- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 15,532
- Reaction score
- 27,569
For three quarters of the game I watched the game waiting for my tournament to start. So I haven’t read anything on the board so if your pardon any redundancies I might make I will spare you the 2 bad beat stories that cost me my chance at the championship. (you have to be both good and LUCKY to win 
)
Lets get the negativity out of the way first.
1. Do you want to know why the Pats have looked so bad on run defense the last 2 weeks, you have to look no further than the ILB’s Mostly Hightower and Spikes. The announcers made it look like it was the Pats NT/DT’s, but believe me, I thought they did a decent job moving down the line. What we weren’t getting was ANY fill from our ILB. Nothing - Zero - Ziltch.
Those of you with the benefit of replay will want to confirm this later this week. But I was watched specifically and both Spikes and Hightower were rarely there to fill gaps. Spikes in particular pissed me off because he just seemed to be guessing a gap and just running into it. If the RB was stupid enough to run that gap it was a stop, but most of the time it wasn’t and Spikes was no where to help
So while Spikes was just guessing wrong most of the time, Hightower found it very difficult to shed blocks. Something you would think would be an asset for a 270lb LB. But Texan G’s seemed to adhere to Dant’a like Velcro most of the time.
It was awful. I just was thinking that when was the last time we saw 2 TD’s runs against the Pats that were longer than 10 yds, when they ran in a 3rd of 8yds that could have been 38 All three untouched into the end zone. It was HORRIFYING.
2. I’m sure Chandler Jones didn’t have a bad game, just not the one I’d expect from a team’s best player on the defensive front. Not once did he ever just “beat” his man. Every time he did put pressure on Keenum it was a pure effort rush that created pressure due to good coverage as much as a good rush. In a depleted D, we are going to need a lot more from our “star” players
3. I’m just as disappointed that the coaches didn’t scheme some stunts and/or blitzes for the D. It wasn’t until the last 2 series of the game that they seemed to dial up any real aggressive D’s and not surprisingly, they worked rather well. Where were they the OTHER 55 minutes of the game, Matt?
4. After a masterful performance against the Broncos on pass defense, they made some grievous mental errors in the secondary. I haven’t seen guys that open down field this entire season. There were several break downs where someone messed up big time. Hard to blame people without knowing the assignment, but I AM sure that there are people who aren’t looking forward to Monday’s film breakdown. And to add insult to injury, the tackling was at its worst for several games as well.
5. Relative to him, Brady didn’t excel in the first half either. The pick he threw to Gronk should have been a completion. Gronk was well behind the defender and Brady just under threw it badly.
BTW- this is just a perfect example of the vagaries of being a DB in the NFL. If Brady throws a good pass, Texan fans and media are all over his case for being beaten so badly. The pass is just a bit under thrown and he’s a hero for making the pick. Not much of a margin between success and failure for an NFL DB
And there were other passes that Brady threw to the wrong shoulder or to the wrong man and the usual miss of a long pass to an open receiver ….again, A more accurate pass might have spared Thomkins an injury as well as gained more yds. Over all it would have been a career game for some QB’s but for our Tommy, he’s going to need to be better the next 3 weeks.
6. I stated in another thread, if Ridley being a healthy scratch is about LAST week, I’m against his benching. If its about some continuing problems during the week, then I certainly understand. Too bad we’ll never know.
That being said, this wasn’t a great run D, and you can see where we miss Steven. However, when he isn’t running the ball, I want to see Vareen and Blount with it, not Bolden. I like the way Vareen runs the ball and I’m REALLY liking the way Blount has been recently.
I understand that he can’t put the ball on the ground, but he’s the guy who makes our running game better than average. We are going to need him in the playoffs, so now is the time to build him back up so he’s on all cylinders come playoff time
Now the Positive stuff
1. I was one of those who didn’t see the purpose in giving up ANY draft picks for LaGarrett Blout. And believe me, nothing he did the first half of the season did anything to change my mind. He was STILL that guy who was 250lbs and ran soft, didn’t fall forward, and danced in holes looking for the big play.
Well stock up ANOTHER one up to BB and his staff, because the LaGarrett Blount I’ve seen the last 3 games is EXACTLY what we hoped he would be, which is a 250 lb wrecking ball bulling his way into holes and pushing the pile every time he gets the ball.
I have no idea what they said to him, or what they did, but that isn’t the same guy who was with the team the first 2 and half months of the season. Now that kid is an asset.
2. Julian Edelman is going to wind up with over 90 catches and 900 yds this regular season and finally put to rest those who maligned him for the last 3 years. You know who you are, and very few have come out to admit those mistakes. He is NOT a WR you build your offense around, but his can be a valuable PIECE. He’s very versatile and runs the tough routes. I hope the Pats can resign him, though I think it will take something in the order of $3MM/yr to do it.
3. The Gronk truly has the most impact of any offensive player not playing the QB position in the league. His TD was simply AWESOME. But what he does on a play by play basis both in the passing and run game is way above the passing impact that other great receiving TE’s , like Jimmy Graham bring to the table. Like the other’s Gronk now is there to attack all areas of the field. He has the body control of a diva WR, so he can split wide, and the blocking ability of a top FB/TE so he not only makes your running game go, but makes the play action pass game so much more effective.
God I hope his ankle is alright.
4. The OL did a very nice job against an excellent front 7, especially in the 2nd half. Dante does a great job figuring out how to quickly adjust to even the most successful of schemes other coaches come up with. Very rarely do they work more than once.
5. The virtual absence of penalty flags was such a breadth of fresh air, I could hardly believe it. The game is SO much better when there isn’t a penalty flag dropping every other play.
General Comments
1. We can’t keep giving up double digit leads and hope to keep winning these games. How’s that for stating the obvious..
2. I thought Keenan did a really nice job. He obviously throws a very nice deep ball. I was surprised however when I saw the stats. Watching the game I was left with a clear impression that he had thrown for a lot better than a 50% completion rate. Maybe the 2ndary did better than I thought.
3. This game couldn’t have worked out better for the Texans. They have to feel pretty good about themselves. They played a hard game against a good team, that they could have won. They may have found themselves their next QB, and in the end they didn’t drop a single slot in their quest for a top 3 draft pick next April. Win-Win- Win
4. Just something to keep an eye on, but since his bye, Wes Welker has averaged only 5 catches, around 40 yds per game, and no TD’s. Is the “lillte engine that could” running out of gas, or just in a slump after a super hot start.
5. Andre Johnson could be my favorite non-Patriot in the league. The guy is just SOOOOOOO good. Imagine what his numbers could have been if he’d spent 5 or 6 years on a team with a really good QB. They’d have been Jerry Rice like.
6. The next 4 games are ALL going to be much harder, starting with Browns who have been competitive and it will be another “superbowl game” for them so we will get their best. Then our old friend the Ravens in Baltimore. Then a desperate Miami team at home, likely still looking for a playoff bid, and finishing up against a Bills team that keeps losing despite playing very competitively, and another team playing for their jobs in “their” superbowl game.
The offense is coming along fine, but the defense HAS to make improvements…..AND get healthier somehow if we are looking at a bye and a long run in the playoffs.
Comments?
)Lets get the negativity out of the way first.
1. Do you want to know why the Pats have looked so bad on run defense the last 2 weeks, you have to look no further than the ILB’s Mostly Hightower and Spikes. The announcers made it look like it was the Pats NT/DT’s, but believe me, I thought they did a decent job moving down the line. What we weren’t getting was ANY fill from our ILB. Nothing - Zero - Ziltch.
Those of you with the benefit of replay will want to confirm this later this week. But I was watched specifically and both Spikes and Hightower were rarely there to fill gaps. Spikes in particular pissed me off because he just seemed to be guessing a gap and just running into it. If the RB was stupid enough to run that gap it was a stop, but most of the time it wasn’t and Spikes was no where to help
So while Spikes was just guessing wrong most of the time, Hightower found it very difficult to shed blocks. Something you would think would be an asset for a 270lb LB. But Texan G’s seemed to adhere to Dant’a like Velcro most of the time.
It was awful. I just was thinking that when was the last time we saw 2 TD’s runs against the Pats that were longer than 10 yds, when they ran in a 3rd of 8yds that could have been 38
All three untouched into the end zone. It was HORRIFYING.2. I’m sure Chandler Jones didn’t have a bad game, just not the one I’d expect from a team’s best player on the defensive front. Not once did he ever just “beat” his man. Every time he did put pressure on Keenum it was a pure effort rush that created pressure due to good coverage as much as a good rush. In a depleted D, we are going to need a lot more from our “star” players
3. I’m just as disappointed that the coaches didn’t scheme some stunts and/or blitzes for the D. It wasn’t until the last 2 series of the game that they seemed to dial up any real aggressive D’s and not surprisingly, they worked rather well. Where were they the OTHER 55 minutes of the game, Matt?
4. After a masterful performance against the Broncos on pass defense, they made some grievous mental errors in the secondary. I haven’t seen guys that open down field this entire season. There were several break downs where someone messed up big time. Hard to blame people without knowing the assignment, but I AM sure that there are people who aren’t looking forward to Monday’s film breakdown. And to add insult to injury, the tackling was at its worst for several games as well.
5. Relative to him, Brady didn’t excel in the first half either. The pick he threw to Gronk should have been a completion. Gronk was well behind the defender and Brady just under threw it badly.
BTW- this is just a perfect example of the vagaries of being a DB in the NFL. If Brady throws a good pass, Texan fans and media are all over his case for being beaten so badly. The pass is just a bit under thrown and he’s a hero for making the pick. Not much of a margin between success and failure for an NFL DB
And there were other passes that Brady threw to the wrong shoulder or to the wrong man and the usual miss of a long pass to an open receiver ….again, A more accurate pass might have spared Thomkins an injury as well as gained more yds. Over all it would have been a career game for some QB’s but for our Tommy, he’s going to need to be better the next 3 weeks.
6. I stated in another thread, if Ridley being a healthy scratch is about LAST week, I’m against his benching. If its about some continuing problems during the week, then I certainly understand. Too bad we’ll never know.
That being said, this wasn’t a great run D, and you can see where we miss Steven. However, when he isn’t running the ball, I want to see Vareen and Blount with it, not Bolden. I like the way Vareen runs the ball and I’m REALLY liking the way Blount has been recently.
I understand that he can’t put the ball on the ground, but he’s the guy who makes our running game better than average. We are going to need him in the playoffs, so now is the time to build him back up so he’s on all cylinders come playoff time
Now the Positive stuff
1. I was one of those who didn’t see the purpose in giving up ANY draft picks for LaGarrett Blout. And believe me, nothing he did the first half of the season did anything to change my mind. He was STILL that guy who was 250lbs and ran soft, didn’t fall forward, and danced in holes looking for the big play.
Well stock up ANOTHER one up to BB and his staff, because the LaGarrett Blount I’ve seen the last 3 games is EXACTLY what we hoped he would be, which is a 250 lb wrecking ball bulling his way into holes and pushing the pile every time he gets the ball.
I have no idea what they said to him, or what they did, but that isn’t the same guy who was with the team the first 2 and half months of the season. Now that kid is an asset.
2. Julian Edelman is going to wind up with over 90 catches and 900 yds this regular season and finally put to rest those who maligned him for the last 3 years. You know who you are, and very few have come out to admit those mistakes. He is NOT a WR you build your offense around, but his can be a valuable PIECE. He’s very versatile and runs the tough routes. I hope the Pats can resign him, though I think it will take something in the order of $3MM/yr to do it.
3. The Gronk truly has the most impact of any offensive player not playing the QB position in the league. His TD was simply AWESOME. But what he does on a play by play basis both in the passing and run game is way above the passing impact that other great receiving TE’s , like Jimmy Graham bring to the table. Like the other’s Gronk now is there to attack all areas of the field. He has the body control of a diva WR, so he can split wide, and the blocking ability of a top FB/TE so he not only makes your running game go, but makes the play action pass game so much more effective.
God I hope his ankle is alright.
4. The OL did a very nice job against an excellent front 7, especially in the 2nd half. Dante does a great job figuring out how to quickly adjust to even the most successful of schemes other coaches come up with. Very rarely do they work more than once.
5. The virtual absence of penalty flags was such a breadth of fresh air, I could hardly believe it. The game is SO much better when there isn’t a penalty flag dropping every other play.
General Comments
1. We can’t keep giving up double digit leads and hope to keep winning these games. How’s that for stating the obvious.
.2. I thought Keenan did a really nice job. He obviously throws a very nice deep ball. I was surprised however when I saw the stats. Watching the game I was left with a clear impression that he had thrown for a lot better than a 50% completion rate. Maybe the 2ndary did better than I thought.
3. This game couldn’t have worked out better for the Texans. They have to feel pretty good about themselves. They played a hard game against a good team, that they could have won. They may have found themselves their next QB, and in the end they didn’t drop a single slot in their quest for a top 3 draft pick next April. Win-Win- Win
4. Just something to keep an eye on, but since his bye, Wes Welker has averaged only 5 catches, around 40 yds per game, and no TD’s. Is the “lillte engine that could” running out of gas, or just in a slump after a super hot start.
5. Andre Johnson could be my favorite non-Patriot in the league. The guy is just SOOOOOOO good. Imagine what his numbers could have been if he’d spent 5 or 6 years on a team with a really good QB. They’d have been Jerry Rice like.
6. The next 4 games are ALL going to be much harder, starting with Browns who have been competitive and it will be another “superbowl game” for them so we will get their best. Then our old friend the Ravens in Baltimore. Then a desperate Miami team at home, likely still looking for a playoff bid, and finishing up against a Bills team that keeps losing despite playing very competitively, and another team playing for their jobs in “their” superbowl game.
The offense is coming along fine, but the defense HAS to make improvements…..AND get healthier somehow if we are looking at a bye and a long run in the playoffs.
Comments?
