The Game Ball Thread: Wk 8 vs Dolphins

[SeoulSoxFan]

Complete effort by everyone tonight. 
 
My offensive game ball goes to Lewis. Thankfully he has fully healed from the abdomen injury.
My defensive game ball goes to Ryan & Harmon. Two great picks. 
 
Mini-by!
 
P.S. Oh, and this guy:
 

 

[soxhop411]

@DanWetzel: Since halftime of AFC Title Game, with NFL watching PSI levels, Tom Brady stats: 67.4 completion percentage, 2,859 yards, 26 TDs, 3 picks

.. We need a counter

 

[Devizier]

Too many to choose from, but..
 
Brady
Lewis
Hightower

 

[jsinger121]

Brady
Lewis
Edelman
Jones
Hightower

 

[j44thor]

Might be easier to have a not game ball thread
 
Vollmer, Fleming
 
Gold Stars for everyone else

 

[bluefenderstrat]

Everyone!

 

[axx]

run d

 

[Ed Hillel]

Whole team, everyone was good.
 
This is the first game in a long time where I actually can't think of one player that stood out as not playing well.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Might be easier to have a not game ball thread
 
Vollmer, Fleming
 
Gold Stars for everyone else

 
Vollmer? He gave up, what, one sack? Flemming had a couple penalties and a few pressures, but that's really not a bad game.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Brady
Lewis
Gronk
Hightower
McCourty
Edelman

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

@RyanHannable For Tom Brady this was his 19th game with at least 4 TD and 0 INTs, most all-time.

 

[Tony C]

Whole team, everyone was good.
 
This is the first game in a long time where I actually can't think of one player that stood out as not playing well.

 
Justin Coleman definitely gave up some yards. But, even there, pretty decent for a guy just off the street.

 

[Ale Xander]

Offense: neon dion
Defense : chandler and scarlet knights primary
St: punt coverage
Coaches: daboll (much Fewer drops)
Pleasant surprise : Grissom

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

#BradyCrushed

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

This offense is ridiculous. Miami did a decent job putting pressure on Brady throughout and it just didn't matter. Well-oiled machine that can only be slowed down in short spurts.

All the game balls to Dion for what may legitimately have been an all-time great juke.

 

[Slow Rheal]

The GOAT, my god this dude is mad and it's so awesome.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Lewis adds another dimension to the offense. Missed him against the vaunted Jets defense.

 

[lexrageorge]

Game balls to:
 
Brady
Lewis
Ghost for breaking the Pats record
Hightower
Every player that took a defensive snap
Goodell/Wells

 

[j44thor]

 
Vollmer? He gave up, what, one sack? Flemming had a couple penalties and a few pressures, but that's really not a bad game.

Brady escaped quite a few sacks, OL was below average tonight and Vollmer is the veteran of the OL.  He wasn't terrible but he was on the bottom rung when it comes to everyone else on the 45 tonight.

 

[Van Everyman]

How about that "gashed" run defense? 55 yds or so in the last two weeks.

 

[Dogman]

 
Justin Coleman definitely gave up some yards. But, even there, pretty decent for a guy just off the street.

 
Just a jump off point.
 
I love that we are at the point where we are basically calling guys out for giving up sacks to top 10 defensive players and guys that give up "some yards". 
 
We won't be happy until opposing QB's are held to zero yards and 9 picks a game. 

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Game balls to:
 
Brady
Lewis
Ghost for breaking the Pats record
Hightower
Every player that took a defensive snap
Goodell/Wells

 

[j44thor]

Lewis adds another dimension to the offense. Missed him against the vaunted Jets defense.

Crazy to think they not only replaced Vereen but improved his role and saved about 4M in cap space.

 

[WayBackVazquez]

The team.
The team.
The team.

 

[Dogman]

Brady escaped quite a few sacks, OL was below average tonight and Vollmer is the veteran of the OL.  He wasn't terrible but he was on the bottom rung when it comes to everyone else on the 45 tonight.

 
 
Psst:  Suh, Vernon and Wake are one of the best D lines in the game.  Brady was sacked twice and did not turn the ball over while going 28-36 for 356 and 4.  I think the OL was just fine tonight.

 

[nothumb]

yeah not much to criticize in this one. i'm just happy that dion lewis has done enough to have 2 pretty great nicknames. he made some cartoonish cuts tonight.
 
seemed like a quiet-ish game for collins tonight... was in on some blitzes but did not seem to get there much. curious what others saw.

 

[j44thor]

 
Just a jump off point.
 
I love that we are at the point where we are basically calling guys out for giving up sacks to top 10 defensive players and guys that give up "some yards". 
 
We won't be happy until opposing QB's are held to zero yards and 9 picks a game. 

 
When did Olivier Vernon become a top 10 defensive player?  Perhaps on his own team but I don't think he cracks the top 100 in the NFL.

 

[amarshal2]

O-line did their job reasonably well against a tough matchup but didn't win the matchup. Every other position grouping gets game balls.

 

[brandonchristensen]

Wish that we had a game every 4 days. Spoiled...

 

[Leather]

The Pats played a sloppy quarter on offense (mid 1st to mid 2nd) and one sloppy series on D. I mean, it doesn't get much better.

 

[MuppetAsteriskTalk]

Not sure if it's just me but it seems like Logan Ryan is playing pretty damn good lately.

 

[nothumb]

How about that "gashed" run defense? 55 yds or so in the last two weeks.

 
i was thinking during this game when simms mentioned the pats' issues against the run that some of the aggregate defensive metrics are so useless against them. their defensive game plan changes so much from week to week, and they always succeed at completely negating one or two top options for the other side. the "advanced" football metrics that try to weight their performance by opponent have to especially fucked up by this, since they tend to let opponents do relatively well at things the advanced stats say they suck at.

 

[j44thor]

Game ball to Pouncey for the worst snap of the year.

 

[Dogman]

 
When did Olivier Vernon become a top 10 defensive player?  Perhaps on his own team but I don't think he cracks the top 100 in the NFL.

 
 
You don't think he is a top 100 defensive player?  Ok. 
 
Top 10 is probably hyperbole but he is top 25-30 for me.

 

[mwonow]

To quote Zolak, "Nice job, coach"

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Anyone have a gif of that ridiculous cut Lewis made going up the sideline that spun the DB in the 1st quarter?

Edit: I'm guessing this is the same play I'm talking about

All the game balls to Dion for what may legitimately have been an all-time great juke.

 

[amarshal2]

 
 
You don't think he is a top 100 defensive player?  Ok. 
 
Top 10 is probably hyperbole but he is top 25-30 for me.

Come on.

Top 100 no doubt but after that? There are 5 better players on the Seahawks, 2 on the Dolphins, probably 3-4 on the Patriots, 3-4 on the Jets, 2-3 on the Bills, a handful on Stl., 4 on the Broncos, 3 on the Chiefs, etc. etc.

I'm already at 30 and I've covered 8 teams.

 

[j44thor]

 
 
You don't think he is a top 100 defensive player?  Ok. 
 
Top 10 is probably hyperbole but he is top 25-30 for me.

Vernon top 25-30?  He isn't a top 25-30 DL, never mind including all defensive players.  There are at least 30 DB's more valuable than OV.  And another 30 DE more valuable than OV.  We haven't even discussed LB yet so safe to say he is outside the top 100 most important defensive players.

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

Game balls to:

TB12 (borrrrrrrrring!)
L'il Dirty (breaking ankles)
The original #55 (red jacket love)
Gost (ho-hum, just another team record)
In-game Gronk (he blocks, he catches, he runs!)
Post-game Gronk (charming, humble, and not the unserious goof he's made out to be. Not just that anyway. Good, smart player.)
LaFell (for The Block and for snatching some balls out of the air. Rust. Knocked. Off.)
Jules (for wanting it - also, glad to see the finger issues maybe receding)

 

[slamminsammya]

I think Brady played well. He is good!

 

[Dogman]

Vernon top 25-30?  He isn't a top 25-30 DL, never mind including all defensive players.  There are at least 30 DB's more valuable than OV.  And another 30 DE more valuable than OV.  We haven't even discussed LB yet so safe to say he is outside the top 100 most important defensive players.

 
 
Fine.  It doesn't change the original point. You said we have Vollmer and the OL was below average and that is just wrong.
 
I was talking about DL and I worded it very poorly.  Whatever.

 

[JohnnyK]

Anyone have a gif of that ridiculous cut Lewis made going up the sideline that spun the DB in the 1st quarter?
 

https://twitter.com/nfl/status/659895714755940353

 

[soxhop411]

Tre Jackson update? Was he spotted in the locker room?

 

[Ale Xander]

 
 
Fine.  It doesn't change the original point. You said we have Vollmer and the OL was below average and that is just wrong.
 
I was talking about DL and I worded it very poorly.  Whatever.

Fleming was putrid and sea bass was significantly below average for a starting lt.(yes he is usually on the right side)

 

[Beomoose]

Give some love to Chandler Jones bulldozing the Miami O-line a few times

 

[Stitch01]

Brady makes the OL look better than it is, someone inexperienced like Jimmy G would likely get destroyed by this line. Sort of unavoidable after going down like five linemen though

 

[Dogman]

Brady makes the OL look better than it is, someone inexperienced like Jimmy G would likely get destroyed by this line. Sort of unavoidable after going down like five linemen though

 
 
Absolutely.  Some of that is because he is the GOAT.  Some of it is because of the play calling.  
 
But, he is a pocket passer that still requires time to throw.  An OL that gives up 2 sacks to that DL played a very good game. 
 
Descriptors like putrid, below average and significantly below average are just not accurate. 

 

[jodyreeddudley78]

seemed like a quiet-ish game for collins tonight... was in on some blitzes but did not seem to get there much. curious what others saw.

He seemed to be on Miller all night. He had 34 yards on 14 touches. That may be an oversimplification, but its the second week in a row that the defense has squashed a fairly strong RB, and I'm pretty sure Collins has been a big part of that.

 

[LogansDad]

This team is just.... we are lucky.
 
The team gets my Game Ball.  They just decimated a football team that is a GOOD team.  the Dolphins aren't GREAT, but they aren't less than good, either.  And every member of the Patriots stepped up tonight and absolutely took control of the AFC East.
 
Vollmer got worked once, and Fleming commited a couple penalties, but that's as close as i can come to not giving a Game Ball to someone on this team.
 
I'm ready to start talking about the season that will not be named, but I'm not sure everyone else is, yet.

 

[Stitch01]

 
 
Absolutely.  Some of that is because he is the GOAT.  Some of it is because of the play calling.  
 
But, he is a pocket passer that still requires time to throw.  An OL that gives up 2 sacks to that DL played a very good game. 
 
Descriptors like putrid, below average and significantly below average are just not accurate. 

They were ok. I thought they were competitive. I don't think they played a very good game. Brady got hit six other times and got hurried a fair bit. They were ok running it. Committed several false starts and a clip. Coaching staff schemed around them and Brady did a nice job buying time.

I think its a below average OL, but they're doing enough with a MASH unit to not really slow down the offense and that's not an easy feat down two tackles a center and (by the second half) two guards.