Who Lost Ground This Week?

[DejaBLue]

Chad Jackson is toast

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Fair enough - but two points in response to that:

a) a bunch of his runs were short yardage situations which were designed only to gain a yard or two and get a first down or TD, and thus bringing his YPC down. I'd say his runs were very effective, regardless of YPC.
b) Sure, he did it against a bunch of scrubs, but he was also doing it behind the Pats 3rd string OL, which was beat up as it is.

Keeping all those variables in mind, I think he looked strong.

dude when are you going to change your name?

 

[BradyManny]

dude when are you going to change your name?

I'll get a new screenname at some point...I def have to ditch this one though given the circumstances of Manny's departure.

 

[Metaphors]

This "changing the offense" bit is a little overstated, in my opinion. When they opened the season they were running the ball with conviction - and then they lost Morris and Maroney was battling an injury. On top of that they played several defenses that were very good against the run. After that, in December and throughout the playoffs, they ran the ball with just as much authority and determination.

Excellent point. And this year seems (hard to predict year-to-year) to be the opposite with the schedule filled with poor run defenses. That probably explains some of the Jordan signing...the rest being that he is just a solid player. While I would think the offense will still revolve around Brady and the passing game, Jordan would seem to be a hedge against injury issues forcing their gameplan to be more pass-heavy than they would like.

 

[italia44]

1.) Morris was my potential surprise cut before camp. Adding Jordan helped my convictions, but I don't think last night changed anything for Morris. I think Belichick already knows what he has in Jordan since he studied so much film of him when he was with the Jets.

2.) Jackson didn't help his cause last night, but I don't know if he did a lot of damage either. He will be given a lot more chances in the next few games.

3.) I wasn't in love with Bryant's play last night, but that is a position with a lot of competition. Eventhough I think Bryant went down a peg, I still think Webster has a lot of CBs to jump to get on the roster.

4.) I was never swept up in Cassel-mania, but I have believed for a while that his play had regressed (since last preseason). I though this was a make or break preseason for him and he looks like he may be breaking.

Good points......I believe Morris is in jeopardy,here,not Evans.At best morris will be on PUP to start the season.
With the OL in flux(capacitor?),Evans is even more important to protect Brady.

IMO,Bryant is a press corner.This is also what Capers teaches.The corners played so much "vanilla" coverage last nite,I believe that this was the famous,BB disinformation program.

Pollard better get his game in gear.He completely missed a delayed blizter,last nite,and almost got the QB killed.

Lastly,Cassel is a head case.He can't handle the pressure in the pocket,and more importantly,he can't handle the pressure from the coaches on the sidelines.
He looks like he's about to implode.Watch him when the pocket starts to break down,he looks down and to the side,rather than downfield.

This is a indication of very little pocket presence....when TB does it,he shifts side to side,Cassel looks down,for a hole to crawl in........not good.

O'connell is raw,but,he immediately "sees" the running lane.Good pocket presence and he runs upright,giving himself the threat to throw on the run.

 

[bradmahn]

Excellent point. And this year seems (hard to predict year-to-year) to be the opposite with the schedule filled with poor run defenses. That probably explains some of the Jordan signing...the rest being that he is just a solid player. While I would think the offense will still revolve around Brady and the passing game, Jordan would seem to be a hedge against injury issues forcing their gameplan to be more pass-heavy than they would like.

Last season Brady averaged 36 attempts per game and they averaged 25 runs per game (without including carries by the quarterbacks). I think Brady will probably have somewhere between 30-32 attempts per game with rush attempts averaging to about the same (30 or so) with a possibility to see more depending on sizes of leads entering and into the fourth quarter.

In other words, pretty much exactly how they played the first three games of last season.

 

[Water Boy]

Who lost Ground This Week?

1. Obama
2. Polar Bears and Penguins
3. OPEC (price of crude down to $120 a barrell)
4. People hit by the flooding in New Hampshire

 

[spacecrime]

I bet if they wanted to put Morris out there he would have done just as good and probably better than Lamont Jordan. Jordan did decently behind a mediocre line against THIRD stringers and still only managed like 4.1 YPC. It was solid but nothing I would be jumping up and down about. Go back a few seasons and Patrick Cobbs tore up third string opponents, the guy didn't make the team.

I know Lamont Jordan is the new flavor of the month but I'm not even sure he is any better than Sammy Morris. If Sammy had something to worry about he'd be playing not staying precautionary on the sidelines when he has been playing full in TC.

If Jordan flopped against a bunch of reserves then that would be pretty bad wouldn't it? Its not like he churned out any big gains.

Any analysis that depends teh similarities in running abilities of Patrick Cobbs and LaMont Jordan is flawed from the get-go and meaningless.