The Game Goat Thread: Wk 15 at Miami

[Super Nomario]

 
What was Talib primarily used for yesterday?  He rarely saw Wallace or Hartline and on at least a couple occasions it appeared that he was lining up as more of a safety.  Was he matching up with Charles Clay all game?  Thought it was rather odd that he played the whole game but didn't see either of MIA top WR who both had little trouble making plays.

I think it was mostly Clay, though he got some work against other guys. Almost never Wallace, who's not a great matchup for him - Talib doesn't have great footspeed (as we saw last week). The first time they matched up with Miami, it was Arrington / Cole on Wallace, but Talib didn't play.
 
Some Tweets:
James Walker ‏@JamesWalkerNFL21h
The fact New England is putting CB Aqib Talib over #Dolphins TE Charles Clay on passing downs says a lot for how Belichick views Clay.
 
PatriotsLife ‏@PatriotsLife21h
Aqib Talib mostly covering dangerous Miami tight end Charles Clay, as he did Jimmy Graham vs NO. Clay no catches on first drive
 
Tom E. Curran ‏@tomecurran21h
Aqib Talib not dedicated to one particular wideout in the early going. #PatriotsTalk

 

[NickEsasky]

Not enough hate for Steve Gregory in this thread. The guy is worthless. Worst angles on tackles I have ever seen for a safety. Also, if Bill doesn't blow the Tavon Wilson pick, we don't have to watch him out there whiffing on tackles all day. 

 

[smastroyin]

I don't care, talk about what you want.  I don't really moderate in here, so take what I say with a grain of salt.  All I know is the Celtics forum got so boring and lame when all people talked about was the refs, and even though it started in a similar way (confined to game threads) it then started leaking into almost every topic of conversation and then we had to put a stop to it in order to have any actual basketball talk happening.

 

[PaulinMyrBch]

Not sure how much Gregory's hand is playing a factor in his "style" of tackling.  Seems to be going for hits rather than tackles that require use of the hand.  The whiff on the 4th and 6 was brutal.  The poor positioning on the first TD was horrible, and its not like he was running free, the CB put hands on him and Gregory still couldn't get there.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Whoever took James Develin out of the offense.
 
He worked kinda well the prior week as a change of pace

 

[Toe Nash]

Not enough hate for Steve Gregory in this thread. The guy is worthless. Worst angles on tackles I have ever seen for a safety. Also, if Bill doesn't blow the Tavon Wilson pick, we don't have to watch him out there whiffing on tackles all day. 

Wow, you managed to cram incredible hyperbole AND a shot at Belichick's drafting in less than 50 words, nice job.
 
I don't like Gregory but he was a lot better and kind of encouraging early this year before he missed a couple games. They never play their safeties close (though McCourty is maybe their best tackler so I'd like to see him up more) so usually his tackling isn't exposed. I don't think Gregory was a big reason they lost.

 

[dbn]

It appeared to me that they were blitzing more than usual yesterday, with DBs in particular. I get that if you are blitzing often, you want to mix up who you are sending, but I can't understand the blitz on the Wallace TD just before half. With Arrington out temporarily, they sent their best cover corner, Talib, on the blitz while leaving Cole man-to-man on Wallace. I get that Talib wasn't matched up on Wallace, but it just seems weird to me that if you are going to send a CB on the blitz that you'd send you best cover corner.
 
Back in the Ben Volin chat, I asked about rising stars on the coaching staff and he mentioned Matt Patricia.  Just before MIA's first TD drive the camera focused on Patricia and I remembered that chat, and I thought about what a good job he was doing.  Maybe I should be the 'goat' for jinxing the defense.  
 
Edit: as PsRG points out below, I misremembered. If anyone correctly remembers Talib blitzing on a play, please let me know.  

 

[PedrosRedGlove]

They did actually rush six on that play, blitzing with Fletcher and Collins, but Talib was in the slot on the opposite side of Wallace. The goat on that particular play looks like Gregory, its hard to fault a guy when Wallace pulls a move like that but it still looks like Gregory should have been able to make a play.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/Mike-Wallace-39-yard-TD-reception/2ce1ce79-49f8-48f9-b8db-c3811933f946

 

[NickEsasky]

Wow, you managed to cram incredible hyperbole AND a shot at Belichick's drafting in less than 50 words, nice job.
 
I don't like Gregory but he was a lot better and kind of encouraging early this year before he missed a couple games. They never play their safeties close (though McCourty is maybe their best tackler so I'd like to see him up more) so usually his tackling isn't exposed. I don't think Gregory was a big reason they lost.

Well it is a goat thread. Isn't it supposed to be somewhat about hyperbole? Gregory completely whiffed on a tackle that lead to a touchdown. I'll have to watch a replay but I am quite sure I also saw # 28 flying right by the ball carrier on the converted 4th and 5 too. 

 

[PaulinMyrBch]

Well it is a goat thread. Isn't it supposed to be somewhat about hyperbole? Gregory completely whiffed on a tackle that lead to a touchdown. I'll have to watch a replay but I am quite sure I also saw # 28 flying right by the ball carrier on the converted 4th and 5 too. 

You don't have to watch the replay. The blue flash whiff 2 yards short of the marker was 28.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Whoever took James Develin out of the offense.
 
He worked kinda well the prior week as a change of pace

 
Not that Develin specifically was phased out of the game (not like he had a dozen touches the last game) but the pass to run ratio was a shocking 55:21. 
 
Out of those 21 runs, the group averaged a decent 4.4 per rush - that's minus their best 2 run blockers in (partly) Solder and Vollmer.
 
Even if you account for the last 2 drives, that's taking supposedly your healthiest offensive talent out of the game. As noted upthread, McD seems to be avoiding running inside the 10 like the plague and don't know why. 

 

[Super Nomario]

Even if you account for the last 2 drives, that's taking supposedly your healthiest offensive talent out of the game. As noted upthread, McD seems to be avoiding running inside the 10 like the plague and don't know why. 

They were 19 runs, 26 passes through 3 quarters, a pretty average ratio.
 
Reiss made the point on film review that the Dolphins were showing a stacked box on the goal line, and Brady audibled out of it only for the Dolphins to drop a couple guys:

 
4. It's easy to second guess the pass-pass-pass sequence in the red zone that ultimately led to the Patriots settling for a field goal on the first drive, but it didn’t seem like egregious play-calling from this perspective. One could perhaps quibble with throwing on second-and-goal from the 4, but when the Dolphins brought two safeties down in the box, creating a 6-on-8 situation, the correct pre-snap read is to throw. That meant one-on-one matchups for the outside receivers, and you’d like to think you could win those. But what happened was that the Dolphins backed both safeties out at the last moment, winning the chess match as Brady purposely sailed a pass over the head of Danny Amendola in the back right-hand corner of the end zone. In retrospect, an inside handoff to Shane Vereen might have scored a touchdown, but based on pre-snap information, there was no reason to think that would have produced such a result. 

 

[Byrdbrain]

It appeared to me that they were blitzing more than usual yesterday, with DBs in particular. I get that if you are blitzing often, you want to mix up who you are sending, but I can't understand the blitz on the Wallace TD just before half. With Arrington out temporarily, they sent their best cover corner, Talib, on the blitz while leaving Cole man-to-man on Wallace. I get that Talib wasn't matched up on Wallace, but it just seems weird to me that if you are going to send a CB on the blitz that you'd send you best cover corner.
 
Back in the Ben Volin chat, I asked about rising stars on the coaching staff and he mentioned Matt Patricia.  Just before MIA's first TD drive the camera focused on Patricia and I remembered that chat, and I thought about what a good job he was doing.  Maybe I should be the 'goat' for jinxing the defense.  
 
Edit: as PsRG points out below, I misremembered. If anyone correctly remembers Talib blitzing on a play, please let me know.  

There was one play I recall Talib sort of blitzing but I think it was a case of him being in man to man on the Tight End who ended up staying in to block.

 

[Super Nomario]

McD seems to be avoiding running inside the 10 like the plague and don't know why. 

I looked it up:
Pats in the red zone: 82 passes, 82 rushes (50%). League average: 54% passing
Within the 10: 41 passes, 38 rushes (52%). League average: 51%
Within the 5: 22 passes, 22 rushes (50%). League average: 47%
Within the 2: 9 passes, 16 rushes (36%). League average: 39%
 
So the Patriots' run / pass ratio is almost exactly league average in all red zone yardage situations.

 

[dbn]

There was one play I recall Talib sort of blitzing but I think it was a case of him being in man to man on the Tight End who ended up staying in to block.

 
Thanks.  I think I must have mistaken Collins' "91" for Talib's "31" when watching it live, because now that I watch the replay linked-to above, Collins is hanging out around the LOS nowhere near the QB as I mis-remembered Talib doing.  I feel better now that Patricia isn't blitzing Talib.  
 
To add some (possibly less inaccurate) content: were they blitzing a lot more Sunday than usual?  It sure seemed to me that they were, but I don't track such things.  

 

[Super Nomario]

 
Thanks.  I think I must have mistaken Collins' "91" for Talib's "31" when watching it live, because now that I watch the replay linked-to above, Collins is hanging out around the LOS nowhere near the QB as I mis-remembered Talib doing.  I feel better now that Patricia isn't blitzing Talib.  
 
To add some (possibly less inaccurate) content: were they blitzing a lot more Sunday than usual?  It sure seemed to me that they were, but I don't track such things.  

I thought so, too, but PFF has them blitzing just 11 times on 41 dropbacks (2 sacks, but Tannehill was 6 of 9 for 97 yards and a TD). I think the blitzes were a little more exotic; they sent the CB a few times, something they've done against Miami in recent years.

 

[Bellhorn]

I looked it up:
Pats in the red zone: 82 passes, 82 rushes (50%). League average: 54% passing
Within the 10: 41 passes, 38 rushes (52%). League average: 51%
Within the 5: 22 passes, 22 rushes (50%). League average: 47%
Within the 2: 9 passes, 16 rushes (36%). League average: 39%
 
So the Patriots' run / pass ratio is almost exactly league average in all red zone yardage situations.

That's interesting, but IIRC didn't Brian Burke find that there's a general tendency for teams to pass too often near the goal line? I'll look for the article when we get to halftime.

 

[natejohnson]

That's interesting, but IIRC didn't Brian Burke find that there's a general tendency for teams to pass too often near the goal line? I'll look for the article when we get to halftime.

 
Is this the article?
 
http://www.advancednflstats.com/2010/01/run-pass-imbalance-in-red-zone-1st.html

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

[Note: broke out all the draft related posts to a new thread]