Official Post Game Thread- Pats beat the Dolphins!!!!

[One-If-By-Sea]

1. We thought the D secondary would be good, but Williams and Philips looked great, and JMac at free safety might be better than Harmon, so overall the secondary might be better than last year. If Dugger catches on that is icing.
2. The run D was better than expected. Yes I know it is the Dolphins but they still looked better than I expected.
3. The O Line was suppose to be a strength. With the emergence of Eluemunor and Onwenu, it might be even better than 2019.
4. The pass rush and TE positions still need some work - let's hope by year's end we have something serviceable from both positions.
5. Cam's passing was on point. A QB rating of 101 is very good. I am sure he is happy. I am confident the offensive efficiency will go up and Cam's rushing attempts will drop.
6. The running backs looked great. Sony ran hard, JJ is exciting, Burkhead was twisting and cutting, and White looked as good as always. Lots of depth.
7. The receivers looked serviceable. Edelman's knee is a big concern. Harry is better but no fluid yet. I am sure Myers, Byrd and Gunner will work into the scheme over time. Obviously no stud #1 guy, but we do not need that to win. You can not have everything.

Overall the offense lacked polish, but I assume Cam will get more comfortable as the season wears on, and the offense will be more efficient without Cam running 15 times. It will be fun to see what the defense does against R Wilson.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Thanks for sharing. Extremely interesting stuff.

1. So it seems like a philosophy / rule, the rookies Dugger, Jennings, Asiasi all played like 10 snaps in their first game ever. Makes sense, ease them in, don't put them in a tough spot. Expect all of them to increase monthly to hopefully triple or quadruple the snaps per game by December.

2. A couple guys who have no business playing as many snaps as they did, likely will go down a lot over time as the rookies get acclimated: TE Izzo, LB Calhoun, S Brooks

3. At RT they patched it together with Eluemunor and it seemed to work. And both QB rushing TDs were off right tackle.

4. JoeJuan played well and I hope he and Philips end up solidifying the TE-covering SS job or the pass-covering LB jobs.


.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Good start to the post Scar era. The fact that I haven’t seen his name even brought up is amazing.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Positives with Harry: He fought for extra yards reaching for the sticks that resulted in a first down after contact. Once he gets the ball in his hands with a head of steam, he will be tough to bring down.

Negatives: The fumble didn't bother me as much as the LB (Baker) being glued to him after his feet were planted facing the QB while Harry was running full speed east-west. Baker easily caught up to Harry who should've blown past him for a TD. On the other hand, DeAndre Hopkins is looking really slow but is finding ways to get the ball. Harry has to get more creative with gaining some separation.

How could you not like seeing Rivers get that sack? I love seeing him get a lot of playing time and think he can have a good year if he can stay healthy.

Secondary looking dominant.

O-line looking a lot better than last year and Wynn looks like he'll be a Pro Bowler or at least play like one.

Sony still looking meh. Harris really blew an opportunity.

Needs a space eater on the D-line.

Predicted correctly this was the offense the Pats would morph into and I like the change.

The catch Izzo made in the middle of the field was a direct result of the RPO type offense. I believe it was a basic play action play, but LB's are now on ice skates. Lamar Jackson made he's TE's look wide open last year because of this.

Cam looked great running the ball, but I don't want him carrying it 15 times. Some designed runs are fine in situations like near the end zone and only when the pocket breaks down.

Cam needs more firepower at WR/TE.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

A few things from yesterday:

• First and foremost, we shouldn't draw too many conclusions after one game especially with no preseason.
• I really liked what Cam did yesterday. I don't think he can play that same type of game all year with the running. But the Dolphins suck against the run and it was a good gameplan for them.
• I felt yesterday's offense was much like what McDaniels did in 2011 with the Broncos and Tebow. Granted Cam is worlds better than Tebow especially when it comes to passing.
• I feel people are giving Harry way too much crap. Yes, he has been a major disappointment thus far, but he did show a few good things yesterday, he had no preseason, he is getting in rhythm with a new QB, and IR set him back last year. I think we need to give him at least half the season to prove himself.
• The defense was much better than I thought it would be. Yes, they gotta figure out a way to better pressuring the QB (but Fitzpatrick has always had good fortune against the Pats' pass rush). But the secondary is still arguably the best in the league. I think that is enough as long as we don't face many teams with a strong running game.
• I don't mind Edelman being on a pitch count right now. He goes down and the Pats offense is screwed.
• I don't get Belichick's affinity for Nick Folk. There has to be another kicker out there who is better than him. I am available if he wants to hire me. I think I could do better.

Carolina-MVP Cam is back, and it's going to be great in Belichick's new RPO offense. This will be nothing like Tebow. Tebow played for John Fox. Josh McDaniels was fired in Denver in 2010 after going 5-17 in his last 22 coaching games.

Broncos decide to fire head coach McDaniels

The Denver Broncos have fired coach Josh McDaniels.

www.espn.com

 

[Kdo5]

This team will need Harry to perform and there were signs. Teams will be stacking the box so much on this team having a big strong player who can make strong catches just past the box will make this offense that much more difficult to defend. The fumble was huge play and one he needs to correct. If he can correct that mistake, that play is exactly what I hope we see alot of. . .

Heck, even the GOAT had some pretty ugly plays later in the afternoon. Hoping Harry builds on the positive and learns from the negative, because he can make this offense much more competative.

Agreed on Harry. I still have some hope. If he stays healthy he has a full season where he will be fed the ball more and given plenty of chances. He had nice hands and made some decent catches in the game. I wasn’t too concerned about the fumble. It ended up being inconsequential and won’t happen again. The problem is separation. He can’t get it.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Actually went back and looked at cams highlights specifically. Though he had alot of carries, most of the tackles seemed pretty light. The only real big collisions i saw from the runs were the 2nd td run and the 4th down conversion late. The sacks did not look like major hits either. So the 15 carries obviously isnt ideal but is it really going to take a major toll on him if he is careful to limit the big collisions? I think a couple of those were even kneel downs. I would think most qbs regardless of style will get popped pretty good 2-3 times a game on average.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

If it happens once it is a learning moment that everyone should move on from. If it happens again that's where he will run out of excuses.

What gets me is that on the one hand people are whining about him not showing enough drive but when he tries to play through contact for a score people go apeshit about it as well. It was dumb but it came from a good place that showcased his drive. Now lets hope next time he can be smart or he will indeed not be around for long.

Which leads to the next point: when will the NFL change the absolute worst rule in sports? Fumble Out of Bounds in Endzone = Touchback makes absolutely no sense.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Actually went back and looked at cams highlights specifically. Though he had alot of carries, most of the tackles seemed pretty light. The only real big collisions i saw from the runs were the 2nd td run and the 4th down conversion late. The sacks did not look like major hits either. So the 15 carries obviously isnt ideal but is it really going to take a major toll on him if he is careful to limit the big collisions? I think a couple of those were even kneel downs. I would think most qbs regardless of style will get popped pretty good 2-3 times a game on average.

He grabbed his left hamstring like 3 different times during the game....

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Thanks for sharing. Extremely interesting stuff.

1. So it seems like a philosophy / rule, the rookies Dugger, Jennings, Asiasi all played like 10 snaps in their first game ever. Makes sense, ease them in, don't put them in a tough spot. Expect all of them to increase monthly to hopefully triple or quadruple the snaps per game by December.

This might also be a consequence of not having a preseason. As an example, Winovich played 50 snaps Week 1 last year. And they had to throw Julian Edelman into the fire in his first game (basically, "Hey, Julian. We're going to need you to go out there and just . . . be a Wes Welker clone.").

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Which leads to the next point: when will the NFL change the absolute worst rule in sports? Fumble Out of Bounds in Endzone = Touchback makes absolutely no sense.

It's actually the second dumbest rule in sports, IMO.

The dumbest is the one that says you can intentionally step out of bounds, touch a kickoff ball that's still in the field of play, and that's a penalty for the kicking team.

 

[luuked]

Fair enough, but he needs some help from the rookies.

Izzo might not be a 98% snap count guy, but he's versatile enough to be a decent backup in this league.

BB mentioned in the press conference he bulked up a couple pounds and is doing things at a higher level than before:

I feel like even though our opportunity to work with him this year was limited in the offseason, he took from the end of last year until the beginning of this year and improved his strength and put on some solid weight, worked on his blocking fundamentals, continued to improve those – you know, coach [Nick] Caley, his position coach – and he's certainly gotten better of the course of this year's training camp and relative to the two prior years.

That is a start.

 

[1960Pats]

Man that was great. He has a way of stating the obvious that can be hilarious, especially with his deadpan expression.

 

[Family]

BB mentioned in the press conference he bulked up a couple pounds and is doing things at a higher level than before:



That is a start.

BB also added, "He's (Izzo) shown a lot of mental toughness and competitiveness to continue to work, even though things weren't always going the way he wanted them to or the way we wanted them to. He stuck with it with a good, positive attitude and day-after-day commitment, and that paid off."

This should come as no surprise. When Bill's shows an interest in an physically limited (by starting NFL TE standards) player like Izzo as has been obvious since his first preseason game, it is a pretty safe bet that the player is extremely coachable and will likely display this type of progression during his rookie contract.

 

[Uptown]

 

[Uptown]

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

BB also added, "He's (Izzo) shown a lot of mental toughness and competitiveness to continue to work, even though things weren't always going the way he wanted them to or the way we wanted them to. He stuck with it with a good, positive attitude and day-after-day commitment, and that paid off."

This should come as no surprise. When Bill's shows an interest in an physically limited (by starting NFL TE standards) player like Izzo as has been obvious since his first preseason game, it is a pretty safe bet that the player is extremely coachable and will likely display this type of progression during his rookie contract.

Agree - a 4.94 sec 40 yard dash at the combine. And I suspect sign a team friendly deal, out of appreciation for the team's patience, after the rookie contract.

 

[Scotty]

Would they have been saving Uche for the Seahawks game ?...is his type of game more suited to tracking Wilson.....just guessing !!

 

[luuked]

Given that we were playing a Chan Gailey offense I guess they assumed we will see a lot of spread with Uche having less value in coverage at this point.

 

[jah]

Would they have been saving Uche for the Seahawks game ?...is his type of game more suited to tracking Wilson.....just guessing !!

My guess is it was more about matchups than "saving" anyone. I don't see a lot of separation in quality among our edge players, so I'd expect to see some guys be inactive one week and starting the next based on the opponent.