Game Day Thread Official Post Game Thread- Pats beat the Browns

[upstater1]

One thing I will say that Zappe has had in his favor, better Oline play. They’ve each been sacked 5 times, but I think the addition of Cannon has really solidified the line, and Strange is already a better Olinemen than his first few games. I felt like Mac had to run for his life more than Zappe had to.

But like I said prior, Mac seemed to have lost a lot of confidence in himself. I hated his body language, he seemed to be hanging his head a lot. Zappe seems to have a ton of confidence, almost ****y. I loved Zappe’s TD pass to Thornton, just a veteran QB type of play, and love that he spreads the ball around. Mac needs to do that better.

The biggest difference to me is that Mac was holding the ball for long plays way downfield

So, he looked like he was under more pressure because they deliberately were looking to throw it long.

 

[Joker]

The biggest difference to me is that Mac was holding the ball for long plays way downfield

So, he looked like he was under more pressure because they deliberately were looking to throw it long.

seems to me the offense has been adding wrinkles that work to the somewhat vanilla crap we saw in the first few games...i don't think the QB's style really has much to do with it. I was a little unsure if Thornton was an NFL caliber player. His build DID worry me..well, he's HERE now and I ,for one, love it. You CAN'T teach raw NFL speed...you either have it or you don't.... he's got it...and he's got ANTI-Agholor hands which I find comforting. Building reps week after week I think Thornton will explode late in the season.

 

[PatsFan2]

Aren’t we still waiting to see that from Mac Jones as well?

Don't embarrass the Mac Homers please because he has more come backs than Brady zero too many.

 

[PatsFan2]

Some people twisting themselves in knots making excuses for Mac. Gymnast like flexibility going on here.

Usually, when an OL magically starts playing better with another QB, it's not as simplistic as the OL is just magically playing better. Zappe made movements in the pocket and escaped pressure today in ways I haven't seen from Mac. Had those handful of plays turned into sacks, we might be here complaining about the OL causing drives to stall. Had Mac been playing, I believe those handful of plays may be sacks or worse. It's what my eyes have seen so far.

But please continue with the contortionist gymnast thing. That kind of flexibility is sexy as hell!

Ewwww Ewwwwww just threw up in my mouth. Some people should keep it all on.

 

[Bill Lee]

You have Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina. How ironic would it be if it was Tampa Bay???

If history is a guide, BB held on to JG till the last second and pretty much gave him away to the 9ers.

Shouldn't be counting the chickens before they hatch...

 

[Patsfan177a]

Has Mac had a 300 yard game yet?

321 yds against Ravens 9/25

 

[Bill Lee]

Mac is not his prize QB, He was the last of the top 5 there when it was his turn to pick.

Bite your tongue, he could have picked an OL instead!

 

[Bill Lee]

Was interesting to see Smith and Henry catch two passes each in the same game. Not sure we've seen that in a while, if ever. All seemed to be at significant times. A glimmer of home that the big FA signings might perhaps start to look decent?

I'm not a big one for the Mac vs Bailey thing, and know the last two opponents have been soft, but it's been great to see the offense have some flow to it, something it seems some here thought would never happen with the "rocket scientist" as acting OC. If nothing else, we know the offense can function under favorable conditions.

Also great that the offense could perform despite all their damn penalties.

My moment of maximum aggravation: the play before the missed FG. We're up 27-9 so it's a two score game with 9 minutes left in the game. I'm screaming at the TV to just run it up the middle, let Folk have a nice chip shot FG attempt so it's a three score game and game over. Nope, they go back to pass, Zappe is being chased so he tosses it out of bounds but short of the line, intentional grounding, back 10 yards and loss of down, FG is a miss, CLE scores a TD on the next drive. Then the onside kick that we really did muff, but got lucky that the CLE dude had his foot over the line. Far more excitement than I needed/wanted at the time!

 

[Patsfan177a]

Need a much larger sample. I felt like Mac was the only one that came to play in Buffalo last year. He was really fiery in that game. So many variables.

Absolutely. He almost got us back into that game. Dropped passes and a leaky Oline sealed our fate early.

 

[catent]

I feel like I recall TT posting a picture of a dog on his IG story sometime in the past, since he was drafted. Wondering if man's best friend passed recently.

Pure speculation. Take it FWIW and with a heaping of salt.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

And Baltimore is a better defense than Cleveland.

depend how you look at it.

When Mac faced Baltimore they were the worst pass defense in the league by a wide margin. Cleveland pass defense is middle of pack and is better than Baltimore pass defense. Even Detroit pass defense is better than Baltimore pass defense.

Last week Browns defense held Herbert to:

22/34 64.7% 228 yds 1 TD 0 INT 93.8 RTG

 

[Brewskies]

Zappe looked good. I always say in hockey regarding the goalie, "go with the hot hand" I am thinking the same regarding the Pats' QB. They play the Bears next Sunday night, the Bears are like Cleveland awful, so start Zappe over Mac Jones.

 

[PScottman]

That is how McDaniels used to do it. Start the season more vanilla and get more exotic as the season went along. Even when he had Brady. Although with Brady, the playbook started more advance than he ended the season with Mac.

Because it was about the entire team coming along to a higher comfort level all together, of being on the same page so you don't have as many "the WR ran an out, the QB threw an in" or "I thought the G had that guy" moments. That type of mistake by a new OC makes a lot of sense - the coach trying to put his stamp on things, not just be a continuation of McDaniels.

I have no idea who is going to start at QB moving forward nor do I think throwing fuel on the fire of making it a big deal does anyone on this team any good, but ultimately also know that's what media and fans do.

 

[PScottman]

Trade Wynn or cut him…..he’s a major liability

The coaching staff put him on notice with the last possible motivator they have today - sat him for a lot of second half plays for Cannon. Without another swing tackle they really can't trade him right now plus what would you get for him (not much), but you can park him on the bench costing him a massive amount of future free agent money unless he shapes up and gets his head in the game.

 

[turkeyneck]

"EEETTS THA SURRRCOHHHOHLLL... the Circle of fa Life... "



(Wait - now I just remembered someone's avatar was Mac as Simba).

OMG, don't break him!!!

 

[TomPatriot]

Three interceptions. I've seen way too many instances of QBs that can get plenty of passing yardage or even touchdowns, but at the expense of throwing far too many interceptions. Mac has been trending in this direction before his bad start this season.

Give me the guy who cares about only stat that matters: the W. Just like Tom in '01.

However, if the kid can keep this up: you gotta go with the hot hand. Besides...look, I'm sure Zappe will someday, eventually have his Brady in Mile High game/moment (and get a bunch of interceptions) and it'll be a great learning experience.

However, as long as he keeps interceptions minimized, and plays smart: I don't see why you wouldn't continue playing him. Especially if he beats Mac out in practice when the time comes.

In Mac’s defense, MP was learning and they were pushing him to throw into tighter windows and taking more chances against tougher defenses.

 

[TomPatriot]

seems to me the offense has been adding wrinkles that work to the somewhat vanilla crap we saw in the first few games...i don't think the QB's style really has much to do with it. I was a little unsure if Thornton was an NFL caliber player. His build DID worry me..well, he's HERE now and I ,for one, love it. You CAN'T teach raw NFL speed...you either have it or you don't.... he's got it...and he's got ANTI-Agholor hands which I find comforting. Building reps week after week I think Thornton will explode late in the season.

On the sweep, Thornton got the ball and he was . . . gone. That’s what 4.2 speed with burst does. Sweet.

 

[ashley]

Snap time:

 

[Salsalife]

Difference between Mac and Zappe, Mac says i'm forcing it, Zappe says let me look somewhere else. First game i felt that the Te's are involved since Gronk/Hernandez era.

 

[mikey m]

In Mac’s defense, MP was learning and they were pushing him to throw into tighter windows and taking more chances against tougher defenses.

This idea, the Mac 50-50 ball offense, and the new simpler, vanilla Zappe offense argumente keep coming up. I honestly don't understand them. So, with Mac, Patricia/BB were running a more complicated offense that resulted in less open receivers with the goal of throwing aggressive 50-50 balls down the field? But with Zappe, they've decided to go with the simple offense that creates wide open receivers?
I'm seriously open to hearing a better explanation of this, but the easier reasoning for a simpleton like myself is, dare I say it.. improved qb play.