Post Game Thread Texans @ Pats....Onto the AFC Championship Game

[70Dart]

Texans has the #1 Defense and we were able to beat that. Glad we won, but next week will be tougher!

Our D benefitted from playing a weak Offense. And to be honest, they dominated us in the first half, we had way too many stupid mistakes in the first half. We can't afford those types of bonehead mistakes next week.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

I wouldn't call 6 or more plays of 20+ yards moderate success. Along with 34 points. The Pats played their C game and still ruined the Texans

Fair enough, however, my "sense" (meaning nothing more than the dreaded eye test) was there were a couple of completions that were all but jump balls - almost desparation. Which, hey, I'll take it. Yet that is not something we should rely on IMHO.
The Patriots/Brady must have a better plan to beat the close crowding (for lack of a better phrase) than what we saw. Otherwise a good offense is going to make our chances of victory overly dicey.

Here's the good news: I think Houston may be the toughest D we face in the playoffs. Certainly the worst O but as it appears now the best D (how about this development! The Patriots have the best remaining D). I feel better facing a team that doesn't have the horses to pull off such an effective 'close crowding' that Houston seemed to have (shout out to BOB and RC for knowing us too well).

 

[Pats2000]

Fair enough, however, my "sense" (meaning nothing more than the dreaded eye test) was there were a couple of completions that were all but jump balls - almost desparation. Which, hey, I'll take it. Yet that is not something we should rely on IMHO.
The Patriots/Brady must have a better plan to beat the close crowding (for lack of a better phrase) than what we saw. Otherwise a good offense is going to make our chances of victory overly dicey.

Here's the good news: I think Houston may be the toughest D we face in the playoffs. Certainly the worst O but as it appears now the best D (how about this development! The Patriots have the best remaining D). I feel better facing a team that doesn't have the horses to pull off such an effective 'close crowding' that Houston seemed to have (shut out to BOB and RC for know us too well).

There won't be a pass rush that good left either. I don't see the Pats losing to GB or the Falcons

 

[70Dart]

Fair enough, however, my "sense" (meaning nothing more than the dreaded eye test) was there were a couple of completions that were all but jump balls - almost desparation. Which, hey, I'll take it. Yet that is not something we should rely on IMHO.
The Patriots/Brady must have a better plan to beat the close crowding (for lack of a better phrase) than what we saw. Otherwise a good offense is going to make our chances of victory overly dicey.

Here's the good news: I think Houston may be the toughest D we face in the playoffs. Certainly the worst O but as it appears now the best D (how about this development! The Patriots have the best remaining D). I feel better facing a team that doesn't have the horses to pull off such an effective 'close crowding' that Houston seemed to have (shut out to BOB and RC for know us too well).

The one thing that will be a dramatic difference in this next game. No matter who we play, they don't have the same type of defensive line talent that the Texans had. So Brady will face pressure, but he shouldn't face the same type of pressure he faced yesterday. I don't know if the Steelers or the Chiefs can pull off stunts lik the Texans did. If we can keep the middle clear and the pocket in good shape Brady should have some success.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

There won't be a pass rush that good left either. I don't see the Pats losing to GB or the Falcons

Yea that is good news about the pass rush. Most of the Patriot playoff fails started with Brady being hurried much more often than is expected.
I don't know that I have your level of confidence, however, I feel good about our chances IF both sides of the ball play up to their benchmarks. I'd challenge anyone to show how we are not the most balanced team remaining.
Now we just have to go out, not turn the damn ball over, not lose possessions to stupid damn penalties (that Rowe PF penalty was a HUGE event), and do what we are capable of on both sides of the ball. While that won't guarantee a win I like our chances against anyone.

 

[PatsWSB47]

We always seem to take out the biggest offensive threat. How do we take Bell out?

 

[70Dart]

Fair enough, however, my "sense" (meaning nothing more than the dreaded eye test) was there were a couple of completions that were all but jump balls - almost desparation. Which, hey, I'll take it. Yet that is not something we should rely on IMHO.
The Patriots/Brady must have a better plan to beat the close crowding (for lack of a better phrase) than what we saw. Otherwise a good offense is going to make our chances of victory overly dicey.

Here's the good news: I think Houston may be the toughest D we face in the playoffs. Certainly the worst O but as it appears now the best D (how about this development! The Patriots have the best remaining D). I feel better facing a team that doesn't have the horses to pull off such an effective 'close crowding' that Houston seemed to have (shut out to BOB and RC for know us too well).

As for the Houston Patriots. The only other team that has more Pats coaches and former players on it than the Texans is the Patriots themselves...lol

 

[70Dart]

Yea that is good news about the pass rush. Most of the Patriot playoff fails started with Brady being hurried much more often than is expected.
I don't know that I have your level of confidence, however, I feel good about our chances IF both sides of the ball play up to their benchmarks. I'd challenge anyone to show how we are not the most balanced team remaining.
Now we just have to go out, not turn the damn ball over, not lose possessions to stupid damn penalties (that Rowe PF penalty was a HUGE event), and do what we are capable of on both sides of the ball. While that won't guarantee a win I like our chances against anyone.

The Pats biggest issues were going up fast DE's. The big guys in the middle would clog up all the blockers and allow one DE to run free straight up the middle. The Giants did it multiple times against us (see Justin Tuck in 2007 and 2010) as did the Ravens (Terrell Suggs) and the Broncos (Vaughn Miller). So we need to find an answer to that problem. Whether it is leaving develin back to block any potential penetration up the middle or have Martellusaurus Rex chipping the DE and slowing them down or combination of the two. This seems to be the ONLY recipe to beat us and it has been done repeatedly by a few teams. Clog the middle, take away Brady's escape route so he can't slide up in the pocket and as we have seen, you can beat the Patriots. If we can't find a way to block the stunts, then facing either of those offenses next week could pose a serious issue.

We had the benefit of facing a team that is a QB away from being a real contender (imo). If the Texans get Jimmy G, watch out for them. They have the defense, a decent OL, a good running back, solid receivers and the only ingredient left is a QB.

 

[70Dart]

We always seem to take out the biggest offensive threat. How do we take Bell out?

You don't. If we face the Steelers, I see the Pats doing a similar gameplan to that of the one we employed against the Colts in 2004(?). We let Edgerrin James run all over us, but we kept him out of the End zone. It kept the ball on the ground and out of the hands of Peyton Manning who was the bigger threat.

Bell is a major threat, but Big Ben is the biggest threat. I would expect us to employ a similar plan for the Chiefs as well.

 

[BelichickFan]

We always seem to take out the biggest offensive threat. How do we take Bell out?

Control, and maintain control of the gaps. Patience only helps if something opens up. If not you're just a stupid dancer behind the line of scrimmage. Have to control the gaps for longer than usual, though.

 

[70Dart]

Control, and maintain control of the gaps. Patience only helps if something opens up. If not you're just a stupid dancer behind the line of scrimmage. Have to control the gaps for longer than usual, though.

Dancer behind the L.O.S. Lawrence Maroney?

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

We can all breathe a sigh of relief

 

[Triumph]

"">January 17, 2017</a>

 

[libra957]

Perhaps it might be best to reduce Floyd's role in the offense. The timing is not there and the playoff is no place to attempt at getting the timing right with a brand new receiver as we found out the hard way, that's stuff is for the offseason and the regular season. Hoping to see him get replaced by Mitchell this week.

 

[70Dart]

Perhaps it might be best to reduce Floyd's role in the offense. The timing is not there and the playoff is no place to attempt at getting the timing right with a brand new receiver as we found out the hard way, that's stuff is for the offseason and the regular season. Hoping to see him get replaced by Mitchell this week.

This may very well be the case. With Amendola and Mitchell getting healthy at the right time, it is beneficial for us.