Idle thoughts - the "shoot out" edition

[patfanken]

As entertaining a game as that was, I REALLY hate these late night games because it means I will be up past 3am getting this done. Good thing I'm old and don't need much sleep. The good news is that we are 4-2 and have cut the KC lead for home field advantage to 1, and WE have the #1 tiebreaker. The bad news is I had the Pats in my football pool and despite playing a 5-0 team, they had to win by more than 3.5 points.

But for us none of that matters. There are NO style points when you look at the standings, and HOW you won a game in October will matter little as they are preparing for the playoffs in January. The team could be a lot different before that time, and hopefully for the better, but we shall see. It's just past one so lets get down to the breakdown. I once started the breakdown with the comment that this was all about the defense. Well for this one it is clear that it was all about the offense and with 3 consecutive wins scoring 38, 38, and 43 it will likely to stay that way for a while.

1. OFFENSE - General - The league has gotten so soft in recent years I'm wondering if offenses are so skillful, defenses so hamstrung, or is game rigged this way, but the scoring production these last 3 weeks are pretty impressive, ESPECIALLY when the QB keeps telling us that they continued to leave points on the field and can be better. And I believe him. It seemed to me that Gordon and Brady are still not on the same page for every play, and Hogan was open a few times yet not targeted. And think about a time when Michel gets integrated into the passing attack and how that would make HIM even more productive. With an offense potentially THIS powerful, they will always be "in the game" at the very end.

36 passes for 340 yds and 34 runs for 173 shows great balance AND great production. That have truly become a team that can beat you either way and will be tough for teams to game plan for.

2. QB - Brady was great again for the most part. He completed 68% of his passes while the Pats converted on 53% of their 3rd down conversions, though that stat might be misleading for both teams (KC converted 40% of THEIR 3rd down attempts) because both teams converted so many of their first downs on first and 2nd downs.

There WAS a point in the 3rd quarter where I thought Brady became impatient and started to throw the ball deep when he didn't have to. Also it was during this time where he seemed to miss a wide open Hogan a few times and instead threw more difficult throws to others. Of course the 2 fumbles were also Brady's fault when you come down to it. Both times he WAS given the time to get rid of the ball.

But that's nitpicking. He did throw for well over 340 yds, had no picks, and got his team to produce 43 points and for the 43rd time led his team to a game wining drive when tied or behind in the 4th quarter. The pass to Gronk was a thing of beauty.

3. OL - This was the best the OL looked this year. They not only pass blocked effectively, it was their best run blocking game this season. Lots of holes for the RB's to get through this time. Hard to figure out exactly what was happening and how much of it was because of KC's ineptitude or our good play. The rewatch thread will hopefully help us figure out what they were doing.

They gave up 2 sacks, but that was more on Brady than KC. Also according to one stat I read, they only gave up 1 QB hit. Finally it looks like Cannon went down again. Head injury (read concussion) was the reason given. Lets see how it works out, IIRC that was his 3rd over the last few years. Waddle did a fine job coming in, but Cannon is better. Here's hoping he's back before too long.

3. Receivers - Gordon made baby steps forward. He has REALLY strong hands and I love the way he snatches the ball out of the air. He can SO close to catching that ball in the end zone despite being tackled before the ball got their. He also clearly misread what Brady wanted him to do on a couple of throws including 2 on that first drive. So he continues to tease us with his talent. It is exciting knowing that he hasn't scratched the surface of what he can be down the road. He will certainly be better in December, and hopefully even better than that with a full off-season program. Christ, he's pretty effective now and I bet he's only 30% of what he could be. He's THAT good.

When teams are concentrating on Gronk, Gordon, Edelman and White it is incumbent on Chris Hogan to get separation. Well its starting to look like that is starting to happen after being unable to do it before Edelman and Gordon arrived on the scene. Hopefully Brady will take advantage of that more often. 4 catches for 84 yds is a productive night for any WR.

Edelman also added 4 catches for 54 yds and a TD as he continues to round into game shape

Finally there's Gronk. Just 3 catches, but for 97 yds including the game winning catch. Also after watching Gronk be key in the 173 rushing yds as a blocker and watching Kelce NOT be a factor beyond being a receiver, I would opine that the question of who is the best TE in the league, should is over. It's not even close. Gronk is CLEARLY the best WR in the game and Kelce is a great slot RECEIVER, but not a great TE.

5. Offense in retrospect - It's pretty great, but like the QB said, it could end up being a lot better. Chicago has a one of the better defenses in the league and will be playing at home after laying an egg the week before. They will be the more desperate teams, and teams coming off bad games have often turned it around very quickly, so this will be a great test. Also it was pointed out to be that the Pats will be play 6 of the next 8 games on the road. The offense is going to HAVE to continue to be effective if we are to win a great majority of these game. The Bears will be a true test.

6. RB's - What's not to like. Michel continues to look like a great pick, which is exciting to see, especially when you know there is still a lot of upside in this kid. When they start to use him more in the passing game it could get a lot better. James White continues to be one of more consistent sources of offensive production. He's become more than just a "3rd down back". Now I do NOT want to see him run the ball much, but he DID have a few solid runs including one where I saw him knock the back when he was being tackled. 92 yds in total offense has become a number to be expected from James. Even KBarner did well in his short fill in capacity.

General Defensive thoughts - Hard to be positive when the defense gives up 40 points including THIRTY ONE in the 2nd half alone. But positive I will try to be. The KC offense really IS a daunting task for anyone to deal with. Watkins, Kelce, Hill, and Hunt are a real fearsome foursome for any DC to stop. Down the road, Hill and Hunt would be a bigger worry for me than Brown and Bell.

Also while I was starting to get annoyed with all the Mahomes hype before the game started, I think by the end of the game you had to come away with the feeling it wasn't just hype. To me he was every bit as as good as advertised, at least in my opinion. He made a couple of key throws on the run and right on the money under pressure. I counted at least 3 than made think WOW! Now I understand it's early in the process. It's only his 6th game and the league can quickly catch up with a QB who starts out with great promise. Dak Prescott comes to mind. But that being said, it is hard not to like what you. The Hightower pick was less a bad pass (it looked to me to be right on target, but a great play from Hightower to get underneath the pass's path. His 2nd pick, while in traffic, was right on target. More a great play by Harmon than a bad pass from Mahomes.

So you have a very talented QB who is surrounded by at least 4 A level talents and an excellent offensive mind in his ear. Clearly your defense isn't likely to have one its better nights playing against this kind of team, but actually they did a great job in the first half holding the Chiefs to just 9 points. So lets try to figure out why they were so successful in the first half and what changed in the 2nd half.

7. Front 7 - While they didn't have a sack and only had 3 QB hits, I thought the front 7 did a decent job containing Mahomes while at the same time consistently making them feel their presence and get the ball out quickly and thus forced a number of inaccurate throws by Mahomes. Even on those 3 throws that made me go "WOW" when he extended plays outside the box, he still was being rushed by oncoming players. Holding him for 2 rushes and only 9 yds is pretty impressive. So at least in THIS aspect of the game, I think the Pats accomplished what they wanted. They, for the most part, kept him contained and didn't allow him to run around and gain much yardage on the ground

I would opine that they also got what they wanted in "containing" Kelce He did have 5 catches for 61 yds, but almost half of that production came on KC's first drive. After that he wasn't a big factor except for one pick play that got him loose for a 15 yd gain in the 2nd half. If you had told me Kelce would end up with 5 for 61 and no TD's on 9 targets, I would have taken it in a nanosecond.

Flowers stood out on the DL and Hightower had his most impactful game in a LONG while making several good plays including his pick. He was also an integral part of keeping Kelce under control by constantly beating him up on the LOS. Sure there were a few times when he got stuck in an impossible match up that it didn't look good, but that seemed to get cleared up as the game wore on.

ERoberts also had a strong game tied for the lead in tackles with Flowers and even got a PD. He's slowly becoming not a liability on the field. On the other hand, after coming off 2 very good games, KVN disappointed me in missing 2 tackles on 3rd down that would have gotten his team off the field and Brady on it. Granted Hill and Hunt are both tough to bring down in open space, but great players need to make plays like that and KVN aspires to be that good.

8. DB's - I think we all need to see the rewatch thread to try and figure out what went wrong in the 2nd half that allowed all the open space Hill had to maneuver in. Collingsworth thought that there was a busted coverage on the last Hill TD. Clearly Harmon had no chance against a speeding crossing pattern by Hill. Hill was going a full speed, while Harmon had to start from a stationary position in the deep middle. He had no chance.

I think Gilmore was great again. It looked like he was given responsibility for Watkins and held him to just 2 catches for 19 yds of 4 targets and on one of those catches it looked like they were in a zone type coverage. My pregame hope was that Gilmore would erase Watkins as a significant threat and he did.

Again it will take the rewatch thread to break down exactly WHERE the break downs were primarily with Hill. Its one thing to have him catch a ball in tight coverage. It looked to me that he was running with YARDS of separation on a number of those catches. That is NOT what you expect against the opposing teams' top threat. I'd like to know the why of what happened. The next time they get together I'd expect Hill to be the top target for BB to stop.

The KHunt long TD happened when, on 3rd and 3 he ran a wheel route and ran by Harmon when he stepped up to close on what he thought would be a quick pass to Hunt. Was Harmon supposed to have someone in the deep outside to protect him, OR was he simply guessing a short throw to pick up the first down, and instead watched the guy run past him. I don't know.

9, ST's - Well except for a perfect job by Gotskowskin and the FG team, this was a special teams' disaster. To go along with the 98 yd KO return that led to an easy TD, there were 3 more returns that got passed the 30, PLUS a grounder that didn't get by the KC front 5 and gave KC field position beyond the 40 yd line. Normally I appreciate the thought that would allow a return. In the past we won these match ups, but not recently. The near TD Kick return was particularly disappointing since it had become clear that short kicks were NOT working. After this I'd like to see every future KO go thru the endzone.

10. Officials. - I don't know who this crew was but the fact they barely threw ANY flags was very refreshing. IIRC the Pats had only 2 flags throw against them and neither was accepted. KC only got 5 flags and the only one that was impactful was the PI on Gordon that put the ball on the one. But there was no doubt that WAS a PI the DB knocked Gordon down before the ball got there. So in the end, I'd like to see these nameless refs back again.

I had only one complaint and its a minor one. I think they SHOULD have called interference on the lone punt of the game. The officials claimed the guy was blocked INTO Edelman, when in fact it was the defender who was blocking the blocker PAST Julian and then hit the returner before the ball got there. In the end it didn't matter much, but it was a flaw in an otherwise great job by these refs.

11. Some league observations - I thought there were a LOT of surprising scores this week. I never thought Miami would have a shot, especially with Tannyhill out. Maybe I shouldn't have since Osweiler beat us a few years ago. I was shocked that the Rams barely sqeaked by the Broncos or Jacksonville got BURIED by a mediocre Dallas team. And then their's the 3-3 Jets, who not only beat the Colts they put up 42 in doing it.

It should be noted that the much maligned AFCE has 3 teams at .5oo or better, and the worst team in the division still has 2 wins. Maybe it's time to realize that the AFCE has never been the source of the Pats success and aren't the 'tomato cans' everyone thinks they are.

12 - On to Chicago - Easy to think that this game will be a walk over after their loss to the Phins in Miami, but recent league history has shown that a team coming home after a bad road loss have done very well the following week, so I expect this one to be very difficult. The Bears will be desperate to recover from that bad loss against a back up QB.

OK Its almost 4 and I'm nodding off. I have more to say but it will have to come tomorrow. So I'll just post this now and add it later when I'm more coherent. Sorry about any errors or typos, I'm not taking the time to edit. Enjoy the win, I know I will. And as usual your comments are welcom

 

[edkk323]

8. DB's - I think we all need to see the rewatch thread to try and figure out what went wrong in the 2nd half that allowed all the open space Hill had to maneuver in. Collingsworth thought that there was a busted coverage on the last Hill TD. Clearly Harmon had no chance against a speeding crossing pattern by Hill. Hill was going a full speed, while Harmon had to start from a stationary position in the deep middle. He had no chance.

The D was generally good except two third down miss tackles by Van Noy and two blown coverage by the McCourty brothers.

With a absolute speedster like Hill, one mistake is all it takes and the Pats gave him two.

Tom Brady's fumble was bad. I thought he stared down at Gordon a bit too much.

 

[Tony2046]

Man. What a game. Great game plan by the Pats. The Pats had the ball for 36 minutes of the game and put up 43 points. Save for a couple of defensive plays they did their job.

31 first downs. 173 yards rushing. 500 total yards. Wow.

Left no time on the clock at the end of the game. Perfect.

 

[maineman209]

Brady nearly got himself picked off at one point when he targeted Gordon in tight coverage. The DB had a much better chance at the ball, but Gordon instantly turned into the defender and broke up the interception. Might have been Gordon's best play of the game and one of his best since he became a Pat.

On Hill's wide open deep-crosser TD, it seemed to me that Harmon thought that he had help somewhere to his right. As Hill begins to cross Harmon's face from left-to-right, Harmon turns his hips to the left, in the opposite direction. By the time Harmon corrects, it's pretty much all over, although Harmon did compound the problem by taking a bad angle. Actually, for almost any receiver BUT Hill, Harmon's angle probably would've been good enough.

Similar mistake from JMac on Hunt's big TD play. He seemed to let Hunt go as if he expected help behind him (possibly from Harmon). Still JMac demonstrated that he's NOT "slow". He caught up to Hunt just before Hunt got to the goal line. If JMac had reacted a step earlier, he might have prevented the score.

On the big KR, I thought that a different officiating crew might have thrown a flag against the KC player who was on Slater. The KC player clear had Slater by the jersey/shoulder pads for a second, and the pushed him to the turf from behind.

I think it's worth noting that the Chiefs scored twice from short fields (Brady's fumble and the 97-yard KR) and scored twice on totally blown coverages. The Pats didn't get any "gifts" like those and still put up 43 points (while also "leaving some plays on the field").

 

[edkk323]

On Hill's wide open deep-crosser TD, it seemed to me that Harmon thought that he had help somewhere to his right. As Hill begins to cross Harmon's face from left-to-right, Harmon turns his hips to the left, in the opposite direction. By the time Harmon corrects, it's pretty much all over, although Harmon did compound the problem by taking a bad angle. Actually, for almost any receiver BUT Hill, Harmon's angle probably would've been good enough.

JMac was staring at QB on that play. I have no idea what was he trying to accomplish.
D was good except Two big blown coverage from McCourty brothers and two miss tackles from Van Noy. Plus two bad special team plays and one fumble.

A very close one.

 

[luuked]

Of course the 2 fumbles were also Brady's fault when you come down to it. Both times he WAS given the time to get rid of the ball.

The first fumble really was a bad job in pass protection by Michel. He is still growing doing this against top NFL talent (i.e. Chris Jones in this case) and so his use outside the running game remains relatively limited. At least they are now getting comfortable enough to the point of putting him out there instead of avoiding it wholesale. If he can become more reliable in that aspect until the playoffs then suddenly this will add another whole layer to the offense and his game.

The second fumble is pretty clearly on Brady. Unfortunately it was not only a turnover but also the play where we lost Cannon to what most probably will be his fourth or fifth concussion. As Lombardi said.. who knows if we will see him again this year.

But that's nitpicking. He did throw for well over 340 yds, had no picks, and got his team to produce 43 points and for the 43rd time led his team to a game wining drive when tied or behind in the 4th quarter. The pass to Gronk was a thing of beauty.

I agree, apart from the fumble Brady played well. There were a couple of plays where he just did not find the open player for whatever reason (Hogan twice, Edelman was open in the flat on Bradys TD run..). But that looks often easier from the tv angle than when you are behind your OL trying not to get smashed by NFL level pass rushers. Also I don't want to see him underthrow Gordon (or anyone) if that player has already beaten coverage. Overthrowing is always safer than the opposite.

OL - This was the best the OL looked this year. They not only pass blocked effectively, it was their best run blocking game this season. Lots of holes for the RB's to get through this time. Hard to figure out exactly what was happening and how much of it was because of KC's ineptitude or our good play. The rewatch thread will hopefully help us figure out what they were doing.

The OL is so far the most consistent unit this season and this might be what really separates us from others in the end. If they can keep giving Brady the time to find the open Hogan, Gronk or Gordon on those deeper routes whenever opponents are flooding the middle then there won't be any team that can stop us.

Gordon made baby steps forward. He has REALLY strong hands and I love the way he snatches the ball out of the air. He can SO close to catching that ball in the end zone despite being tackled before the ball got their. He also clearly misread what Brady wanted him to do on a couple of throws including 2 on that first drive.

I think after the post BYE Gordon will look a lot more efficient than the current version of him. That is if he finally learns to run those comeback routes properly and doesn't get in trouble.

The KHunt long TD happened when, on 3rd and 3 he ran a wheel route and ran by Harmon when he stepped up to close on what he thought would be a quick pass to Hunt. Was Harmon supposed to have someone in the deep outside to protect him, OR was he simply guessing a short throw to pick up the first down, and instead watched the guy run past him. I don't know.

That was DMac who jumped the inside pass which imo was the right move because the slant Hill ran was an easier completion for a first down than what Mahomes hit to Hunt. JMac definitely could have played that better but then again the window to complete that pass given that Mahomes was under pressure and on the move was so small that this is just a fabulous play.

Collingsworth thought that there was a busted coverage on the last Hill TD. Clearly Harmon had no chance against a speeding crossing pattern by Hill. Hill was going a full speed, while Harmon had to start from a stationary position in the deep middle. He had no chance.

According to Lazar they have been giving Hill free releases most of the night and it worked until it didn't anymore (more than half of his yardage he gained on that one play):

Again it will take the rewatch thread to break down exactly WHERE the break downs were primarily with Hill. Its one thing to have him catch a ball in tight coverage. It looked to me that he was running with YARDS of separation on a number of those catches.

I honestly don't think it was that bad.

First TD:



His second TD (the third down after the kick return) Hill ran a route in the endzone through all the traffic that got DMac picked by JJones. That was the reason Hill got so open on that overthrown ball to Hunt.

I had only one complaint and its a minor one. I think they SHOULD have called interference on the lone punt of the game. The officials claimed the guy was blocked INTO Edelman, when in fact it was the defender who was blocking the blocker PAST Julian and then hit the returner before the ball got there. In the end it didn't matter much, but it was a flaw in an otherwise great job by these refs.

They also missed a clear hold on Slater (?) on the kickoff return that went for 90+ yards. That being said the Edelman situation was really close to be a total disaster because it was just inches from a turnover if the ball had hit Edelman after he got blocked into.

 

[luuked]

The Pats didn't get any "gifts" like those and still put up 43 points (while also "leaving some plays on the field").

The HT pick and return pretty much was the equivalent of one of those gifts (from the D to the O). That being said I totally agree that this could have easily been a 50 burger because the O left a lot of potential plays on the field.

 

[everlong]

Most of my points are replies to yours Ken.

1. The only other significant penalty would have been the one on Hogan but he caught the ball and again the DB was dragging him down long before the ball got there.

2. I was really pissed off when Brady started going deep. I'm not sure if it was him or JM but they went open backfield on many of these. With how the run game was going why you wouldn't go play action...I don't get it.

3. Gordon is going to be amazing but on the first series of the game he twice cost them completions but not sitting down and he cost them a TD but not sitting down in the zone in the end zone.

4. Did Kelce look totally pissed off like he lost the heavyweight title of TEs? I'm sure part of it was his frustration over their game plan against him which will now be repeated so get used to it. But clearly everything Ninkovich said when comparing Gronk and Kelce bore out.

5. It's really hard to be too critical of Hightower but........he's still an amazing leader, intuitive, great around the LOS, smart, etc. However the few times he ended up in space one on one it wasn't pretty. I've seen it in other games but he's lost a step. He needs to be near the LOS. I know he had the pick but that was design and smarts. He fakes the blitz, gets lost in the wash, filters back into the zone and makes a terrific catch and run. With Kelce he jams the **** out of him, gets lost in the wash and pressures Mahomes into the pick. But three times with Hunt in space he couldn't make up the angle and got left behind the play. I think he may have made at least one of those 2014-16.

6. That was not Devin McCourty's best game. It's tough to know but it looked like he played the wrong coverage which led to big plays three different times. Plus he took a couple of bad angles that let to big gains.

7. Flowers is a beast. I hope they can resign him.

8. I thought Wise blew his ACL on KC's last XP. He hobbled off the field. I'm hoping it's not serious.

9. The only question about Michel is if he'll stay healthy. He's been everything Maroney wasn't. The knee acting up week after week I hope it doesn't affect him long term.

10. When Hill caught that bomb to tie the game I'm sure everybody had the same rush of emotions I did. &*%$ no, I can't believe they let them tie it that quickly. Well actually if you're gonna give it up better it's fast. KC just lost this game given the clock. I think Collingsworth was right for once. 4th and 1 Bill 100% goes for it there if they hadn't picked it up on 3rd down.

11. The design on the play where Brown hops out and blocks the safety while Gronk slides underneath him into the pattern with nobody on him was pretty slick. All I could think was too bad this wasn't against the Ravens so Harbaugh could get his panties in a twist and have something inventive put in the rulebook as illegal.

12. Perhaps Gilmore's two most impressive shutdowns have been against Alshon Jeffries and Sammy Watkins. One a teammate at South Carolina and the other with the Bills. You look at how he's progressed in this defense and it's safe to say once Gilmore knows his assignment and his opponent he's going to lock it down. BTW Butler was flipping awful again this week against the Ravens. He was getting beat time and again. They'll wish they had that money back.

13. The Bears took Miami to OT when the heat index was over 100. The Pats historically, this year Jax and a multitude of times in Miami, haven't fared nearly as well in Florida. I'd take them very seriously especially in Chicago. The Patriots are still 0-2 on the road this year and neither game was close.

 

[Soliel]

That hill guy is a dang nightmare.

I agree about Hightower. He’s still great and I’ll see the Ryan strip sack thousands of times in my mind. He has lost something

 

[luuked]

I was really pissed off when Brady started going deep. I'm not sure if it was him or JM but they went open backfield on many of these. With how the run game was going why you wouldn't go play action...I don't get it.

Gotta check if KC started loading the box more. Just because something was working doesn't mean that KC didn't maybe adjust for it.

But three times with Hunt in space he couldn't make up the angle and got left behind the play. I think he may have made at least one of those 2014-16.

I honestly don't think he would have been able to make a play on Hunt at any point of his career. That is just a bad matchup. That being said he definitely is more impactful on the LOS than in coverage.

That was not Devin McCourty's best game. It's tough to know but it looked like he played the wrong coverage which led to big plays three different times. Plus he took a couple of bad angles that let to big gains.

I can't remember many things he did wrong. You sure you are not mixing it up with some of the mistakes JMac did ?

On the first Hill TD he got out leveraged and Flores made adjustments to how to defend that route. On the second Hill TD he got picked in the endzone by his own teammate (JJones) and was out of the play. Apart from that I don't really remember him being decisively beat at any point.

Flowers is a beast. I hope they can resign him.

Agree. He is not as smooth as a pass rusher as Chandler Jones but is more versatile which in NE might be worth more.

I thought Wise blew his ACL on KC's last XP. He hobbled off the field. I'm hoping it's not serious.

He got off the field on his own but it definitely did not look good. Fingers crossed that this is nothing serious. Posted it in the other thread but it looked like Butler got pushed / blocked into the leg of Wise.

 

[Sicilian]

I had only one complaint and its a minor one. I think they SHOULD have called interference on the lone punt of the game. The officials claimed the guy was blocked INTO Edelman, when in fact it was the defender who was blocking the blocker PAST Julian and then hit the returner before the ball got there. In the end it didn't matter much, but it was a flaw in an otherwise great job by these refs.

I would add a missed call on the 98 yard KO return as well, as I think Slater was blocked in the back. That said, watching the replay, I'm not sure Slater would made the tackle even if he wasn't interfered with. Still, IMO it should have been called and may have made a difference in the end of that game (though the way KC was rolling on offense, maybe not).

Edit: This may be one of my most flip-floppy posts ever.

 

[maineman209]

The HT pick and return pretty much was the equivalent of one of those gifts (from the D to the O). That being said I totally agree that this could have easily been a 50 burger because the O left a lot of potential plays on the field.

What I was implying is that the KC defense and ST didn't give any gifts to the Pats offense.

 

[borg]

Nice job PFK...as always

A few disconnected thoughts...

Despite combining for 83 points, both offenses left a lot of points on the field, especially in the 1st half.
KC receivers were just as wide open in the 1st half as the 2nd but Mahomes was missing targets thanks to the creative pass rush that forced hurried throws. NE's pass rush slowed down in the 2nd half and Mahomes found those same wide open targets.
This pattern too often occurs verses quality offenses. NE's D is only as effective as their pass rush. Without any QB disruption....yikes....ducks in a barrel
For NE, their offense clearly owned the LOS yet Brady/Josh were determined to link up with Gordon....unsuccessfully....derailing drives. NE should have put up 30 in the 1st half.

Good Tom/ Bad Tom....that's how I categorize his play at times....more so recently.
90% of the time, he's perfect ...but then there are some head scratching moments when he abandons his core principals. We've seen Bad Tom appear in certain playoff games when he under throws 40 yd arcs down the seam into triple coverage. And last night, trying to extend plays in the pocket leading to a pivotal fumble. QB fumbles behind the LOS are the most crippling turnover IMO. He's supposed to be perfect
But later Brady extends the play and bruises his way in for a rushing TD. Great Tom

The Patriots 1st half defensive creativity was reminiscent of the early dynasty years. No doubt BB has been scheming ways to slow down the KC offense for the past 57 weeks and his deployment of Hightower was his partially effective solution ....at least for a half.
Hightower is an enigma. His speed is lacking on many plays yet he was a major disruptor as well. He and Flowers had a great first half.

Regarding kickoffs and how the NFL has ruined this once exciting part of football, it has gotten to the point where I treat this waste of time as an extended commercial that allows me time to wander the castle seeking unique foods and beverages. And then BB decides he wants to play cute and experiment a bit verses the 5-0 team. Bad Bill appears.

A huge turning point in the game: Losing Cannon to injury
His departure ended NE's running dominance and KC's pass rush gained traction.
Without Cannon next week verses Chicago.......I'll start worrying now.

Hat tip to Ghost.......DEAD CENTER

Favorite plays....the Gronk Stiff Arm / the Hightower press on Kelce then up the middle QB pressure

One last thought: I watched 7 hours of afternoon football yesterday and it is clear how inept and timid most QBs/coaches are when running their 2 minute offenses. Their time management skills are virtually nonexistent.
And then there is BB/Brady/Josh attacking on NE's final drive...per usual.
Checkers / Chess

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

2 points, comments, questions.
1. I didn’t hear dorset’s Name called, did he even play any snaps?
2. Al michaels comment summarizing in post game, “they’re on to Cincinnati” made me laugh.

 

[Sicilian]

Regarding kickoffs and how the NFL has ruined this once exciting part of football, it has gotten to the point where I treat this waste of time as an extended commercial that allows me time to wander the castle seeking unique foods and beverages. And then BB decides he wants to play cute and experiment a bit verses the 5-0 team. Bad Bill appears.

I agree here. I think what's happening is they're identifying something "in theory" that should work against the opponent under the new rules, but it's just not translating in reality. I doubt they'll stick with it much longer (if at all), but it's frustrating to watch. I wish another team would make a similar mistake with Patterson once in a while...

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

A couple small points as you guys (and PFK) have covered any topics far better than I ever could.

Thought James White did some good (small) things. there was one play where he could have tried to bounce towards the sidelines to look for a "bigger" play, but instead decided to just plow between 2 defends and accept that he'd only get a couple more yards (and he already had the first down). Seems like solid coaching/player making good decisions.

On the Gronk catch where he threw the defender to the ground, I was actually hoping he'd have another chance to throw him down one more time on the same play. Which would have made an awesome play just that much better. Apparently, Gronk the bouncer is still alive and well. His blocking was tremendous.

There was a point where KC altered their strategy to stuff the run and block the middle of the field. This is where Brady seemed to get a bit more impatient and throw the deeper/sideline type balls. Plenty of disconnects when that happened and I didn't seem to be Brady making the best decisions. Then again, maybe that's all that was there.

KC's offense is scary, Mahomes seemed to try to get rid of the ball too quickly some times and it might be alarming if he learns a little more patience. Very scary prospect. KC's defense was missing some key players which means they'll be a little bit better next time, but I expect Gordon to be better and Michel to be better integrated into the passing game (so a push for a potential rematch).

 

[PP2]

2 points, comments, questions.
1. I didn’t hear dorset’s Name called, did he even play any snaps?

He played two. I suspect he is dealing with a high ankle sprain that he got in the Colts game when he went to the ground right away on a comeback route.

 

[everlong]

Gotta check if KC started loading the box more. Just because something was working doesn't mean that KC didn't maybe adjust for it.

I'm sure they did, but again then use it against them with play action not the deep ball. The Jags last week did the same thing. I'm sure KC was showing them fronts to discourage it as well but it's almost like the Pats showing blitz and backing out. You have to recognize what they're really trying to take away.

I honestly don't think he would have been able to make a play on Hunt at any point of his career. That is just a bad matchup. That being said he definitely is more impactful on the LOS than in coverage.

Maybe but I don't think people are leaving him in the dust that way.

I can't remember many things he did wrong. You sure you are not mixing it up with some of the mistakes JMac did ?

On the first Hill TD he got out leveraged and Flores made adjustments to how to defend that route. On the second Hill TD he got picked in the endzone by his own teammate (JJones) and was out of the play. Apart from that I don't really remember him being decisively beat at any point.

I have to rewatch the game to get the particulars. I'm running on very little sleep but I remember on a couple of Hunt's big plays he took bad angles and on a couple of deep passes he bit down on zones already covered. It could be somebody else played it wrong but it didn't look that way.

 

[patriot1136]

The second half was disappointing in terms of defensive play, especially in the secondary. Hopefully those are all correctable mistakes. Although, I give T. Hill a lot of credit and it is always tough to cover good players no matter what the gameplan.

I pray Wise and Cannon can get healthy and bounce back quick. I don't feel like there is much depth behind them.

Where is Dorsett? Did he play? Also seems like Patterson was barely in there on offense too. It was good to see Hogan get some work although he was silent until the 4th quarter for the most part.

 

[sean10mm]

The defense wasn't QUITE as bad as the score looked because special teams all but gifted a touchdown to the Chiefs on that 98 yard return, and they gave the Chiefs unusually good field position to start drives more than once too.

If you told me the defense would give up 33 to this Chiefs team I probably would have just shrugged.