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- Mar 13, 2005
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Ah Darlin', don't let the NEMs get you down, listen to words of others who might actually understand the game:Someone does have to ask McDaniels:
1. Why, when the offense stalls, does it take so long to go to the no-huddle at which Brady excels?
2. Why, when Chad Jackson is out, do we totally abandon the long ball or the threat of it (which obviously, the other teams know)? Can't you send Doug Gabriel long?
3. Why, when one player goes down (today it was Maroney) do you get totally flummoxed and forget that you have other good players on offense?
4. Why don't you buy Ben Watson a can of pine tar and personally douse him with it from his elbows to his finger tips just prior to kickoff?
I'm sure I can think of more later.
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2006/12/toms_take_13.htmlQ: Do you sometimes wish you played the spread offense more?
TB: We are a big two-tight end offense with Dan [Graham] and Ben [Watson], so we have kind of gone away from that a little bit. For me, I think every time I go out on the field and Coach calls a play, we have talked about it throughout the entire week and I am comfortable with it. I always like being back there in the shotgun and seeing the field and making my reads. We needed it today. The guys executed it very well, especially in the fourth quarter and before half, too. We put together two good drives right before half, which we needed as well. So, that ended up being the difference. We played well in those situations.
I realize a team that is making the playoffs again this year, two years in a row after losing both superbowl winning coordinators, may not be to some people's taste. This offense is still raw and developing, they have big play ability, and they make mental errors as they learn to execute their assignments. The defense matched Chicago last week, that was a playoff intensity performance, even with the reshuffle at LB, having two reserves starting at Safety, and the teams recognized #1 DL playing with an exoskeleton on one arm.
Let's recognize that the players suffered a let down preparing for a 2-9 club and needed to pick themselves up by their jockstraps after finding themselves in an actual dogfight. Hard to put the game's shortcomings on the coaches when the players were doing the sleepwalking - unless you're a particularly flamboyant narcissist proud to boast of your ignorance with the same weekly diatribe.