Idle thoughts - "this post is as ugly as the game" edition

[Patstastic]

I really think Meyers has a chance to be a great receiver in this league. He needs to be a full time receiver out there. He makes contested catches. And it seems he's able to get a little bit of seperation.

I fear Newhouse is going to get Brady injured. He's just terrible. Need to replace him or add another OL during offensive plays.

Izzo is a rookie. So it's expected he will struggle some. BB obviously knows this too. So he must see potential in him. Gronk isn't coming back. So Brady will need to make do here.

Gordon seemed to be injured even before the injury on the fumble return. No explosiveness. Edelman is the one receiver that can be counted on right now.

Nugent is going to cost this team a game. He has always been shaky from 40 yards out. Gost is missed.

Defense has been great all season. I truly hope their efforts won't be wasted in the end.

Team needs to get healthier. Hope that the receivers get better. That the OL sorts itself out. No one trade or player can fix everything.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Also, somewhere, there are witches, monks and shamans praying and sacrificing livestock to bring about the return of the Gronkssiah.

This Fox gig doesn't really suit him from what I've seen.

Get healthy, get back in shape and suit up, Gronk.

 

[Clonamery]

I really think Meyers has a chance to be a great receiver in this league. He needs to be a full time receiver out there. He makes contested catches. And it seems he's able to get a little bit of seperation.

I fear Newhouse is going to get Brady injured. He's just terrible. Need to replace him or add another OL during offensive plays.

Izzo is a rookie. So it's expected he will struggle some. BB obviously knows this too. So he must see potential in him. Gronk isn't coming back. So Brady will need to make do here.

Gordon seemed to be injured even before the injury on the fumble return. No explosiveness. Edelman is the one receiver that can be counted on right now.

Nugent is going to cost this team a game. He has always been shaky from 40 yards out. Gost is missed.

Defense has been great all season. I truly hope their efforts won't be wasted in the end.

Team needs to get healthier. Hope that the receivers get better. That the OL sorts itself out. No one trade or player can fix everything.

Meyers, I’d settle for good receiver.

 

[Clonamery]

This Fox gig doesn't really suit him from what I've seen.

Get healthy, get back in shape and suit up, Gronk.

See you next year, Gronk.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Reasons to be cheerful:

I noted that in the post-game press conference BB (once again) said how proud he was of the team. He doesn't always say that, but he did a lot last year, and it means he thinks things are going in the right direction. I trust him! And I liked the way that Brady was so enthusiastic about the younger players stepping up to make plays. He's not sulking but wants to work with them to get better.

Fingers crossed on the injuries.

 

[Nehalem]

I try not to be a spoiled rotten fan. Any win is a good win. But I hated not completing the two 4th downs, hated he INT, hated the missed FG. Fix those and it's 55-7 or something. That's crazy. I will just enjoy it and hope that the O looks like the O sometime soon and that nothing changes with the D.

I look forward to the other team getting the ball now. That's a fun feeling!

And if the CB move his hand half an inch or so on the Golden Tate TD its 55-0.

Go big or go home

 

[PatsFanSince74]

We seem to go through a version of this every season, whether the Pats end up in the SB or not.

Then, Belichick and McDaniels usually get the ship headed in the right direction by January...miraculously, with enough wins to get a Bye or Home Field. Last year was the best example in recent memory, when they started 1--2, dropped two in a row in December and then sauntered into KC to win a hard-fought AFCCG against "The MVP" and followed it up holding the "Mighty Rams" to three points in the SB.

And...every year there always seem to be legitimate reasons to argue (several different times during the season!), "Yeah...OK...I know...I know...I know...Bill and Josh and Tom usually figure things out...but somehow I think this year...this year it's gonna be different."

And, more often than not, we're proven wrong.

So, I dunno. I'm just along for the ride now. 6--0 is a good enough start for me and, as BB would say, 'There's a lot of Football left to be played."

 

[Hyped]

Apart from "the front is playing well" and they want to keep him fresh no idea. The way his snaps have gone down now into the low two digit area makes you go a bit "hmm".

Especially against the backdrop of his cap hits.

According to this: Michael Bennett

We only save 1.5M if we release Bennett at mid-season (3M salary + 4M bonus + 1.5 roster bonus).

 

[Xerostomia]

My only comment is that I think the offense looks bad in reference to what has been going on in the league for the last several years. The expectation is getting points on every drive along with having a ridiculous red zone efficiency.

I think most of us are not used to elite defensive play (since the original run at the turn of the century), and probably still do not 'trust' the defense in this offensively orientated league. I agree that the offense looks disjointed, but I think we forget that even the worst NFL team does have good-great players that will make plays. Also, every team will want to 'prove' something against the Patriots and we always will get their 'A' game.

I think more than anything we need to decrease/stop offensive turnovers (not only interceptions, and fumbles, but failed 4th down conversions, missed XP/FG's). This defense will keep the team in every game, and we just have to be opportunistic. The last super bowl is proof of that.

 

[mgteich]

Yes Meyers and Gunner looked OK against one of the 3 worst defenses in the NFL.

Without improvement (or health) at WR, I see us losing 4 games out of (CLE, BALT, PHI, DAL, HOU, KC and BUF). Luckily, we still have 3 games against the bottom feeders (NYJ, CINN and MIA).

Amazing enough, this still has us as 12-4, and a likely first round bye.

I think that Meyers and Olszeski really impressed with how they stepped up. I think that they learned the lesson that BB taught to Stidham. That you always have to be ready..

The offense reminded me of Brown, Patten, and Johnson from 2001..

 

[PittPatriot]

Buffalo on the road.

.

The defense, maybe.
That offense is not even BCS material.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Wrong. First 3 games HT scores: 20-0, 13-0, 20-0...and no Brady ints... doesn't sound like slow out of the gate to me. What's different from then to the last 3 games? AB came and went and Brady started pouting...

You don’t think dominating time of possession and the cumulative effect of all those 3-and-outs (field position, defense gassed) makes them a better team as the game goes on?

I don’t like the AB release either. Brady isn’t pouting. Maybe he’s pissed about it and maybe he isn’t. He compartmentalizes and competes. He has had to deal with a lot bigger distractions and issues over his career. Body language and pouting theories are just lazy simplifications that don’t exist in reality.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Hasn't it been nearly 6 weeks since Wynn went on IR? If so, he should be able to start practicing soon and playing 2 weeks after that.

But if Gordon is out for a few weeks it means they really do need to find another receiver. I've heard suggestions of a swap of Bennet for Amendola.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

@patfanken
It’s strange because the 2007 team and 2019 are almost opposites. The 2007 team was like a race car out of the gate, just annihilating teams early on in games and building up ridiculous leads by halftime. In contrast, the 2019 squad tends to get much better as the game goes on and the defense continues to dominate the field position and turnover battle.

Even though many claim it is a meaningless statistic, let's not forget the time of possession battle. We won that battle 39:36 to 20:24 against the Giants. That much of a difference is utter domination and winning that battle explains why our offense is looking better in the second half.

We are forcing other teams to play an extra 1/4-1/3 of an average game against our offense, all the while having our deep defensive unit play 2/3-3/4 of an average game. With our depth on defense, our defensive line and linebacking corp remain super fresh.

We are currently ranked third in time of possession behind Baltimore and San Francisco. For those who claim time of possession is meaningless, this season the top 10 teams in time of possession are a combined 37-13 (versus 20-29-1 for the bottom 10 combined). That winning percentage aligning with time of possession would appear to hardly be a statistical outlier. For those wondering, the top 10 teams in terms of number of plays were 31-16-2 with the Pats ranked #2 in that category.

 

[PP2]

Hasn't it been nearly 6 weeks since Wynn went on IR? If so, he should be able to start practicing soon and playing 2 weeks after that.

Regardless of how much time he's been out, IR return designation is for week 9. He can start practicing 3 weeks prior.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Regardless of how much time he's been out, IR return designation is for week 9.

I believe it is actually a minimum of 8 weeks on IR before you can play, 6 weeks before you can practice:

From NFL:

At any time after six weeks have elapsed since a player was placed on Reserve/Injured or Reserve/Non-Football Injury/Illness, each club is permitted to designate two players for return from either list to the club’s 53-player Active/Inactive List.
...
A player whom the club wishes to designate for return is permitted to return to practice for a period not to exceed 21 days. The club is required to notify the League office that the player has been “Designated For Return” on the first day the player begins to practice. The player cannot be returned to the Active/Inactive List until eight weeks have elapsed since the date he was placed on Reserve.​

 

[n6249c]

I think that Meyers and Olszeski really impressed with how they stepped up. I think that they learned the lesson that BB taught to Stidham. That you always have to be ready..

The offense reminded me of Brown, Patten, and Johnson from 2001..

I’m hoping that a silver lining from that fourth quarter personnel group might be that Brady had no choice but to throw to Gunner and Jacobi and find out that they are in fact able to catch the football if he’ll just throw it to them.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Without improvement (or health) at WR, I see us losing 4 games out of (CLE, BALT, PHI, DAL, HOU, KC and BUF). Luckily, we still have 3 games against the bottom feeders (NYJ, CINN and MIA).

You severely undervalue the Patriots defense and somewhat undervalue the offense to think the Patriots would go for 3 wins out of those 7 games - particularly since I expect the Patriots will be favored in every single one of those games!

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I believe it is actually a minimum of 8 weeks on IR before you can play, 6 weeks before you can practice:

From NFL:

At any time after six weeks have elapsed since a player was placed on Reserve/Injured or Reserve/Non-Football Injury/Illness, each club is permitted to designate two players for return from either list to the club’s 53-player Active/Inactive List.
...
A player whom the club wishes to designate for return is permitted to return to practice for a period not to exceed 21 days. The club is required to notify the League office that the player has been “Designated For Return” on the first day the player begins to practice. The player cannot be returned to the Active/Inactive List until eight weeks have elapsed since the date he was placed on Reserve.​

So Harry was placed on IR Sept 2nd, which means he might be eligible to start practicing next week - they would have at most 3 weeks after that to decide. But if they think Develin is more important they might wait and see how he is doing - I assume Wynn is a given and the second spot is between Develin and Harry.

 

[SBLIII]

So Harry was placed on IR Sept 2nd, which means he might be eligible to start practicing next week - they would have at most 3 weeks after that to decide. But if they think Develin is more important they might wait and see how he is doing - I assume Wynn is a given and the second spot is between Develin and Harry.

When he starts practicing they can decide when to activate him not if.