Game Ball vs. Stillers
- Thread starter Van Everyman
- Start date
Zeke. Lots of big yards, and a very important tackle
Zappe. The confidence back there, if nothing else, made the offense look entirely different.
Henry and JuJu. Looked like totally different players tonight
Tomlin and Trubisky. Weird play calls, odd use of timeouts, relying too much on the run game instead of the short passes that were working.
The refs. The false start penalty on the punt team was critical.
Zappe. The confidence back there, if nothing else, made the offense look entirely different.
Henry and JuJu. Looked like totally different players tonight
Tomlin and Trubisky. Weird play calls, odd use of timeouts, relying too much on the run game instead of the short passes that were working.
The refs. The false start penalty on the punt team was critical.
1. Hunter Henry - 2TDs on good routes
2. Jabtil Peppers - INT and bringing the hits all night
3. Zeke Elliott - Nothing spectacular but carried the load
2. Jabtil Peppers - INT and bringing the hits all night
3. Zeke Elliott - Nothing spectacular but carried the load
Defense- another solid outing. Dominant in the first half, and made enough plays to hang on late.
Zappe- Great first half, puddled a bit in the second half, but still, a win is win.
Henry- big TD grabs.
Zeke- Very nice night running and catching the rock.
BB- Even in this death march of a season, he’s a big mismatch for Tomlin.
Zappe- Great first half, puddled a bit in the second half, but still, a win is win.
Henry- big TD grabs.
Zeke- Very nice night running and catching the rock.
BB- Even in this death march of a season, he’s a big mismatch for Tomlin.
The offensive skill players who supposedly couldn’t make anyone look good for performing like average NFL players. Special shout outs to the corpse of Juju Smith-Schuster for giving a little F-U to Stiller Nation and my boy Zeke for kneeing Watt in the face so hard he dimmed.
Balls to Zappe, JuJu, Zeke, and Peppers. They may not win another one (and we may not want them to), but at least they earned some respect as a team willing to fight. And potentially derailing the Steelers playoff hopes is an added bonus.
Biggest complaint for me was Belichick punting on 4th-and-1 in the middle of the 4th. It was probably tactically the correct decision, but I'd like to see them play like there is nothing to lose in these situations going forward.
Biggest complaint for me was Belichick punting on 4th-and-1 in the middle of the 4th. It was probably tactically the correct decision, but I'd like to see them play like there is nothing to lose in these situations going forward.
Zeke with the hustle after the interception to stop the runner from scoring a touchdown was a game saving play.
Zappe - it all starts with the QB and for this night we had one
Zeke - carried the load, ran hard, blocked hard, caught the ball well, and had a game saving tackle
Juju, Thornton , and Henry - proving it's a lot more about the QB than him being washed
D across the board
Nice to see them win one like this. Keep the top five pick but ball out the rest of the way.
Zeke - carried the load, ran hard, blocked hard, caught the ball well, and had a game saving tackle
Juju, Thornton , and Henry - proving it's a lot more about the QB than him being washed
D across the board
Nice to see them win one like this. Keep the top five pick but ball out the rest of the way.
I was never a fan of Zeke, I thought he was terribly overrated. When the Pats signed him, I had low expectations, and in fact, thought he would be a training camp cut.
I was wrong. He really impressed me last night. He may not have run for a ton of yards, but he was trying his ass off. He had some real nice YAC, some real nice tackles, and the icing on the cake was the hustle after the INT.
One game ball from me, and it goes to Zeke.
I was wrong. He really impressed me last night. He may not have run for a ton of yards, but he was trying his ass off. He had some real nice YAC, some real nice tackles, and the icing on the cake was the hustle after the INT.
One game ball from me, and it goes to Zeke.
Last night (first half especially) feels like a significant data point in the “is it the QB, the skill players, the line, or all of them?” argument. Not going to see too many games with only 3 dressed receivers (let alone three dressed receivers as reviled as Juju, Thornton, and Reagor) and down your #1 RB and they acquitted themselves fine because they got halfway decent QB play.
I'll throw out Jennings. PIT wanted to run to that side, and every time they did he just bodied guys and stuffed it.
It works both ways though. Juju came back and made a nice play on that initial long ball that was underthrown. If the defender gets his head around and wrestles it away the whole game could go differently. That was the best play that Juju has made all year and I bet Mac wishes he gotten had that on a few of his throws.
Without being disrespectful, Mack Jones's passion was more directed at his coaches and players than the team plays. Zappe has a bit of passion that TB also had on the field for team success (but that is the only comparison I will make there).
Admittedly, I pay very little attention to long snappers on punts. But, do they ever snap the ball without looking up? If they sometimes do, then the offsetting penalty is defensible. If they always raise their head before snapping, then calling a penalty if they raise their head too quickly seems ridiculous to me.
Yeah, game ball to the zebras here. That head jerk move by the center/long snapper happens very regularly, and is very, very rarely called as a false start. Pats very much got away with one there.
Zeke really came through here too. I was defending the choice of adding him to a rebuilding team yesterday, saying I thought he was a perfect choice to back up Rham. He had clearly lost a step over his initial dominant runner skills when he entered the league, but he's quite a good ball catcher (despite his rep), and even if he's not breaking off big runs any more, he's still a bruiser who hits hard.
Thornton had a couple nice grabs as well, and Henry's TD's weren't easy catches. Just some competent football all around (special teams excepted).
Zappe. For the first time all season it felt like we had a "real" QB. He's not great but he showed a ton of command out there.
Zeke played a great game. His professionalism in the midst of a lousy season impresses the hell out of me.
Henry had a good game too.
Zeke played a great game. His professionalism in the midst of a lousy season impresses the hell out of me.
Henry had a good game too.
Yes they raise their heads, but the rule is you can't do it quickly. I have never seen it called on it's own, but it does get called when it forces a jump. Last night's was a bad call, but sometimes you see guys jerk the head up really fast to try and draw a penalty in the hope the ref misses it.
I have never really paid attention to long snapper mechanics, but the fact that whatever he did got two guys to jump makes me think that it was a bit out of the ordinary and the kind of thing the rules might prohibit as simulating the start of the play.
That said, the Patriots have taken some crazy stupid penalties the last couple of years and why they would ever risk a NZ infraction in 4th and less than 5 in the fourth quarter on a punt is a legitimate question.
That said, the Patriots have taken some crazy stupid penalties the last couple of years and why they would ever risk a NZ infraction in 4th and less than 5 in the fourth quarter on a punt is a legitimate question.
I think your point that I bolded might be indicative of the fact that the r3ef got the call right.
In terms of game balls, as KH noted last night, I think the coaching staff and veteran leadership deserves some credit for the effort that this team put forth last night. Clearly could have been a phone-it-in game, between the record, the short week, and being on the road, yet it was the Pats who played hard throughout, most notably with Zeke's hustle on the INT.
The refs also missed a roughing call on the Peppers INT. Clear blow to the head. Add that to Tomlin’s failed 4th down call and the punt penalty and that was a hell of a frustrating win.
I'm really impressed with Zeke. Guy is just a pro. He's clearly lost the explosiveness that made him such a weapon, but he's consistently making the right play. And he's a passable receiving back. If he's interested I'd definitely try to bring him back for another year, especially if they add some draftees to the RB room.
Much better. Mitch was only 3/5 against him, so now he's only giving up completions at a 79.7% rate instead of 80.0%, and the QB rating against him is only 109.9.
Improvement baby.
To the untrained eye, he seems to always be falling forward, too. At a minimum, gets another yard and sometimes several. That's very valuable when yards are hard to come by with this offense.
It seemed that BB and JJ finally heeded SoSH's mandate to just fair-catch everything... avoid fumbles/clotheslines/holdings.
Ok, the win did cause this to be created so it has brought some joy to my life.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMDi0BguNF4&ab_channel=UrinatingTree
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMDi0BguNF4&ab_channel=UrinatingTree
Tavai. He almost committed a mind-bogglingly horrible penalty, but otherwise he was everywhere. 15 tackles. Good on him.
His growth as a player kind of reminds me on bruschi when he was younger.
I wonder if the Pats had made the Pittsburgh long snapper's head movements a point of emphasis with the officials pre-game? If yes, then the Pats coaches get a game ball for that.
I think Bryant is pretty good at most things OTHER THAN man coverage. Sadly, as the 5th CB elevated to starter, that is a bit of an issue.
Wasn’t there a FG block earlier in the year based on BB recognizing a head bob and timing Schooler off the edge?
Watt (and Highsmith) have concussion symptoms now. Unclear why Watt was let back in the game but we should probably grade Onwenu's / the line's performance on a bit of a curve in retrospect.
Yes, against the Dolphins. Two weeks later, the Cowboys used that against the Pats by faking an extra point and throwing behind Schooler for an easy two point conversion.
