The Game Ball Thread: Wk 15 vs Titans

[amarshal2]

They don't pass too much when Blount was on the field, either. Especially when they brought a 6th lineman in. But it didn't really matter. Deception is less important than execution.

Are you sure they don't pass much when Blount is on the field? He seems like the guy with whom they most often run play action, which is the definition of deception or unpredictable. How do we find that out?

I mean its kind of hard to make the statement you are making without knowing this. There is certainly a plausible explanation that White has been an unknown to opposing Defensive coordinators and that they are staying with three/four Lbers on the field when White comes in. If that's the case then I'm glad the Pats are exploiting that mismatch in coverage and throwing him the ball vs. him running with it. Now if it changes and teams are going with 2 line backers when White is on the field and he still can't run the ball then you are on much more solid ground. You certainly may be correct and White isn't a threat taking a handoff. But I haven't paid attention to what types of fronts he is seeing when he is in the game and I think that matters a lot. No one should be expecting him to move the ball on the ground with 7 or 8 defenders lined up in the box.

I'm on very solid ground that they haven't shown any confidence in him out of the backfield. How could it be any more definitive? There top 2 backs are on IR. Brandon Bolden was lead back against the Texans after Blount went down and just split carries against the Titans. He's had no competition in run heavy game plans and they haven't run the ball with him. Before that, White took over Lewis' role as a pass-catching back for several games but picked up almost none of Lewis' role as a runner. Bill and McD work hard to be unpredictable. Bill isn't going to come out and tell you but the proof is in the pudding.

It's not plausible that James White has consistently faced 8 man fronts, Gronk would have eaten teams alive. If he's consistently faced 7 man fronts then he's in the same situation that Lewis and Vereen were in when they were given a bunch of carries every game. The beat guys all said that defenses were choosing the LB over the DB when Lewis was on the field.

Again, he's young, he could improve, the usage may change, blah blah. So we can amend my statement from, "he's not much more than a JAG" to "he's not shown himself to be much more than a JAG" and call it a day.

 

[Super Nomario]

Are you sure they don't pass much when Blount is on the field? He seems like the guy with whom they most often run play action, which is the definition of deception or unpredictable. How do we find that out?

Per FO, Blount played 308 snaps on offense and he had 165 carries this year. So there were a lot of passing plays with him in the game.

I'm on very solid ground that they haven't shown any confidence in him out of the backfield. How could it be any more definitive? There top 2 backs are on IR. Brandon Bolden was lead back against the Texans after Blount went down and just split carries against the Titans. He's had no competition in run heavy game plans and they haven't run the ball with him. Before that, White took over Lewis' role as a pass-catching back for several games but picked up almost none of Lewis' role as a runner. Bill and McD work hard to be unpredictable. Bill isn't going to come out and tell you but the proof is in the pudding.

It's not plausible that James White has consistently faced 8 man fronts, Gronk would have eaten teams alive. If he's consistently faced 7 man fronts then he's in the same situation that Lewis and Vereen were in when they were given a bunch of carries every game. The beat guys all said that defenses were choosing the LB over the DB when Lewis was on the field.

Again, he's young, he could improve, the usage may change, blah blah. So we can amend my statement from, "he's not much more than a JAG" to "he's not shown himself to be much more than a JAG" and call it a day.

You also have to consider situation. White's most extensive work was in the Philly game where the Pats were trailing big and were obviously throwing anyway; that the Pats didn't run the ball with White in that game doesn't really tell us anything. It was a similar ratio yesterday, when the Pats were winning, but I didn't track how often White was in on third downs. So far, he's looked pretty good as a receiver and pretty JAG-y as a runner, but sample sizes are small enough that the jury's still out on both.

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

Shane Vereen often seemed pretty JAG-y as a runner, too.