The Game Ball Thread: Wk 6 at Colts
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Can't wait to hear an explanation for whatever the hell that play was supposed to be from Indy. I'm still absolutely gobsmacked.
Hard to overcome a pick 6 against a good team in their own building. The defensive effort in the second half was outstanding. Tough to pick one guy but I say Jones.
The end of game management has been kind of shaky this year -- this game and the Buffalo game stand out. Usually a strength so it's weird. Have to tighten that up before it costs them.
The end of game management has been kind of shaky this year -- this game and the Buffalo game stand out. Usually a strength so it's weird. Have to tighten that up before it costs them.
Game ball to the coaching staff--for the second half adjustments and for not being fucking morons.
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
-- I've mentioned this before, but the Patriots (under Belichick) have pretty much played that way with a two-score lead since forever. It's not too fun to watch, but war of attrition is probably the soundest strategy. At the very least, it forces the underdog to make exceedingly improbable plays to win.
Chandler Jones and Easley were fantastic, and Collins was all over the place again. Flemming did a nice job and Brady was his normal good self.
Those last 3 drives were a great combo of mental and physical errors, though. The Delay of Game was about as bad as you will ever see from Brady.
Those last 3 drives were a great combo of mental and physical errors, though. The Delay of Game was about as bad as you will ever see from Brady.
Game ball to the ref who ruled the Patriots recovered the onside kick. I can't imagine what it would be like on here if that had been against the Pats.
I thought Ninkovich was pretty good when he came on. Drew several of those holding calls that stalled their offense out. Collins seemed to be a big difference maker in shutting down all the underneath stuff in the 2nd half
I thought Ninkovich was pretty good when he came on. Drew several of those holding calls that stalled their offense out. Collins seemed to be a big difference maker in shutting down all the underneath stuff in the 2nd half
Yeah, and as mentioned, the delay of game. Play calling was ok, though on the drive with 7 or 8 minutes left, I thought play action would have worked. The busted sneak was tough, but it usually works so hard to grumble about it.Stitch01 said:
About the only thing I can think of is that Indy wanted a formation so unusual that the Pats would call timeout, and never meant to snap the ball.GeorgeCostanza said:
Glad I get to say this first this week: DeGuglielmo.
Already down Solder (not to mention Wendell and Stork), he loses Cannon and still has his guys so well prepared they don't miss a beat. I don't remember the DL sacking Brady, the running game was excellent until the Pats completely abandoned the pass, and no holding calls?
Remarkable. Great coaching.
Also special teams coaching gets credit for having the Pats punt defense so well disciplined not to fall over laughing on the punt formation nonsense.
Already down Solder (not to mention Wendell and Stork), he loses Cannon and still has his guys so well prepared they don't miss a beat. I don't remember the DL sacking Brady, the running game was excellent until the Pats completely abandoned the pass, and no holding calls?
Remarkable. Great coaching.
Also special teams coaching gets credit for having the Pats punt defense so well disciplined not to fall over laughing on the punt formation nonsense.
Down: There is an epidemic in this league on guys not being able to resist blocking in the back on punt returns. It's maddening to see over and over again.
Jones
Collins
Blount
Offense hasn't looked crisp since before the bye. They seem to be very happy not getting Gronk involved in the passing game early. There needs to be more targets for him earlier. Get him in favorable match ups and use him more.
Collins
Blount
Offense hasn't looked crisp since before the bye. They seem to be very happy not getting Gronk involved in the passing game early. There needs to be more targets for him earlier. Get him in favorable match ups and use him more.
Collins seemed like he was involved in many, many key moments and when the Colts moved the ball it seemed like it was when they somehow figured out how to neutralize him. So Collins, for me.
His actual explanation was almost as bizarre as the at itself. Was trying to catch the pats with too many men on the field??singaporesoxfan said:
Big ups to Vollmer. Swapped sides and aside from one hands to the face penalty, never heard his name called again. Which for an OL is generally a very good thing.
Fleming was also good at RT for the most part.
Fleming was also good at RT for the most part.
The Colts though had one person besides the "center" on the line of scrimmage. I'm guessing a lot of NFL coaches would have seen that.riboflav said:
Maybe the Colts were trying to draw the defense offsides by getting someone to double over in laughter past the line of scrimmage. The ROFL strategy.
Colts players are saying that the point was to catch the Pats with 12 on the field or force them to call a timeout. The fact that BB left the pressure on them to figure out wtf to do was just brilliant. Every other coach in the NFL calls a timeout there.
McAfee said (and I'm paraphrasing) that it was the biggest fuck up in the history of fake punts.
McAfee said (and I'm paraphrasing) that it was the biggest fuck up in the history of fake punts.
This is what happens when other teams try to get "deceptive" like BB does. The thing is, Belichick practices everything, all this talk of situational football we are constantly hearing about - that's why the punt team didn't panic. They reacted, communicated and got it done. Meanwhile,the other teams attempting this junk "trick" stuff...I mean, god...there are no words.
Except maybe these: In. Their. Heads.
Game Balls: TB12, Googe, Jamie Collins for the block. If not for Defakegate, his special teams play would be a bigger talking point.
Except maybe these: In. Their. Heads.
Game Balls: TB12, Googe, Jamie Collins for the block. If not for Defakegate, his special teams play would be a bigger talking point.
Yeah, I mean BB has a history of panicking and calling time outs in big spots. I love how our players reacted in that spot too, looked to each other and figured out to crowd the center to prevent the sneak.MarcSullivaFan said:
The Buffalo game was definitely inexplicable, but I feel like this is a hallmark of Pats teams in general - when they're up late, they're content to let the other team grabs yards, and even points, as long as they feel like there's not a way to lose. They don't care if they win by 1 or 21.
A gut-it-out underrated win that will be sort of lost in the wake of 50-point win predictions. Tough injuries, physical plays, and they still manage to win comfortably on the road.
Up:
- Jamie Collins -- His coming out party on the national stage, capped by the XP block that put him into Kam Chancellor freak territory.
- Secondary: Malcolm Butler, Devin McCourty (he played corner for much of the 2nd half, right?), Pat Chung (played the deep safety role really well when asked). At one point late in the 4th Zo said that the Colts had run 24 plays in the 2nd half and had 39 total yards. That's in large part a credit to these guys, and even Logan Ryan, who gave up plays but made sure none of them were big plays.
- Googs, Sebastian Vollmer: honestly, Sea Bass may be an upgrade at LT. Which is insane.
LOL: Punt unit on the "fake": I give them massive credit for adjusting and blowing it up, but... LOL what was that?
Obligatory: Tom Brady: more mobile in the pocket in his late 30s than most guys are in their 20s. That game sealing TD to Blount would have been a coverage sack a few years ago.
Moral: Slater. Heal up soon, big guy.
HM: Allen. After a bad punt, he was lights out in the 2nd half.
Down:
- Mayo -- Maybe harsh, but he looked like he was getting pushed around on some run plays.
- Freeny: Seemed to really struggle in coverage, which is admittedly tough for a slow LB.
- Onsides unit: interested to see what Chuck has to say. Seemed disorganized on the 1st, and even on the 2nd I didn't like their assignments -- Gronk's amazing hands and size bailed them out, I thought.
I almost added McDaniels here, because I felt that the team sort of shut it down in the 4th quarter and stopped executing, but with a 3rd stringer at RT, 2 rookies on the line, and the #1 WR playing with a badly injured finger, I think he probably figured the smart play on the road was to go conservative and emerge with a win.
Up:
- Jamie Collins -- His coming out party on the national stage, capped by the XP block that put him into Kam Chancellor freak territory.
- Secondary: Malcolm Butler, Devin McCourty (he played corner for much of the 2nd half, right?), Pat Chung (played the deep safety role really well when asked). At one point late in the 4th Zo said that the Colts had run 24 plays in the 2nd half and had 39 total yards. That's in large part a credit to these guys, and even Logan Ryan, who gave up plays but made sure none of them were big plays.
- Googs, Sebastian Vollmer: honestly, Sea Bass may be an upgrade at LT. Which is insane.
LOL: Punt unit on the "fake": I give them massive credit for adjusting and blowing it up, but... LOL what was that?
Obligatory: Tom Brady: more mobile in the pocket in his late 30s than most guys are in their 20s. That game sealing TD to Blount would have been a coverage sack a few years ago.
Moral: Slater. Heal up soon, big guy.
HM: Allen. After a bad punt, he was lights out in the 2nd half.
Down:
- Mayo -- Maybe harsh, but he looked like he was getting pushed around on some run plays.
- Freeny: Seemed to really struggle in coverage, which is admittedly tough for a slow LB.
- Onsides unit: interested to see what Chuck has to say. Seemed disorganized on the 1st, and even on the 2nd I didn't like their assignments -- Gronk's amazing hands and size bailed them out, I thought.
I almost added McDaniels here, because I felt that the team sort of shut it down in the 4th quarter and stopped executing, but with a 3rd stringer at RT, 2 rookies on the line, and the #1 WR playing with a badly injured finger, I think he probably figured the smart play on the road was to go conservative and emerge with a win.
They scored 34 points on the road with zero turnovers forced by the D and only one time with great field position. Man, how our perspective of what constitutes a great offensive performance has been warped.Bergs said:
Jake McQuaide, the Rams' long snapper, tweeted out an explanation:GeorgeCostanza said:
https://twitter.com/JakeMcQuaide/status/655943577059643392
https://twitter.com/JakeMcQuaide/status/655944108494692352
https://twitter.com/JakeMcQuaide/status/655944108494692352
https://twitter.com/JakeMcQuaide/status/655944707978174464
So the idea is to snap the ball with >11 defensive players on the field, in which case, first down for the Colts. If the defense doesn't subsitute, the ball should never be snapped - its either a timeout or a delay of game.
Either the Colts "QB" and "center" on that play never got the memo or, they mistook the Pats' defensive shifting for actual substitutions.
I agree with this. Especially given the injuries, to score 34 on the road in this game was incredibly impressive.Ralphwiggum said:
But that doesn't make a ton of sense because if the offensive team makes a substitution (offense comes on for punt team) the refs won't let the center snap the ball until the defense is allowed to substitute. Sure, you still might catch someone slow to substitute but you can't just hurry out and snap without giving the other side an opportunity to sub. And I know I've seen the Pats try this but it never seems to work since the ref just stands over the ball.Eddie Jurak said:
Edit: I guess what I was trying to say was what the Colts did made no sense even with that explanation.
That sort of makes some sense but to think that a BB coached team would fall for something like that means you haven't been paying attention. I mean the Pats use that type of substitution more than anyone, to think they wouldn't know what to do and how to act is dumb.Eddie Jurak said:
Then to snap the ball on top of it just adds another layer of stupid
The "offense" made no substitution. The punt team stayed on the field the whole time. The idea behind the play is that BB was supposed to see the Dolts punt team running for the sideline and yell "Defense, go!" In which case the Colts, who have made no substitution, can snap the ball for a free first down.Preacher said:
SeoulSoxFan said:
They've run surprise onside kicks before but the Pats weren't prepared for the one last night. After that they were prepared the rest of the game (would have been cool if Gronk had taken that last one all the way back although he might have gotten in trouble for not immediately downing it)