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The "best is yet to come" title is appropriate, since, clearly, we haven't seen this team play a full game thus far. Every win has its ugly moments and every loss was excruciatingly painful. This game was no exception. So I guess the good news is that this team is 4-2, leaders in the division and has won its 12th straight road game. The bad news is the offense never looked smooth for a single drive, the defense allowed 5 straight 3rd down conversions in the first half, and once again became the media's biggest question. Alas, it is what it is, and our job is to break it down. So let's get started.
1. Might as well get the elephant in the room out of the way, since it will lead EVERY media discussion of this game for the rest of the week. WTF, happened to the apparent TD that suddenly turned into a Pats' TO, and left us all wondering what happened.
Personally, I cannot fathom the decision. While the TE DID momentarily lose control of the ball, he immediately grabbed it again. It was never really "out" at any time. Not only that, it was ruled a TD on the field, and I never saw a replay that could prove conclusively that he was out of bounds when it was out of his control.
What we have here is a perfect example of the overuse of replay. Having replay was supposed to make sure obvious calls were made right. It wasn't supposed to be a frame by frame rehashing of micro millimeters of data to find the right answer. I can only compare it to the play in the baseball playoffs where they called a guy out who had safely made it back to the base, only to reverse the call when he came off the bag for a microsecond. Something you could only see if you rewatch the play over and over.
If the play had been ruled a TD, I doubt many here would have been upset with the ruling (if we are being honest). I was much more pissed at the fact that on that PICK play, the guy picking ran right into a defender, much like the 2 OPI calls that went against us. I was on the GDT and was writing a scathing comment about this injustice when the TD was reversed. But this piece of good fortune was balanced by a bunch of calls/non-calls that went the Jets way during this game.
IMHO, this play will be over-analyzed this entire week by a media looking to prove that the Pats are not good this year. It should be of no surprise that Felger named Alberto Riberon (the replay official) HIS player of the game. BTW- this is a neat game the mediots play. They ratchet up the expectations to a 16-0 level, and then when those expectations aren't reached they start the blame game. But I've already talked about this topic more than it deserves. I'd rather get on with the football portion of this thread.
2. The OFFENSE -
a. Like I said earlier, this was NOT a sharp game by the offense. What was good was the return of the run game where we had over 120 yds gained and the RB's averaged over just over 5 ypc. I also liked the fact that when the Pats got down 14 points they still ran the ball with regularity. BUT on the other hand, when you have one of the top offenses in the league, going 3 and out on your last 2 drives can cost you games. It is one of the reasons, the defense ended up allowing all those yards. It the offense was truly playing "situational football" the offense should have added at least one more score and taken a lot more time off the clock.
b. My second general offensive thought was that this offense really HAS changed without Julian Edelman. Up to now I have only paid lip service to what people had been talking about for a month now. Whereas before more than half the passes were short underneath throws that were built more for YAC. Now everything seems to be first downs or bust. They averaged almost 13yds/catch today. Usually, the number is closer to 9 or 10. No screen passes today, nor, like last week, did we see much in the way of receiver diversity. Only 4 guys caught 95% of the passes. (one catch by Hogan) Brady usually hits that number of guys midway through the first quarter. So what's up with that.
c. QB- I thought Brady seemed off today and the numbers confirm it. He was just over 50% in his throws, and even on some of his completions, he wasn't completely accurate. Hogan's one catch was a good example. Brady is a guy who loves his practice time. Well, it looks like when he took fewer snaps this week because of his injury, it affected his game. He never seemed sharp to me. Of course, the pass to Cooks that led to the TD was perfect. Maybe I'm just spoiled.
d. OL - I'm sure we will get all the details over the next couple of days, but it looked like the pass protection improved a lot. There were no sacks and only a few hits. In fact, I recall only one big hit (Kony Ealy ironically). There was an improvement in the run game blocking as well. Next week will be a bigger test, but all we can ask for is an upward arc, and that is what we seem to be getting.
e. RB's - NOW we are starting to see the affect Dion Lewis can have in the run game. The problem, of course, is that his snaps have to be monitored or he won't be there when it counts, but it sure is fun watching him play, though I like to see him a bit more involved in the passing game.
Gillislee had the fumble, but came back late in the game and ran for 4.5ypc in limited snaps. White continues to improve as a runner, though of the guys we have, he's the last guy I want carrying the ball. BTW- I'd like to commend ALL the RB's for their excellent pass blocking. A couple of times I saw White and Lewis stoning LB's. Too often we forget how important the RB's are in pass protection.
f. Receivers- again it's a little disturbing to see only 4 guys get most of the catches. Hogan's ribs are going to hurt this week. I wonder if Brady rarely targeted him after his big hit because he didn't want to put him in harm's way again because of the ribs.
It wasn't a drop because it would have been a tough catch, but I've grown accustomed to Amendola making catches like that for big first downs at the end of games. BTW- it was one of Brady's better throws too. If he could have held on, the game would have been over.
Watching Kerley and Anderson make a ton of catches on slant type passes makes me wonder why don't WE have that pass in our arsenal this year. Cooks once again proved his worth with almost 100 receiving yds and making ANOTHER big play, but I have to wonder if the Pats have simply decided that they aren't going to throw the ball to him in traffic in the middle. Are they waiting for a later date to bring those plays out? Definitely something to talk about
BTW- BOTH those OPI's were totally unnecessary. Neither Hogan or Cooks had a reason to hit the defender downfield, especially since their "picks" didn't affect the receiver getting open. It was past obvious and the flags had to be thrown.
4. DEFENSE
a. I think the defense took another step forward today. Even when they were giving up those 2 TD's and 5 straight 3rd down conversionseek, a number of those plays came from superb throws from the D, rather than bad defense. The deep pass that leads to the first TD was almost as good as the Julio Jones/Ryan throw in the Superbowl. Both had the QB on the run and throwing into almost perfect coverage. McCown a few throws like that early in the game.
b. on one hand, I liked that Matty P took a few chances with some creative blitz packages, especial the one with Butler coming off the corner. However, when he did it on the 4th and 16 late in the game, I had to question it. One of the great hallmarks of the Pats defense over the years has been to force the QB to throw underneath and then tackle the receiver before he can get the first down. If it had been 4th and 6 or 7, I would have understood that, but not 4th and 16. It was a perfect down and distance to play a tight zone underneath and force him to throw short.
c. I need someone to please explain the defensive holding call on the DL. IIRC, from time immemorial the defense has had the right to use their hands. I need Bedard, or lukked or someone to explain exactly what our DLmen were doing that got them flagged TWICE. Just another example of an uncommon penalty being called on the Pats.
d. After starting the game allowing the Jets to convert 5 of their first 5 first downs, the Pats ended the game allowing only 4 of 12 3rd down conversions. They also only allowed 3 points in the 2nd half.
e. The formula is simple, lest we forget. TO's make the game so easy......when you get them. The Pats had 3 today and could have had a couple more. To me, the LACK of turnovers has been one of the most disturbing issues this defense has faced. Hopefully getting 3 today is the start of a trend upward in this area.
f. Front 7 - Their best overall game so far. They dominated in the run game. Special kudos to Malcolm Brown who looked Wilkfolk-esque in the middle today, and the rest of DL/LB's need to be mentioned. They also managed 4 sacks, which is another big improvement. Still 2 of the sacks occurred because of great coverage, and McCown showed more "escapeability" than I was hoping to see.
I had thought this might be a big day to get to the QB, because I was lulled into believing that McCown would be a stationary target back there. Instead, McCown turned into their best rusher.
g. Secondary - John Badamosi deserves a ton of credit for the job he did today, especially given the fact he didn't know he was starting until Saturday. He's another pretty big dude on the outside. Just more depth. I expect to see Gilmore back next week, though I doubt we will see Rowe until after the bye.
I saw one of those slant passes where Hightower looked like he was pissed he didn't recognize it sooner. We need the LB's to read routes better and try and jump them on occasion.
Butler had a great game, not only for the pick and causing the GL "fumble", but his overall coverage this game was consistently good. Almost every throw at him was hotly contested. Kind of makes you wonder why they kept throwing at Butler, while giving Badamosi at pass most of the time.
8 catches for their TE is too many by a half. Granted they were for only 48 yds, but still too many. BTW- on the play that shall be not named, I was pretty pissed that the secondary allowed him to even get that close to the end zone. They all seemed to try and tackle him high and he bulled his way past 3 guys to get near the GL.
5. ST's - The coverage in the kicking game was superb. I don't think the Jets got out to the 20 on any of their KO returns, and the punt coverage was almost as good.
I wonder what causes a FG to slice so suddenly after 25 yds. The first miss of the season for Gotskowski was an odd one. It was like the ball was straight for a while, then abruptly faded 5 yds, before going straight again. If you could make a baseball move like that, you'd be a Cy Young winner every year.
6 - General observations
a. The general commentary about this win by the media and fans will likely be on the negative side. They will talk about the "lucky call", and of course all the passing yds will be mentioned over and over and over again. As far as style points go, the Pats didn't accumulate many....again.
However, when I looked at some of the scores you have to wonder about the REST of the league's problems. How do you think the media and fans of the Broncos, KC, Raiders, Ravens, and Falcons. They not only didn't have any style points, they didn't get the win either. Christ the Falcons were ahead of the punchless Dolphins and blew a 17 point lead. That's not going to play well in Atlanta, especially on Patriots week. OUCH
The point here is AGAIN, it is hard to win in this league, and if you think your team had a bad day, just look around you. There are a LOT of teams that had it worse.....a lot worse. How is Denver going to explain a loss to the Giants or KC suddenly becoming punchless against the Steelers at home with just one first down the entire first half.
BTW- this was a great win for the Steelers, but Rothlessburger still had one pick and should have had another on the game-winning TD, when the ball went through the DB's hands, hit OFF his helmet, and bounced into the waiting hands of AB who ran 30 yds for the score. If you see one highlight this week, you got to see that one. Horrible throw by Ben.
b. Atlanta will surely be on a mission this week. Not only do they have the superbowl on their mind, this collapse against Miami will be further fuel for them. The Pats better be ready for the Falcons best shot. BTW- without actually seeing the game, when you look at the stats of this game, it is hard to figure out how the Phins won.
1. Might as well get the elephant in the room out of the way, since it will lead EVERY media discussion of this game for the rest of the week. WTF, happened to the apparent TD that suddenly turned into a Pats' TO, and left us all wondering what happened.
Personally, I cannot fathom the decision. While the TE DID momentarily lose control of the ball, he immediately grabbed it again. It was never really "out" at any time. Not only that, it was ruled a TD on the field, and I never saw a replay that could prove conclusively that he was out of bounds when it was out of his control.
What we have here is a perfect example of the overuse of replay. Having replay was supposed to make sure obvious calls were made right. It wasn't supposed to be a frame by frame rehashing of micro millimeters of data to find the right answer. I can only compare it to the play in the baseball playoffs where they called a guy out who had safely made it back to the base, only to reverse the call when he came off the bag for a microsecond. Something you could only see if you rewatch the play over and over.
If the play had been ruled a TD, I doubt many here would have been upset with the ruling (if we are being honest). I was much more pissed at the fact that on that PICK play, the guy picking ran right into a defender, much like the 2 OPI calls that went against us. I was on the GDT and was writing a scathing comment about this injustice when the TD was reversed. But this piece of good fortune was balanced by a bunch of calls/non-calls that went the Jets way during this game.
IMHO, this play will be over-analyzed this entire week by a media looking to prove that the Pats are not good this year. It should be of no surprise that Felger named Alberto Riberon (the replay official) HIS player of the game.
BTW- this is a neat game the mediots play. They ratchet up the expectations to a 16-0 level, and then when those expectations aren't reached they start the blame game. But I've already talked about this topic more than it deserves. I'd rather get on with the football portion of this thread.2. The OFFENSE -
a. Like I said earlier, this was NOT a sharp game by the offense. What was good was the return of the run game where we had over 120 yds gained and the RB's averaged over just over 5 ypc. I also liked the fact that when the Pats got down 14 points they still ran the ball with regularity. BUT on the other hand, when you have one of the top offenses in the league, going 3 and out on your last 2 drives can cost you games. It is one of the reasons, the defense ended up allowing all those yards. It the offense was truly playing "situational football" the offense should have added at least one more score and taken a lot more time off the clock.
b. My second general offensive thought was that this offense really HAS changed without Julian Edelman. Up to now I have only paid lip service to what people had been talking about for a month now. Whereas before more than half the passes were short underneath throws that were built more for YAC. Now everything seems to be first downs or bust. They averaged almost 13yds/catch today. Usually, the number is closer to 9 or 10. No screen passes today, nor, like last week, did we see much in the way of receiver diversity. Only 4 guys caught 95% of the passes. (one catch by Hogan) Brady usually hits that number of guys midway through the first quarter. So what's up with that.
c. QB- I thought Brady seemed off today and the numbers confirm it. He was just over 50% in his throws, and even on some of his completions, he wasn't completely accurate. Hogan's one catch was a good example. Brady is a guy who loves his practice time. Well, it looks like when he took fewer snaps this week because of his injury, it affected his game. He never seemed sharp to me. Of course, the pass to Cooks that led to the TD was perfect. Maybe I'm just spoiled.
d. OL - I'm sure we will get all the details over the next couple of days, but it looked like the pass protection improved a lot. There were no sacks and only a few hits. In fact, I recall only one big hit (Kony Ealy ironically). There was an improvement in the run game blocking as well. Next week will be a bigger test, but all we can ask for is an upward arc, and that is what we seem to be getting.
e. RB's - NOW we are starting to see the affect Dion Lewis can have in the run game. The problem, of course, is that his snaps have to be monitored or he won't be there when it counts, but it sure is fun watching him play, though I like to see him a bit more involved in the passing game.
Gillislee had the fumble, but came back late in the game and ran for 4.5ypc in limited snaps. White continues to improve as a runner, though of the guys we have, he's the last guy I want carrying the ball. BTW- I'd like to commend ALL the RB's for their excellent pass blocking. A couple of times I saw White and Lewis stoning LB's. Too often we forget how important the RB's are in pass protection.
f. Receivers- again it's a little disturbing to see only 4 guys get most of the catches. Hogan's ribs are going to hurt this week. I wonder if Brady rarely targeted him after his big hit because he didn't want to put him in harm's way again because of the ribs.
It wasn't a drop because it would have been a tough catch, but I've grown accustomed to Amendola making catches like that for big first downs at the end of games. BTW- it was one of Brady's better throws too. If he could have held on, the game would have been over.
Watching Kerley and Anderson make a ton of catches on slant type passes makes me wonder why don't WE have that pass in our arsenal this year. Cooks once again proved his worth with almost 100 receiving yds and making ANOTHER big play, but I have to wonder if the Pats have simply decided that they aren't going to throw the ball to him in traffic in the middle. Are they waiting for a later date to bring those plays out? Definitely something to talk about
BTW- BOTH those OPI's were totally unnecessary. Neither Hogan or Cooks had a reason to hit the defender downfield, especially since their "picks" didn't affect the receiver getting open. It was past obvious and the flags had to be thrown.
4. DEFENSE
a. I think the defense took another step forward today. Even when they were giving up those 2 TD's and 5 straight 3rd down conversions
eek, a number of those plays came from superb throws from the D, rather than bad defense. The deep pass that leads to the first TD was almost as good as the Julio Jones/Ryan throw in the Superbowl. Both had the QB on the run and throwing into almost perfect coverage. McCown a few throws like that early in the game.b. on one hand, I liked that Matty P took a few chances with some creative blitz packages, especial the one with Butler coming off the corner. However, when he did it on the 4th and 16 late in the game, I had to question it. One of the great hallmarks of the Pats defense over the years has been to force the QB to throw underneath and then tackle the receiver before he can get the first down. If it had been 4th and 6 or 7, I would have understood that, but not 4th and 16. It was a perfect down and distance to play a tight zone underneath and force him to throw short.
c. I need someone to please explain the defensive holding call on the DL. IIRC, from time immemorial the defense has had the right to use their hands. I need Bedard, or lukked or someone to explain exactly what our DLmen were doing that got them flagged TWICE. Just another example of an uncommon penalty being called on the Pats.
d. After starting the game allowing the Jets to convert 5 of their first 5 first downs, the Pats ended the game allowing only 4 of 12 3rd down conversions. They also only allowed 3 points in the 2nd half.
e. The formula is simple, lest we forget. TO's make the game so easy......when you get them. The Pats had 3 today and could have had a couple more. To me, the LACK of turnovers has been one of the most disturbing issues this defense has faced. Hopefully getting 3 today is the start of a trend upward in this area.
f. Front 7 - Their best overall game so far. They dominated in the run game. Special kudos to Malcolm Brown who looked Wilkfolk-esque in the middle today, and the rest of DL/LB's need to be mentioned. They also managed 4 sacks, which is another big improvement. Still 2 of the sacks occurred because of great coverage, and McCown showed more "escapeability" than I was hoping to see.
I had thought this might be a big day to get to the QB, because I was lulled into believing that McCown would be a stationary target back there. Instead, McCown turned into their best rusher.
g. Secondary - John Badamosi deserves a ton of credit for the job he did today, especially given the fact he didn't know he was starting until Saturday. He's another pretty big dude on the outside. Just more depth. I expect to see Gilmore back next week, though I doubt we will see Rowe until after the bye.
I saw one of those slant passes where Hightower looked like he was pissed he didn't recognize it sooner. We need the LB's to read routes better and try and jump them on occasion.
Butler had a great game, not only for the pick and causing the GL "fumble", but his overall coverage this game was consistently good. Almost every throw at him was hotly contested. Kind of makes you wonder why they kept throwing at Butler, while giving Badamosi at pass most of the time.
8 catches for their TE is too many by a half. Granted they were for only 48 yds, but still too many. BTW- on the play that shall be not named, I was pretty pissed that the secondary allowed him to even get that close to the end zone. They all seemed to try and tackle him high and he bulled his way past 3 guys to get near the GL.
5. ST's - The coverage in the kicking game was superb. I don't think the Jets got out to the 20 on any of their KO returns, and the punt coverage was almost as good.
I wonder what causes a FG to slice so suddenly after 25 yds. The first miss of the season for Gotskowski was an odd one. It was like the ball was straight for a while, then abruptly faded 5 yds, before going straight again. If you could make a baseball move like that, you'd be a Cy Young winner every year.
6 - General observations
a. The general commentary about this win by the media and fans will likely be on the negative side. They will talk about the "lucky call", and of course all the passing yds will be mentioned over and over and over again. As far as style points go, the Pats didn't accumulate many....again.
However, when I looked at some of the scores you have to wonder about the REST of the league's problems. How do you think the media and fans of the Broncos, KC, Raiders, Ravens, and Falcons. They not only didn't have any style points, they didn't get the win either. Christ the Falcons were ahead of the punchless Dolphins and blew a 17 point lead. That's not going to play well in Atlanta, especially on Patriots week. OUCH
The point here is AGAIN, it is hard to win in this league, and if you think your team had a bad day, just look around you. There are a LOT of teams that had it worse.....a lot worse. How is Denver going to explain a loss to the Giants or KC suddenly becoming punchless against the Steelers at home with just one first down the entire first half.
BTW- this was a great win for the Steelers, but Rothlessburger still had one pick and should have had another on the game-winning TD, when the ball went through the DB's hands, hit OFF his helmet, and bounced into the waiting hands of AB who ran 30 yds for the score. If you see one highlight this week, you got to see that one. Horrible throw by Ben.
b. Atlanta will surely be on a mission this week. Not only do they have the superbowl on their mind, this collapse against Miami will be further fuel for them. The Pats better be ready for the Falcons best shot. BTW- without actually seeing the game, when you look at the stats of this game, it is hard to figure out how the Phins won.
