The Game Ball Thread: Week 11 at Raiders
- Thread starter SeoulSoxFan
- Start date
D set the tone right off the bat.
Brady continued with a surgical opening drive. It was over after that.
Brady continued with a surgical opening drive. It was over after that.
Whoever punched the ball out on the three yard line. In three minutes of football time after that the game went from possibly in doubt to not really competitive. Looked like 14-7, with the Raiders able to run effectively. Within a minute it's 17-0. Within two minutes in the second half it's 24-0 and the Raiders are unable to stay with the run game.
Belichick. You see the impact of preparation and of minding the details when you play a poorly prepared, weak fundamentals team like the Raiders.
Love the Karras shout out! He must've played well given the score, Brady stats and Lewis running
I agree with Oppo:
Brady
Cooks
Gost
Defense (including Roberts, who now looks like a solid LB)
I agree with Oppo:
Brady
Cooks
Gost
Defense (including Roberts, who now looks like a solid LB)
Was hoping I'd be the first to go here, but co-sign on the true game ball. No experience at center, no problem. Absolutely allowed a ton of good lanes in the B all day. Only mentioned as a point of praise today. He created a great gap and threw a solid block for White to get a key, early 3rd down on a draw, to his left. Which is kind of nice, given the different look that gives you, rather than having White be basically the receiving back, exclusively. It might be the Raiders, last in DL adjusted sack rate at 4.3% coming into today, but you can only face your opposition to do your job. Went above and beyond.
Smaller, silver game ball to Roberts who looked really solid today, be it with positioning or actually dropping into coverage a few times, and did a darn job doing so. Had to check for smudges on my glasses a few times to verify the number was a 52. Harris was quietly solid too, although less so.
First ever 33-8 final today, which is interesting for Scoragami purposes.
#32 DVOA pass D vs #1 DVOA pass O and McD drew up about 80% pass plays. Fantastic. Defense continues to improve each week. Was worried Mack might get to Brady a bunch, but for the most part the O-Line did a great job.
Great team win. They are really starting to turn it on as the season progresses and should be about 50-50 to reach the Super Bowl at this point.
Great team win. They are really starting to turn it on as the season progresses and should be about 50-50 to reach the Super Bowl at this point.
Was hoping to see a little more of this from Gronk today. Oh well.
Good game all around Brady and Cooks.
Good game all around Brady and Cooks.
Totals for the road trip: zero interceptions, 1 fumble, zero fumbles lost, and three penalties (15 yards).
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Karras - that we didn't notice him pretty much at all is a great sign of a job well done.
Gost - love getting (EDIT) another strong showing from him, esp given he tends to be an "in his head" guy. Confidence breeds confidence.
Brady - this guy is REALLY good! So sharp, so in control. Loved the gorgeous bomb to...
Cooks - you knew he'd have a big game against that Oakland secondary and he delivered. Love keeping him happy and involved.
DLew - burst, toughness, threw to him more than they usually have this year. Hope they keep that up. Wanted him out of the game earlier than he was.
D overall, but esp the secondary. No matter how underachieve-y Oakland's passing attack is, it's quite something to hold them to a scant eight points. Young, scrappy and hungry DBs are my favorite. P.S. Finding out Gilmore only went to the locker room for dehydration treatment was a big moment for me.
Bennett - only had 15 yards but I loved seeing him out there, not being injured, being involved. He's fun to see in open space. And I pray every time that he gets up bc if he and Yo Soy Fiesta can stay healthy - massive IF - this O is tough to stop.
Pliability - thank you Alex Guerrero and TB12 elastic resistance bands or whatever because that hit on Brady looked brutal.
EDIT: Wait wait wait - Duane Allen showed up AGAIN today! Happy for him to keep the momentum going!
Gost - love getting (EDIT) another strong showing from him, esp given he tends to be an "in his head" guy. Confidence breeds confidence.
Brady - this guy is REALLY good! So sharp, so in control. Loved the gorgeous bomb to...
Cooks - you knew he'd have a big game against that Oakland secondary and he delivered. Love keeping him happy and involved.
DLew - burst, toughness, threw to him more than they usually have this year. Hope they keep that up. Wanted him out of the game earlier than he was.
D overall, but esp the secondary. No matter how underachieve-y Oakland's passing attack is, it's quite something to hold them to a scant eight points. Young, scrappy and hungry DBs are my favorite. P.S. Finding out Gilmore only went to the locker room for dehydration treatment was a big moment for me.
Bennett - only had 15 yards but I loved seeing him out there, not being injured, being involved. He's fun to see in open space. And I pray every time that he gets up bc if he and Yo Soy Fiesta can stay healthy - massive IF - this O is tough to stop.
Pliability - thank you Alex Guerrero and TB12 elastic resistance bands or whatever because that hit on Brady looked brutal.
EDIT: Wait wait wait - Duane Allen showed up AGAIN today! Happy for him to keep the momentum going!
Belichick, for keeping the team in Denver all week.
Patriots, Raiders will test two contrasting approaches to altitude prep
Patriots, Raiders will test two contrasting approaches to altitude prep
Paid immediate dividends on the first series and the Raiders CB (20) yelling "I can't breathe" to his bench.
Although, the patriots were the team that sent 2 players into the locker room for dehydration.
yeah, lewis stood out to me, the two-TE sets with him as a dual threat are a really great look for this offense.
Brady and Cooks. I remember when Gronk was drafted by the Pats, he said happily “I’ll be catching passes from Tom Brady!” I thought at the time that Tom is getting older and wouldn’t Gronk be better off with a younger QB? I was way wrong and now Cooks comes over seven years later and couldn’t be in a better spot either.
All the obvious guys have been nominated (GOAT, Cooks, Lewis, Gostkowski, Gilmore/Butler), all the less-renowned guys who really showed up have been nominated (JJones, Roberts, Flowers the Lesser, Karras), and even the "they were perfectly fine and we're pulling for them" TE's (Marty, Dwayne Allen) got a nod. So all good.
I'll go with the operations team that managed the road trip, particularly the week at the Air Force Academy and smooth transfer to Mexico City. I shudder to thing about all the details that went into planning the week -- moving game and medical equipment, ensuring the comfort of the players even when they're not in their accustomed 5-star hotels, passport protocol, bringing their own food. Something tells me many other organizations just couldn't have pulled something like that off.
I'll go with the operations team that managed the road trip, particularly the week at the Air Force Academy and smooth transfer to Mexico City. I shudder to thing about all the details that went into planning the week -- moving game and medical equipment, ensuring the comfort of the players even when they're not in their accustomed 5-star hotels, passport protocol, bringing their own food. Something tells me many other organizations just couldn't have pulled something like that off.
I've never heard it, but here you go:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/the_blitz/2014/10/brandon_spikes_explains_why_he_calls_tom_brady_the_pharaoh
http://www.patriots.com/news/2014/10/09/tom-brady-pharaoh
Spikes gave him the nickname and explained it like this:
"I feel like there’s levels to this game, and he’s achieved the maximum of them all," Spikes said of Brady. "I mean, what do you want? You’ve got a beautiful wife, a beautiful family. He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. He’s got the rings that prove it. He’s got the MVPs. What more could you achieve at this level? I just feel like he’s in a league of his own. He’s still going. I always admired him because of the edge he had each and every year coming into the season. He always would tell me, ‘Hey B, they drafted me in the (sixth) round, man.’ That was a long time ago, and he’s still got that fire burning in him. As a player, you’ve got to respect that man."
I love how:
1. That doesn't at all explain why Spikes calls him "The Pharoah"
2. He starts off with "beautiful wife" as Tom's first accomplishment
Not sure where to put this, but I figure this is as good of a place as any:
Honorable mention for a game ball for D. Allen. Guy gets the monkey off his back with the TD grab last week and hauls in two receptions on two targets this week. I admit, I had written him off, but climbing out of the Brady doghouse bodes well for the offense going forward, especially with the fragile nature of the first two guys on the depth chart and the lack of depth on the OL.
Honorable mention for a game ball for D. Allen. Guy gets the monkey off his back with the TD grab last week and hauls in two receptions on two targets this week. I admit, I had written him off, but climbing out of the Brady doghouse bodes well for the offense going forward, especially with the fragile nature of the first two guys on the depth chart and the lack of depth on the OL.
And an incredibly important fumble recovery, which he seemed to achieve mostly on pure effort, at the bottom of a scrum.
