PostGame Thread REACTIONS: Preseason Game 1: NE vs HOU

[captain stone]

Bedsore played 100% of the defensive snaps, and Sucked during every single one of them, as did Jalopy Tavai during his 19 snaps.

Dam but those two are really, really Bad at football.

But I'm sure they're nice guys who give good interview, which in Notgoat's world is more important.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Hopefully, we'll see the 1st string O-line on he field for a full quarter or half of Game 2 with the exception of Onwenu.
People over-reacting to the O-line players who played last night are ignoring huge things
1- If we're starting those 5, the season is lost anyways because no team is going to do anything losing all 5 O-line starters
2 - It's somewhat disappointing that Jake Andrews is still behind Ferentz. Though it could mean that Ferentz starts the year on the PS again.
3 - It was interesting that the Pats played Steuber at LT when he only played RT in College. Though, they could have ben using it to see what he could do.
4 - Sow and Mafi are works in progress.

Still, that means we are banking on Brown being motivated and healthy all season, that we find a serviceable RT, that Ownenu will be available week 1 and that Strange is healthy and has significantly improved from last year.

At some point we will have to play our backup and from what I have seen last night, I hope we don’t.

 

[TheRainMaker]

There seems to be some disagreement on this:

What is an Illegal Shift in Football? (The Rule Explained)

There are many hard-to-understand rules in football. In this post, I'll explain exactly what an "illegal shift" is in football, including what happens when one is called.

footballadvantage.com

That’s odd because how many times have we seen a play happen only to have the ref call an illegal shift?

 

[JackBauer]

@JackBauer you disagree with my post... What part isn't true, or is the part you disagree with?

I generally disagree with the (in my view, anyway) overly negative Zappe takes, not just yours.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

4 - Sow and Mafi are works in progress.

Sow will need work, since he's playing out at tackle, but I thought Mafi had some encouraging moments. Not perfect, but I saw some real explosion out of his stance and a few running plays where he got to the second level and blocked multiple defenders. With a more competent supporting cast, I think he'll be very solid by season's end.

 

[Ross12]

Since there seems to be some disagreement about who the Texans played based on a Box Score, I actually went to Twitter and pulled snap counts. Based on that, I found that all of the Texans' defensive starters did indeed play with the exception of DT Sheldon Rankins, LB Christian Kirksey, and S Jimmie Ward. Their other starters all played around 20% of the snaps.

After that, their second string defense was a mix, but since we're mostly worried about the Pats OL, I focused on Houston's DL - their second string played a solid 30-50% of the snaps after the first string left depending on the player, which puts us into the 3rd/4th quarter.

Compare that to the below snap counts for the Pats OL:
First string:
Brown: 0%
Strange: 0%
D Andrews: 0%
Onwenu: 0%
Reiff: 0%

Second string:
Anderson: 0%
Murray: 0%
Ferentz: 81% (he must've played some LG for this to make sense)
Russey: 46%
McDermott: 0% (at right tackle)

Third string:
McDermott, I guess: 52%; Steuber: 60% (assume he played LT for the snaps to make sense)
Mafi: 27% (lower than I thought)
J Andrews: 73%
Hines: 73%
Sow: 88%

As you can see above, a majority of the game was Houston's first or second string DL against McDermott or Steuber at LT /Ferentz/Jake Andrews/Russey or Hines/Sow. Hopefully that explains why it looked like ****.

 

[captain stone]

So much for Zappe mania

I don't know what anyone saw last night from him that would be fueling the mania this morning.

There was NO "Zappy mania." That's a made-up phrase by the Corky-uber-alles lovers.

And NOBODY should be able to say with a straight face that he didn't deserve to start da Bears game. Anybody who even dares try is a Liar, a Billy Belichick homo, a f-f-****ing m-m-moron, or All of the Above.

 

[captain stone]

I really miss Scar.

I really miss having a competent Left Tackle.

 

[sb1]

One of the knocks on Zappe is his size.

Cunningham is smaller than Zappe. Has a small frame which means one big hit and it could be lights out. Is under 200 lbs. You can count on 2 hands the number of QB's who have played in the NFL who were under 200 pounds. I don't think his arm is any better than Zappe's either.

I have the yellow light up on moving forward with anything more than how BB and BOB has developed him in camp so far.

 

[captain stone]

And the RT (Sow) was a guard in college who is now learning learn to play tackle.

Wouldn't it have made more sense if we had drafted somebody who was a Tackle in college to teach how to play Tackle in the NFL...?

 

[rochrist]

Would have liked to see more of Boutte and Douglas. One nice catch from Thornton.

Felt Zappe was more tentative, he had guys, did not pull the trigger. His strength is throwing the ball in rhythm, he should lean into that. It's preseason, holding the ball behind a bad ol is terrible.

I don't think Douglas played at all. Boutte played but didn't do much.

Correction: He played two snaps, one of which was on ST.

 

[captain stone]

I had a question on a call in the game. Isn't an illegal shift a pre-snap penalty? If so, how can there be an offsetting defensive hold?

Maybe not... Do you recall the 2006 AFCCG and the play Before the Bug-Eyes (RIP) drop?

 

[Pape]

I generally disagree with the (in my view, anyway) overly negative Zappe takes, not just yours.

thanks for clarifying that... appreciate it

i think last years chicago game really put a spot light on his flaws... and i saw a bunch of that type of play last night... while it may not be fair due to the particular o-line arrangement, its just how i felt at the time...

 

[Tunescribe]

Bedsore played 100% of the defensive snaps, and Sucked during every single one of them, as did Jalopy Tavai during his 19 snaps.

Dam but those two are really, really Bad at football.

But I'm sure they're nice guys who give good interview, which in Notgoat's world is more important.

There was NO "Zappy mania." That's a made-up phrase by the Corky-uber-alles lovers.

And NOBODY should be able to say with a straight face that he didn't deserve to start da Bears game. Anybody who even dares try is a Liar, a Billy Belichick homo, a f-f-****ing m-m-moron, or All of the Above.

I really miss having a competent Left Tackle.

Wouldn't it have made more sense if we had drafted somebody who was a Tackle in college to teach how to play Tackle in the NFL...?

Maybe not... Do you recall the 2006 AFCCG and the play Before the Bug-Eyes (RIP) drop?

 

[SlowGettingUp]

That’s odd because how many times have we seen a play happen only to have the ref call an illegal shift?

I think I might have this figured out - it's a pre-snap penalty, but they let play proceed in case the defence wants to decline the penalty. So then offsetting penalties makes sense.

 

[JackBauer]

thanks for clarifying that... appreciate it

i think last years chicago game really put a spot light on his flaws... and i saw a bunch of that type of play last night... while it may not be fair due to the particular o-line arrangement, its just how i felt at the time...

Sorry, I would have responded with my words but I’m on vacation and really only have opportunities for bare minimum posting.

 

[sb1]

*SMH* Nothing like parsing a statement and completely missing the point SB1. Extended block sustainment is where he's missing the fundamentals and body control. That's just ONE aspect of being an O-linemen. Not to mention that they're moving Sow from OG to OT. So the kid is learning A LOT.

Claiming the guy woulda been a UDFA is ridiculous.

Sounds like a project to me. I hope they develop him and he'll be worth the pick.

 

[upstater1]

Wouldn't it have made more sense if we had drafted somebody who was a Tackle in college to teach how to play Tackle in the NFL...?

Yes, but who?

I watched Dawand Jones the other night. PASS.

He was the only one available at Mapu's spot.

Otherwise, if you wanted a tackle, then erase Keion White or Christian Gonzalez.

 

[captain stone]

To follow up on this, not sure if posted anywhere else, but on the postgame show Mike Reiss said he spoke with Carl Davis in the locker room, who said he was fine.

The two best pieces of news I've seen since the game ended.

 

[captain stone]

On Stroud's first sack, I thought he got bent a little the wrong way. With the Texans' luck, I was expecting him to get up limping.

We sometimes forget, during the heat of competition, that the very next play could be somebody's last in the NFL... That's why I always look to see if everybody has gotten-up after a play ends, just in case...