blocking match ups on runs and/or protection. So teams really have to align to protect the run.
But their's the rub, because the Pats STILL have 4 very effective receivers who can quickly get down field. You rarely can rrisk keeping 8 men in the box. Then when you add all the motion options, it can be a real problem, because motion forces the D to declare coverage
So in the run game if a team goes to a nickel or dime defense with 5 or 6 DB, it creates favorable match ups - But when they stay with 4 DBs to stop the run, they open themselves up to the pass.
c. The OL was a mixed bag today. For the first time this year you saw some consistent pressure up the middle. The 3 sacks can be broken down like this. Light got beat by the best rusher in the league. Connolly and Waters played "you got 'em....no YOU got 'em". and got split on the 3 man rush sack. And the 3rd was a cover sack from Ware. Also there was one egregious blown block by Mankins.
STILL Brady has a lot of drop backs where he had tons of time. That was a very good pass rushing team. Plus the run game was effective The OL would probably deserve a B- for the day. Decent Job....room for improvement.
BTW I am REALLY looking forward to the time when we can bring out the 3 OT formation with Solder as the 2nd TE and Hernandez on the wing AHHHHHH maybe someday.
d. Thank god Brady was Brady on that last drive, because he had some very unBrady-like moments in this game. It looked like the first pick was deflected on the LOS, which "might" have caused the ball to be behind Branch and led to the pick, but the second one was clearly Brady doing his best Romo imitation, throwing the ball right into the FOUR Dallas Players who seemed to surround the only Pats player close to the ball. Plus on Hernandez's fumble catch,. Brady was late getting him the ball
Still he had some great throws into tight places too. He had 27 completions, and there were very few where Pats receivers were wide open. An ordinary QB who had a game winning drive like that would get a B. But on the Brady scale, I'm sure he'd give himself a C
e. How long is it going to be before some talking head tells us that Dallas has given the dreaded "blueprint" on how to stop Wes Welker
f. The Pats had 5 penalties today....somehow it seemed like more
g. I think the last drive proved to me that one way to break down the Rob Ryan scheme that we didn't use enough is the RB getting into the pattern. Woody was wide open both times Brady hit him. We didn't use that enough
DEFENSE -
1. The DL was stupendous all around. And while this wasn't a great pass rush, I think the DL made Romo more uncomfortable more consistently than any other QB this season, even when they didn't get to him. Still not what we'd like to see, but better than the last game, which was better than the game before that.
2. I thought that the Dallas offense were present more problems for the Pats D than any Team other than the Saints or the Packers. Teams we won't play until the superbow. I feel better about our chances if we get there
3. I don't know if the Pats have a 10th player award but if they do, I'd give it to Rob Ninkovitch who has been quietly effective setting the edge and rushing the passer all year. The best example of "do YOUR job" on the D.
4. OTOH, Jerrard Mayo can't get back on the field fast enough for me. You know me. I'm not a player basher, but Gary Guyton is going to make me a hypocrite soon if BB doesn't get him out of there. He is a detriment in the run game, and doesn't seem to be much of an asset in coverage either.
Fletcher is MUCH better in the run game, and how much worse can be be in the pass game. I'd like to see him get more time. If the self flagellating masochists want to start a poll on Gary Guyton, I'd vote YES to sitting him down.
5. On the plus side for the DBs, I'd have to think that Romo would have thrown to Austin and Bryant more if they had been open more. So I expect that the coverage was pretty good overall. OTOH, the tackling wasn't good. It was not only the missed tackles like McCourty on Robinson, and Chung/Guyton on Bryant, but there were a LOT of instances where the Cowboy receivers were getting and extra 3-5 yds after being hit
6. I also find it strange that neither the Pats OR the Cowboys took a single shot deep in this game. Given the receivers the Cowboys have you'd think that they'd have tried a least a couple of times. and up until today, the Pats have taken their shots down field 3 or 4 times a game previously. I'd love to see the coaches tapes to see what each team was doing to shut that off.
7. Albert teases us with a few more impact plays with each game he plays. I think by game ten we will finally start to see what the excitement was all about when we got him. It will be perfect timing for the stretch run and playoffs
SPECIAL TEAMS
The coverage teams did real well today, however we haven't had a big play from the return teams in a while. I was hoping we'd get one today.
Miscellaneous
a. I am pleased that the Ryan portion of the season is 2/3rds over....with 2 wins so far. Say what you will, they seem to have more success slowing down this offense than anyone else in the league
b. How can TB lose 48-3 to the offensively challenged 49ers last week and then beat everyone's 2nd favorite team today
c. On Monday, we can get the 4 guys he has on PUP back on the field to practice. though I think we have up to 4 weeks before we have to make a roster decision Is that correct?
d. When you thing about it, beating the Cowboys coming off the bye makes this win even more impressive
e. It seems like we COULD have nearly EVERYONE back by the time we play Pittsburgh. SWEET I really think Dowling is going to make a big difference in coverage once he gets a game or 2 under his belt. He can give us a bigger CB to o\play against the taller WRs or more coverage ability at the S position...or a little bit of both
f. I know its VERY unlikely to happen, BUT if the Jets ever lose to the Dolphins Monday night, there will be blood in the water for the NY media. It would be UGLY BTW - I think that Jet fans are going to be very surprised when they finally have to play the Bills The Bills are good
g. They did a poll on TV on whether you thought the team had improved since last season. Even though Brady has gone from Godlike to "merely" mortal excellence, I'd think that answer is a resounding YES and I'd be happy to list the ways if anyone disagrees, but this is too long already and I"m running out of steam. Good night