Week 1 Post Game Thoughts

[Off The Grid]

The Cardinals are an Elite Level Team, exceptionally well-coached by Bruce Arians, and field a Top 10 Defense.

The Patriots were missing the best QuarterBack in the History of the Game, the best Tight End in the History of the Game, no NFL-Caliber Split End or Flanker to threaten the Secondary, a mediocre BackField...and an Offensive Line ravaged and utterly decimated by Injuries...and playing on the Road.

Had we lost 31-14, I would've been neither surprised nor disappointed.

After all: The Patriots have lost the 1st Game of the Season 3 Times since Mad Bill enraged most Pat Fans by suspending Terry Glenn...and all 3 Times, we ultimately won the last Game of the Season...in February.

You can never count out a Team coached by Bill Belichick, but my God, what a masterful Game, tonight.

Jimmy Garappolo is for real. My only concern about him, coming out of College, was a major one: Poise Under Pressure. But poor Poise Under Pressure ~ his was inconsistent with the Panthers ~ is something that I often point out is far more likely attributable to poor Processing Speed than a lack of Guts: If you can't read the Tactical LandScape quickly enough to chose your Target and throw it before the Pass Rushers collapse the Pocket, of course you're gonna bail. So that was my Big Doubt about Garappolo, and why I attributed no more than a 4th/5th Round Value to'm in 2014...But I'll tell ya: He had some bad moments, sure, but everyone does, on The Field of Battle. Garappolo looked like a Pro, out there. I'm sold.

Strategic Concern: As I see it, this Team's Achilles Heel is its Offensive Line, particularly the Offensive Tackles, of course. Ironically, it may be Martellus Bennet who saves us in that regard. It'd be far better, of course, to have a fully healthy tandem of Solder and Vollmer manning our Flanks, allowing Gronkowski and Bennett to wreak an absolutely unprecedented kind of Havoc on the rest of the League...But if we're going to need one or both'f'm to do a lot more blocking than originally planned, and it enables us to eek out those scrappy 17-13 Victories in January ~ and February!! ~ against tough Defenses...so be it!!

Christopher Hogan. I believe that Christopher Hogan is about to Shock The World by rapidly ascending to become one of the League's best WideOuts. His intrinsic Agility is sensational, his Intelligence is amazing, his Power is tremendous for a WideOut, and his Work Ethic is outstanding. He's needed a few Years to transform from LaCrosse Player to FootBall Player, which is to be expected, but which, I think, most people who foolishly wright'm off as a Journeyman have little to no conception of: It takes Years of Time & Training ~ thousands of Repetitions ~ to reach the point where Instincts and Muscle Memory become reliable ~ where one's natural Processing Speed consistently takes over on The Field of Battle. I believe that Christopher Hogan has reached that point where it's finally all starting to click on a regular basis. And I believe, Ladies and Laddies, that we are just beginning the Process of witnessing an extraordinary Transformation.

 

[Gumby]

The Cardinals are an Elite Level Team, exceptionally well-coached by Bruce Arians, and field a Top 10 Defense.
...so be it!!

Christopher Hogan. I believe that Christopher Hogan is about to Shock The World by rapidly ascending to become one of the League's best WideOuts. His intrinsic Agility is sensational, his Intelligence is amazing, his Power is tremendous for a WideOut, and his Work Ethic is outstanding. He's needed a few Years to transform from LaCrosse Player to FootBall Player, which is to be expected, but which, I think, most people who foolishly wright'm off as a Journeyman have little to no conception of: It takes Years of Time & Training ~ thousands of repetitions ~ to reach the point where Instincts and Muscle Memory become reliable ~ where one's natural Processing Speed consistently takes over on The Field of Battle. I believe that Christopher Hogan has reached that point where it's finally all clicking on a regular basis. And I believe, Ladies and Laddies, that we are just beginning the Process of witnessing an extraordinary Transformation.

Christopher Hogan has reached that point where he has a decent qb to throw him the ball. . .

Just saying, not to be overlooked.

 

[Off The Grid]

Christopher Hogan has reached that point where he has a decent qb to throw him the ball. . .

Just saying, not to be overlooked.

Hogan's only started 6 Games in his Career, prior to this one. It's hard to rack up Stats from the bench.

It had nothing to do with who was throwing the Ball, because they weren't throwing it to him, you see.

 

[drewskie]

Bennett's blocking is as advertised. That phantom hold called when he dominated Chandler Jones? Him and Gronk look like they will be used to help out the OL with the added receiving depth at WR this year (Hogan, Mitchell).

Cant wait to see this team hopefully at full strength when it matters with Gronk/Bennett/Jules/Dola/Hogan/Lewis/Blount/White/Foster.

I was very optimistic even without Brady because a quick release with solid mobility means if Jimmy was even a remotely intelligent QB he should be able to put up points against what I felt was an overrated defense outside of Peterson and Mathieu who are both studs.

Teams that can generate pressure by just rushing 4 will be our biggest challenge (see 07 Giants, 15 Broncos). But when fully healthy I just feel we are by far the most complete team (doesnt mean we dont have weaknesses but the OL can be somewhat mitigated with our blocking at TE and the quick outlets like Jules/Lewis among others).

The CBs were good tonight with obvious room for improvement. Butler, Ryan and Cyrus Jones (on the catch that led to the missed 47 yd FG) were all beat (by a very good WR/TE group of Arizona's.

Mingo didnt play a big role tonight, and Id like to see what Foster can do against first team defenses.

The STs unit led by not Slater but Jonathan Jones were most impressice tonight, but we also need to realize that STs is also another area where ARZ are nothing special at from what Ive seen dating back to last year.

 

[ausbacker]

Disappointing post @Off The Grid. There's nowhere near enough Purple and ignoring tildes! What the hell is this? ~~~~~~

 

[Off The Grid]

Disappointing post @Off The Grid. There's nowhere near enough Purple and ignoring tildes! What the hell is this? ~~~~~~

No excuses, Sir. I'll redouble my Efforts.

 

[mihap]

The Cardinals are an Elite Level Team, exceptionally well-coached by Bruce Arians, and field a Top 10 Defense.

I disagree that Cards are top 10 defense.
Their front 7, and LB arent that good.
Texans and Bills are way much better and with our oline i am worried about Jimmy health.
What is your opinion on Malcolm Mitchell?

 

[NewFeep]

my thoughts: Patriots came out and hung together very, very impressively. They went into AZ and basically shut them down (2 td's off turnovers). Bennett played his heart out blocking, the O-line really surprised me. (SCAR) and hng together very well. Beating the Cards there like that without, TB, Gronk, Vink, Solder, Seabass, Cooper. Impressive! Love the front seven going forward on D...... Lotta talent there and depth! Lastly, Jimmy G. What you say except exceptional poise and "giddy-up"..... side note: I was hoping to see D.J. get a few plays, was he active?? Go Pats!

 

[rookBoston]

Jimmy was great. How many first round picks did he earn the franchise today?

Bennett was a force in the run game...I didn't expect that. Nice to see

Hogan flashed the tools. I'm excited, but want to see it happen regularly

James White had a tremendous game, a few great plays, that shoetop catch for a first down-- quality stuff.

Cameron Fleming is a disaster. Please, find a solution at OT!!

Edelman and Amendola showed up as expected and as required. Doing their job.

Chris Long--under appreciated work! I'm a huge fan. Drawing that holding call on the final drive almost clinched the game, singlehanded

Hightower and Collins and Sheard...mostly marginalized by the AZ offense. Surprising because our LBs should be a strength of our team.

Butler was his usual ****y self. Ryan was fine, but outplayed by Larry for most of the 2nd half. Coleman showed me something on the INT out of bounds-- great position on that play. Another timely PBU or an INT from the secondary would have ended this game without the need for so much drama.

Chung missed some embarrassing tackles on David Johnson, but so did the entire Pats D. Harmon and McCourty got stiff armed on the same run and made to look like ametuers.

Overall the defense was unexceptional yet somehow effective enough to play a complementary game.

For the team to lose the turnover game 0-2 and still manage a win on the road, something special happened. Good not great offense, adequate but not opportunistic defense, excellent special teams, tight win that could easily have gone the other way.

Vegas is quickly rethinking its line-making algorithm that gave them Pats as 9.5 pt underdogs.

 

[Canuck]

JG did great, he looked like a legit starting QB and as Slater said "the game wasn't to big for him" The OL did a great job of protecting him. His mobility was a great asset. Still the fumbles are still an issue that he has to improve on. The Pats ran 31 times and that helped alot. It kept Arizona from being blitz happy. One of my favorite plays was when Blount took half of the Arizona defense and bulldozed his way into the endzone for a TD. His 22 carries was one of key reasons we won the game. Still his fumble was a big negative and a blemish on what was a good running game. I love the job that Bennett did. All 6 of our primary receivers caught balls. Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, White, Mitchell and Bennett all made great catches. When we get Gronk back that will be 7 legit receivers.

Great game plan by BB and the staff. Run the ball, pick on the weaker CB when there was man coverage, keep Bennett in to block. Interesting that they started Flemming at LT instead of Waddle.

Needless to say there was some suspect officiating. Tripping was only called 11 times all of last year and still they managed to find a reason even if highly suspect to call it. There were a few more that were just as bad. The flag that accidently fell out of an officials pocket on a play that Arizona scored on made me laugh. I bet if Arizona hadn't scored, the flag would have stayed on the field and a penalty called against the Patriots.

In the end the special teams was the edge of victory. Ours was better then theirs. Gostkowski was rock solid.
Our long snapper is better then their long snapper. Even our punting was better, Like Belichick said, we got contributions from all 3 phases of the game. Still Collins leaping over the OL to block a kick seems like an injury just waiting to happen.

A bit off topic but after boycotting NFL network since last years SB, I decided to see what was on. Apparantly LT and Deion Sanders have a late night show where they talk to players via phone or video after their games. Edelman called in and did the usual Patriots speak about the game. Deion told Edelman that he didn't get the respect he deserved. That Edelman who was rated low (87th?) in the top 100 players should be much higher and Deion read off some stats that showed Edelman was just as good as players rated much higher. Deion called it reverse racism. Edelman thanked him then the prick LT piped in and asked Edelman if he talked to Brady recently. It was like he wanted to catch Edelman and Brady breaking the rules of Brady's suspension. I think the question caught Edelman by surprise as he kind of stammered out an answer, something like I don't think we are allowed to do that. Then Deion chimed in with a retort and Edelman ended with I plead the 5th and this got a laugh. Looks like LT still hates the Patriots.

 

[Joker]

I saw that and I know exactly what you mean...yeah, he's a scumbag alright

 

[Off The Grid]

I disagree that Cards are top 10 defense.
Their front 7, and LB arent that good.
Texans and Bills are way much better and with our oline i am worried about Jimmy health.
What is your opinion on Malcolm Mitchell?

Well, they were Top 10 last Year, and they added one Chandler Jones. Have they lost crucial components of their Defense? I haven't been able to follow what other Teams've done this past OffSeason.

I agree with you 100% about Garappolo's Health with that O Line.

Indeed, I was thinking how ironically fortunate it may well be that Brady's missing these particular 4 Weeks, while the Mediocrities we're left with gel together as best they can: Dangerous time back there.

Mitchell? Delighted to be asked, Sir. Answer: Sky High. I gave'm a Top 10 Grade. SuperBeast.

What's your opinion of'm?

 

[Off The Grid]

Jimmy was great. How many first round picks did he earn the franchise today?

Hah!! An old subject, but a refreshing way to put it.

 

[Off The Grid]

Chung missed some embarrassing tackles on David Johnson, but so did the entire Pats D. Harmon and McCourty got stiff armed on the same run and made to look like ametuers.

David Johnson...That kid's about to go ApeShit, I believe.

He's got 2000 Yards (combined) Potential.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

We are the best team in the AFC. Though, we were the best team in the AFC last year too. If this team can stay strong and avoid all those late season injuries, we will be in SB 51.

 

[Keep Up With The Joneses]

Overall I thought they played a good game, in a situation where most of us, myself included, thought they had no chance to win. Bennett was the player of the game, IMO. His blocking allowed them to do some things offensively that I don't believe they could have done otherwise.

My biggest concern was the pass rush. Palmer stayed pretty clean all night. I was expecting Mingo to play a bigger role. I was hoping with his speed to the QB they would have him moving around and making Palmer uncomfortable. I know some people are complaining about Logan Ryan, but he was often asked to cover Fitz in man, and I think given the time Palmer often had, Ryan did about as well as one would expect.

Against another back I would be concerned about the run-stopping, but David Johnson in my opinion is elite. I'm expecting the Pats to improve in this area down the road.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think that is the best offense they will face all year and to allow only 21 pts (2 of TOs) and under 6 yards a play is incredible.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think that is the best offense they will face all year and to allow only 21 pts (2 of TOs) and under 6 yards a play is incredible.

I think the AZ defense is good- not not elite but for a 1st time starter, shaky o-line, new TE and WRs that have never played with in a game before to execute like that on 3rd down has to be commended.

Lots of opportunity to nit-pick but I will not do it.

A great, great win.

 

[ashley]

OTG,

Great analysis and really well said!!!!!!!!!

The Cardinals are an Elite Level Team, exceptionally well-coached by Bruce Arians, and field a Top 10 Defense.

The Patriots were missing the best QuarterBack in the History of the Game, the best Tight End in the History of the Game, no NFL-Caliber Split End or Flanker to threaten the Secondary, a mediocre BackField...and an Offensive Line ravaged and utterly decimated by Injuries...and playing on the Road.

Had we lost 31-14, I would've been neither surprised nor disappointed.

After all: The Patriots have lost the 1st Game of the Season 3 Times since Mad Bill enraged most Pat Fans by suspending Terry Glenn...and all 3 Times, we ultimately won the last Game of the Season...in February.

You can never count out a Team coached by Bill Belichick, but my God, what a masterful Game, tonight.

Jimmy Garappolo is for real. My only concern about him, coming out of College, was a major one: Poise Under Pressure. But poor Poise Under Pressure ~ his was inconsistent with the Panthers ~ is something that I often point out is far more likely attributable to poor Processing Speed than a lack of Guts: If you can't read the Tactical LandScape quickly enough to chose your Target and throw it before the Pass Rushers collapse the Pocket, of course you're gonna bail. So that was my Big Doubt about Garappolo, and why I attributed no more than a 4th/5th Round Value to'm in 2014...But I'll tell ya: He had some bad moments, sure, but everyone does, on The Field of Battle. Garappolo looked like a Pro, out there. I'm sold.

Strategic Concern: As I see it, this Team's Achilles Heel is its Offensive Line, particularly the Offensive Tackles, of course. Ironically, it may be Martellus Bennet who saves us in that regard. It'd be far better, of course, to have a fully healthy tandem of Solder and Vollmer manning our Flanks, allowing Gronkowski and Bennett to wreak an absolutely unprecedented kind of Havoc on the rest of the League...But if we're going to need one of both'f'm to do a lot more blocking than originally planned, and it enables us to eek out those scrappy 17-13 Victories in January ~ and February!! ~ against tough Defenses...so be it!!

Christopher Hogan. I believe that Christopher Hogan is about to Shock The World by rapidly ascending to become one of the League's best WideOuts. His intrinsic Agility is sensational, his Intelligence is amazing, his Power is tremendous for a WideOut, and his Work Ethic is outstanding. He's needed a few Years to transform from LaCrosse Player to FootBall Player, which is to be expected, but which, I think, most people who foolishly wright'm off as a Journeyman have little to no conception of: It takes Years of Time & Training ~ thousands of repetitions ~ to reach the point where Instincts and Muscle Memory become reliable ~ where one's natural Processing Speed consistently takes over on The Field of Battle. I believe that Christopher Hogan has reached that point where it's finally all starting to click on a regular basis. And I believe, Ladies and Laddies, that we are just beginning the Process of witnessing an extraordinary Transformation.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Christopher Hogan. I believe that Christopher Hogan is about to Shock The World by rapidly ascending to become one of the League's best WideOuts. His intrinsic Agility is sensational, his Intelligence is amazing, his Power is tremendous for a WideOut, and his Work Ethic is outstanding. He's needed a few Years to transform from LaCrosse Player to FootBall Player, which is to be expected, but which, I think, most people who foolishly wright'm off as a Journeyman have little to no conception of: It takes Years of Time & Training ~ thousands of repetitions ~ to reach the point where Instincts and Muscle Memory become reliable ~ where one's natural Processing Speed consistently takes over on The Field of Battle. I believe that Christopher Hogan has reached that point where it's finally all starting to click on a regular basis. And I believe, Ladies and Laddies, that we are just beginning the Process of witnessing an extraordinary Transformation.

Great post throughout, but what especially resonates with me is the bold.
We saw JUST THAT take place with my man, The Squirrel, when after a few years, a nondescript former QB morphed into a savvy player with quick instincts that no one could cover.
If Hogan is the real deal as you project, we are truly blessed.