Ups and Downs for Game 3

[Fencer]

Reiss' version: Ups and downs for the Patriots - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Mine:

Up
Dobson & Thompkins, obviously.

Gostowski -- kicked a perfect game.

Pass rush -- like last game, several sacks & pressures. I don't want to name one guy or two, as I think it's a whole-defense effort.

Bolden -- it wasn't perfect, but the guy produced, in a versatile way.

Talib -- another INT, and Jackson didn't produce too much in general before getting hurt.

Down
Wilfork -- presumably ailing. And in general the run defense was mediocre, even though it looked like the rest of the Front 7 played well.

Arrington -- looked bewildered in coverage of Williams.

 

[Ring 6]

Reiss' version: Ups and downs for the Patriots - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Mine:

Up
Dobson & Thompkins, obviously.

Gostowski -- kicked a perfect game.

Pass rush -- like last game, several sacks & pressures. I don't want to name one guy or two, as I think it's a whole-defense effort.

Bolden -- it wasn't perfect, but the guy produced, in a versatile way.

Talib -- another INT, and Jackson didn't produce too much in general before getting hurt.

Down
Wilfork -- presumably ailing. And in general the run defense was mediocre, even though it looked like the rest of the Front 7 played well.

Arrington -- looked bewildered in coverage of Williams.

I thought the run D was great.
Martin is a good back and he was 16-58 before padding his stats in garbage time vs prevent.

 

[Fencer]

I thought the run D was great.
Martin is a good back and he was 16-58 before padding his stats in garbage time vs prevent.

16-58 isn't terrible, but it also isn't great.

I don't recall a lot of short-yardage/goal-line/whatever plays of the sort that naturally depress YPC in many games.

 

[supafly]

With all of the talk about Wilfork presumably being injured, he sure looked pretty dominating at times on some of the plays that the announcers pointed out.

We don't have an official snap count yet, but it will be interesting to see how much Wilfork played/rested in the 4th quarter when the game was pretty much out of hand. Common sense would point to Belichick likely taking him out in that situation if his so-called injury were anything to note.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Talib is having a very good year. Helping his upcoming contract from a team by his efforts this year.

Has Wilfork been on any injury report or missing practices at all? Something is defiantly up

 

[sb1]

16-58 isn't terrible, but it also isn't great.

I don't recall a lot of short-yardage/goal-line/whatever plays of the sort that naturally depress YPC in many games.

16-58 = 3.6 YPC. Maybe not "great" but that is pretty good run D I think.

 

[Ring 6]

16-58 isn't terrible, but it also isn't great.

I don't recall a lot of short-yardage/goal-line/whatever plays of the sort that naturally depress YPC in many games.

Its pretty great against a top back.
3.6 against your schedule puts you near the top of the league and 4.0 is average.
This was against a top flight RB. I think holding an allpro back on a team that wants to emphasize the run to 58 yards and 3.6 until garbage time qualifies as great.

 

[Brady6]

Reiss' version: Ups and downs for the Patriots - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Mine:

Up
Dobson & Thompkins, obviously.

Gostowski -- kicked a perfect game.

Pass rush -- like last game, several sacks & pressures. I don't want to name one guy or two, as I think it's a whole-defense effort.

Bolden -- it wasn't perfect, but the guy produced, in a versatile way.

Talib -- another INT, and Jackson didn't produce too much in general before getting hurt.

Down
Wilfork -- presumably ailing. And in general the run defense was mediocre, even though it looked like the rest of the Front 7 played well.

Arrington -- looked bewildered in coverage of Williams.

I know he caught 2 touchdowns and I don’t want to discount that but I am not nearly as up on Thompkins after today as I am for Dobson. Thompkins caught just 3 of his 7 targets which means on the season he has been targeted 28 times and has 9 receptions, that is a 32.14% target to reception rate, in comparison Dobson was targeted 10 times for 7 receptions and despite his struggles in week 2 (his first game) has at least a 50% target to reception rate. Personally I think Thompkins is a nice story and a lot of us want to see him succeed, those who hold him in higher regard as a player and in terms of importance than Aaron Dobson are way off base in my opinion.

Up:

• Edelman – 7 targets, 7 receptions, 44 yards, 5 first downs.

• Mayo – 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 QB hit.

• Kelly – 4 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 2 QB hits.

Down:

• Blount – He had 8 carries for 55 yards on that final drive against an exhausted and injured Tampa defense, prior to that he had 6 carries for 10 yards, and his kickoff returning is detrimental to this team.

• Sudfeld – He was over hyped in the preseason, he has been downright awful since week 2 of the preseason, he can't block, he can’t get open and he can’t even knock down a ball to prevent an interception, honestly I have been holding back saying this for a while but I think he should be cut and signed to the practice squad.

• Develin – If the kid never stepped on the field again it would be too soon, watching him block as a lead back is embarrassing.

• Josh McDaniel’s – this guys play calling has been suspect all season, he puts the team in 3rd down situations far often, and is trying to work players that do not fit into this offense into it.

 

[supafly]

Has Wilfork been on any injury report or missing practices at all? Something is defiantly up

No.

Aside from getting worn down in the NYJ game which was 2 full games to start the season within a 100 hr span, I fail to see all of this talk.

The guy fights through double and triple teams on a consistent basis, and there were at least a couple/few plays where he was noticeably good today.

 

[supafly]

I know he caught 2 touchdowns and I don’t want to discount that but I am not nearly as up on Thompkins after today as I am for Dobson. Thompkins caught just 3 of his 7 targets which means on the season he has been targeted 28 times and has 9 receptions, that is a 32.14% target to reception rate, in comparison Dobson was targeted 10 times for 7 receptions and despite his struggles in week 2 (his first game) has at least a 50% target to reception rate. Personally I think Thompkins is a nice story and a lot of us want to see him succeed, those who hold him in higher regard as a player and in terms of importance than Aaron Dobson are way off base in my opinion.

Up:

• Edelman – 7 targets, 7 receptions, 44 yards, 5 first downs.

• Mayo – 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 QB hit.

• Kelly – 4 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 2 QB hits.

Down:

• Blount – He had 8 carries for 55 yards on that final drive against an exhausted and injured Tampa defense, prior to that he had 6 carries for 10 yards, and his kickoff returning is detrimental to this team.

• Sudfeld – He was over hyped in the preseason, he has been downright awful since week 2 of the preseason, he can't block, he can’t get open and he can’t even knock down a ball to prevent an interception, honestly I have been holding back saying this for a while but I think he should be cut and signed to the practice squad.

• Develin – If the kid never stepped on the field again it would be too soon, watching him block as a lead back is embarrassing.

• Josh McDaniel’s – this guys play calling has been suspect all season, he puts the team in 3rd down situations far often, and is trying to work players that do not fit into this offense into it.

I agree with your "downs."

I would also add the offensive line and Tom Brady to your list of "ups." Both of those aspects really shined through again today, and their hard work and persistence certainly paid off nicely, especially considering the fact that Vollmer is in a walking boot and came out early. I'd even go as far to consider adding our rookie punter, who has held his own so far, and has drawn praise from Gostkowski for his exceptional holds which include some digouts throughout the first 3 games.

The thought with Thompkins is that he's basically taking over for Brandon Llyod, so he will likely be more of the go-to guy than Dobson in my opinion. Once he gets things rolling more, he could even be an upgrade as to what Llyod offered last season.

 

[MassPats38]

No.

Aside from getting worn down in the NYJ game which was 2 full games to start the season within a 100 hr span, I fail to see all of this talk.

The guy fights through double and triple teams on a consistent basis, and there were at least a couple/few plays where he was noticeably good today.

I agree. The Jerks and Bucs have decent to good offensive lines. Wilfork was complimented when he threw an offensive lineman at the running back today. He does not gets sacks, and he will not get a ton of tackles in a season. His job is to demand a double team and collapse the pocket, opening up opportunities for other defensive players. I'm not sure what people expect to see of him, or what they believe he is not doing now that he traditionally has done for the defense.

 

[Fencer]

I agree about Blount. He was almost on my list.

 

[supafly]

I agree. The Jerks and Bucs have decent to good offensive lines. Wilfork was complimented when he threw an offensive lineman at the running back today. He does not gets sacks, and he will not get a ton of tackles in a season. His job is to demand a double team and collapse the pocket, opening up opportunities for other defensive players. I'm not sure what people expect to see of him, or what they believe he is not doing now that he traditionally has done for the defense.

I think it really comes down to today's game, because starting off any season with 2 games within the period of Sun-Thurs is going to have the capacity to wear a big man like that down. Add in the aspect that both QB's had the ability to scramble and run around, along with 2 pretty decent offensive lines, and it isn't hard to see what happened.

Unless we will review film and decide that he had a really bad game again today (unlikely), then I think we can start to downplay some of this "injured" talk.

He hasn't missed a practice nor has he been limited at all, and if he played as much down the stretch of a 23-3 game in the 4th quarter today as I think he did, the theory of him being injured wouldn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

[fnordcircle]

honestly I have been holding back saying this for a while but I think he should be cut and signed to the practice squad.

Wow, you held back for a whole 2 games, that's crazy patience man.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Ups and Downs for Game 3

Wow, you held back for a whole 2 games, that's crazy patience man.

That's what I'm saying I had to practice relaxation techniques just to make it till now.

 

[JMC00]

• Josh McDaniel’s – this guys play calling has been suspect all season, he puts the team in 3rd down situations far often, and is trying to work players that do not fit into this offense into it.

 

[xlcjw72]

I agree. The Jerks and Bucs have decent to good offensive lines. Wilfork was complimented when he threw an offensive lineman at the running back today. He does not gets sacks, and he will not get a ton of tackles in a season. His job is to demand a double team and collapse the pocket, opening up opportunities for other defensive players. I'm not sure what people expect to see of him, or what they believe he is not doing now that he traditionally has done for the defense.

take big vince out and i promise you doug martin would of ran wild....

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Yesterday's Run Defense: 3 rushing first downs allowed, no rushing TDs, 93 total rushing yards allowed from the backs, all but 2 of the rushing carries coming from one of the better backs in the league who is coming off a 144 yard performance against the Saints along with a 70 yard performance against arguably the Jets one solid strength (run D)

Deeper look at the stats:
First Half Martin runs (about 12 runs) above 5: 8 and 7
Second half runs (about 10) above 5: 11 9 9 (the two 9s were with the Patriots well in command and likely playing a bit more prevent).

I think where people might be seeing run D issues is no stops for losses and frequently Martin gained 3 or 4. Regardless the Run D absolutely did well in its two critical jobs: (A) don't let them run for first downs and (B) don't let them gore you with big runs. In the, arguably, two most important areas the Rush D gets the grade of B+ IMHO.

 

[tasmlab]

I know he caught 2 touchdowns and I don’t want to discount that but I am not nearly as up on Thompkins after today as I am for Dobson. Thompkins caught just 3 of his 7 targets which means on the season he has been targeted 28 times and has 9 receptions, that is a 32.14% target to reception rate, in comparison Dobson was targeted 10 times for 7 receptions and despite his struggles in week 2 (his first game) has at least a 50% target to reception rate. Personally I think Thompkins is a nice story and a lot of us want to see him succeed, those who hold him in higher regard as a player and in terms of importance than Aaron Dobson are way off base in my opinion.

I only noticed it once, but it looked like Revis was on Thompkins. Did anyone see if Revis was on him all game?

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I only noticed it once, but it looked like Revis was on Thompkins. Did anyone see if Revis was on him all game?

They played mostly zone so he was covering others as well..but lined up over thompkins the most I think.

And brady has not been throwing the ball well at all this year. Ovr throwing guys ect. Part of the reason Thompkins only has 9 catches