McDaniels almost got too cute. They almost gave it away on big plays in all three phases. But in the end came up with enough big plays of their own.
Tom F. Brady
Michel (again)
Hightower
Tom F. Brady
Michel (again)
Hightower
The Game Ball Thread: Week 6 vs KC
- Thread starter mulluysavage
- Start date
In a game of enormous plays, I’m not sure there was a bigger play than the Michel 2 yard run with two minutes left.
I don’t know from win percentages, but that felt like the ballgame turned on that play. Fail to convert and they are in trouble. Convert and they can run out the clock so the worst they can do if they don’t win is overtime.
He got low and he got to the sticks. It feels like that’s a play the Patriots have missed a few times in somewhat similar circumstances, so, Sony.
I don’t know from win percentages, but that felt like the ballgame turned on that play. Fail to convert and they are in trouble. Convert and they can run out the clock so the worst they can do if they don’t win is overtime.
He got low and he got to the sticks. It feels like that’s a play the Patriots have missed a few times in somewhat similar circumstances, so, Sony.
The obvious ones: Brady, Michel, Gronk, Hightower.
Not so obvious:
Ghost: 5/5 on field goals, 4/4 on extra points. 19 points. In today's NFL, just having a kicker who can make 9 kicks in a row is impressive (including a 50 yarder), the fact that they were all pretty much dead nuts center, well, that's a luxury.
Hogan: When the Pats went down 33-30, and they needed a drive, it wasn't Gronk, it wasn't Edelman or White or Michel, it was Hogan, who made a couple huge plays. 4 catches on 4 targets for 78 yards. He came up huge.
And my anti-game ball, Bill Belichick for once again trying to be the smartest man in the room, and refusing to let Gost kick it into the end zone, until they finally got caught on a 97 yard return that resulted in the touchdown that gave KC the lead. KC's kick returner averaged 45 yards a return on 4 returns (the other one was for 10 yards by the up man, because the kick was so short). They tried this same approach against Houston, and that return man averaged 31.8 yards on 5 returns. You cannot cover kickoffs under the new rules, no matter how good you think you are as a coach. That's why nobody is doing it anymore.
Edit: Also a game ball to the entire offensive line. Brady had his usual time in the pocket, but they were like road graders out there in the running game. Awesome job all around, including Gronk and Develin.
Not so obvious:
Ghost: 5/5 on field goals, 4/4 on extra points. 19 points. In today's NFL, just having a kicker who can make 9 kicks in a row is impressive (including a 50 yarder), the fact that they were all pretty much dead nuts center, well, that's a luxury.
Hogan: When the Pats went down 33-30, and they needed a drive, it wasn't Gronk, it wasn't Edelman or White or Michel, it was Hogan, who made a couple huge plays. 4 catches on 4 targets for 78 yards. He came up huge.
And my anti-game ball, Bill Belichick for once again trying to be the smartest man in the room, and refusing to let Gost kick it into the end zone, until they finally got caught on a 97 yard return that resulted in the touchdown that gave KC the lead. KC's kick returner averaged 45 yards a return on 4 returns (the other one was for 10 yards by the up man, because the kick was so short). They tried this same approach against Houston, and that return man averaged 31.8 yards on 5 returns. You cannot cover kickoffs under the new rules, no matter how good you think you are as a coach. That's why nobody is doing it anymore.
Edit: Also a game ball to the entire offensive line. Brady had his usual time in the pocket, but they were like road graders out there in the running game. Awesome job all around, including Gronk and Develin.
Michel’s last 3 games:
316 yards (4.6 ypc) and 4 TDs. I’m happy to eat my words on that one. He’s given the team a ton more value than a good LB like Leonard, at least this year.
The OL has certainly been part of his success but he’s giving us another dimension that we haven’t had in a long time. The Michel/White combo is proving to be deadly. An injury to either would be a killer.
Gost was absolutely money tonight so he gets a game ball from me. Hogan does too for coming up big when we had just pissed away the lead. The OL continues to do its job. Big test next week with that Bears front 7.
Finally, I’ve given him a lot of shit but Hightower gets a game ball. The INT changed the game and allowed the Pats to shift the momentum in their favor.
Anti Game Balls:
McCourty Twins: They just aren’t very good anymore and it seems like it’s basically a physical issue. The speed is going and now they’re trying to work with a 92 MPH fastball instead of 97-98.
Kickoff coverage: Just kick the ball into the end zone from now on. That return was nearly a back breaker.
Clayborn: 1 tackle. No sacks. Lost contain like 500 times. I wasn’t expecting Khalil Mack production from this guy but he doesn’t seem to be adding much. Hard to tell without knowing his exact role.
316 yards (4.6 ypc) and 4 TDs. I’m happy to eat my words on that one. He’s given the team a ton more value than a good LB like Leonard, at least this year.
The OL has certainly been part of his success but he’s giving us another dimension that we haven’t had in a long time. The Michel/White combo is proving to be deadly. An injury to either would be a killer.
Gost was absolutely money tonight so he gets a game ball from me. Hogan does too for coming up big when we had just pissed away the lead. The OL continues to do its job. Big test next week with that Bears front 7.
Finally, I’ve given him a lot of shit but Hightower gets a game ball. The INT changed the game and allowed the Pats to shift the momentum in their favor.
Anti Game Balls:
McCourty Twins: They just aren’t very good anymore and it seems like it’s basically a physical issue. The speed is going and now they’re trying to work with a 92 MPH fastball instead of 97-98.
Kickoff coverage: Just kick the ball into the end zone from now on. That return was nearly a back breaker.
Clayborn: 1 tackle. No sacks. Lost contain like 500 times. I wasn’t expecting Khalil Mack production from this guy but he doesn’t seem to be adding much. Hard to tell without knowing his exact role.
When Marcus Cannon went out, and LaAdrian Waddle came in the talking heads said Brady was going to get some pressure. Not really.
Fair to give a nod to Waddle then.
Fair to give a nod to Waddle then.
The “anti-game ball” thread is a Goat thread and this team won. Please put your grousing elsewhere.
(Also, it seems DMC is in a lot more coverage this year which is likely why he looks a beat too slow)
(Also, it seems DMC is in a lot more coverage this year which is likely why he looks a beat too slow)
Yeah, thanks for starting the thread! Wife's birthday today so I am out and about (about 2 pm here).
Missed the last half of 4th quarter but listened to it while driving.
The game ball goes to Brady and HT. Never doubted the last drive, even on radio.
P.S. DMac continues to worry me. Time to pick up someone via trade?
Missed the last half of 4th quarter but listened to it while driving.
The game ball goes to Brady and HT. Never doubted the last drive, even on radio.
P.S. DMac continues to worry me. Time to pick up someone via trade?
Brady. After Gostkowski nailed the 50 yd FG to put them up by seven, the defense totally choked the game away on the very next play. How does Brady respond? Just a perfectly calm drive in the waning seconds of the game, utilizing a couple of plays to march right down the field and hand the game over to Gostkowski for an easy chip shop to win. He made it look incredibly effortless, as if he were shopping for groceries or commuting to work, or performing some other mundane daily task that takes almost no thought or effort to complete.
I know the whole offense executed well on that drive, but that kind of executing starts with the unflappable quarterback.
I know the whole offense executed well on that drive, but that kind of executing starts with the unflappable quarterback.
Don't you remember the revolving door of suck that was the Pats free safety position before McCourty? Even Harnon is probably better than everyone they've had for a decade+ pre DMC.
What im saying is it won't be that easy. I hope they can work it out for this year with current personnel.
1. The offensive line. Michel had a nice game running the ball (24-106), but so did White (6-39) and Barner (3-16). (I think Michel is still more talented than he has shown thus far.)
2. Brady, for 300+ and end of game heroics, including the rushing TD.
3. Hightower, for the pick and a key pressure on Mahomes.
2. Brady, for 300+ and end of game heroics, including the rushing TD.
3. Hightower, for the pick and a key pressure on Mahomes.
It was a great stiff-arm, and Gronk gets an HM for his late game heroics, but I'm not giving him a game ball because stupidly ran out of bounds on that stif-arm play. A small thing, but it could have been the difference had they lost.
I don't think there's really an issue with McCourty the FS. The problem is when they put him in man coverage, which is why he got moved off CB in the first place, and it seems like they're doing that more this year. Part of that was when Chung was injured and he had to basically move to SS, but that wasn't the case last night. He got burned for TDs twice by Tyreek Hill last night, which is a pretty tough ask.
Hold on a second. Are you saying that the Pats game was on the radio in Korea?
Could be listening through his phone. It works for the SiriusXM app outside the US (just need a VPN). Bluetooth to play through the car stereo system.
It was a tough night as a fan to concentrate (I needed to ice my thumb from the workout it got on the LAST button on my remote) but it seemed that the Pats D strategy last night was to put Watkins on Gilmore Island (which seemed to work great), to give Kelce the Marshall Faulk treatment (which seemed to work OK), and to use zones for Hill and Hunt (which unsurprisingly failed).
Back on topic, Patterson seems to pretty much guarantee that the Pats will start with nothing worse than the 25. Most teams are scared of him and he wisely lets those drop, but when a kick is short he puts up a nice return.
A FS needs to be able to play some man coverage or otherwise it’s pretty limiting. I don’t expect McCourty to be able to match up with a speedy WR like Hill but even slow TEs are getting open on him. Hightower and McCourty aging in dog years is really the biggest issue with this defense. That’s 2 defensive leaders whose brains know where to go but whose bodies won’t cooperate. Hopefully they can make the occasional play like Hightower last night.
Hightower. The pick was awesome, but he was generally a beast last night. Pressures, coverage, good positional football.
Backs and OL. Together, they dominated. The run thing was awesome to see.
Defense is going to get a bunch of deserved crap for their numerous breakdowns, missed assignments. And communication issues. However, the front seven was vastly improved. It's a great sign.
Backs and OL. Together, they dominated. The run thing was awesome to see.
Defense is going to get a bunch of deserved crap for their numerous breakdowns, missed assignments. And communication issues. However, the front seven was vastly improved. It's a great sign.
They were 9 for 9 converting 3rd/4th and 1-2 against the Colts and Chiefs, after going 5 for 10 prior to that. And they are the second most run-heavy team in these situations, with three passes and 16 runs. I saw today that Sony is third in the NFL in rushing first downs with 26, behind only Gurley and Zeke.
Pats were not penalized and did not punt. This says that had never happened in NFL history:
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/15/patriots-chiefs-tom-brady-nfl-fmia-week-6-peter-king/
Focus, attention to detail.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/15/patriots-chiefs-tom-brady-nfl-fmia-week-6-peter-king/
Focus, attention to detail.
Word.
I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't concerned too, but it is another example of how BFB knows about seven million times what we do in this space.
Technically yes, but they flagged Jules for the push off and it got negated by an offsetting flag (late in the game). But that point doesn't flow with Peter's narrative, so he wasn't going to bring that up.
Must say I'm pleasantly surprised by Hightower these last few weeks. Seems to have found his legs.
All the guys mentioned above were great and deserve game balls, but I also thought Develin was great last night. Blocked like a beast and was definitely a big piece of the dominant running game.
I thought the defense did a good job on Kelsey and Watkins but they had no answer for Hill's speed. Mahomes was great but Hill is ridiculous.
Sony Michel, game ball. Leads all rookies in rush yards per game: 80. Leads all rookies in first downs (26, next highest is Saquon with a game on him at 19), and is tied for rushing TDs, at 4. His knee might not hold up, sure. He needs work on his receiving skills. But we can see now why they took him. Offensive line gameballs too.
They feared the punting of Ryan Allen so much that they decided to let us score instead
No love for Gilmore? Definitely did his job last night, it's not his fault he got Watkins and totally took him out of the game.
What's cool is that he's had two 100-yard games and they've pretty different. Against Miami, Michel did his damage outside - 10 carries for 69 yards off end or tackle, only 12 for 35 up the middle. Last night was different: 7 for 33 outside, 17 for 73 up the middle. He's not really an outside burner or an inside hammer, but he does both well enough that they can attack different defenses differently.
The OL was just killing it last night. Officially, they had 38 rush attempts and only two for a loss - Brady's kneeldown at the end of the first half and his centering of the winning FG. They averaged 4.6 YPC without an average-distorting big run; the longest run was only 15 yards. 15 rushing first downs; that's pretty crazy.
I think we saw some of the vision behind the Michel pick yesterday. The Chiefs were pressing and clogging the middle; the easy completions to Gronk and Edelman over the middle weren't there - only four of Brady's passing attempts were classified as "short middle." Most of the passing damage was deep (DPI to Gordon, floater to Edelman in EZ, deep bombs to Hogan and Gronk) and they used the running game as the foundation of the offensive attack. They wound up with just about twice as many passing yards as rush yards (340 to 173), but more rushing first downs (15 to 14).
On Michel: Last three games he's been terrific. I think he was fine the two previous but the stats didn't really show up until his third game (the fourth for the Pats). Last three games:
25 rushes, 112 yards, 1 td
18 rushes, 98 yards, 1 td
24 rushes, 106 yards, 2 td
TOT: 67 rushes, 316 yards (4.7 ypc), 4 td
In the Pats' four wins (all home games), they've rushed for 122, 175, 97, and 173 yards. That's 567 total (141.8 per game).
The last three games they've piled up 38, 38, and 43 points (39.7 per game), to go along with 449, 438, and 500 yards (462.3 per game). They've gained 26, 26, and 31 first downs (27.7 per game).
In other words, the offense is really cooking. The only thing slowing them down, really, is turnovers. Here are their drive charts in these three games (not counting kneel downs):
Vs. Miami:
- FG, INT, TD, Punt, TD, TD, Punt, TD, TD, INT
- 10 drives: 5 TD, 1 FG, 2 Punts, 2 TO
Vs. Ind:
- TD, Punt, TD, Punt, TD, FG, Punt, INT, INT, TD, TD, Punt
- 12 drives: 5 TD, 1 FG, 4 Punts, 2 TO
Vs. KC:
- Downs, FG, TD, TD, TD, FG, Fumble, FG, TD, FG, FG
- 11 drives, 4 TD, 5 FG, 0 Punts, 1 TO
So in these three games they've had 33 drives. Of these 33 drives:
- 14 TD (42.4%)
- 7 FG (21.2%)
- 21 scoring drives (63.6%)
- 6 Punts (18.2%)
- 5 Turnovers (15.2%)
25 rushes, 112 yards, 1 td
18 rushes, 98 yards, 1 td
24 rushes, 106 yards, 2 td
TOT: 67 rushes, 316 yards (4.7 ypc), 4 td
In the Pats' four wins (all home games), they've rushed for 122, 175, 97, and 173 yards. That's 567 total (141.8 per game).
The last three games they've piled up 38, 38, and 43 points (39.7 per game), to go along with 449, 438, and 500 yards (462.3 per game). They've gained 26, 26, and 31 first downs (27.7 per game).
In other words, the offense is really cooking. The only thing slowing them down, really, is turnovers. Here are their drive charts in these three games (not counting kneel downs):
Vs. Miami:
- FG, INT, TD, Punt, TD, TD, Punt, TD, TD, INT
- 10 drives: 5 TD, 1 FG, 2 Punts, 2 TO
Vs. Ind:
- TD, Punt, TD, Punt, TD, FG, Punt, INT, INT, TD, TD, Punt
- 12 drives: 5 TD, 1 FG, 4 Punts, 2 TO
Vs. KC:
- Downs, FG, TD, TD, TD, FG, Fumble, FG, TD, FG, FG
- 11 drives, 4 TD, 5 FG, 0 Punts, 1 TO
So in these three games they've had 33 drives. Of these 33 drives:
- 14 TD (42.4%)
- 7 FG (21.2%)
- 21 scoring drives (63.6%)
- 6 Punts (18.2%)
- 5 Turnovers (15.2%)
It's mostly drops when you think about it. Edelman early against the Colts. Both turnovers in that game were drops. The fumble last night was purely on Brady. There has been very little resistance from opposing defenses the last three games.
Yep for sure. The offense really is only stopping itself. And I don't think they've even hit their stride yet.
The Mccourtys are NOT slow.
Sure they f'ed up and got out of position and allowed some big plays but they are not slow.
I think it was Jason who chased down Hill and got him at the 4.
I think it was Devin who was chasing down Hill and would have gotten him had there been 15 more yards.
Do they deserve some goat status? sure. But they are not slow. At least now Elandon Roberts "unwork-with-able" slow.
Go back and look.
Sure they f'ed up and got out of position and allowed some big plays but they are not slow.
I think it was Jason who chased down Hill and got him at the 4.
I think it was Devin who was chasing down Hill and would have gotten him had there been 15 more yards.
Do they deserve some goat status? sure. But they are not slow. At least now Elandon Roberts "unwork-with-able" slow.
Go back and look.
I noticed the same thing. They have good top-end speed. Perhaps they aren't able to accelerate with the best, or make quick cuts. But they can catch up to anyone in a straight line ... if you give them 50 yards :-(
Does anyone who watched closer than I have anything positive to say about any performance on the defense beyond Hightower's? I thought Flowers looked good - not Game Ball good, but worthy of mention good. Similarly, lost in the (well-deserved) Michel hype, I feel like White had a solid game.
Of course, and Gil has already been mentioned so I should have added him in my post - my bad. I didn't think of Gilmore, and when you don't take notice a CB that usually means he's doing pretty darn good.
As @BigSoxFan noted, Gilmore erased Watkins. They did a good job on Kelce, who was the target on both interceptions and didn't have a catch in the second half. And despite zero sacks, I thought the pressure was pretty good; it notably affected Mahomes on several plays, including the second INT, the 3rd-and-2 late in the third that forced a FG, and the deep ball that Jason McCourty could have picked that set up the game's only punt.
Looking at it another way: the D played well other than the two horrible breakdowns on the deep passes to Hunt and Hill. KC's other two TD drives were less than 30 yards, they held KC to 2 of 5 in the red zone and 4 of 10 on third down. They had two interceptions, one setting up a score.
Not sure I was quite going out on a limb there. The turnovers and big plays kind of spoiled my upper 20's prediction though