They are pedestrian, all short-medium distance receivers, who Mac can hit. (He was way-off today). The Pats could use a guy or two who who can fly and catch, versus our current brisk short trot and drop group,
The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 16 vs Buffalo
- Thread starter SeoulSoxFan
- Start date
Mac and the offense were lousy, but the defense didn't force a single punt, turnover or sack. They held up on 4th down at the goal line only because of a comedy of Bills errors (the ballcarrier just falling down, bad play-calling, wide open drop). Even when there were incomplete passes it seemed like it was mostly Allen missing badly or the Bills receivers making bad drops. When the offense finally got their act together in the 2nd half, the defense allowed back to back TD drives of 9 players 66 yards and 13 plays 75 yards. With a performance that bad the offense never had a chance. When it's the whole unit (can't tackle, can't get pressure, can't maintain coverage or contain on the QB), it's on the coaching staff.
The entire defense. Two drives where they needed to get a stop to give the offense a chance to take the lead and they failed.
For as bad as the team played they should have won this game if the defense showed up at all.
For as bad as the team played they should have won this game if the defense showed up at all.
If the Jags weren't in Tank Mode before this week, they are now. If they lose both of their remaining games they get the #1 pick.
Clearly, we desperately need Agholor and Deatrich Wise.
I will say having Agholor pushes Harry down to run blocking, one target a game receiver where he belongs.
Yup. All defense for me. The offense is not without blame but the defense got worked hard today against an undermanned Bills team. They came up about as small as you can come up.
I think the defensive game plan was the issue. Their pass-rushers are best when they can get around the edge or find a seam in the interior and blow through it with Allen, you can’t do that, because he’ll just shoot he gap and run for 10. But they had their line two-gapping all day and he was still picking them apart running the ball. So if you’re going to get beat, you might as well do it with your best stuff instead of telling Judon to just chill and wait for Allen to make a move first.
Then, we saw Miles Bryant getting picked on literally all day with McKenzie getting open at will. There needed to be a second defender involved somewhere at some point. Not doubling him, but a reroute at LOS or something to throw off the timing there, because it was just 12 yards on crossers all day. Hell, throw a zone at them few times and pattern-match it just to give a different look and make them think about it. This is definitely a game where missing Jonathan Jones was felt pretty significantly.
With the LBs, I think they generally were this under-utilized in those areas, and then they couldn’t get home the few times they brought pressure. Give a chip and drop intermediate zone. Give a chip and then twist. But find a way to disrupt the one thing working for Buffalo and then get some of your own work.
Then, we saw Miles Bryant getting picked on literally all day with McKenzie getting open at will. There needed to be a second defender involved somewhere at some point. Not doubling him, but a reroute at LOS or something to throw off the timing there, because it was just 12 yards on crossers all day. Hell, throw a zone at them few times and pattern-match it just to give a different look and make them think about it. This is definitely a game where missing Jonathan Jones was felt pretty significantly.
With the LBs, I think they generally were this under-utilized in those areas, and then they couldn’t get home the few times they brought pressure. Give a chip and drop intermediate zone. Give a chip and then twist. But find a way to disrupt the one thing working for Buffalo and then get some of your own work.
Some ugly pieces of information on the day....
- Total Yards: Buf 428, NE 288
- T.O.P.: Buf 35:09, NE 24:41
- 3rd and 4th down efficiency: Buf 9-16, NE 6-16
- Punts: Buf 0, NE 3
- Avg starting field position*:
- Buf: 39, 25, N33, N42, 20, 20, 34, 25 (avg of Buf 36.0) - Note: didn't count the Bills getting the ball at the 3 after Mac's pick in the last few seconds, as that was utterly irrelevant
- NE: 25, 25, 19, 1, 25, 25, 25, 17 (avg of NE 20.3)
Using the expected points chart based on starting field position, here's what each team's expected points were for each drive:
Buffalo:
- 39: 1.2
- 25: 0.7
- N33: 3.0
- N42: 2.5
- 20: 0.4
- 20: 0.4
- 34: 1.0
- 25: 0.7
- TOT: 9.9
New England:
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 19: 0.4
- 1: -0.8
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 17: 0.1
- TOT: 3.2
So just based on starting field position alone, the Bills were expected to score roughly a touchdown more than the Patriots. That's a LOT for any team to overcome, just based on starting field position.
This game was UGLY.
- Total Yards: Buf 428, NE 288
- T.O.P.: Buf 35:09, NE 24:41
- 3rd and 4th down efficiency: Buf 9-16, NE 6-16
- Punts: Buf 0, NE 3
- Avg starting field position*:
- Buf: 39, 25, N33, N42, 20, 20, 34, 25 (avg of Buf 36.0) - Note: didn't count the Bills getting the ball at the 3 after Mac's pick in the last few seconds, as that was utterly irrelevant
- NE: 25, 25, 19, 1, 25, 25, 25, 17 (avg of NE 20.3)
Using the expected points chart based on starting field position, here's what each team's expected points were for each drive:
Buffalo:
- 39: 1.2
- 25: 0.7
- N33: 3.0
- N42: 2.5
- 20: 0.4
- 20: 0.4
- 34: 1.0
- 25: 0.7
- TOT: 9.9
New England:
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 19: 0.4
- 1: -0.8
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 25: 0.7
- 17: 0.1
- TOT: 3.2
So just based on starting field position alone, the Bills were expected to score roughly a touchdown more than the Patriots. That's a LOT for any team to overcome, just based on starting field position.
This game was UGLY.
The real goat is whomever asked BB this question:
View: https://twitter.com/WAD1980/status/1475216929539383296?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/WAD1980/status/1475216929539383296?s=20
I’m giving it to Ben Volin. How the hell can your entire career involve writing about one team and you can’t remember their super bowl appearances?
View: https://twitter.com/benvolin/status/1475233575725322251?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/benvolin/status/1475233575725322251?s=21
A lot of the defensive gameplan was driven by roster. We have really slow LBs... like every single one of them, we have no rotation where some are fast, they're all slow. As to Bryant, he's too slow to cover anyone on the Bills, but we also didn't have anyone else to put out there. We dd throw out some zone, they shredded it with RB dump-offs. Bill decided that at some point he had to trust Bryan to cover someone in man, and it was the lesser of evils. Was it... maybe, whenever we helped him we got shredded elsewhere. We just didn't have the personnel to handle them without getting pressure, and when we sent extra bodies we lost contain and Allen gashed us on the ground.
BUF is maybe our worst matchup because they make our LB corps basically useless.
Bryant; just horrendous, got torched all day long by a scrap heap JAG fill in.
Barnmore; the ONE thing you can't do on a 4th and 7 and he does it.
Jackson; dropped INT and a whiff on 4th and 1 on Allen. Collins whiffed on that play too.
Actually, the entire defense sucked, ZERO punts by the Bills today and they converted several times on 4th down, teams are no longer afraid of this defense and they will continue to go for it on 4th down vs them.
And Bentley got pancaked on the goal line on a TD run.
Did any linebackers make a play today, the entire group was invisible.
And a big shout out to that terrible officials crew today; pick up a late hit out of bounds call, THEN call a penalty on Brown for unsportsmanlike conduct, ball should have been on about the 35 or 40 of Buffalo, ended up on the Patriots 32, then when Jones got hit going into his slide, Andrews loses his cool protecting his QB, so the morons throw another flag.
Just clueless to the circumstances around both situations.
3-5 at home, back to back losses in December when Belichick coached teams get better, not worse. This one is getting worse, just like the 2019 team.
This team is closer to who they were at 2-4 vs when they were 8-4; two game lead in the division and they blew it in the blink of an eye, now they have to go to Miami to win to get in in all probability.
No doubt that game will come down to a winner take all; Patriots win and they are in, they lose and they are out.
Barnmore; the ONE thing you can't do on a 4th and 7 and he does it.
Jackson; dropped INT and a whiff on 4th and 1 on Allen. Collins whiffed on that play too.
Actually, the entire defense sucked, ZERO punts by the Bills today and they converted several times on 4th down, teams are no longer afraid of this defense and they will continue to go for it on 4th down vs them.
And Bentley got pancaked on the goal line on a TD run.
Did any linebackers make a play today, the entire group was invisible.
And a big shout out to that terrible officials crew today; pick up a late hit out of bounds call, THEN call a penalty on Brown for unsportsmanlike conduct, ball should have been on about the 35 or 40 of Buffalo, ended up on the Patriots 32, then when Jones got hit going into his slide, Andrews loses his cool protecting his QB, so the morons throw another flag.
Just clueless to the circumstances around both situations.
3-5 at home, back to back losses in December when Belichick coached teams get better, not worse. This one is getting worse, just like the 2019 team.
This team is closer to who they were at 2-4 vs when they were 8-4; two game lead in the division and they blew it in the blink of an eye, now they have to go to Miami to win to get in in all probability.
No doubt that game will come down to a winner take all; Patriots win and they are in, they lose and they are out.
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It's incredible that Isaiah McKenzie torched the Pats' secondary.
12 targets
11 receptions (91.7% catch rate)
125 yards (11.4 ypc)
1 td
Just as a reminder, McKenzie is a guy who came into the game never having caught more than 30 passes in a season, and having been *TARGETED* just 11 times all year long before today.
Previous 9 games: 11 targets, 7 receptions (63.6% catch rate), 38 yards (5.4 ypc), 0 TD
Today vs the Pats: 12 targets, 11 receptions (91.7% catch rate), 125 yards (11.4 ypc), 1 TD
I mean...holy smokes.
New England's offense, by the way...
First game vs. Buf: 240 yds, 4.9 yds per play, 14 points, 1.6 points per possession
Today vs. Buf: 288 yds, 4.8 yds per play, 21 points, 2.6 points per possession
As frustrating as the offense was today, they weren't the problem. They were dealt a crappy hand all game long and still did okay. It was the defense that was godawful.
12 targets
11 receptions (91.7% catch rate)
125 yards (11.4 ypc)
1 td
Just as a reminder, McKenzie is a guy who came into the game never having caught more than 30 passes in a season, and having been *TARGETED* just 11 times all year long before today.
Previous 9 games: 11 targets, 7 receptions (63.6% catch rate), 38 yards (5.4 ypc), 0 TD
Today vs the Pats: 12 targets, 11 receptions (91.7% catch rate), 125 yards (11.4 ypc), 1 TD
I mean...holy smokes.
New England's offense, by the way...
First game vs. Buf: 240 yds, 4.9 yds per play, 14 points, 1.6 points per possession
Today vs. Buf: 288 yds, 4.8 yds per play, 21 points, 2.6 points per possession
As frustrating as the offense was today, they weren't the problem. They were dealt a crappy hand all game long and still did okay. It was the defense that was godawful.
I remember VanNoy making 1 good play in coverage at the boundary to set up the 4th and 7 (where of course Barmore jumped) that was about it
I had to look and you’re right. I thought there were no punts.
Volin is still stupid though.
No goats for me. Sometimes Josh Allen will be Josh Allen: completing passes off his back foot across the field.
I don't know why people are hating on the gameplan: it was "make their 4th best WR beat us." And he did.
Bryant is a poor man's Jalen Mills: can make smart plays but doesn't have the ability to keep up with real WRs. Clearly preferred to Williams, which says something about him. UDFAs can't all be Malcolm Butler and JC Jackson.
I don't know why people are hating on the gameplan: it was "make their 4th best WR beat us." And he did.
Bryant is a poor man's Jalen Mills: can make smart plays but doesn't have the ability to keep up with real WRs. Clearly preferred to Williams, which says something about him. UDFAs can't all be Malcolm Butler and JC Jackson.
It’s the whole pats team again for collectively making stupid decisions at the most inopportune time to shoot themselves in the foot.
You can’t give refs reasons to call stupid penalties. Cause they will. You can’t take a penalty on 4th and 7. Etc etc
It’s a story all year with this team and they seemed to have somewhat snapped out of it during the winning streak. Then the bye happens, and all the mental error and lack of focus is back.
You can’t give refs reasons to call stupid penalties. Cause they will. You can’t take a penalty on 4th and 7. Etc etc
It’s a story all year with this team and they seemed to have somewhat snapped out of it during the winning streak. Then the bye happens, and all the mental error and lack of focus is back.
And threw a pick.
Today the Bills made it to the red zone on every possession. Worst ending drive position was the NEP 16. They scored on every drive except when they got stopped at the one yard line.
Never really have seen anything like it.
And the time they got stopped at the goal line, Sanders dropped a wide open TD catch right in his hands.
Good point by you; my friend mentioned that play actually while we were watching the game "Oh look, Van Noy is playing today."
This team is going to be one of those tomato can teams the Patriots used to demolish in the second round of the playoffs.............that's assuming they even get there.
I love Hightower, he is my third favorite Pat of the second dynasty after Brady and McCourty. Evan Lazar said he was blowing up guards earlier in the season, he has not made a play in weeks. KVN is the only LB making plays. Is Bentley unhealthy or is he regressing. Collins had a chance to make a big play and couldn't. This crew needs to produce.
Watching that shitshow is one thing, but reflecting back and then reading this makes it even more amazing.
That was NEP 1970-1974 level bad.
Remember after that win in Buffalo when Bills players were yelling at reporters and the wheels looked like they were coming off their bus?
That was fun.
Someone else mentioned this, but as a group they are horrendously slow. They can't cover anyone, Allen kept checking down and dumping off the ball to backs for gains of 5, 6, 7, 8 yards over and over.
On one of his runs, he crossed the LOS and Hightower instead of peeling off his man stayed in coverage and Allen basically ran right by him as Hightower went in the opposite direction.
I've never seen anything like it.
Biggest game in two years and the defense laid a massive egg, kissed the AFC East and a high seed goodbye.
Watching Myles Bryant (not Miles!) get beat over and over again was rough, but he was hung out to dry way too often. It was kind of like watching Bentley try to replace Hightower last season, the dude was just not capable of accomplishing what the coaching staff was asking him to do. I can't really blame Bryant for that. There's a reason he's an undrafted backup. The coaching staff needed to make an adjustment and they didn't. The lack of pressure up front wasn't helping the secondary at all either. Having Jon Jones out there instead of Bryant would have helped a lot, but the entire defense was bad. They had plenty of opportunities and nobody could make a play.
Today kind of reminded me of the 2019 finale against Miami. Could not get stops. Very big stakes. Only saving grace this year is they get two more games to right themselves. That, and the QB isn’t leaving next year.
First, Hightower is clearly running in quicksand.
I had the same initial impression as you on that play you just described. But, when I watched it again, Allen was still 2-3 yards behind the LOS when Hightower went with the RB in coverage. If he doesn't go with him there Allen probably had an easy dump off that may have gained more than the scramble. I'd be interested to see the wide shot of that play or for someone better suited than me in breaking plays down to see where the coverage should have been there.
I'll defer to you, but it looked like Allen was beyond the LOS and Hightower stayed in coverage as he ran down the field.
What a massive let down today was; I guess last week was not a bump in the road afterall.
There were numerous issues as I mentioned before, bur Josh Allen is also, unfortunately, a really good QB with a top wr, a formerly top wr, and a great TE and a guy who is fast and stepped up and torched an overmatched DB. The Bills O was very very good.
I will never understand why the Pats went away from the run so early. harris not 100 and not having rham (and to needle some people Sony was great today).
This season is far from over. The ship can be righted. Who knows, maybe playing on the road in the playoffs will be a blessing!
Aside - the refs didnt win or lose this game, the Bills won it. Period. But if Mac had been hurt on the awkward oob tackle, would people be so defensive of that call (few are but some). While it may not have been a ‘malicious horse collar’ the result was the same with an awkward fall where his left leg took a weird bend. I do not care if he ‘tried to hold him up’ or some bs. It was a horse collar period. Most players dont try to horse collar, just what they grab results in that.
Or been hurt on the Milano cheap shot?
should probably post in the zebras thread.
I will never understand why the Pats went away from the run so early. harris not 100 and not having rham (and to needle some people Sony was great today).
This season is far from over. The ship can be righted. Who knows, maybe playing on the road in the playoffs will be a blessing!
Aside - the refs didnt win or lose this game, the Bills won it. Period. But if Mac had been hurt on the awkward oob tackle, would people be so defensive of that call (few are but some). While it may not have been a ‘malicious horse collar’ the result was the same with an awkward fall where his left leg took a weird bend. I do not care if he ‘tried to hold him up’ or some bs. It was a horse collar period. Most players dont try to horse collar, just what they grab results in that.
Or been hurt on the Milano cheap shot?
should probably post in the zebras thread.
On my way home. My initial thoughts from inside the stadium, will update on rematch.
Miles Bryant: Me section was yelling to bench him about 10 minutes in and it got worse from there.
Mac Jones. This is a weird one. On the first roughing the passed call, he got his bell fucking rung. He started to run down the middle of the field when he got up, had no idea a penalty was called. Was shocked the folks upstairs didn't call down for a check. But he was dreadful before that too. Never saw a lot of open guys, he seems fixated on Jacobi today.
Officiating. They don't make the call on the personal foul on Mac, and then give the pats a personal foul. A thirty yard swing at midfield.
Our linebackers are molasses.
Miles Bryant: Me section was yelling to bench him about 10 minutes in and it got worse from there.
Mac Jones. This is a weird one. On the first roughing the passed call, he got his bell fucking rung. He started to run down the middle of the field when he got up, had no idea a penalty was called. Was shocked the folks upstairs didn't call down for a check. But he was dreadful before that too. Never saw a lot of open guys, he seems fixated on Jacobi today.
Officiating. They don't make the call on the personal foul on Mac, and then give the pats a personal foul. A thirty yard swing at midfield.
Our linebackers are molasses.
Just saw this. That is penalty every day, not a horse collar, not roughing, its a late hit out of bounds. The defender went to push, when he was already passed the white stripe, and at the last second, he tried to stop and grab Mac. He shouldn't be anywhere near Mac. If a defender gets off balance and runs into a guy 5 yards out of bounds, it will be called.
The defense as a whole was atrocious. No pass rush, no answer for Singletary, Bryant getting burned again and again by fucking McKenzie.
Allen played great but when the defense can’t force a single punt or turnover, it’s going to be a tough day for the offense who is constantly playing in a hole. I thought they’d make some defensive adjustments after the first half but the second half was much of the same so maybe that’s on Steve as well. Hopefully, the Jags will be a palate cleanser and they can go to Miami and actually take care of business.
Allen played great but when the defense can’t force a single punt or turnover, it’s going to be a tough day for the offense who is constantly playing in a hole. I thought they’d make some defensive adjustments after the first half but the second half was much of the same so maybe that’s on Steve as well. Hopefully, the Jags will be a palate cleanser and they can go to Miami and actually take care of business.
I h
I honestly can’t recall a flag like that being picked up. They still would have got their asses kicked, but that was a horrible decision.
Im 1000% agreement, there were sentiments in the gamethread he touched him in bounds (i disagreed as did others). So i was avoiding that debate and just went to the bullshit tackle. Mahomes
Probably gets the guy dq’d and 50 yards
The Bills decimated the Pats' middle yardage (5-15 yard) passing game that fuels this team's engine. Without it, they're toast. Screens were blown up, short passes with YAC possibilities were too. 9 yards from Henry (1-6 targets), 0 yards from Jonnu, 2 recs on 6 targets for Bolden. Harry is a 3rd TE masquerading as a WR, and it really, really showed.
And as bad as the offense was, the defense somehow played worse.
And as bad as the offense was, the defense somehow played worse.
While watching the game, my very first goat was Barmore and his inexcusable offsides penalty that basically cost the Patriots both points and a huge possession. I was still hopeful the defense could recover to open the 2nd half.
Instead, the defense never came out of the locker room after halftime. Bryant and the linebackers were the worst offenders. Belichick the GM absolutely has to fix the LB corps this offseason. The game has evolved and having old and slow LB's is not going to cut it against the playoff caliber teams.
Mac has had 2 bad games in a row. Before that was one where he threw 3 passes, an uneven performance against the Titans, and a poor showing against a bad defensive team in Atlanta. Not panicking, but something to watch going forward. There will be no excuse for a bad game against the Jags.
The officiating crew should be suspended for a week, but they were not the reason the Pats lost and are probably the median for what passes for NFL officials these days.
Instead, the defense never came out of the locker room after halftime. Bryant and the linebackers were the worst offenders. Belichick the GM absolutely has to fix the LB corps this offseason. The game has evolved and having old and slow LB's is not going to cut it against the playoff caliber teams.
Mac has had 2 bad games in a row. Before that was one where he threw 3 passes, an uneven performance against the Titans, and a poor showing against a bad defensive team in Atlanta. Not panicking, but something to watch going forward. There will be no excuse for a bad game against the Jags.
The officiating crew should be suspended for a week, but they were not the reason the Pats lost and are probably the median for what passes for NFL officials these days.
This is a correct description, I'll just add that from the replay 1) it did look like the guy at some point switched from trying to drill Mac to trying to hold him up, and 2) intentions aside, the contact looked like it contributed to Mac's weird fall.
The Defense — it has already been said — no stops all day
The Person Who Instructed Mac Jones to Throw Floaters All Day — It was really weird to me. There was what felt like to me about 15 passes which were little “touch pass floaters” to WRs where it seemed just, you know, throwing the football normally would have worked.
Disappointing loss. We’re onto Jax. . . .
The Person Who Instructed Mac Jones to Throw Floaters All Day — It was really weird to me. There was what felt like to me about 15 passes which were little “touch pass floaters” to WRs where it seemed just, you know, throwing the football normally would have worked.
Disappointing loss. We’re onto Jax. . . .
Today officially unsold me on Mac Jones being the solution at QB. Not that he can't be..but until today I was sure he was. He's been really bad two weeks in a row. It would be nice to see something positive from him the next two weeks.
I graduated from Foxboro High 30 years ago and I’m fairly certain there’s a couple of my old classmates who could have grabbed a half dozen catches being “covered” by Bryant today as well.
Everyone not named Harris or Folk had at least one horrible moment today. Just a total team mess.
It was the first time I got to see a game in person and it was really jarring how slow our LBs are. It looks bad on TV but it looked twice as bad when I could survey the entire field on each snap.
Now that I'm back, let me clear up some confusion. Myles Bryant wasn't asked to do more than he could today. He was asked to do more than he could when they put his name on an NFL roster. He was non-competitive today. All day. It was pretty much the only thing our section talked about on defense (I was on the 30 yard line, 23rd row). Unless i was mistaken, other guys besides Mckenzie caught balls on him too. The Pats were playing defense 10 vs. 11. He was that bad. He was bad when he woke up this morning and the coaching staff has to see that, and for some reason, they just didn't change anything, because the only change they had was benching him, and they didn't. That said, fucking try something. Move him over to cover a gimpy Emmanuelle Sanders and give Mills a shot at Bryant. Fuck, if you pointed Matthew Slater at McKenzie today and said "go guard him," there is no doubt in my mind McKenzie doesn't catch 11 of 12 targets. Or however many passes were caught by players defended by Bryant. That's a coaching and a player failure, but he's not really a player, so it straight coaching after about 1.5 quarters.
Mac, he was terrible guys, but I'm still holding out hope he was concussed (and I'm pretty convinced he was). His next couple passes after that first roughing call weren't inaccurate, they weren't in the zip code.
I'm convinced the only reason Hightower is getting this much run is because Bill simply loves guys who know what to do and where they are supposed to be. Hightower knows what to do and exactly where to be. HE JUST CAN'T FUCKING GET THERE IN TIME. Van Noy might be a half of a heartbeat faster, then another quarter heartbeat, you'll find Bentley and whoever the fuck else (I would know if the PA announcer ever said their names today, they were invisible). Judon was invisible, but probably more by Buffalo design than anything, although he did seem winded at times.
Jacobi was gimpy for most of the game, but he had 6 catches on 8 targets. That's all you need from him. I expected a bad day from Bourne coming back. But this coaching staff is simply not using Jonnu Smith. The man is huge, athletic and is open quite a bit more than one thinks because of his size. That's what you have. We used to see Brady throw a 25-30 yard post corner to the front (usually left) pylon, dozens of times if not hundreds of times. Jonnu ran that same route today, and got a little open, but Mac never got through the progression with his eyes, and went to someone over the middle for nothing. That throw, and what made it great with Gronk is the only way it hurts you is you under throw it. Overthrow is a completion, if Jonnu has a milli-step on his guy and it's anywhere in his radius, he can catch it and/or he can turn and jump over guys. USE HIM. Even just to open the field up. Zero targets is unconscionable, and that's on Mac and the coaching staff.
I would also like to see them at least to take a deep sideline shot to Harry once a game. I saw his drop, yeah yeah, but Harry's best skill is winning a 50/50 ball. I think Mac is so afraid of making a mistake, he's not throwing even 70/30 balls that guys like Harry and Smith can make a play on once in a while. It feels like everything is between the hashes. But there are more patterns you can run besides outs to the sideline and still use the sideline. Not sure yet if Mac has the arm strength or these receivers run good enough routes to be running too many out patterns.
Mac, he was terrible guys, but I'm still holding out hope he was concussed (and I'm pretty convinced he was). His next couple passes after that first roughing call weren't inaccurate, they weren't in the zip code.
I'm convinced the only reason Hightower is getting this much run is because Bill simply loves guys who know what to do and where they are supposed to be. Hightower knows what to do and exactly where to be. HE JUST CAN'T FUCKING GET THERE IN TIME. Van Noy might be a half of a heartbeat faster, then another quarter heartbeat, you'll find Bentley and whoever the fuck else (I would know if the PA announcer ever said their names today, they were invisible). Judon was invisible, but probably more by Buffalo design than anything, although he did seem winded at times.
Jacobi was gimpy for most of the game, but he had 6 catches on 8 targets. That's all you need from him. I expected a bad day from Bourne coming back. But this coaching staff is simply not using Jonnu Smith. The man is huge, athletic and is open quite a bit more than one thinks because of his size. That's what you have. We used to see Brady throw a 25-30 yard post corner to the front (usually left) pylon, dozens of times if not hundreds of times. Jonnu ran that same route today, and got a little open, but Mac never got through the progression with his eyes, and went to someone over the middle for nothing. That throw, and what made it great with Gronk is the only way it hurts you is you under throw it. Overthrow is a completion, if Jonnu has a milli-step on his guy and it's anywhere in his radius, he can catch it and/or he can turn and jump over guys. USE HIM. Even just to open the field up. Zero targets is unconscionable, and that's on Mac and the coaching staff.
I would also like to see them at least to take a deep sideline shot to Harry once a game. I saw his drop, yeah yeah, but Harry's best skill is winning a 50/50 ball. I think Mac is so afraid of making a mistake, he's not throwing even 70/30 balls that guys like Harry and Smith can make a play on once in a while. It feels like everything is between the hashes. But there are more patterns you can run besides outs to the sideline and still use the sideline. Not sure yet if Mac has the arm strength or these receivers run good enough routes to be running too many out patterns.
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Sure. Game over Mac.Despite being a SSS as a rookie against 2 good teams and him
Helping to run off a 7 game win streak prior and (prior to today) setting rookie comp % records and being in the running for games won.
This seems awfully reactionary.
I mean this loser rookie went 3-13. 57%
comp, 26 td and 28 int, with a final rating of 71.2. Fire that guy into the suN, he will never do anything in any future.
Oh wait that was Peyton Manning. Rookies have bad games. It happens
If PFF doesn't grade Bryant a zero tomorrow (0r whatever the fucking lowest grade is), their entire operation should be blown up.
I'm only half kidding.
I'm only half kidding.
Julian Edelman and Troy Brown, either/or, could have came off their couch and played better than Myles Bryant today at cornerback.
I'm not even remotely kidding about that.
That's quite possibly the worst defensive performance I've seen in 200+ in Foxboro. For any team. That might include Fairhaven High when I watched my brother's HS Super Bowl Game, but in fairness to Bryant, I wasn't paying close attention to every player on Fairhaven. Maybe one kid had a terrible day.
He would need to multiply his terrible day by a MILLION to be as bad as Bryant's was. The worst kid on that Fairhaven team was more competitive in that game from the bench, than Myles Bryant was competitive with actual human NFL players today.
I'm fuming.
I'm not even remotely kidding about that.
That's quite possibly the worst defensive performance I've seen in 200+ in Foxboro. For any team. That might include Fairhaven High when I watched my brother's HS Super Bowl Game, but in fairness to Bryant, I wasn't paying close attention to every player on Fairhaven. Maybe one kid had a terrible day.
He would need to multiply his terrible day by a MILLION to be as bad as Bryant's was. The worst kid on that Fairhaven team was more competitive in that game from the bench, than Myles Bryant was competitive with actual human NFL players today.
I'm fuming.
Great post. Mac has hit a wall. He’s played more football since this spring than he ever has before, and, obviously, he’s facing smarter defensive coaches and better players than he’s ever seen as well. Some of those throws today were just really, really bad. Not only is he physically exhausted, he’s likely mentally exhausted as well. I’m still very optimistic about his future, but he’s been looking very much like the rookie he is lately.
And while you may be right about Jonnu, I wanted him cut on the spot after that holding call that negated a big gain.
Maybe a hold over from Bama tendencies with the wr being exceptional. Te being held in to block in ne?
Tho Henry has most rz tds.
He wasnt afraid to fail on several long, down the middle, to wr in multi coverage ( and did).
Overall tho, i agree he seems to err ultra safe. bB coaching ‘no TO’ combined with mac rookie mode exaggerates this.
They are not going to beat Jacksonville next week. Today was a pathetic performance all the way around. I guess Folk had a decent game making all his kicks. All of you predicting that the Pats will win next week are sadly mistaken. I'm with @Smiling Joe Hesketh. I don't think the way the Pats played today they could have beaten the 0 and 16 Lions or 0 and 16 Browns. The Pats from the coaching staff on down ought to refund the fans money for a lackluster effort.
Everything is between the hashes. And other teams are figuring this out (and mostly 15 yards within the LOS). I'd rather have him throw a couple of balls deep down the sidelines with 1on1, than any deep ball over the middle with a safety.
If you're spitting out Jonnu Smith wide ( and I mean wide), presumably it's because you're getting a mismatch on a smaller corner. Otherwise, he's literally just a waste of space out there. If you get 1on1 with a guy 4 inches smaller, 75 pounds lighter, and a big athletic freak, you throw it once in a while. Same with Harry, he's out there, getting 1on1 all day, and maybe he isn't going to outrun a defender, but you know what, its half a defender when you have Harry's size and the sideline on the other side. All Mac has to do is not be short with the throw and give these guys a chance. He doesn't even look their way.. They aren't even decoys on deep routes. It's making me insane at every game. No idea if that's Mac or coaching, but I would be hard pressed to believe Josh is out there in practice saying "if you see Jonnu or N'Keal one on one, no safety on the outside, don't even look at them."
I can't even blame Jonnu for the big fucking penalty. If you want Jonnu, who had zero fucking targets to stay in and block, or run a route that nobody will ever throw to, we shouldn't be surprised if he holds now and again. They are treating him like he's a 6th OL or a guy they need to be way over there somewhere. O Lineman get holding penalties, it's part of it. The "Go stand over there, if the ball comes to you, catch it" when he's not blocking is getting old. Dude is an athlete. On a team lacking athletes. Henry averages 3.0 yards after catch per catch. Smith averages 7.7. But it's so fucking weird how they are using these guys. Henry is losing 4.7 yards per reception to Smith after the catch, but still averaging more yards per catch like 11.5ypc to 10.1 for Smith. They are getting Henry down the middle of the field to catch the ball, but throwing the ball on 2-3 yard routes (or swing passes, screens, etc.) to Smith. Henry is a great weapon in his own right. But Smith is really good too, and it makes no sense to me.