Eh, game situation is different Pats play calls are different. You can’t insert FG into game and assume nothing else chants when football is so situational.
The Game Ball Thread: Wk 5 @ Bucs
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Gilmore and McCourty were very good tonight. The GOAT was good too - he basically had negative time on that fumble after Allen submitted yet another contribution to his extensive body of work as the world's best 6'3" turnstile.
I assume this is in reference to the big hit late in the game where the TB RB bounced away from the tackle that Nantz said was Gilmore as I can't think of anything else that fits. Assuming that is the case that was actually Hightower (54) and not Gilmore(24) on the tackle.
Gilmore was very good but the Bucs really played in to the Pats hands never implementing any bunch sets which was a huge issue in their communication.
In any event it was good for the Pats and now they have some time to get those issues worked out.
Defense. It wasn't pretty but it was nice not having guys run down the field uncovered time after time. There were a few breakdowns but overall a solid performance... yeah yeah Thursday night and the Bucs, but it was a solid step in the right direction. Baby Steps. Build off of it going forward and we might have a decent team.
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Brady was great, I think. Considering the lack of pass protection and no Gronk, he was really good. That INT was a bit puzzling to say the least but otherwise all good.
Ghost, Amendola, Hogan and White were all awesome.
They need to protect Brady a whole fuckton better than they have been. This is getting dangerous. Solder is a corpse, which sucks because he seems like a great guy and has been really good for a long time.
Dwayne Allen must really be lost in learning the offense if he's been this useless in the passing game through five weeks, including a 1 1/3 games without Gronk.
Get some rest and let's kick some ass starting in 10 days!
Ghost, Amendola, Hogan and White were all awesome.
They need to protect Brady a whole fuckton better than they have been. This is getting dangerous. Solder is a corpse, which sucks because he seems like a great guy and has been really good for a long time.
Dwayne Allen must really be lost in learning the offense if he's been this useless in the passing game through five weeks, including a 1 1/3 games without Gronk.
Get some rest and let's kick some ass starting in 10 days!
Nah.
1. It's objectively good that the team is sticking up for their brand new teammate, especially when there was potential strife with him and Butler. We like that.
2. Unless we've determined that the communication errors were solely on Gilmore (To me they're on him and McCourty, who's been here way longer...plus Rowe had a big mistake too), he wasn't any worse than the rest of the secondary. He had two ticky tack hands to the face penalties called at the worst possible times and a PI on an underthrown ball that Watson shouldn't have thrown but otherwise he was just as mediocre as anyone against HOU and CAR.
3. He was a very good player in Buffalo. What's more likely, he had 3 bad games or he's done at age 27? A little I told you so is fine, especially since the media (with a couple exceptions) are terrible, and love to overreact to anything they can.
I don't think the pass protection was that bad either beyond Solder who has something else going on (and needs to get better or get benched IMO). They're running a lot more longer-developing plays and Tampa took a few liberties with late hits that could have been flagged (one down low early in the game was pretty dangerous). It's a tough matchup against TB's scheme without Edelman and with Cooks not fully there -- if a guy isn't open right away Brady's going to have to hold the ball. The fumble was actually on Brady for not recognizing the blitz, no (and a good playcall by Tampa)?
I thought the offensive playcalling was confusing. I would have used more runs with Develin and Gillislee, and the empty backfield in the second Q on 3rd and 1 was a terrible call.
On the plus side, yeah, Brady, Patricia, McCourty, Chung, Gilmore get balls from me. Seemed like the strategy was to take away Evans and make Winston beat you going elsewhere and he showed he wasn't there with his decision-making and accuracy.
Folk sucked but yeah the team plays differently if he makes any of those, so you can't say that's why they lost. I would have gone for the 4th and 3 at the end honestly -- you convert and you win, and if you don't you're only up by a FG but they'd shown they couldn't make those...
The 4th and 3 gets attention here, critical attention:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/10/06/belichick-late-fourth-down-strategy-was-a-tough-decision/
BB describes it as a tough decision. It's often treated as so easy by people not charged with the responsibility of winning the game.
I asked for a win and some improvement on defense. I got it. Game time angst aside, this might have been an ideal outcome. As someone posted last night, they are just another team now, if you factor out the QB. There's lots to get done in 10 days. I imagine they will be working hard.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/10/06/belichick-late-fourth-down-strategy-was-a-tough-decision/
BB describes it as a tough decision. It's often treated as so easy by people not charged with the responsibility of winning the game.
I asked for a win and some improvement on defense. I got it. Game time angst aside, this might have been an ideal outcome. As someone posted last night, they are just another team now, if you factor out the QB. There's lots to get done in 10 days. I imagine they will be working hard.
I thought all of them were great. I am excited to see Burkhead back as well.
Lewis especially looked great. He had the burst and made himself flat for a few runs to gain several yards. Also thought he was much more effective as a checkdown outlet than White.
Per the running back point, they may have to rely more on short passes and runs, given a defense still in intensive care and the o-line (esp Solder).
Well that was a legitimately tough decision. He could probably flip a coin. Id argue, in general, tough decisions get too much criticism (they are tough decisions, they're close so whichever way the coach picks doesnt really effect win equity) while "routine" decisions don't get enough scrutiny (TB running on third and 1 and then kicking a 48 yard FG down 9, particularly with their kicking situation, was horrendous. That wont get mentioned)
Interesting that Florio is criticizing BB there. When he did the 4th and 2 in Indy, even though it was the right call, everyone was pissed because he didn't show any faith in his defense to close out the game. He showed that faith last night, and they rewarded him. Maybe that means something over the long haul.
I'd love to see an analysis of how long Brady takes to get rid of the ball, on average, this year, compared to last year. It sure feels like he's taking longer to get rid of it (not that his release is slower, but because of more downfield throws). So if that's the case, it makes sense that he's getting sacked more. The OL is used to only needing to protect him for a couple of seconds, and now they seem to need to give him 4-5 seconds. That's hard to do.
2.56 to attempt this year(20th)/2.39 to attempt last year (8th)
5th in deep passing percentage this year, 16th last year
2nd in the league in QB Rating on deep passes both seasons
EDIT: I think the difference between my numbers and the ones posted below are that my number includes sacks and scrambles.
5th in deep passing percentage this year, 16th last year
2nd in the league in QB Rating on deep passes both seasons
EDIT: I think the difference between my numbers and the ones posted below are that my number includes sacks and scrambles.
Brady's Time to Throw this year is 2.64. Last year it was 2.57.
https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/stats/passing/2016/all
I honestly have no idea about what you are trying to say. I think its that Rowe may be the weak link, but I cant get there from what you posted. Rowe didnt play in a game the secondary played better in, but played well against NO, but didnt play against Houston so...?
I'm still having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the offensive game plan. It seems like they're still rolling out last year's vertical attack when maybe they need to shift to a game plan with shorter routes and quicker / safer passes. Brady isn't going to last another two weeks taking a beating like last night. For example; the pass play going into the two minute warning was maddening. Tampa was playing super soft D giving up so much room underneath, yet the Pats countered with only one short route that was easily covered. With some shorter underneath routes they could have easily gotten five yards and set up a much easier third down. Instead White dropped a pass that would have only been a minimal gain and the third down ended up being much tougher to convert.
I think if you look around the NFL or to the offenses that have destroyed the Pats' D that the underneath crossing routes and pick play stuff out of bunched formations is the offense du jour. Tampa's offense, which is downfield oriented like the Pats offense, was actually a favorable match-up for the Pats D. I don't get how Tampa watches film coming into this game and sticks with their vertical gameplan a week after Gilmore looked so utterly confused by stacked formations, pick plays, and crossing routes.
I think if you look around the NFL or to the offenses that have destroyed the Pats' D that the underneath crossing routes and pick play stuff out of bunched formations is the offense du jour. Tampa's offense, which is downfield oriented like the Pats offense, was actually a favorable match-up for the Pats D. I don't get how Tampa watches film coming into this game and sticks with their vertical gameplan a week after Gilmore looked so utterly confused by stacked formations, pick plays, and crossing routes.
It looked like they were throwing more short passes last night. 20/40 attempts 5 yards or under, 6 passes 15 yards plus. They've been a more vertical offense this year than last year, but I expect to see that continue going forward. The pass catching personnel is better suited for a downfield passing game than quick dink and dunks.
Not to rain on a parade. But, Romo said Solder looked hurt? Thoughts.
Also my pick is Brady. I used to read sports quotation books and I always liked the one about OJ Simpson doing some of the best runs in history just to get back to the line of scrimmage. I am not sure Brady has played better than the last 4 games, all things considered. the inconsistent protection, injured receivers, terrible defence. He is operating on the razor's edge each week and has given then a chance to win each game.
Also my pick is Brady. I used to read sports quotation books and I always liked the one about OJ Simpson doing some of the best runs in history just to get back to the line of scrimmage. I am not sure Brady has played better than the last 4 games, all things considered. the inconsistent protection, injured receivers, terrible defence. He is operating on the razor's edge each week and has given then a chance to win each game.
Also seemed like he was in Brate's head or at least had him hearing footsteps.
I'll add that without a doubt the MVP for the Patriots was Folk
After that (in no particular order)
Amendola
Chung
Hogan
Dirk Koetter
Tom Brady
Cameron Brate
Gilmore
Vernon Hargreaves
Devin McCourty
Gostkowski
This. Edelman's injury is the key to mostly everything on offense. Brady's timing, the O-line's need to block slightly longer, opening up the field for both Gronk and Cooks, one of the top 3 most reliable 3rd down targets in football. The offense hasn't been the problem, of course, but we have an otherworldly QB. This offense would be downright scary for the rest of the NFL with a healthy JE11. It's a little scary for the PATS with a sidelined Gronk, JE11 and Solder at tackle, Gronk needs to play this year to survive this.Gee...why is Brady holding onto the ball more and why aren't they running quicker routes?
We could also use Mitchell back. When is he eligible to return from IR?
A part of me does wonder whether BB ever makes toss-up decisions during the regular decision based not on projected outcome but on better understanding his team. In this case, Brady may have been pissed he wasn't given the chance to win the game but we already know Brady is amazing. And ultimately kicking for the win or going for it to end it was a 50-50 percentage round or about. What we didn't know was whether the defense could step up or whether post-2015 AFCCG Ghost was clutch anymore. We got affirmative answers in both cases – but more importantly we got data we didn't have before.
A part of me does wonder whether BB ever makes toss-up decisions during the regular decision based not on projected outcome but on better understanding his team. In this case, Brady may have been pissed he wasn't given the chance to win the game but we already know Brady is amazing. And ultimately kicking for the win or going for it to end it was a 50-50 percentage round or about. What we didn't know was whether the defense could step up or whether post-2015 AFCCG Ghost was clutch anymore. We got affirmative answers in both cases – but more importantly we got data we didn't have before.
Oh sweet, I didn't realize Mitchell could return. I thought IR was done for the year...
Well that's promising.
Well that's promising.
Posted this in the game thread but this is a great article on the non grounding
https://www.patspulpit.com/2017/10/6/16439042/patriots-buccaneers-so-what-exactly-is-intentional-grounding
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hcq2NsZScYMqhx7DpSfRuCgOIko=/0x0:950x450/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:950x450):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9408587/IntentionalG.gif
:gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9408587/IntentionalG.gif)
https://www.patspulpit.com/2017/10/6/16439042/patriots-buccaneers-so-what-exactly-is-intentional-grounding
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hcq2NsZScYMqhx7DpSfRuCgOIko=/0x0:950x450/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:950x450):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9408587/IntentionalG.gif
Hmmm let me think...Gee...why is Brady holding onto the ball more and why aren't they running quicker routes?
Late, but the solution to this is to take that decision out of the ref's hands and just make the call depend on where the ball goes. Like how they changed the facemask rule so that every facemask is 15 yards and the ref doesn't have to decide whether it was worth 5 or 15 yards.
If you make a bad pass due to pressure and it goes nowhere near anyone, the D should get credit for that pressure (similarly, if you're good enough as a QB that you can get a decent throw away, you deserve to avoid the grounding).
I'd also be fine with eliminating the tackle box and LOS portion of the rule. That's hard to determine, plus I don't see why someone like Russell Wilson gets to avoid a sack by tossing a ball straight into the ground if he had run away from pressure first. Make it so that you need to throw a ball reasonably close to an eligible player no matter what. It would still be illegal to hit the QB after he releases the ball.