The Game Ball Thread: Wk.3 vs Raiders

Over Guapo Grande

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JJ has that thing, when he gets the ball, it looks like he already has a full head of steam and is a couple yards downfield so quickly.
In the Lazar piece posted this AM (around 7:35 mark) , he notes that JJ gets to the corner so quickly that it made the outside zone runs much more effective. I also think there is a decent chance he could have taken one of the two Sony runs to the house had the Pats been able to use a pinch-runner once he got past the LB's.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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BB.
What other coach would use all 3 2nd half timeouts on defense in the 3rd quarter?
I thought this was worth going into a little more.

It was so unusual to see that you have to wonder if it was part of a plan. I think the third one was based on indecision but the first two were so out of character that you wonder if maybe at halftime they saw something that they thought gave them an edge on defense but knew it was high risk and if LV sniffed it out or had certain personnel or formations that it would be too high risk.

The value of second half timeouts is quite high. If nothing else they equate to an extra 40 seconds of game time in most circumstances and the value of the third one is especially high because without it you cannot challenge or prevent a possible game changing or ending 10 second run off. Sometimes you see quarterbacks reflexively call a time out in the second half when the play clock is running down and it seems like the risk reward is way off. Like the QB will be on his own 10 yard line on a 3d and 11 or whatever and you really wonder whether a 3d and 16 in that situation is so much worse that you shouldn't just take the delay penalty.

Anyway, here are the three time outs and the situations and the results after each of them. On all three the Raiders failed to convert on the series.

1. 12:16 left in the third quarter. Patriots up 3. 2d down and 6 at the NEP 22. Result of the series was a stop and a FG attempt.

2. 6:35 left in the third quarter. Patriots up by 10. 1st and 10 at the LVR 23. Result of the series was a stop and a punt.

3. 12:30 left in the 4th quarter. Patriots up by 10. 1st and 10 at the NEP 12. Result of the series was a stop an a FG attempt.
 

cshea

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The play after the 1st timeout was the near McCourty interception where he lurked underneath Waller. Not sure if there was something they saw there, or if that defensive call happens without the TO?

The 2nd one was the most bizarre one. That was taken following a kickoff to start the series.

The 3rd one seemed like a personnel issue. Guy was on the sideline confused on if he should go or not. Not sure if they didn't have enough players on the field or if someone who was supposed to sub out didn't come off and they had the wrong personnel grouping out there. Bill seemed a bit miffed about this one.
 

BaseballJones

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On one of the time outs, a player (Guy, I think?) was dancing on the sideline, looking unsure if he was supposed to go in or not, and then NE called a TO. I don't that was by design; that was caused by the team being confused about who was supposed to be in the game at that moment.

EDIT: @cshea obviously hit "Post Reply" before I did.
 

Mystic Merlin

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I think they had substitution fuckups on at least two of the TO, one with 10 and another with 12 on the field. I vividly recall a shot of Guy standing on the sideline near the goal line with his hands in the air, seemingly confused about whether to run in.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Yeah, I think the third one was the most urgent given that they clearly had the issue with Guy and it was in the red area. You would think it has to be fairly major to use a third time out.

Red area substitutions are hard to begin with because there's a lot of distance between the line of scrimmage and the area where you're supposed to be standing, especially for the fatties, though it looked like Guy was dancing around down near the 20 so I guess the refs give you a little latitude to not have to stay between the 35s.
 

bakahump

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I think BB should focus on Drafting Former UofM Wolverines. Wino, Onwenu, Law ......and there is another guy who used to play here too..... ohhh yea Mesko!
 

SMU_Sox

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I think BB should focus on Drafting Former UofM Wolverines. Wino, Onwenu, Law ......and there is another guy who used to play here too..... ohhh yea Mesko!
Josh Uche will eventually get on the field and hopefully make an impact too.
 

BigJimEd

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Doesn't seem like anything strategic with the timeouts. Another coach (or outcome) and most are probably calling out those timeouts for an entirely different reason
 

Super Nomario

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I've been critical of Shilique Calhoun, but he probably had the two biggest defensive plays yesterday. The D was struggling before the punched that ball out of Jacobs' hands early, and he helped create that Wise TD that put the final nail in the coffin.

Offensively, the Patriots' MVP was Raiders safety Johnathan Abram, who got turned around on Burkhead's first TD and both of Sony's long runs, as well as flew in and whiffed on Harry on the Pats' longest pass play of the day. He was awful. (The OL and RBs had a great day too)
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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If the second one was really just a 12 man problem then I'm not sure that I like it. That's exactly the kind of play where I think the risk reward is not really high enough to use it. They were on their own side of the field and it was first down. First and five or a free play stinks. (Though at least on the free play aspect you have an extra defender.) But first and five with nearly half a game left and the other team 40 yards from field goal range is something I can deal with when I already have used a second half time out. First half, sure. But not second half.
 

lexrageorge

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If the second one was really just a 12 man problem then I'm not sure that I like it. That's exactly the kind of play where I think the risk reward is not really high enough to use it. They were on their own side of the field and it was first down. First and five or a free play stinks. (Though at least on the free play aspect you have an extra defender.) But first and five with nearly half a game left and the other team 40 yards from field goal range is something I can deal with when I already have used a second half time out. First half, sure. But not second half.
Who called the second timeout? Could it have been McCourty or someone realizing they had an extra player and instinctively signaling for one?

Still not good, given that it was the first play after a kickoff.
 
Apr 24, 2019
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Who called the second timeout? Could it have been McCourty or someone realizing they had an extra player and instinctively signaling for one?

Still not good, given that it was the first play after a kickoff.
Yeah, that was lame. They discussed on Patriots.com postgame show. They suggested it involved a weird situation post kickoff wherein the raiders went straight to the LOS, as opposed to huddling up, and there was commercial break stoppage, which took the patriots sideline by surprise. Maybe?
 

BigJimEd

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Belichick calls the timeouts "bad coaching"
“Just bad coaching, really,” Belichick said earnestly. “I have to do a better job. Just not good coaching.”

“We had to use our timeouts because there were problems. I got to do a better job. We got to be able to play without using our timeouts.”
 

Granite Sox

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I think BB should focus on Drafting Former UofM Wolverines. Wino, Onwenu, Law ......and there is another guy who used to play here too..... ohhh yea Mesko!
Jon Vaughn, Robert Perryman, and Matt Gutierrez also say hello. Amara Darboh waved (or is it waived?) on his way through town...
 

BaseballJones

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Don't forget Pierre Woods, who didn't recover the fumble in 42 46.
Well...he did. But then Ahmad Bradshaw (I think it was him) dove on him and ripped it away. But the moment he touched Woods, it should have been down by contact and Pats' ball. But.....nope.
 

DJnVa

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Well...he did. But then Ahmad Bradshaw (I think it was him) dove on him and ripped it away. But the moment he touched Woods, it should have been down by contact and Pats' ball. But.....nope.
That's what they were saying about Jacobs and his fumble yesterday.
 

DJnVa

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I annoyingly lost the link, but apparently it wasn't just Waller the Patriots schemed to take away. Carr is the king of checkdowns and apparently the Patriots were double-teaming his checkdown targets on certain plays.
 

normstalls

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