Week 4 vs Atlanta Falcons discussion

[mgcolby]

Am I the only one that reads "Sticky Caulk" in big red letters and immaturely laughs uncontrollably for an extended period of time?

That name is killing me. I am stealing that for a fantasy team name.

 

[SVN]

Cinci is decent, but I agree with the poster that said they haven't done anything to be considered an elite team.

Their d-line will give up yards to both Ridley and Bolden. Dalton will turn over the ball at least once if not twice. Green-Ellis might be hyped to go against the Pats, but I can bet the Patriots will be just as excited to stuff him. He is averaging 2.8 yards a carry and looks bad so far.

The Bengals corners are both pretty good, Dalton can have a decent drive or two and Gresham might test the 3rd down defense a bit. A.J. Green is good, but he isn't going to have a monster game with McCourty over top and Talib stuck to his side.

The last two games I have gone to have been loses. I will be in Cincinnati for this one. I can't take another walk out of a stadium as a loser. (The other two being Buffalo and Pittsburgh). I have to believe the Patriots will have this one for my own sake.

Not sure what we have done to be considered an elite team. Dont think green ellis is big concern but you are really downplaying their Dline easily and A.J.Green and gresham and co that they may test us a 'bit' . We are by no means world beaters at this stage of the season. Hope you are right but dont be disappointed at the game if you are arent.

 

[SVN]

I respect your opinion and you may be right. Their defense poses a tough challenge.

That said, there were plenty of times in the first 3 games that I saw lots of problems with them. They were in trouble at times in the PIT game and certainly didn't put a crappy team away. The first game they lost, and the last game they blew a 14-0 lead and played poorly for a long stretch of time until Green Bay eventually shot themselves in the foot one too many times.

It's hard to project which team will be the best out of the 3 opponents, as they all have good qualities to them, but there's no doubt that CIN likely has the least amount of quality offensive weapons, and that is what the poster to whom I responded to was claiming.

The word on Vollmer doesn't sound too serious, so hopefully he can make a go for next week's game at Cincinnati. We will need him, as you pointed out. Another factor to take into consideration is that we should have at least ONE of Gronkowski or Amendola back for next week's game, so that should help to offset some of their defensive advantage.

A lot the problems they faced are similar to what we faced so we arent any different. PIT maybe a crappy team but division games are like this.We didnt really put away the bills or jets either. Yes we have a reputation of an elite team but we are not that this yr . Plus they can really generate pressure with 4 people only and being @home is another advantage. Not saying they are mistake free team but at this time in the season there isnt much seperating us in terms of mediocrity. We arent an elite team either for now.
We really need to start fast and deal some early blows otherwise I can see this being a long game for us.

 

[mgcolby]

My bold prediction for the weekend and I'm going out on a very long limb here. One of two things will happen:

1. The Pats defense gets lit up for 30+ and the media and chicken little's will say: "See told you the Pats D are bottom feeders, look at what happened when they played a real offense."

or

2. The Pats keep the Falcons in check say under 24 points, Falcons PPG average thus far. And the media and chicken little's will say: "yeah but the Falcons were riddled with injuries and weren't at full strength. You handled a beat up football team. We will see how you do against the Bengals offense next week."

Damned if you don't...damned if you do!

 

[JMC00]

I think CIN poses challenges that are different, due to their awesome defensive play/pressure that they get, along with playing them on their home field. We all just saw what happened with Green Bay, so I imagine that they'll play us tough.

Ya but GB absolutely collapsed in that one. Went down 14-0, then went up 30-14, only to lose 34-30.

If that happened to a Belichick and Brady team sports media would be killing them, yet haven't really heard a peep about McCarthy and Rodgers. But we know why that is.

Also GB really gashed them on the ground. Pats just put up 156 on one of the best run defenses in the league.

Also if the Pats are on their game with stopping the run, Bengals will be severely one dimensional.

 

[Mack Herron]

With Vollmer not practicing again today and Svitek yet to dress due to injury, they are thin at tackle. I assume Cannon--who backed-up everywhere--will replace Vollmer, but then reserves are uncertain. If Svitek cannot go again, I would expect a roster move.

 

[Kontradiction]

Patriots' plan: Run silent, run deep | Boston Herald

FOXBORO — There will be plenty of times on Sunday night when Tom Brady will communicate with complete silence, and that’s not particularly easy to do in a building loud enough to bully the voice out of the quarterback’s own head.

Such is the challenge for the Patriots offense, which will learn life ain’t too peachy for a visitor inside the Georgia Dome, where Falcons fans can scream so frantically that your ears might be buzzing for the rest of the night. Brady’s job is to make sure the Patriots work through that efficiently enough to assume a victory formation sometime around midnight, driving home the final message he’d care to convey.

For that symbolic gesture to happen, the Patriots’ nonverbal communication must be effective enough to keep the offense working in harmony. Therein lies the next challenge in the development of Brady’s young cast of pass catchers.

To prepare for that, the Patriots will go through stretches this week at practice when speaking is forbidden. They’ll have to navigate past the scout team defense with hand signals while songs like “Fly High, Falcons” blare through sideline speakers that are bigger than Danny Woodhead.

They’re used to it by now, as the art of communicating in hostile environs is taught early in the offseason and refined throughout the season. Such nonverbal communication is actually worked on frequently at practice, just in case the players’ helmet headsets malfunction, so this week is hardly a crash course.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

How do opposing teams manage to endure Gillette's decibel levels?

 

[Kontradiction]

How do opposing teams manage to endure Gillette's decibel levels?

Those teams are usually silent in the huddle. If the quarterback gives his team the play via verbal communication, our defense would easily hear him.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Atlanta might be considered to be the weakest of the next 3 games but I think this is the toughest game of all 3 games because of the record of the Falcons under Matt Ryan at home....they are as hard to beat at home as NE is winning over 70% of their home games the past few years.

 

[mgcolby]

How do opposing teams manage to endure Gillette's decibel levels?

They practice at the library.....this way they get the whole package, the silence and the shhh's they will have to contend with periodically.

 

[PatsDeb]

My bold prediction for the weekend and I'm going out on a very long limb here. One of two things will happen:

1. The Pats defense gets lit up for 30+ and the media and chicken little's will say: "See told you the Pats D are bottom feeders, look at what happened when they played a real offense."

or

2. The Pats keep the Falcons in check say under 24 points, Falcons PPG average thus far. And the media and chicken little's will say: "yeah but the Falcons were riddled with injuries and weren't at full strength. You handled a beat up football team. We will see how you do against the Bengals offense next week."

Damned if you don't...damned if you do!

I hope we go with damned if you do!

 

[Kontradiction]

This game is going to be won in the trenches, as are most games. Atlanta has taken some hits on both sides of the ball and the Patriots pass rush has improved noticeably over last season. Chandler Jones should have a big game ahead of him. I'd also like to see Michael Buchanan brought in during obvious passing downs. His speed could prove to be a difference maker on the outside.

 

[FourierSeries]

For what it's worth, people on the Falcons boards aren't happy with how their team is playing and a lot of them believe the Pats will win.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

For what it's worth, people on the Falcons boards aren't happy with how their team is playing and a lot of them believe the Pats will win.

Ya I saw that. I am stumped because this is a game that the pats could defiantly lose. ATL is going to be fighting for their lives not to go down 1-3.

but their fans aren't confident at all it looks

 

[TruthSeeker]

Ya I saw that. I am stumped because this is a game that the pats could defiantly lose. ATL is going to be fighting for their lives not to go down 1-3.

but their fans aren't confident at all it looks

If you just saw your team lose to the Dolphins, you'd probably think a loss to the Patriots was likely to.

As I Patriot fan, this is definitely a tough game but I'm expecting a win.

Every year I say that if the defense is significantly improved, then we have a real shot (at the Super Bowl). I'm encouraged; this may be the year. Of course, I didn't expect the offense to tank as badly as it his, but I'll hold off my concerns on the offense until I see what it's like in late November.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

If you just saw your team lose to the Dolphins, you'd probably think a loss to the Patriots was likely to.

As I Patriot fan, this is definitely a tough game but I'm expecting a win.

Every year I say that if the defense is significantly improved, then we have a real shot (at the Super Bowl). I'm encouraged; this may be the year. Of course, I didn't expect the offense to tank as badly as it his, but I'll hold off my concerns on the offense until I see what it's like in late November.

We will find out a lot more of the secondary sunday night. Jones and Gonzalez are very good

 

[Kontradiction]

We will find out a lot more of the secondary sunday night. Jones and Gonzalez are very good

Gonzalez isn't going to tell us as much about the secondary as he will about just how much the LB corps has really improved in pass coverage.

 

[BradyFTW!]

We will find out a lot more of the secondary sunday night. Jones and Gonzalez are very good

Gonzalez has been pretty effectively shut down for the past three weeks. Starting to wonder if age is catching up to him. The guy is 37, although I still think that a major weakness of the Pats defense is LBs who can cover TEs. Collins and Fletcher have the athleticism for it, so it wouldn't surprise me if either or both sees a major uptick in their snap count.

 

[SVN]

Brucshi's breakdownats@ATL

Tedy Bruschi's Breakdown -- Falcons dangerous, yet vulnerable - ESPN Boston