Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
"Vintage" Brady, Patriots defense stun New Orleans 30-27
Tom Brady has lost it.
The Patriots' offense stinks without Rob Gronkowski, the rookie receivers can't hold onto the ball and coach Bill Belichick needs to trade for a veteran pass catcher or two to give Brady some reliable targets...
...and while all of these things may be true, these are still the New England Patriots, and on this night with a 70 yard field to maneuver and with just 1:13 left on the clock, Brady showed the world that he's not quite washed up.
On this night, a pleasant autumn evening in New England, Brady proved that the Patriots offense doesn't stink without Gronkowski quite as badly as many thought - on this Sunday night before a national television audience and under intense scrutiny from a media and fan base that are not accustomed to seeing their team - their 4-1 team - struggle on offense, Brady and his rookie receivers delivered a vintage dagger.
Without Rob Gronkowski.
Brady connected with rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins on a 17 yard touchdown pass with just five seconds left on the clock as his much-maligned Patriots stunned the New Orleans Saints and - indeed - the entire football world 30-27 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, running their record to a sterling 5-1 while dropping the Saints to an identical record.
Behind a heroic defensive effort, aided in part by brutal clock mismanagement on the part of the Saints, the Patriots got the ball at their own 30 yard line with just over a minute to play, Brady first hitting a banged up Julian Edelman for a 23 yard gain and then 15 yards to newcomer Austin Collie and then a short gainer to rookie Aaron Dobson...
...but two short-hoppers toward Edelman left the Patriots with a 4th and four from the Saints' 26 yard line - and that's when the clutch Brady reached back and delivered a bullet to Collie for nine yards and a first down. Brady was able to spike the ball at the 17 to stop the clock, then stabbed the Saints right in the heart with the Dagger to Thompkins over a stunned Jabari Greer for the game winner.
But none of it would have been possible without a defensive effort that held the prolific Saints' passing attack to their lowest output of the season - by a wide margin.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was confounded by the Patriots' coverage scheme all game, never able to find super-human tight end Jimmy Graham and top receiver Marques Colston just once for eleven yards - forcing the record setting passer to go to his third and fourth options and keeping the explosive Darren Sproles in check.
Brees was a less than efficient 17of 36 for 236 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which gave the Saints the lead for the first time in the game at the 3:36 mark of the fourth quarter. So stingy was the New England pass defense that New Orleans was forced to turn to their lightly used running game on the drive, gouging the Patriots interior defense for huge chunks of yardage before hitting a tightly covered Kenny Stills for a one point lead.
Brady, who finished the game 25 of 42 for 269 yards, became the victim of three consecutive drops of perfectly thrown balls on the ensuing possession, the last one on 4th and four from his own 24 yard line with under three minutes to play that had some of the capacity crowd headed for the exits.
But the defense held and combined with deft usage of their timeouts, New Orleans settled for a Garrett Hartley field goal and Brady got the ball back with 2:24 remaining in regulation - and promptly threw a deep interception to Saints' corner Keenan Lewis, that started a steady stream of disappointment out of Gillette - But again, the Patriots' defense held, forcing a New Orleans punt...
...and the rest, as they say, is history - and now part of Patriots' lore.
There were many heroes for New England - many, many stories to be told, many injuries to monitor and many wrinkles to iron out - not perfect by any means, but a washed up Brady and his rookie receivers Aaron "Dropson" and Kenbrell "Dropkins" along with running back Stevan Ridley and a legitimate championship defense managed to provide the Patriots with their signature win of the 2013 season.
And the scary thing for the Patriots future opponents is that they're only going to get better.
The Patriots' offense stinks without Rob Gronkowski, the rookie receivers can't hold onto the ball and coach Bill Belichick needs to trade for a veteran pass catcher or two to give Brady some reliable targets...
...and while all of these things may be true, these are still the New England Patriots, and on this night with a 70 yard field to maneuver and with just 1:13 left on the clock, Brady showed the world that he's not quite washed up.
On this night, a pleasant autumn evening in New England, Brady proved that the Patriots offense doesn't stink without Gronkowski quite as badly as many thought - on this Sunday night before a national television audience and under intense scrutiny from a media and fan base that are not accustomed to seeing their team - their 4-1 team - struggle on offense, Brady and his rookie receivers delivered a vintage dagger.
Without Rob Gronkowski.
Brady connected with rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins on a 17 yard touchdown pass with just five seconds left on the clock as his much-maligned Patriots stunned the New Orleans Saints and - indeed - the entire football world 30-27 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, running their record to a sterling 5-1 while dropping the Saints to an identical record.
Behind a heroic defensive effort, aided in part by brutal clock mismanagement on the part of the Saints, the Patriots got the ball at their own 30 yard line with just over a minute to play, Brady first hitting a banged up Julian Edelman for a 23 yard gain and then 15 yards to newcomer Austin Collie and then a short gainer to rookie Aaron Dobson...
...but two short-hoppers toward Edelman left the Patriots with a 4th and four from the Saints' 26 yard line - and that's when the clutch Brady reached back and delivered a bullet to Collie for nine yards and a first down. Brady was able to spike the ball at the 17 to stop the clock, then stabbed the Saints right in the heart with the Dagger to Thompkins over a stunned Jabari Greer for the game winner.
But none of it would have been possible without a defensive effort that held the prolific Saints' passing attack to their lowest output of the season - by a wide margin.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was confounded by the Patriots' coverage scheme all game, never able to find super-human tight end Jimmy Graham and top receiver Marques Colston just once for eleven yards - forcing the record setting passer to go to his third and fourth options and keeping the explosive Darren Sproles in check.
Brees was a less than efficient 17of 36 for 236 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which gave the Saints the lead for the first time in the game at the 3:36 mark of the fourth quarter. So stingy was the New England pass defense that New Orleans was forced to turn to their lightly used running game on the drive, gouging the Patriots interior defense for huge chunks of yardage before hitting a tightly covered Kenny Stills for a one point lead.
Brady, who finished the game 25 of 42 for 269 yards, became the victim of three consecutive drops of perfectly thrown balls on the ensuing possession, the last one on 4th and four from his own 24 yard line with under three minutes to play that had some of the capacity crowd headed for the exits.
But the defense held and combined with deft usage of their timeouts, New Orleans settled for a Garrett Hartley field goal and Brady got the ball back with 2:24 remaining in regulation - and promptly threw a deep interception to Saints' corner Keenan Lewis, that started a steady stream of disappointment out of Gillette - But again, the Patriots' defense held, forcing a New Orleans punt...
...and the rest, as they say, is history - and now part of Patriots' lore.
There were many heroes for New England - many, many stories to be told, many injuries to monitor and many wrinkles to iron out - not perfect by any means, but a washed up Brady and his rookie receivers Aaron "Dropson" and Kenbrell "Dropkins" along with running back Stevan Ridley and a legitimate championship defense managed to provide the Patriots with their signature win of the 2013 season.
And the scary thing for the Patriots future opponents is that they're only going to get better.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
New England Patriots on Paper: Just run the ball, please?
If there is one prescription for what ails the New England Patriots offense, it is running the football.
The Patriots offense has been very streaky, scoring what few points they have in small windows and, with the exception of the quick strike catch and run by Aaron Dobson against the Jets, there has been a significant element of the running game present in every score, which is something that the team has been able to do without the aid of the now mythical Rob Gronkowski opening holes...
...though Gronkowski's presence certainly would be a factor - not just in the running game, but also through the air and in the red zone, where he always draws a big crowd of defenders, opening teammates up elsewhere.
But, is Gronkowski playing or not? At this point it really doesn't matter because all of New England has become disenchanted with the "He said / She said" crap, all of the mud-slinging and finger pointing...
...so let's just approach this Sunday's nationally televised matchup with the undefeated New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium as if the All World tight end will not be in uniform, and just for the sake of everyone's mental health, let's assume that he'll just be back when we least expect him - and besides, this team can win without him.
That's right, it's just like quarterback Tom Brady said in his Monday press conference, “If he’s there, he’s there. If he’s not, he’s not. We’re going to try to go win anyway.”
So, the question looms, just how do the Patriots beat the Saints with all of their amazing and super-human athletes on offense? The answer is to keep those amazing and super-human athletes on the sideline.
Without a running game, the Patriots offensive linemen are like targets at a midway shooting gallery, all of the receivers are blanketed and, as a result, quarterback Tom Brady is a sitting duck and being hit on just about every drop back - and all you have to do is look at the vicious beating Brady took in the two games that the Patriots have logged under 100 yards rushing for proof of that...
...both ugly affairs that caused much chirping by both the media and the fan base about how bad Brady looks and about how the team needs a veteran receiver and about how porous the offensive line is in pass protection, when in reality it was poor play calling that negated where the Patriots are strong and played right into the strength of the opposing defenses.
Can it really be that simple?
Football in it's purest form begs for the running game. Establishing the run sets up every other thing that you want to do on offense, builds momentum for your offensive line and runs down and demoralizes the opposing defense - and the exact opposite occurs if you can't - or don't - establish the run, and then ram it down their throats...
...but the Patriots have the perfect opportunity not just to establish their running game this Sunday against the team that many consider the best team in the NFL in the New Orleans Saints, but to dictate the pace of the game with it as well - and it's mystifying that the Saints' opponents thus far haven't really tried to maintain the pace and the momentum once they've established it.
Early in the year it was the Falcons who gouged the Saints' from the right side, collecting 80 yards in just seven carries. The following week it was Tampa going for 129 off the right, then the Cardinals and Dolphins took turns violating the Saints from the left, each team ripping off over seven yards a pop off that side.
Last week the Bears managed seven yards a carry to the right, but no matter which side is working best, the one constant has been big yards right up the gut - still, each team lost by failing to capitalize on momentum built early in the contest
In light of last week's bungled play calling, Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels discussed his desire to see the offense as a closer to balanced entity, rather than the 70/30 mix that doomed them to the loss at Cincinnati, a game they could have easily won had they stayed with the running game:
"Our intention is never to really get out of whack in terms of run/pass ratio on any of those things," he said in response to being grilled by the beat writers on Monday, "and certainly that’s something that I will always try to maintain a good balance on."
Prove it, Josh.
Give your line and your quarterback a break from the opposing pass rush not respecting the running game, pinning their ears back and going full throttle after Brady. Give your receivers the benefit on not getting mugged in coverage by defensive backs that know what's coming. Give Matt Patricia's defense a break by winning the time of possession battle rather than settling for 3, 4 or 5 and outs.
And for God's sake, move the chains. Stop wasting plays by throwing the ball down the field without having the run established - it leaves the team with one less play to pick up that first down.
This has been the issue for this season. It's bad enough to take all of the injuries, but when the play calling feeds right into the strength of the opposing defense, it's like rubbing salt into the wound.
Against Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Buffalo, the balance was there and so were the wins. Conversely, against the Jets and last week against the Bengals, the numbers were decidedly in favor of the passing game - which is odd when you consider that both of those contests were tight, defensive affairs where running the ball is essential for keeping the defense off the field and relatively fresh.
This week against New Orleans will not be a defensive struggle, unless the Patriots' defense can turn this game into one - and the offense can donate to that cause by rushing for obscene numbers, run the clock and limit how many possessions the Saints get - and convert on third down and in the red zone.
True to fundamental football, the Saints rotate players on defense to provide different looks, keep them fresh and to get all of their best athletes on the field proportionate to the moment.
Against the pass, New Orleans fields a young hungry pass rush up front mixed with veteran guile in the secondary, and with new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan calling the shots, the group can get after the quarterback - but are surprisingly soft against the run, giving up a bottom-feeding 5.4 yards per carry.
In the 3-4, the Saints' given base defense, Ryan brings it with mammoth rookie nose tackle John Jenkins, flanked by defensive ends Akiem Hicks and Cameron Jordan - backing them up on the second level with the likes of Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne at inside linebacker and with Parys Harralson and Junior Galette on the wings.
Nicknamed "Dancing Bear" for his huge frame and light feet, Jenkins is a monstrously big space eater that is closer to 400 pounds than 300, and is athletic as well - his girth alone an imposing task for the Patriots' offensive line to move, but when switching up to a four man line, Jenkins comes out in favor of veteran Broderick Bunkley, with Hicks moving to join him at tackle...
...turning loose Jordan from one edge and bringing Galette up from his outside backer spot to speed rush the quarterback. Galette is a tough assignment for Sebastian Vollmer given his elite speed from the edge and Jordan is a load for Solder on the other side. Ryan will also load up one side on occasion and blitz with their defensive backs - but this is a risk that has burned them a couple of times if the offensive line is able to pick it up.
New England has always been good on offense at taking advantage of the weak side during a blitz, but would rather avoid the scenario all together without a reliable safety valve for Brady to dump off to - and, of course, nothing counters the blitz like a strong running game, particularly with the Patriots being able to maximize their personnel at the line and audible into a running play.
The four man line of the Saints is a sub package that they are in quite a bit, and has been effective at disrupting the passing game, but are also susceptible to the run - so a little imagination and thinking outside the box by McDaniels wouldn't hurt, perhaps even a pass or two on early downs to make the Patriots' less predictable and to keep Ryan guessing...
...because where the most yards are going to come in the running game is against the speedy sub packages that have been effective against the pass, mostly due to the pass rush of Jordan and Galette, who have four and three sacks, respectively.
Keenan Lewis was a key offseason free agent pick up from Pittsburgh who instantly became the Saints' best cover corner, with excellent size and good speed. He will get the Patriots top receiving threat while leaving greybeard Jabari Greer to handle the opposite side.
Where the Patriots are going to be able to take advantage is throwing underneath, as always, but the Chicago Bears were able to expose safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Kenny Vaccaro over the top with play action - so everything that the Patriots do on offense comes back to running the ball.
Running the ball means dictating terms to the Saints' defense, it means being able to be the aggressors and to force Ryan into his base package to stop the run, drawing the safeties up into the box and opening up the intermediate routes that are the bread and butter of the Patriots' passing attack...
...and then when he adjusts to stop the pass with some sort of sub package or even overload one side on the blitz, the Patriots have the personnel at running back to burn them on the weak side on the ground or deep down the field.
It all starts with running the ball. It's football at it's most fundamental - anything less gets you Cincinnati last week and the Jets in week two, and nobody wants to see that again.
The Patriots offense has been very streaky, scoring what few points they have in small windows and, with the exception of the quick strike catch and run by Aaron Dobson against the Jets, there has been a significant element of the running game present in every score, which is something that the team has been able to do without the aid of the now mythical Rob Gronkowski opening holes...
...though Gronkowski's presence certainly would be a factor - not just in the running game, but also through the air and in the red zone, where he always draws a big crowd of defenders, opening teammates up elsewhere.
But, is Gronkowski playing or not? At this point it really doesn't matter because all of New England has become disenchanted with the "He said / She said" crap, all of the mud-slinging and finger pointing...
...so let's just approach this Sunday's nationally televised matchup with the undefeated New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium as if the All World tight end will not be in uniform, and just for the sake of everyone's mental health, let's assume that he'll just be back when we least expect him - and besides, this team can win without him.
That's right, it's just like quarterback Tom Brady said in his Monday press conference, “If he’s there, he’s there. If he’s not, he’s not. We’re going to try to go win anyway.”
So, the question looms, just how do the Patriots beat the Saints with all of their amazing and super-human athletes on offense? The answer is to keep those amazing and super-human athletes on the sideline.
Without a running game, the Patriots offensive linemen are like targets at a midway shooting gallery, all of the receivers are blanketed and, as a result, quarterback Tom Brady is a sitting duck and being hit on just about every drop back - and all you have to do is look at the vicious beating Brady took in the two games that the Patriots have logged under 100 yards rushing for proof of that...
...both ugly affairs that caused much chirping by both the media and the fan base about how bad Brady looks and about how the team needs a veteran receiver and about how porous the offensive line is in pass protection, when in reality it was poor play calling that negated where the Patriots are strong and played right into the strength of the opposing defenses.
Can it really be that simple?
Football in it's purest form begs for the running game. Establishing the run sets up every other thing that you want to do on offense, builds momentum for your offensive line and runs down and demoralizes the opposing defense - and the exact opposite occurs if you can't - or don't - establish the run, and then ram it down their throats...
...but the Patriots have the perfect opportunity not just to establish their running game this Sunday against the team that many consider the best team in the NFL in the New Orleans Saints, but to dictate the pace of the game with it as well - and it's mystifying that the Saints' opponents thus far haven't really tried to maintain the pace and the momentum once they've established it.
Early in the year it was the Falcons who gouged the Saints' from the right side, collecting 80 yards in just seven carries. The following week it was Tampa going for 129 off the right, then the Cardinals and Dolphins took turns violating the Saints from the left, each team ripping off over seven yards a pop off that side.
Last week the Bears managed seven yards a carry to the right, but no matter which side is working best, the one constant has been big yards right up the gut - still, each team lost by failing to capitalize on momentum built early in the contest
In light of last week's bungled play calling, Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels discussed his desire to see the offense as a closer to balanced entity, rather than the 70/30 mix that doomed them to the loss at Cincinnati, a game they could have easily won had they stayed with the running game:
"Our intention is never to really get out of whack in terms of run/pass ratio on any of those things," he said in response to being grilled by the beat writers on Monday, "and certainly that’s something that I will always try to maintain a good balance on."
Prove it, Josh.
Give your line and your quarterback a break from the opposing pass rush not respecting the running game, pinning their ears back and going full throttle after Brady. Give your receivers the benefit on not getting mugged in coverage by defensive backs that know what's coming. Give Matt Patricia's defense a break by winning the time of possession battle rather than settling for 3, 4 or 5 and outs.
And for God's sake, move the chains. Stop wasting plays by throwing the ball down the field without having the run established - it leaves the team with one less play to pick up that first down.
This has been the issue for this season. It's bad enough to take all of the injuries, but when the play calling feeds right into the strength of the opposing defense, it's like rubbing salt into the wound.
Against Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Buffalo, the balance was there and so were the wins. Conversely, against the Jets and last week against the Bengals, the numbers were decidedly in favor of the passing game - which is odd when you consider that both of those contests were tight, defensive affairs where running the ball is essential for keeping the defense off the field and relatively fresh.
This week against New Orleans will not be a defensive struggle, unless the Patriots' defense can turn this game into one - and the offense can donate to that cause by rushing for obscene numbers, run the clock and limit how many possessions the Saints get - and convert on third down and in the red zone.
True to fundamental football, the Saints rotate players on defense to provide different looks, keep them fresh and to get all of their best athletes on the field proportionate to the moment.
Against the pass, New Orleans fields a young hungry pass rush up front mixed with veteran guile in the secondary, and with new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan calling the shots, the group can get after the quarterback - but are surprisingly soft against the run, giving up a bottom-feeding 5.4 yards per carry.
In the 3-4, the Saints' given base defense, Ryan brings it with mammoth rookie nose tackle John Jenkins, flanked by defensive ends Akiem Hicks and Cameron Jordan - backing them up on the second level with the likes of Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne at inside linebacker and with Parys Harralson and Junior Galette on the wings.
Nicknamed "Dancing Bear" for his huge frame and light feet, Jenkins is a monstrously big space eater that is closer to 400 pounds than 300, and is athletic as well - his girth alone an imposing task for the Patriots' offensive line to move, but when switching up to a four man line, Jenkins comes out in favor of veteran Broderick Bunkley, with Hicks moving to join him at tackle...
...turning loose Jordan from one edge and bringing Galette up from his outside backer spot to speed rush the quarterback. Galette is a tough assignment for Sebastian Vollmer given his elite speed from the edge and Jordan is a load for Solder on the other side. Ryan will also load up one side on occasion and blitz with their defensive backs - but this is a risk that has burned them a couple of times if the offensive line is able to pick it up.
New England has always been good on offense at taking advantage of the weak side during a blitz, but would rather avoid the scenario all together without a reliable safety valve for Brady to dump off to - and, of course, nothing counters the blitz like a strong running game, particularly with the Patriots being able to maximize their personnel at the line and audible into a running play.
The four man line of the Saints is a sub package that they are in quite a bit, and has been effective at disrupting the passing game, but are also susceptible to the run - so a little imagination and thinking outside the box by McDaniels wouldn't hurt, perhaps even a pass or two on early downs to make the Patriots' less predictable and to keep Ryan guessing...
...because where the most yards are going to come in the running game is against the speedy sub packages that have been effective against the pass, mostly due to the pass rush of Jordan and Galette, who have four and three sacks, respectively.
Keenan Lewis was a key offseason free agent pick up from Pittsburgh who instantly became the Saints' best cover corner, with excellent size and good speed. He will get the Patriots top receiving threat while leaving greybeard Jabari Greer to handle the opposite side.
Where the Patriots are going to be able to take advantage is throwing underneath, as always, but the Chicago Bears were able to expose safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Kenny Vaccaro over the top with play action - so everything that the Patriots do on offense comes back to running the ball.
Running the ball means dictating terms to the Saints' defense, it means being able to be the aggressors and to force Ryan into his base package to stop the run, drawing the safeties up into the box and opening up the intermediate routes that are the bread and butter of the Patriots' passing attack...
...and then when he adjusts to stop the pass with some sort of sub package or even overload one side on the blitz, the Patriots have the personnel at running back to burn them on the weak side on the ground or deep down the field.
It all starts with running the ball. It's football at it's most fundamental - anything less gets you Cincinnati last week and the Jets in week two, and nobody wants to see that again.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Opinion: Irresponsible media to blame for Gronkowski mess
Neologism is the term the psychologists use to explain the phenomenon of the increasingly common condition where more knowledge of a subject leaves one more uncertain than before.
This is increasingly true when trying to figure out whether New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski is going to play from week to week. Because as fans, were are subjected to rumors perpetuated by members of the media in an attempt to get the "scoop" on their fellow scribes...
...an irresponsible game of hide and seek with their readers from which they can fall back on their "anonymous sources" and claim that they were duped when the rumor turns out to be nothing more than some writer's unilateral wet dream of getting noticed.
Regardless of the motivation, the information passed on becomes part of an individuals lexicon, and once we see the same information posted by other "reputable" sites, or even by some one whose name sounds a little familiar our susceptibility to the throes of neologism starts the process of hopefulness.
Of course, for the past five weeks, those hopes have been dashed by the truth, and the reporting entities have indeed coward behind their anonymous sources like children whom have told a lie...
So, once again, Rob Gronkowski is going to be playing this Sunday.
At least, that's what various media outlets were reporting on Tuesday, but given the roller coaster ride that the Boston media have been giving Patriots' fans for the past month and a half, many fans are taking the attitude that they'll believe it when they see him in uniform and out on the field.
Against the Saints, in an actual game. With a helmet on.
And then - yes - a retraction. Nothing has been decided, another source said afterwards, lending credence to the thought that local media will do absolutely anything to to sell advertising and newspapers - and now, we are all being told that the decision to play Gronkowski doesn't lie with the football team, rather, his availability is subject to the whim of the doctor that performed the surgeries on his forearm - which leaves Gronkowski's status as ambiguous as it was for the season opener.
As for the team, coach Bill Belichick has stayed true to his "Day to day" mantra, while the players themselves have been avoiding the subject like a big steamer in the middle of the sidewalk - on orders from Belichick, but the one person who was about as much autonomy to speak his mind about subjects such as there tried to put to make the issue out to be much adieu about nothing.
"We've kind of talked about it a lot the last five weeks," Brady said on Wednesday in response to a question from the media. "If he's there, he's there. If he's not, he's not. We're going to try to go win anyway."
An answer that was delivered with a not-so-subtle message between the lines, his tone suggesting impudence and general annoyance with the subject, seemingly insulted by the insinuation that the team needs one player over another, particularly over Brady himself.
Or put another way, this team is 4-1 without Gronkowski. 4-1. Could he have made a difference last week in Cincinnati? Sure. Could he have made a difference in all of the other games? Absolutely. But how about a little love for the team that has scrapped and fought for every inch of field turf, going out to win four of five anyway?
You see, the Boston media has been playing the New England Patriots' fans as fools for the past six weeks - and why not? It's dramatic to see your team struggling on offense and knowing that you have an amazing weapon sitting on the sidelines - the more the team struggles, the more the fan base yearns for their savior...
...and the more the media feeds off of that collective thirst, the more page views their sites get as the fans migrate back toward them in hopes that just one time, they will be right...
But as we know, even a broken clock will still be right twice a day, and that's only because time is always moving forward and will catch up with the broken time piece every 12 hours - the same happens with the irresponsible media - eventually, they will be right. Eventually, they will come out from behind Harvey the Rabbit and beat their chests in triumph, saying they knew it all along.
The fans will be euphoric seeing Gronkowski catching passes and dragging defenders and scoring touchdowns - so they will forget about how they were played by the media for selfish gain, but they shouldn't - they should always remember how they were treated, how their emotions became part of a numbers game for publishers to impress and influence potential advertisers.
Football is football, not the soap opera that the Boston media makes it out to be.
This is increasingly true when trying to figure out whether New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski is going to play from week to week. Because as fans, were are subjected to rumors perpetuated by members of the media in an attempt to get the "scoop" on their fellow scribes...
...an irresponsible game of hide and seek with their readers from which they can fall back on their "anonymous sources" and claim that they were duped when the rumor turns out to be nothing more than some writer's unilateral wet dream of getting noticed.
Regardless of the motivation, the information passed on becomes part of an individuals lexicon, and once we see the same information posted by other "reputable" sites, or even by some one whose name sounds a little familiar our susceptibility to the throes of neologism starts the process of hopefulness.
Of course, for the past five weeks, those hopes have been dashed by the truth, and the reporting entities have indeed coward behind their anonymous sources like children whom have told a lie...
So, once again, Rob Gronkowski is going to be playing this Sunday.
At least, that's what various media outlets were reporting on Tuesday, but given the roller coaster ride that the Boston media have been giving Patriots' fans for the past month and a half, many fans are taking the attitude that they'll believe it when they see him in uniform and out on the field.
Against the Saints, in an actual game. With a helmet on.
And then - yes - a retraction. Nothing has been decided, another source said afterwards, lending credence to the thought that local media will do absolutely anything to to sell advertising and newspapers - and now, we are all being told that the decision to play Gronkowski doesn't lie with the football team, rather, his availability is subject to the whim of the doctor that performed the surgeries on his forearm - which leaves Gronkowski's status as ambiguous as it was for the season opener.
As for the team, coach Bill Belichick has stayed true to his "Day to day" mantra, while the players themselves have been avoiding the subject like a big steamer in the middle of the sidewalk - on orders from Belichick, but the one person who was about as much autonomy to speak his mind about subjects such as there tried to put to make the issue out to be much adieu about nothing.
"We've kind of talked about it a lot the last five weeks," Brady said on Wednesday in response to a question from the media. "If he's there, he's there. If he's not, he's not. We're going to try to go win anyway."
An answer that was delivered with a not-so-subtle message between the lines, his tone suggesting impudence and general annoyance with the subject, seemingly insulted by the insinuation that the team needs one player over another, particularly over Brady himself.
Or put another way, this team is 4-1 without Gronkowski. 4-1. Could he have made a difference last week in Cincinnati? Sure. Could he have made a difference in all of the other games? Absolutely. But how about a little love for the team that has scrapped and fought for every inch of field turf, going out to win four of five anyway?
You see, the Boston media has been playing the New England Patriots' fans as fools for the past six weeks - and why not? It's dramatic to see your team struggling on offense and knowing that you have an amazing weapon sitting on the sidelines - the more the team struggles, the more the fan base yearns for their savior...
...and the more the media feeds off of that collective thirst, the more page views their sites get as the fans migrate back toward them in hopes that just one time, they will be right...
But as we know, even a broken clock will still be right twice a day, and that's only because time is always moving forward and will catch up with the broken time piece every 12 hours - the same happens with the irresponsible media - eventually, they will be right. Eventually, they will come out from behind Harvey the Rabbit and beat their chests in triumph, saying they knew it all along.
The fans will be euphoric seeing Gronkowski catching passes and dragging defenders and scoring touchdowns - so they will forget about how they were played by the media for selfish gain, but they shouldn't - they should always remember how they were treated, how their emotions became part of a numbers game for publishers to impress and influence potential advertisers.
Football is football, not the soap opera that the Boston media makes it out to be.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Week 5 Final Grades: Taking into account putrid play calling
Throughout Bill Belichick's tenure as coach of the New England Patriots, his mantra has always been, "Do your job" - and he has been extraordinary at devising a game plan that puts his properly motivated players in position to be successful...
...he's coaching the entire time that his players are performing and, generally speaking, the way he handles his players works out pretty well - but one has to wonder whether some of the coaching staff should be trusted with the amount of autonomy he seems to give them - and to whether situation dictates what punishment befits a crime.
Belichick is obsessed with situational football - I'm envisioning a Denzel Washington moment in remember the Titans, kids practicing in the dark, the headlights of half a dozen cars illuminating the field, making them run the same play over and over again until they get it right.
Right, do what needs to be done, improvise, adapt and overcome - but if the coaches aren't sticking to the mantra, and if they aren't being held accountable to it, what's the point?
The Patriots were doomed to a poor performance on the offense last Sunday because the coaching staff put them in a situation where they were playing right into the strength of the Bengals' defense, and by the time they figured that out, it was too late.
Passing offense: D
Quarterback Tom Brady and his receivers need to sit in a cafeteria somewhere and and get on the same page, because to be as discombobulated as the Patriots' passing attack was in the fifth game of the season should give them and their fans a bit of a pause.
Granted, the play calling left Brady a sitting duck, but his line did ok enough times for him to get throws off, but he was shell-shocked to the point that the commentators on the CBS feed wouldn't go out of their way to separate Brady from his receivers on a couple of misfires throughout the game, when usually they would be quick to edify the future Hall of Famer beyond reproach.
But the play calling doesn't excuse the bad throws, wrong routes and dropped passes.
There were still plays to be made, and had the Patriots connected on just one of the near misses, this is a different ball game: the perfectly executed tear screen intended for running back Brandon Bolden could have gone for a score had Bolden not taken his eye off the ball to look at all the open real estate he had to run to; Aaron Dobson's catch and run was absolutely gorgeous and had a chance at finding paydirt if Dobson hadn't of fumbled the ball inside the twenty...
...and had Danny Amendola the field vision to reach out and cross the plane of the goal line after his catch at the one yard line on the same drive as Dobson's miscue - Convert on any of those and it's a different ball game.
Enough with all of the chatter about rookie receivers and injuries and no Rob Gronkowski - if they'd just do their job and leave the idle blather to the rumor mongers in the media not hang their heads when things go wrong, this offense could be something special - but right now it just seems like Congress, where the two sides can't come together on anything.
Special Teams: B+
Not much one can find to criticize this area for the Patriots - in fact, the coverage teams enveloped and gobbled up the returners on both kickoff and punt returns, Stephen Gostkowski was dead-center perfect on his two field goal attempts - though it is certain that he would have preferred kicking extra points.
Rookie punter Ryan Allen is turning into a viable weapon in his own right, pinning the Bengals' inside their own 20 numerous times, and as many times as he's had to punt the ball away from the stagnant offense, his efforts to flip field position in New England's favor can not go unnoticed.
Return teams lack imagination, still, yet have not hurt the team by turning the ball over, though punt returner Julian Edelman had heart-stopping moment running up to field a kick that probably should have been left to die.
Rushing offense: B
That's right, a "B" - and if it weren't for LeGarrette Blount's second quarter fumble, it would have possibly been an "A". In fact, were it not for Blount's fumble on Carlos Dunlap's hack job with eight minutes remaining in the first half, the entire outcome of the game could have been different.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda - I know.
The offensive line was getting good push and the backs were averaging 4.6 yards per carry before offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels suddenly stopped the assault and went almost exclusively to the air for the last seven drives of the game.
Maybe in a game where there's more running back depth you can bench someone for putting the ball on the ground, but McDaniels couldn't very well do that in this game, though he certainly made sure he limited his touches - which even three days later still makes no sense. When you are running the ball as well as the Patriots were before Blount's fumble, you keep running the ball until they prove they can stop you.
The offensive line was generating big holes for Blount and Bolden to run through against one of the top defensive lines in the NFL, but the Bengals never had to prove they could stop them - McDaniels took care of that for them.
Pretty sure nothing else needs be said about that.
Rush defense: C
Like they should have, the Bengals attacked the teeth of the Patriots defensive line and gouged out 162 yards on a Patriots defense missing elite run stuffer Vince Wilfork, but it took them 39 carries to do it.
Take note: That's what has a chance of happening if you stick with the running game.
Cincinnati tried running left and right up the middle and found virtually nothing, but when they took to running behind their pro bowl right tackle Andre Smith and guard Kevin Zeitzer, they found the pot at the end of the rainbow, which in football speak means an obscene six yards per carry.
The most success that the Bengals found was off tackle and on the edge, where obscene took on a new meaning, averaging a pornographic 8.2 yards per carry - most of the tackles made by defensive backs, as one might imagine. Obviously the Patriots were having problems setting the edge and as a result were getting blown off the line by the powerful right side of the Bengals' line.
Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo had excellent games in run support, but made a disproportionate amount of tackles compared to the line - which was by design, obviously, but this is an area that needs to be addressed immediately, particularly in light of the maybe-it-is / maybe-it's-not injured knee of defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, because if that's allowed to fester it will have a trickle down effect on the rest of the defense.
Pass defense: B+
Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis must have been feeling pretty froggy coming into this contest, because not only did he attack New England's injury weakened defensive line, but he also went after the Patriots' best corner in the passing game.
Before the contest Aqib Talib was reminded that Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden had held Bengals' receiver A. J. Green to 7 catches for only 51 yards and was dared to do better - and he very nearly did, allowing Green just 4 catches for 59 yards. With the effort, Talib cemented his reputation in the league as a top five corner - and if Alfonzo Dennard keeps it up, he's going to start receiving the same accolades.
Most of Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton's targets were to his dynamic set of tight ends, who abused the Patriots' cover backers until safety help limited them in the second half - but surprisingly, Dalton didn't go after Alfonzo Dennard at all. Not once, as Dennard had impressive blanket coverage on every receiver and on every route.
Unfortunately, the success of the running game negated the pass rush of Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich, though Jones was again a beast against the screen and in setting the edge in the running game while Ninkovich was handled pretty thoroughly by Andre Smith, having a difficult time with the edge against one of the best right tackles in the league.
Coaching: F
The Patriots were not ready to play on offense, plain and simple.
The defense found itself on the field for 10 more minutes than the offense, and you're not going to win many ball games with that level of disparity in time of possession.
It's a dead horse, but it bears repeating - it doesn't matter who is on the field, if the game plan and/or play calling is sub-par, the end result is probably not going to be what the team and the fans desire - and with things starting from the top and rolling downhill, the debacle on the sidelines in Cincinnati must be addressed before game planning for the New Orleans Saints can proceed.
...he's coaching the entire time that his players are performing and, generally speaking, the way he handles his players works out pretty well - but one has to wonder whether some of the coaching staff should be trusted with the amount of autonomy he seems to give them - and to whether situation dictates what punishment befits a crime.
Belichick is obsessed with situational football - I'm envisioning a Denzel Washington moment in remember the Titans, kids practicing in the dark, the headlights of half a dozen cars illuminating the field, making them run the same play over and over again until they get it right.
Right, do what needs to be done, improvise, adapt and overcome - but if the coaches aren't sticking to the mantra, and if they aren't being held accountable to it, what's the point?
The Patriots were doomed to a poor performance on the offense last Sunday because the coaching staff put them in a situation where they were playing right into the strength of the Bengals' defense, and by the time they figured that out, it was too late.
Passing offense: D
Quarterback Tom Brady and his receivers need to sit in a cafeteria somewhere and and get on the same page, because to be as discombobulated as the Patriots' passing attack was in the fifth game of the season should give them and their fans a bit of a pause.
Granted, the play calling left Brady a sitting duck, but his line did ok enough times for him to get throws off, but he was shell-shocked to the point that the commentators on the CBS feed wouldn't go out of their way to separate Brady from his receivers on a couple of misfires throughout the game, when usually they would be quick to edify the future Hall of Famer beyond reproach.
But the play calling doesn't excuse the bad throws, wrong routes and dropped passes.
There were still plays to be made, and had the Patriots connected on just one of the near misses, this is a different ball game: the perfectly executed tear screen intended for running back Brandon Bolden could have gone for a score had Bolden not taken his eye off the ball to look at all the open real estate he had to run to; Aaron Dobson's catch and run was absolutely gorgeous and had a chance at finding paydirt if Dobson hadn't of fumbled the ball inside the twenty...
...and had Danny Amendola the field vision to reach out and cross the plane of the goal line after his catch at the one yard line on the same drive as Dobson's miscue - Convert on any of those and it's a different ball game.
Enough with all of the chatter about rookie receivers and injuries and no Rob Gronkowski - if they'd just do their job and leave the idle blather to the rumor mongers in the media not hang their heads when things go wrong, this offense could be something special - but right now it just seems like Congress, where the two sides can't come together on anything.
Special Teams: B+
Not much one can find to criticize this area for the Patriots - in fact, the coverage teams enveloped and gobbled up the returners on both kickoff and punt returns, Stephen Gostkowski was dead-center perfect on his two field goal attempts - though it is certain that he would have preferred kicking extra points.
Rookie punter Ryan Allen is turning into a viable weapon in his own right, pinning the Bengals' inside their own 20 numerous times, and as many times as he's had to punt the ball away from the stagnant offense, his efforts to flip field position in New England's favor can not go unnoticed.
Return teams lack imagination, still, yet have not hurt the team by turning the ball over, though punt returner Julian Edelman had heart-stopping moment running up to field a kick that probably should have been left to die.
Rushing offense: B
That's right, a "B" - and if it weren't for LeGarrette Blount's second quarter fumble, it would have possibly been an "A". In fact, were it not for Blount's fumble on Carlos Dunlap's hack job with eight minutes remaining in the first half, the entire outcome of the game could have been different.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda - I know.
The offensive line was getting good push and the backs were averaging 4.6 yards per carry before offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels suddenly stopped the assault and went almost exclusively to the air for the last seven drives of the game.
Maybe in a game where there's more running back depth you can bench someone for putting the ball on the ground, but McDaniels couldn't very well do that in this game, though he certainly made sure he limited his touches - which even three days later still makes no sense. When you are running the ball as well as the Patriots were before Blount's fumble, you keep running the ball until they prove they can stop you.
The offensive line was generating big holes for Blount and Bolden to run through against one of the top defensive lines in the NFL, but the Bengals never had to prove they could stop them - McDaniels took care of that for them.
Pretty sure nothing else needs be said about that.
Rush defense: C
Like they should have, the Bengals attacked the teeth of the Patriots defensive line and gouged out 162 yards on a Patriots defense missing elite run stuffer Vince Wilfork, but it took them 39 carries to do it.
Take note: That's what has a chance of happening if you stick with the running game.
Cincinnati tried running left and right up the middle and found virtually nothing, but when they took to running behind their pro bowl right tackle Andre Smith and guard Kevin Zeitzer, they found the pot at the end of the rainbow, which in football speak means an obscene six yards per carry.
The most success that the Bengals found was off tackle and on the edge, where obscene took on a new meaning, averaging a pornographic 8.2 yards per carry - most of the tackles made by defensive backs, as one might imagine. Obviously the Patriots were having problems setting the edge and as a result were getting blown off the line by the powerful right side of the Bengals' line.
Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo had excellent games in run support, but made a disproportionate amount of tackles compared to the line - which was by design, obviously, but this is an area that needs to be addressed immediately, particularly in light of the maybe-it-is / maybe-it's-not injured knee of defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, because if that's allowed to fester it will have a trickle down effect on the rest of the defense.
Pass defense: B+
Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis must have been feeling pretty froggy coming into this contest, because not only did he attack New England's injury weakened defensive line, but he also went after the Patriots' best corner in the passing game.
Before the contest Aqib Talib was reminded that Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden had held Bengals' receiver A. J. Green to 7 catches for only 51 yards and was dared to do better - and he very nearly did, allowing Green just 4 catches for 59 yards. With the effort, Talib cemented his reputation in the league as a top five corner - and if Alfonzo Dennard keeps it up, he's going to start receiving the same accolades.
Most of Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton's targets were to his dynamic set of tight ends, who abused the Patriots' cover backers until safety help limited them in the second half - but surprisingly, Dalton didn't go after Alfonzo Dennard at all. Not once, as Dennard had impressive blanket coverage on every receiver and on every route.
Unfortunately, the success of the running game negated the pass rush of Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich, though Jones was again a beast against the screen and in setting the edge in the running game while Ninkovich was handled pretty thoroughly by Andre Smith, having a difficult time with the edge against one of the best right tackles in the league.
Coaching: F
The Patriots were not ready to play on offense, plain and simple.
The defense found itself on the field for 10 more minutes than the offense, and you're not going to win many ball games with that level of disparity in time of possession.
It's a dead horse, but it bears repeating - it doesn't matter who is on the field, if the game plan and/or play calling is sub-par, the end result is probably not going to be what the team and the fans desire - and with things starting from the top and rolling downhill, the debacle on the sidelines in Cincinnati must be addressed before game planning for the New Orleans Saints can proceed.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Abandoning running game to blame for ugly loss to Bengals
A dreary Monday afternoon, made that much more dim by the remnants of the powerful storm that doomed the New England Patriots' final drive, as it were, in Cincinnati yesterday afternoon.
The system has generated severe storm warnings from the Adirondacks to the Canadian Maritime, which haven't impacted this filthy little central Maine town as yet, bringing just a steady dose of this weird misty rain indigenous to New England, which combined with the gloomy skyline of Lewiston gives one the feeling that they're stuck in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes mystery...
But we don't need Holmes to figure out what happened to the Patriots yesterday in Paul Brown Stadium, and it's not pretty - not just because it was a loss, not even that it was a loss in which the offense generated just six points, nothing complex...
...not even because the Patriots offense got slugged in the mouth - which they did, repeatedly - but because they flinched. Rather, Josh McDaniels' flinched.
The very first time that Tom Brady dropped back to pass, he didn't even make it to his sweet spot before he got belted by Bengals' defensive tackle Geno Atkins, lucky even to hold onto the ball. That was just the second play of a game that's pace was dictated by the attacking Cincinnati defense that after the game, Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis did something that he never does.
After the Cincinnati Bengals shut down the New England Patriots' offense by giving quarterback Tom Brady the beating of his life, Lewis got the attention of everyone in the celebratory locker room to give a game ball to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer - but he could have saved it, because the Patriots' play calling made his job pretty easy.
"I don't normally give out game balls, but I gave that one to Zimmer." a sincere looking Lewis said, "They played well today. They were tight in coverage most of the day. Upfront, they got after it."
Got after it, indeed - and with a timely assist from the Patriots' sideline.
Opposing teams have known for years that the way to get Brady off of his game is to come right up the gut and get in his face. The teams that can successfully do that all have Lombardi Trophies as a direct result of doing just that. The Baltimore Ravens are the reigning World Champions because they got in Brady's face in the AFC Championship. The New York Giants have two Lombardi's.
The teams that can overwhelm the New England Patriots' offensive line with their pass rush is the team that can rattle Brady - and when you can rattle Brady, you get - well, you get what we saw in Cincinnati yesterday.
"We were able to get to Brady on the second play," defensive tackle Domata Peko said of the key play made by Atkins, "After that, you could see he was a little shaky. If you hit somebody enough, they're going to make mistakes."
Brady made a few mistakes, but he hung in the pocket like the warrior he is and took some vicious hits - the more hits he took, the less animated he became until, by the time the final drive was upon him, he stood in the pocket in a soaking monsoonal rain, now needing to throw the ball with less than two minutes to play, but unable to see through the din nor get a grip on the ball...
...so the question that should be in the brains and on the tongue of every expert, analyst and two bit blogger is why did offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and head coach Bill Belichick allow it to get to that point?
When LeGarrette Blount fumbled the football midway through the second quarter on a nice hack job by Cincinnati's Carlos Dunlap, it effectively signalled the end of the Patriots running game for the day - and Brady became a sitting duck.
No running game to soften up the pass rush, no running game from which to make effective use of the play action, no running game to save Brady a few hits on his aging frame.
At the eight minute mark of the second, Blount found a decent hole up the middle, slid through it and turned his shoulders upfield, prepared to punish him some defensive backs. As much as the offensive line was besieged by the big, fast Tigers' pass rush, they generated that much push going the other direction in the running game...
...several times one side of the line would seal off an entire wall of Cincinnati run defenders, leaving the weak side guard clear to pick and choose blocking targets on the second level, Blount and his blockers gouging the Bengals' for nearly five yards a pop, but any semblance of consistent running game evaporated when the ball hit the turf.
Considering that Blount was on pace to reach the century mark, and with just one other healthy back on the active roster, benching Blount really wasn't an option, and abandoning the run at that point wasn't either - but in the final 38 minutes of the game and spanning seven New England possessions, McDaniels called a total of just seven running plays.
Seven. And what's even more curious, is that the run was just as effective in the limited opportunities after the fumble, yet was reduced to being a token offering to appease the football Gods.
Nothing is going to absolve Blount of fumbling the football - he put it on the ground and there's no denying that. But in limiting the run in a tight, defensive affair and exposing your offensive line and quarterback to what you know is an overwhelming force was a decision that took away the offensive balance and placed the entire unit in a position to fail.
Blame anyone you want - Blount for fumbling the ball, Brandon Bolden for dropping a swing pass that would have most likely gone for a score, Thompkins for double clutching, Dobson for running the wrong route, the offensive line for poor communication and Brady for flinching - but those things could have been overcome had McDaniels not turned the offense one-dimensional and Brady a stationary target.
Even having a first and goal from the Bengals' one yard line, McDaniels called a first down run and, not gaining any ground, gave up and attempted a fade to eligible tackle Nate Solder of all people, and a jump ball for a 5' 10" Julian Edelman before settling for a field goal - essentially telling every football player, fan and expert that he doesn't trust his offensive line and backs to get one yard for a game altering touchdown?
No one is innocent, and on the field it starts with the offensive line and works it's way back - but before any of that occurred, there was the play calling. In week 2, the New York Jets lost to the Patriots because they stopped running the ball. Last week in Atlanta the game got away from the Falcons because they stopped running the ball, so it's not like there's no precedence to fall back on.
So if you're looking for a scapegoat, someone to blame for the poorly executed game plan, look no further than the person who was calling the plays.
The system has generated severe storm warnings from the Adirondacks to the Canadian Maritime, which haven't impacted this filthy little central Maine town as yet, bringing just a steady dose of this weird misty rain indigenous to New England, which combined with the gloomy skyline of Lewiston gives one the feeling that they're stuck in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes mystery...
But we don't need Holmes to figure out what happened to the Patriots yesterday in Paul Brown Stadium, and it's not pretty - not just because it was a loss, not even that it was a loss in which the offense generated just six points, nothing complex...
...not even because the Patriots offense got slugged in the mouth - which they did, repeatedly - but because they flinched. Rather, Josh McDaniels' flinched.
The very first time that Tom Brady dropped back to pass, he didn't even make it to his sweet spot before he got belted by Bengals' defensive tackle Geno Atkins, lucky even to hold onto the ball. That was just the second play of a game that's pace was dictated by the attacking Cincinnati defense that after the game, Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis did something that he never does.
After the Cincinnati Bengals shut down the New England Patriots' offense by giving quarterback Tom Brady the beating of his life, Lewis got the attention of everyone in the celebratory locker room to give a game ball to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer - but he could have saved it, because the Patriots' play calling made his job pretty easy.
"I don't normally give out game balls, but I gave that one to Zimmer." a sincere looking Lewis said, "They played well today. They were tight in coverage most of the day. Upfront, they got after it."
Got after it, indeed - and with a timely assist from the Patriots' sideline.
Opposing teams have known for years that the way to get Brady off of his game is to come right up the gut and get in his face. The teams that can successfully do that all have Lombardi Trophies as a direct result of doing just that. The Baltimore Ravens are the reigning World Champions because they got in Brady's face in the AFC Championship. The New York Giants have two Lombardi's.
The teams that can overwhelm the New England Patriots' offensive line with their pass rush is the team that can rattle Brady - and when you can rattle Brady, you get - well, you get what we saw in Cincinnati yesterday.
"We were able to get to Brady on the second play," defensive tackle Domata Peko said of the key play made by Atkins, "After that, you could see he was a little shaky. If you hit somebody enough, they're going to make mistakes."
Brady made a few mistakes, but he hung in the pocket like the warrior he is and took some vicious hits - the more hits he took, the less animated he became until, by the time the final drive was upon him, he stood in the pocket in a soaking monsoonal rain, now needing to throw the ball with less than two minutes to play, but unable to see through the din nor get a grip on the ball...
...so the question that should be in the brains and on the tongue of every expert, analyst and two bit blogger is why did offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and head coach Bill Belichick allow it to get to that point?
When LeGarrette Blount fumbled the football midway through the second quarter on a nice hack job by Cincinnati's Carlos Dunlap, it effectively signalled the end of the Patriots running game for the day - and Brady became a sitting duck.
No running game to soften up the pass rush, no running game from which to make effective use of the play action, no running game to save Brady a few hits on his aging frame.
At the eight minute mark of the second, Blount found a decent hole up the middle, slid through it and turned his shoulders upfield, prepared to punish him some defensive backs. As much as the offensive line was besieged by the big, fast Tigers' pass rush, they generated that much push going the other direction in the running game...
...several times one side of the line would seal off an entire wall of Cincinnati run defenders, leaving the weak side guard clear to pick and choose blocking targets on the second level, Blount and his blockers gouging the Bengals' for nearly five yards a pop, but any semblance of consistent running game evaporated when the ball hit the turf.
Considering that Blount was on pace to reach the century mark, and with just one other healthy back on the active roster, benching Blount really wasn't an option, and abandoning the run at that point wasn't either - but in the final 38 minutes of the game and spanning seven New England possessions, McDaniels called a total of just seven running plays.
Seven. And what's even more curious, is that the run was just as effective in the limited opportunities after the fumble, yet was reduced to being a token offering to appease the football Gods.
Nothing is going to absolve Blount of fumbling the football - he put it on the ground and there's no denying that. But in limiting the run in a tight, defensive affair and exposing your offensive line and quarterback to what you know is an overwhelming force was a decision that took away the offensive balance and placed the entire unit in a position to fail.
Blame anyone you want - Blount for fumbling the ball, Brandon Bolden for dropping a swing pass that would have most likely gone for a score, Thompkins for double clutching, Dobson for running the wrong route, the offensive line for poor communication and Brady for flinching - but those things could have been overcome had McDaniels not turned the offense one-dimensional and Brady a stationary target.
Even having a first and goal from the Bengals' one yard line, McDaniels called a first down run and, not gaining any ground, gave up and attempted a fade to eligible tackle Nate Solder of all people, and a jump ball for a 5' 10" Julian Edelman before settling for a field goal - essentially telling every football player, fan and expert that he doesn't trust his offensive line and backs to get one yard for a game altering touchdown?
No one is innocent, and on the field it starts with the offensive line and works it's way back - but before any of that occurred, there was the play calling. In week 2, the New York Jets lost to the Patriots because they stopped running the ball. Last week in Atlanta the game got away from the Falcons because they stopped running the ball, so it's not like there's no precedence to fall back on.
So if you're looking for a scapegoat, someone to blame for the poorly executed game plan, look no further than the person who was calling the plays.
Terrapin twosome right for the middle of defensive line
Bill Belichick often says that he prefers dependability over ability - but you can't spell one without the other.
So when it comes to teaming his undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackle Joe Vellano with a partner on the interior line, there couldn't be a more dependable choice than fellow undrafted rookie free agent A. J. Francis.
The New England Patriots lost the very solid cornerstone of their defense, Vince Wilfork, to a torn achilles tendon early in Sunday night's win over the Atlanta Falcons, leaving a huge gap in the Patriots' run defense as Wilfork is as stout as they come in stopping the run.
Vellano filled in capably, as did recently signed rookie Chris Jones teaming up with veteran Tommy Kelly to limit the Falcons to almost negligable effect on the game overall, and it was curious as to why the Falcons' coaching staff didn't resort to the running right up the middle to take advantage of the mismatch they had over the two rookies...
...but you can be certain that the Patriots' future opponents - starting with the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday - will not be shy about pounding the rock right into the teeth of the Patriots interior defensive line and sticking with it either until they've worn out the rookies or the Patriots figure out a scheme to stop them - and it goes without saying that New England will probably promote one of two defensive tackles that they have on the practice squad to help stem the tide.
Marcus Forston, himself an undrafted rookie free agent last season is one choice and has the experience factor going for him, but the better choice may be Vellano's college battery mate, Francis.
So when it comes to teaming his undrafted rookie free agent defensive tackle Joe Vellano with a partner on the interior line, there couldn't be a more dependable choice than fellow undrafted rookie free agent A. J. Francis.
The New England Patriots lost the very solid cornerstone of their defense, Vince Wilfork, to a torn achilles tendon early in Sunday night's win over the Atlanta Falcons, leaving a huge gap in the Patriots' run defense as Wilfork is as stout as they come in stopping the run.
Vellano filled in capably, as did recently signed rookie Chris Jones teaming up with veteran Tommy Kelly to limit the Falcons to almost negligable effect on the game overall, and it was curious as to why the Falcons' coaching staff didn't resort to the running right up the middle to take advantage of the mismatch they had over the two rookies...
...but you can be certain that the Patriots' future opponents - starting with the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday - will not be shy about pounding the rock right into the teeth of the Patriots interior defensive line and sticking with it either until they've worn out the rookies or the Patriots figure out a scheme to stop them - and it goes without saying that New England will probably promote one of two defensive tackles that they have on the practice squad to help stem the tide.
Marcus Forston, himself an undrafted rookie free agent last season is one choice and has the experience factor going for him, but the better choice may be Vellano's college battery mate, Francis.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Allen a legit weapon
When you're a rookie, all eyes are on you.
The critic who knows that you're not good enough, the cynic who doubts that you ever will be, the heretic who chides the coach or team management for even having you on the roster. The fans and the media can be tough on a rookie, especially in New England.
Boston sports represent a region, six weird little states that are fiercely loyal to their opinions, and in their opinion
believes your very presence is a sign of weakness
The critic who knows that you're not good enough, the cynic who doubts that you ever will be, the heretic who chides the coach or team management for even having you on the roster. The fans and the media can be tough on a rookie, especially in New England.
Boston sports represent a region, six weird little states that are fiercely loyal to their opinions, and in their opinion
believes your very presence is a sign of weakness
Stagnant offense dooms Patriots to first loss of season
Normally when your defense only gives up 13 points, especially when you're the New England Patriots, you expect to look up at the scoreboard and see a blow out in your favor.
Normally. But as every Patriots' fan is aware, this has been anything but a "normal" year.
Quarterback Tom Brady had a miserable game, going 18 of 38 for 197 yards and his offensive line gave up four sacks to a Cincinnati Bengals defense that survived three late game would-be fatal errors to take a 13-6 win at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
New England running back LeGarrette Blount ran for 50 yards on 12 carries, but fumbled running hard for extra yardage late in the second quarter, and the Patriots all but abandoned the run at that point, as offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels put the game in the hands of his veteran quarterback - which normally is a money gamble.
Normally. But to reiterate, this has been anything but a "normal" year.
Brady was harassed nearly the entire game as the Bengals' excellent defensive line manhandled the Patriots' offensive line - and the four sacks doesn't begin to tell the story of how dominating the Cincinnati pass rush was - conversely, the Patriots' defense proved to be resilient, if not stout, getting timely sacks and turnovers to hold the Bengals' potentially explosive offense to just 13 points...
...playing well enough to keep New England undefeated - had the offense cooperated.
But they didn't, despite having several opportunities practically gift wrapped and handed to them, a combination of a very tentative looking Brady, several dropped passes, a sudden monsoon and horrendous play calling dooming them to an offensive output of just 248 yards of total offense and only six points on the scoreboard.
Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton was an efficient 20 of 27 for 212 yards with no touchdown and one terrible decision that led to a red zone interception by Brandon Spikes, but it was what he did with his feet that ultimately killed the Patriots.
On a 3rd and goal from the Patriots' one yard line, Bengal's defensive tackle and part-time short yardage fullback Domata Peko got an early jump and took a 5 yard flag to set the Bengals back to the six yard line - but on the following play Dalton dropped back to pass, then tucked the ball and took the ball back to the original line of scrimmage - and former Patriot BenJarvus Green-Ellis bullied is way into the end zone the following play, giving the Bengals' the game's only touchdown.
Dalton's scrambles proved to be drive extenders on three seperate possessions, leading to all 13 of Cincinnati's points.
After a slow first half on the ground, the Bengals' running game turned it up a notch in the second half, taking advantage of a Patriots' defensive line missing their elite run stuffing tackle Vince Wilfork and losing his battery mate Tommy Kelly to a knee injury.
Once Kelly went down, the Bengals did what the Falcons failed to do last Sunday - take advantage of the inexperienced and undersized rookies Chris Jones and Joe Vellano, the only defensive tackles left on the depth chart - Bernard and Green-Ellis gouging the interior of the Patriots line to the tune of 162 yards and the one touchdown.
Conversely, the Patriots ran the ball just 18 times for 82 yards, almost completely abandoning the run in the second half despite an average gain of over four yards each time Blount or Bolden touched the ball.
But despite all of the negatives, the Patriots had two golden opportunities late in the game that could have potentially tied the game and then won it.
With just under nine minutes remaining in regulation and the Patriots in possession of the ball immediately following the Green-Ellis touchdown, Brady found receiver Aaron Dobson over the middle, Dobson displaying his speed in taking the ball 53 yards down to the Bengals' 16 yard line, then hit Danny Amendola for 15 yards to the Cincinnati one - one of the few running plays the Patriots attempted in the second half was stuffed for no gain...
...an overthrow of eligible tackle Nate Solder highlighted a series of curious play calls - and a drop by Julian Edelman in the end zone found the Patriots settling for a Stephen Gostkoski field goal to pull within a touchdown at 13-6 - The ensuing Bengals' drive tearing off huge chucks of yardage and running down the clock before safety Devin McCourty forced a Giovani Benard fumble that linebacker Jerod Mayo recovered in Cincinnati territory with 3:26 to play.
In a sudden driving downpour, a Brady misconnection with Dobson combined with another Edelman drop and yet another sack of Brady forced the Patriots to punt. But the defense forced a three and out and with deft usage of their timeouts, the Patriots got the ball back at their own 35 with just under two minutes to play.
A Bolden drop, a Brady worm-burner toward Edelman and a short gainer to Bolden left the Patriots with a desperation 4th and four at their own 41, an encroachment penalty on the Bengals' Chris Crocker giving Brady another set of downs...
...and with the visibility down to just about nothing, Edelman couldn't gain the handle on a Brady fastball over the middle before Bolden ripped of a gain of 12 off right guard - only a sprawling tackle by corner Pacman Jones saving the game from being tied - then a questionable Roughing the passer penalty on defensive end Wallace Gilberry found the Patriots in business at the Cincinnati 27 with just under a minute to play.
But on a day that was suitable only for ducks, Brady released a quacker toward Dobson that fluttered and eventually came down on Jones, who cradled it at the two yard line and the Bengals had their win.
With the loss, New England drops to 4-1 on the season, but still in first place in the AFC East courtesy of a Miami Dolphins' loss to Baltimore - and now return home to face the mighty New Orleans Saints passing attack next Sunday...
...and unless they find some answers on offense and some defensive tackles on defense, the Patriots will have a difficult time keeping pace with Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and the Saints.
Normally. But as every Patriots' fan is aware, this has been anything but a "normal" year.
Quarterback Tom Brady had a miserable game, going 18 of 38 for 197 yards and his offensive line gave up four sacks to a Cincinnati Bengals defense that survived three late game would-be fatal errors to take a 13-6 win at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
New England running back LeGarrette Blount ran for 50 yards on 12 carries, but fumbled running hard for extra yardage late in the second quarter, and the Patriots all but abandoned the run at that point, as offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels put the game in the hands of his veteran quarterback - which normally is a money gamble.
Normally. But to reiterate, this has been anything but a "normal" year.
Brady was harassed nearly the entire game as the Bengals' excellent defensive line manhandled the Patriots' offensive line - and the four sacks doesn't begin to tell the story of how dominating the Cincinnati pass rush was - conversely, the Patriots' defense proved to be resilient, if not stout, getting timely sacks and turnovers to hold the Bengals' potentially explosive offense to just 13 points...
...playing well enough to keep New England undefeated - had the offense cooperated.
But they didn't, despite having several opportunities practically gift wrapped and handed to them, a combination of a very tentative looking Brady, several dropped passes, a sudden monsoon and horrendous play calling dooming them to an offensive output of just 248 yards of total offense and only six points on the scoreboard.
Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton was an efficient 20 of 27 for 212 yards with no touchdown and one terrible decision that led to a red zone interception by Brandon Spikes, but it was what he did with his feet that ultimately killed the Patriots.
On a 3rd and goal from the Patriots' one yard line, Bengal's defensive tackle and part-time short yardage fullback Domata Peko got an early jump and took a 5 yard flag to set the Bengals back to the six yard line - but on the following play Dalton dropped back to pass, then tucked the ball and took the ball back to the original line of scrimmage - and former Patriot BenJarvus Green-Ellis bullied is way into the end zone the following play, giving the Bengals' the game's only touchdown.
Dalton's scrambles proved to be drive extenders on three seperate possessions, leading to all 13 of Cincinnati's points.
After a slow first half on the ground, the Bengals' running game turned it up a notch in the second half, taking advantage of a Patriots' defensive line missing their elite run stuffing tackle Vince Wilfork and losing his battery mate Tommy Kelly to a knee injury.
Once Kelly went down, the Bengals did what the Falcons failed to do last Sunday - take advantage of the inexperienced and undersized rookies Chris Jones and Joe Vellano, the only defensive tackles left on the depth chart - Bernard and Green-Ellis gouging the interior of the Patriots line to the tune of 162 yards and the one touchdown.
Conversely, the Patriots ran the ball just 18 times for 82 yards, almost completely abandoning the run in the second half despite an average gain of over four yards each time Blount or Bolden touched the ball.
But despite all of the negatives, the Patriots had two golden opportunities late in the game that could have potentially tied the game and then won it.
With just under nine minutes remaining in regulation and the Patriots in possession of the ball immediately following the Green-Ellis touchdown, Brady found receiver Aaron Dobson over the middle, Dobson displaying his speed in taking the ball 53 yards down to the Bengals' 16 yard line, then hit Danny Amendola for 15 yards to the Cincinnati one - one of the few running plays the Patriots attempted in the second half was stuffed for no gain...
...an overthrow of eligible tackle Nate Solder highlighted a series of curious play calls - and a drop by Julian Edelman in the end zone found the Patriots settling for a Stephen Gostkoski field goal to pull within a touchdown at 13-6 - The ensuing Bengals' drive tearing off huge chucks of yardage and running down the clock before safety Devin McCourty forced a Giovani Benard fumble that linebacker Jerod Mayo recovered in Cincinnati territory with 3:26 to play.
In a sudden driving downpour, a Brady misconnection with Dobson combined with another Edelman drop and yet another sack of Brady forced the Patriots to punt. But the defense forced a three and out and with deft usage of their timeouts, the Patriots got the ball back at their own 35 with just under two minutes to play.
A Bolden drop, a Brady worm-burner toward Edelman and a short gainer to Bolden left the Patriots with a desperation 4th and four at their own 41, an encroachment penalty on the Bengals' Chris Crocker giving Brady another set of downs...
...and with the visibility down to just about nothing, Edelman couldn't gain the handle on a Brady fastball over the middle before Bolden ripped of a gain of 12 off right guard - only a sprawling tackle by corner Pacman Jones saving the game from being tied - then a questionable Roughing the passer penalty on defensive end Wallace Gilberry found the Patriots in business at the Cincinnati 27 with just under a minute to play.
But on a day that was suitable only for ducks, Brady released a quacker toward Dobson that fluttered and eventually came down on Jones, who cradled it at the two yard line and the Bengals had their win.
With the loss, New England drops to 4-1 on the season, but still in first place in the AFC East courtesy of a Miami Dolphins' loss to Baltimore - and now return home to face the mighty New Orleans Saints passing attack next Sunday...
...and unless they find some answers on offense and some defensive tackles on defense, the Patriots will have a difficult time keeping pace with Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and the Saints.
New England Patriots on Paper: Blount instrument
LeGarrette Blount was brought to New England to compliment the explosive style of featured back Stevan Ridley and the slashing style of passing back Shane Vereen - a role player who found a niche killing the clock - and returning kickoffs, of all things.
This Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, his role becomes all of those things.
Injuries have decimated the New England Patriots offense to the point that quarterback Tom Brady is having to rely on a gaggle of rookie receivers to handle his fastballs, suiting up without tight end Rob Gronkowski all season and without receiver Danny Amendola since the opening day win at Buffalo - the same game that saw Vereen go down with a broken wrist.
And now, Ridley with a knee issue and reserve back Brandon Bolden dealing with the same, here is the 250 pound bruiser in the lead back role - a place where Bill Belichick envisioned for him all along?
The resolute head coach became indignant when a beat writer suggested that the coach's confidence has been building the past few weeks, causing Belichick to abruptly interrupt the writer mid-sentence, his voice full of contempt...
"The confidence in him has been since day one." Belichick hissed, "I think we saw it in the Philadelphia game. There's no issue with confidence in LeGarrette, none"
To many, Blount is the dude that got suspended in college for sucker punching an opposing player after a game, and that's all they know about or care about - they don't bother to include the fact that he worked his way back from suspension by accomplishing every goal set forth for him. He runs with that same attitude, and now he has the opportunity to show Patriots' nation whether or not Belichick's confidence in him is well founded or just the arrogance of a foolish old man.
But football is a team game, and even a six foot tall, 250 pound mutant needs big uglies to open holes for him to run through, and that is going to be a tougher than usual task against one of the best defensive lines in the league on Sunday.
Belichick is normally very complimentary of his opponents in press conferences leading up to a game, but he was unusually candid in his praise of the Bengals' first line of defense, particularly tackle Geno Atkins.
"He'd probably be the first pick in the draft." Belichick quipped - not smiling, no sarcasm in his voice, completely serious. Belichick is often respectful when speaking of players whom he thinks does things the right way, but rarely does one hear the old school fundamentalist heap such praise upon one player...
...which speaks to his determination to get the running game going - because if history has told us anything, it's that when you hear something like that come out of Belichick's mouth, it means that he takes that player or group as a direct challenge to his coaching ability and the ability of his own players - and that he's going to run the ball right at him.
He challenged his line to do just that, according to All Pro left guard Logan Mankins - and even the most casual of Patriots' fans recognize that the play action that successfully running the ball affords quarterback Tom Brady is the key to the success of New England's passing game.
Fullback James Develin will be instrumental in this scenario, the former defensive lineman knowing just how to hit the hole to disrupt it's integrity enough for open up big holes, and also has shown himself to be a capable receiver curling out of the backfield.
The Bengals can and will come at the Patriots with determination and pass rushing talent that few in the NFL can match, or even match up with. The Patriots' offensive line faced a similar task in their annual "dress rehearsal" at Detroit in the preseason, and got absolutely stomped - and while the preseason is a far cry from the intricate game-planned entity that the regular season tasks, it's still a fairly fresh memory...
...so the main matchup for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon belongs on the offensive line, and how in the world the big uglies are going to generate enough push to give Blount a seam to run through while also giving Brady enough time to find his receivers.
The two are intertwined, and it helps the Patriots' cause that wide receiver Danny Amendola - he of the torn adductor muscle - is scheduled to return to the line up. It also helps the passing game that the Bengals' secondary is seriously banged up.
Cornerback Leon Hall is doubtful for Sunday's game, as is backup corner Brandon Ghee, leaving Adam "Pacman" Jones, greybeard Terrance Newman and second year Alabama product Dre Kirkpatrick as the top three corners on the depth chart, while veteran free safety Reggie Nelson is running on one good leg - if at all - due to a sore hammy, so the Patriots may be able to target rookie Shawn Willimas over the top and up the seam.
The linebacking corps - already considered the weak link in the Bengals' defense, is further hampered by injuries to Vontaze Burfict (neck) and former Steelers' goon James Harrison (knee) - and with middle linebacker Rey Maualuga a shell of his former self even though only in his fifth year, this is a unit that the Patriots can exploit...
...both with the running game if the offensive line can get enough push to get Blount to the second level, and also in the passing game where it's possible that we'll see Brady calling for unbalanced formations and running out of the stretch, isolating Amendola or Julian Edelman on crossing routes - and in the flat to running back Brandon Bolden or even to seldom seen Leon Washington, both of whom should be active despite lingering injuries.
And if the running game gives Brady the advantage of utilizing the play action to it's full effectiveness, it wouldn't be surprising to see rookie sensation Kenbrell Thompkins turn in another huge performance as a big play possession receiver. It is uncertain if recever Aaron Dobson will be effective, given his neck injury against Atlanta, but the Patriots do still have speedster Josh Boyce, who displayed a small sample of his ability on Sunday night.
Dobson could be a key in this game as his speed could challenge the Bengals' safeties up the seam, on the fly and in the red zone as the biggest target the Patriots have outside of the tight ends. One thing to watch with the rookie out of Marshall is if he has developed a little case of alligator arms over the middle, given that he nearly had his head taken off by the Falcons' safeties last week.
It would help matters if the Patriots' tight ends generated anything downfield, but with Rob Gronkowski still unable to play, the duo of Michael Hoomanawanui and Matthew Mulligan will be counted on to occupy a linebacker or two - and either could come up with a big play to extend a drive or put points on the board as we all saw last week with the gorgeous throw and catch from Brady to Mulligan last Sunday night.
Both are capable inline blockers as well, particularly the Gronkowski-sized Mulligan, so seeing a Wham block or two to try and stand up Atkins and producing a seam for Blount to power through is something that Patriots' fans could - and should - see on Sunday afternoon.
In the end, the success of the Patriots' offense is directly reliant on the offensive line handling the fury of the Bengals' defensive front, generating push in the running game and giving Brady a clean pocket to throw from.
It's quite simple, really - and it's all about fundamental football. If the Patriots can control the line of scrimmage, they win this game easily. If not, well, it's going to be a scrap.
But as complimentary as Belichick has been in regard to the Bengals' defensive line, he has been just as adamant in his praise and trust in his own line and with his confidence in his new lead running back - and why not? After all, he is a "Blount Instrument" - the definition of which is "any solid object used as a weapon, which damages its target by applying direct mechanical force."
Blunt instruments typically inflict blunt force trauma, causing bruising, fractures and other internal bleeding - but all that Belichick wants out of his weapon is his 4.2 yards per carry average and a cloud of dust - and in the end, that should be enough to tame these Bengals.
This Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, his role becomes all of those things.
Injuries have decimated the New England Patriots offense to the point that quarterback Tom Brady is having to rely on a gaggle of rookie receivers to handle his fastballs, suiting up without tight end Rob Gronkowski all season and without receiver Danny Amendola since the opening day win at Buffalo - the same game that saw Vereen go down with a broken wrist.
And now, Ridley with a knee issue and reserve back Brandon Bolden dealing with the same, here is the 250 pound bruiser in the lead back role - a place where Bill Belichick envisioned for him all along?
The resolute head coach became indignant when a beat writer suggested that the coach's confidence has been building the past few weeks, causing Belichick to abruptly interrupt the writer mid-sentence, his voice full of contempt...
"The confidence in him has been since day one." Belichick hissed, "I think we saw it in the Philadelphia game. There's no issue with confidence in LeGarrette, none"
To many, Blount is the dude that got suspended in college for sucker punching an opposing player after a game, and that's all they know about or care about - they don't bother to include the fact that he worked his way back from suspension by accomplishing every goal set forth for him. He runs with that same attitude, and now he has the opportunity to show Patriots' nation whether or not Belichick's confidence in him is well founded or just the arrogance of a foolish old man.
But football is a team game, and even a six foot tall, 250 pound mutant needs big uglies to open holes for him to run through, and that is going to be a tougher than usual task against one of the best defensive lines in the league on Sunday.
Belichick is normally very complimentary of his opponents in press conferences leading up to a game, but he was unusually candid in his praise of the Bengals' first line of defense, particularly tackle Geno Atkins.
"He'd probably be the first pick in the draft." Belichick quipped - not smiling, no sarcasm in his voice, completely serious. Belichick is often respectful when speaking of players whom he thinks does things the right way, but rarely does one hear the old school fundamentalist heap such praise upon one player...
...which speaks to his determination to get the running game going - because if history has told us anything, it's that when you hear something like that come out of Belichick's mouth, it means that he takes that player or group as a direct challenge to his coaching ability and the ability of his own players - and that he's going to run the ball right at him.
He challenged his line to do just that, according to All Pro left guard Logan Mankins - and even the most casual of Patriots' fans recognize that the play action that successfully running the ball affords quarterback Tom Brady is the key to the success of New England's passing game.
Fullback James Develin will be instrumental in this scenario, the former defensive lineman knowing just how to hit the hole to disrupt it's integrity enough for open up big holes, and also has shown himself to be a capable receiver curling out of the backfield.
The Bengals can and will come at the Patriots with determination and pass rushing talent that few in the NFL can match, or even match up with. The Patriots' offensive line faced a similar task in their annual "dress rehearsal" at Detroit in the preseason, and got absolutely stomped - and while the preseason is a far cry from the intricate game-planned entity that the regular season tasks, it's still a fairly fresh memory...
...so the main matchup for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon belongs on the offensive line, and how in the world the big uglies are going to generate enough push to give Blount a seam to run through while also giving Brady enough time to find his receivers.
The two are intertwined, and it helps the Patriots' cause that wide receiver Danny Amendola - he of the torn adductor muscle - is scheduled to return to the line up. It also helps the passing game that the Bengals' secondary is seriously banged up.
Cornerback Leon Hall is doubtful for Sunday's game, as is backup corner Brandon Ghee, leaving Adam "Pacman" Jones, greybeard Terrance Newman and second year Alabama product Dre Kirkpatrick as the top three corners on the depth chart, while veteran free safety Reggie Nelson is running on one good leg - if at all - due to a sore hammy, so the Patriots may be able to target rookie Shawn Willimas over the top and up the seam.
The linebacking corps - already considered the weak link in the Bengals' defense, is further hampered by injuries to Vontaze Burfict (neck) and former Steelers' goon James Harrison (knee) - and with middle linebacker Rey Maualuga a shell of his former self even though only in his fifth year, this is a unit that the Patriots can exploit...
...both with the running game if the offensive line can get enough push to get Blount to the second level, and also in the passing game where it's possible that we'll see Brady calling for unbalanced formations and running out of the stretch, isolating Amendola or Julian Edelman on crossing routes - and in the flat to running back Brandon Bolden or even to seldom seen Leon Washington, both of whom should be active despite lingering injuries.
And if the running game gives Brady the advantage of utilizing the play action to it's full effectiveness, it wouldn't be surprising to see rookie sensation Kenbrell Thompkins turn in another huge performance as a big play possession receiver. It is uncertain if recever Aaron Dobson will be effective, given his neck injury against Atlanta, but the Patriots do still have speedster Josh Boyce, who displayed a small sample of his ability on Sunday night.
Dobson could be a key in this game as his speed could challenge the Bengals' safeties up the seam, on the fly and in the red zone as the biggest target the Patriots have outside of the tight ends. One thing to watch with the rookie out of Marshall is if he has developed a little case of alligator arms over the middle, given that he nearly had his head taken off by the Falcons' safeties last week.
It would help matters if the Patriots' tight ends generated anything downfield, but with Rob Gronkowski still unable to play, the duo of Michael Hoomanawanui and Matthew Mulligan will be counted on to occupy a linebacker or two - and either could come up with a big play to extend a drive or put points on the board as we all saw last week with the gorgeous throw and catch from Brady to Mulligan last Sunday night.
Both are capable inline blockers as well, particularly the Gronkowski-sized Mulligan, so seeing a Wham block or two to try and stand up Atkins and producing a seam for Blount to power through is something that Patriots' fans could - and should - see on Sunday afternoon.
In the end, the success of the Patriots' offense is directly reliant on the offensive line handling the fury of the Bengals' defensive front, generating push in the running game and giving Brady a clean pocket to throw from.
It's quite simple, really - and it's all about fundamental football. If the Patriots can control the line of scrimmage, they win this game easily. If not, well, it's going to be a scrap.
But as complimentary as Belichick has been in regard to the Bengals' defensive line, he has been just as adamant in his praise and trust in his own line and with his confidence in his new lead running back - and why not? After all, he is a "Blount Instrument" - the definition of which is "any solid object used as a weapon, which damages its target by applying direct mechanical force."
Blunt instruments typically inflict blunt force trauma, causing bruising, fractures and other internal bleeding - but all that Belichick wants out of his weapon is his 4.2 yards per carry average and a cloud of dust - and in the end, that should be enough to tame these Bengals.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
New England Patriots on Paper: Gresham, Eifert double trouble for Pats' Defense
Seems that every team the New England Patriots have played so far in 2013 have at least one huge, monstrously talented wide receiver that can run the 40 in the blink of an eye and has hands like Fred Blitnikoff - and some teams have two...
...catching passes from quarterbacks like - well, let's see - there's Matty Ice, a couple of rookies and a lame duck, so the only truly established quarterback that has lined up against coach Bill Belichick's Patriots was last Sunday in Atlanta, when Matt Ryan waited until the game was presumably out of reach to start connecting with freakish twin cyborgs Julio Jones and Roddy White.
But before that he was throwing almost everything underneath to his backs and future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, mostly because the Patriots' combination of Jack-in-the-Box cover corners had their big speedy pass catchers blanketed - and because the Patriots defensive line stayed disciplined and had the screen game sniffed out just about every time.
But New England couldn't solve the Falcons' banged up blocking scheme with Wilfork out of the picture and could get no push in their pass rush early, which allowed Gonzalez the opportunity to curl out into the pattern to the tune of nearly 150 yards and two touchdowns...
...so since this Sunday's opponent has two big athletic tight ends with top shelf speed and soft hands and a good pass blocking line does that mean that the Patriots are doomed to surrender 300 yards and four touchdowns to them?
That's up to the Cincinnati Bengals' offense and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden- and, of course, the Patriots' defense.
The Bengals offense is a more grinding attack than what the Patriots faced in Atlanta - big wide receivers, a couple of mammoth tight ends and backs that work well out of the backfield - but Andy Dalton is no Matty Ice, and apparently that makes Gruden nervous.
The Bengals may have the best collection of explosive talent in the NFL, but with Dalton's limited arm strength and accuracy down the field and to the intermediate sideline, Gruden has been forced to call conservative, predictable game plans and not coming close to utilizing the weapons that the team has at their disposal - and that's too bad, because those weapons are impressive.
Any discussion in regard to the Bengals' offense usually begins with wide receiver A. J. Green - but if the Bengals want to beat the Patriots, they have to learn from the Falcons' mistakes from last Sunday night - and from the Jets a few weeks ago - and run the ball right into the teeth of the Patriots' defensive line, and keep pounding it...
...because if the Patriots find a way to take away the intermediate passing game and the running game isn't producing, it forces Gruden to take chances down the field, which favors the New England secondary regardless of Green's presence.
Not that Dalton can't be effective throwing of his own free will if given a favorable set of circumstances, but if he's forced to do so, things could get out of hand for Cincinnati very quickly - so a premium must be placed on establishing the running game, regardless of early sacrifice - meaning that he needs rookie running back Giovani Bernard to step up in tandem with BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushing right up the middle to set up the Bengals' play action.
Problem is, Gruden seems to be hesitant to hand more responsibility to Bernard despite possessing a skill set vastly superior to incumbent Green-Ellis, preferring to use the rookie as a change of pace back to the Law Firm, when it should actually be a 50/50 split. Both are able in the passing game, though Green-Ellis is the superior pass protector.
In the running game, the Bengals own an average yards per carry that place them in the bottom third of the league, yet they still sport numbers that suggest a healthy pass to rush ratio of 60/40 - but this number is deceiving.
In one game, the 20-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and their terrible run defense, Cincinnati accrued over a third of their rushing attempts on the season - in their other three games, the Bengals have attempted more than 20 running plays just once, that being an 82 yard effort on 24 carries in the home win over Green Bay.
This isn't enough, particularly when they get it going to the right behind guard Kevin Zeiter and Pro Bowl right tackle Andre Smith for some five yards per carry, so it's a mystery as to why Gruden's predictable play calling doesn't include more off right guard - and it just so happens that this is exactly where the big void has been left on New England's defensive line by Wilfork's injury.
In attempts to the left side of the line, the results haven't been as steady as the combination of center Kyle Cook, left guard Clint Boling and left tackle Andrew Whitworth leave a bit to be desired in generating push into the second level for the backs, but are exceptional protecting Dalton's blind side - which bodes well for the Bengals no matter the scheme.
To this point, the entire offense is predicated on the short to intermediate passing game, playing to Dalton's strengths or, rather, steering clear of his deficiencies - which is arm strength and accuracy on the long ball, which is probably why you won't see a fastball into tight coverage from him...
...but what you will see in a heavy dose of tight ends challenging the seams and also teaming with Bernard in the flat and underneath, Green and his compliments in the receiving corps sneaking in behind the linebackers. This is how the Bengals' offense works, and it should be dominating defenses - but it hasn't been.
Regardless, after what Gruden witnessed from watching film of Gonzalez ripping the Patriots a new one last Sunday, he should be salivating with the thought that he has double the trouble that the Falcons laid on New England - and if he can get the running game going, that should open up the middle of the field for his twin towers.
That's what Gruden wants for his young quarterback, a clean pocket and pass catchers that can move the chains because when Dalton is forced to go vertical - usually to Green (though he has thrown at rookie tight end Tyler Eifert on occasion) - the results are less than stellar. In 29 targets over twenty yards down the field, Dalton is a miserable 8 for 29 - but when he runs the short to intermediate game, he is 86 of 119 for a more competent 72% completion average.
In short, the talent on this offense is held back by Dalton's lack of arm strength and accuracy down the field and by Jay Gruden's lack of confidence in his signal caller to that end - but if they maximize what the offense does well within their limitations, they could win the time of possession battle by ramming the ball down the Patriots' throats to set up Green over the top, slot receiver Marvin Jones and possession receiver Mohamed Sanu getting loose underneath and behind the linebackers, or the tight ends up the seam.
Not possessing blazing speed, Green earns his bones running razor sharp routes and winning jump balls - attacks the ball at the high point and rarely looses those battles. His athleticism is through the roof and has a lethal combination of natural height, mad hops and hands made out of flypaper - and is pure smooth hell after the catch...
...because once he gets his hands on the ball and comes back to earth, he is as elusive in open space as any receiver in the league - so he has the ability to break long gainers off of shorter tosses.
Dalton's secondary targets have been his tight ends, a pair of big seam stretching humanoids in 4th year pro Jermaine Gresham and rookie Tyler Eifert - which could turn out to be one of the better combos in football. Eifert makes many of his plays in the air, adjusting well to the ball in flight, while Gresham is purely physical but makes the difficult catch and drags folks for extra yardage.
Perhaps what has hurt Dalton and the Bengals most of all this season is the absence of slot receiver Andrew Hawkins, a fan favorite dubbed "Baby Hawk" who suffered a serious ankle injury in the offseason - his 4.3 speed and reliable hands good for 51 catches last season. Jones has seen limited action in his stead and Sanu is decent compliment to Green as a possession receiver...
...but the offense revolves around the two tight end, one running back sets of Gresham, Eifert and Bernard with Green going vertical and Sanu horizontal, and appears to be perfectly suited to test the Patriots on all three levels of their defense.
New England lost defensive tackle Vince Wilfork early in Sunday night's win over the Falcons to a torn achilles tendon and he will miss the rest of the season, but Atlanta failed to take advantage of undersized backup Joe Vellano (If 6' 2", 310 pounds can rightfully be called undersized) as they fell behind the Patriots and had to start going over the top of the defense...
...and with Ryan, the Falcons were able to take advantage of a couple of grievous errors on the part of the Patriots, and were just one Aqib Talib defended pass in the end zone away from tying a game that they had trailed by 17 points with just six minutes remaining.
But, as pointed out, Dalton is no Matt Ryan so it is essential for the Bengals to run the ball and to get the ball to their backs and tight ends in the pattern to control the clock and limit the number of possessions for Tom Brady and the New England offense.
How New England prevents this from happening starts with the thought that the Patriots have no one on the roster - nor the practice squad for that matter - that can take on the role that Wilfork played. That's gone. The ability to redirect plays by presence alone and to reestablish the line of scrimmage two to three yards deep in the opponent's backfield is gone, and Bill Belichick knows this.
He also knows that since he can't field a traditional base defense until he knows what his options are, the next best thing is to get all of your best athletes on the field in some sort of cohesive manner and turn them loose.
The need to stop the run is omnipresent, and to do this as well as the ability to pressure the quarterback with a three man rush is the key to matching up with Cincinnati's "12 Personnel" package - enabling Belichick to get all of his best athletes on the field at the same time and take away every option he has underneath - forcing Dalton to do what he can't consistently, which is throwing the deep ball.
It sounds weird, forcing the ball in the direction of the Bengals' most dynamic weapon in Green, but in successfully shutting down Dalton's comfort zones, the flats and the intermediate seam, it leaves Cincinnati one dimensional and it comes down the Patriots' corners abilities to win one on one - and if they were successful against Ryan and his targets in Jones and White, it should work here, in theory.
The Big Nickle defense (4-2-5 or 3-3-5) has been the preferred deterrent to offenses with two able pass catching tight ends occupying the underneath and intermediate zones while being able to account for a running back plus a couple of split ends - starting with a three man front and one downhill thumping linebacker with gap responsibility...
...bringing a safety up in the box to take one of the tight ends while the two outside 'backers key on the other tight end and the running back - the corners split the responsibility for the vertical threat and the possession receiver, and of course the slot corner on the slot and a single high safety over the top.
There's just too many weapons to take them all away, so the Patriots defense is going to have to pick their poison and take away as much as they can and make plays on the rest.
That said, who covers whom? It's easy enough to assume that Talib and Alfonzo Dennard will split the responsibility for Green and Sanu as they did Jones and White last Sunday, and that Kyle Arrington will be a key player underneath, both on Marvin Jones and also in run support - and the discipline of the defensive ends play a role in blowing up the flats...
...but the Bengals' tight ends present issues that will be difficult for the Patriots to overcome with base personnel. That's where the big nickle safety comes into play - and where Belichick is going to have to throw caution to the wind and insert his rookie defenders into the fire and hope they don't get burned.
He really has no choice. Dont'a Hightower is their best cover 'backer, but he had some serious issues trying to stay with Gonzalez in Atlanta, so in having choices this week, he'll probably be assigned to the slower but more physical Gresham and the faster and more athletic Eifert will most likely see a combination of coverages involving linebackers and safeties.
Patriots' fans should expect to see the rookie defenders on the field much of the time, as the team tries to compensate for their liabilities in matching up with the Bengals' skill players - and this game, plus next week's contest against the Saints are why New England spent draft picks on the likes of hybrids like Jamie Collins and Duron Harmon, to provide an element of athleticism to be able to evolve into what they need to be...
...and this week - and probably next, as well - they need the Big Nickle.
...catching passes from quarterbacks like - well, let's see - there's Matty Ice, a couple of rookies and a lame duck, so the only truly established quarterback that has lined up against coach Bill Belichick's Patriots was last Sunday in Atlanta, when Matt Ryan waited until the game was presumably out of reach to start connecting with freakish twin cyborgs Julio Jones and Roddy White.
But before that he was throwing almost everything underneath to his backs and future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, mostly because the Patriots' combination of Jack-in-the-Box cover corners had their big speedy pass catchers blanketed - and because the Patriots defensive line stayed disciplined and had the screen game sniffed out just about every time.
But New England couldn't solve the Falcons' banged up blocking scheme with Wilfork out of the picture and could get no push in their pass rush early, which allowed Gonzalez the opportunity to curl out into the pattern to the tune of nearly 150 yards and two touchdowns...
...so since this Sunday's opponent has two big athletic tight ends with top shelf speed and soft hands and a good pass blocking line does that mean that the Patriots are doomed to surrender 300 yards and four touchdowns to them?
That's up to the Cincinnati Bengals' offense and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden- and, of course, the Patriots' defense.
The Bengals offense is a more grinding attack than what the Patriots faced in Atlanta - big wide receivers, a couple of mammoth tight ends and backs that work well out of the backfield - but Andy Dalton is no Matty Ice, and apparently that makes Gruden nervous.
The Bengals may have the best collection of explosive talent in the NFL, but with Dalton's limited arm strength and accuracy down the field and to the intermediate sideline, Gruden has been forced to call conservative, predictable game plans and not coming close to utilizing the weapons that the team has at their disposal - and that's too bad, because those weapons are impressive.
Any discussion in regard to the Bengals' offense usually begins with wide receiver A. J. Green - but if the Bengals want to beat the Patriots, they have to learn from the Falcons' mistakes from last Sunday night - and from the Jets a few weeks ago - and run the ball right into the teeth of the Patriots' defensive line, and keep pounding it...
...because if the Patriots find a way to take away the intermediate passing game and the running game isn't producing, it forces Gruden to take chances down the field, which favors the New England secondary regardless of Green's presence.
Not that Dalton can't be effective throwing of his own free will if given a favorable set of circumstances, but if he's forced to do so, things could get out of hand for Cincinnati very quickly - so a premium must be placed on establishing the running game, regardless of early sacrifice - meaning that he needs rookie running back Giovani Bernard to step up in tandem with BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushing right up the middle to set up the Bengals' play action.
Problem is, Gruden seems to be hesitant to hand more responsibility to Bernard despite possessing a skill set vastly superior to incumbent Green-Ellis, preferring to use the rookie as a change of pace back to the Law Firm, when it should actually be a 50/50 split. Both are able in the passing game, though Green-Ellis is the superior pass protector.
In the running game, the Bengals own an average yards per carry that place them in the bottom third of the league, yet they still sport numbers that suggest a healthy pass to rush ratio of 60/40 - but this number is deceiving.
In one game, the 20-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and their terrible run defense, Cincinnati accrued over a third of their rushing attempts on the season - in their other three games, the Bengals have attempted more than 20 running plays just once, that being an 82 yard effort on 24 carries in the home win over Green Bay.
This isn't enough, particularly when they get it going to the right behind guard Kevin Zeiter and Pro Bowl right tackle Andre Smith for some five yards per carry, so it's a mystery as to why Gruden's predictable play calling doesn't include more off right guard - and it just so happens that this is exactly where the big void has been left on New England's defensive line by Wilfork's injury.
In attempts to the left side of the line, the results haven't been as steady as the combination of center Kyle Cook, left guard Clint Boling and left tackle Andrew Whitworth leave a bit to be desired in generating push into the second level for the backs, but are exceptional protecting Dalton's blind side - which bodes well for the Bengals no matter the scheme.
To this point, the entire offense is predicated on the short to intermediate passing game, playing to Dalton's strengths or, rather, steering clear of his deficiencies - which is arm strength and accuracy on the long ball, which is probably why you won't see a fastball into tight coverage from him...
...but what you will see in a heavy dose of tight ends challenging the seams and also teaming with Bernard in the flat and underneath, Green and his compliments in the receiving corps sneaking in behind the linebackers. This is how the Bengals' offense works, and it should be dominating defenses - but it hasn't been.
Regardless, after what Gruden witnessed from watching film of Gonzalez ripping the Patriots a new one last Sunday, he should be salivating with the thought that he has double the trouble that the Falcons laid on New England - and if he can get the running game going, that should open up the middle of the field for his twin towers.
That's what Gruden wants for his young quarterback, a clean pocket and pass catchers that can move the chains because when Dalton is forced to go vertical - usually to Green (though he has thrown at rookie tight end Tyler Eifert on occasion) - the results are less than stellar. In 29 targets over twenty yards down the field, Dalton is a miserable 8 for 29 - but when he runs the short to intermediate game, he is 86 of 119 for a more competent 72% completion average.
In short, the talent on this offense is held back by Dalton's lack of arm strength and accuracy down the field and by Jay Gruden's lack of confidence in his signal caller to that end - but if they maximize what the offense does well within their limitations, they could win the time of possession battle by ramming the ball down the Patriots' throats to set up Green over the top, slot receiver Marvin Jones and possession receiver Mohamed Sanu getting loose underneath and behind the linebackers, or the tight ends up the seam.
Not possessing blazing speed, Green earns his bones running razor sharp routes and winning jump balls - attacks the ball at the high point and rarely looses those battles. His athleticism is through the roof and has a lethal combination of natural height, mad hops and hands made out of flypaper - and is pure smooth hell after the catch...
...because once he gets his hands on the ball and comes back to earth, he is as elusive in open space as any receiver in the league - so he has the ability to break long gainers off of shorter tosses.
Dalton's secondary targets have been his tight ends, a pair of big seam stretching humanoids in 4th year pro Jermaine Gresham and rookie Tyler Eifert - which could turn out to be one of the better combos in football. Eifert makes many of his plays in the air, adjusting well to the ball in flight, while Gresham is purely physical but makes the difficult catch and drags folks for extra yardage.
Perhaps what has hurt Dalton and the Bengals most of all this season is the absence of slot receiver Andrew Hawkins, a fan favorite dubbed "Baby Hawk" who suffered a serious ankle injury in the offseason - his 4.3 speed and reliable hands good for 51 catches last season. Jones has seen limited action in his stead and Sanu is decent compliment to Green as a possession receiver...
...but the offense revolves around the two tight end, one running back sets of Gresham, Eifert and Bernard with Green going vertical and Sanu horizontal, and appears to be perfectly suited to test the Patriots on all three levels of their defense.
New England lost defensive tackle Vince Wilfork early in Sunday night's win over the Falcons to a torn achilles tendon and he will miss the rest of the season, but Atlanta failed to take advantage of undersized backup Joe Vellano (If 6' 2", 310 pounds can rightfully be called undersized) as they fell behind the Patriots and had to start going over the top of the defense...
...and with Ryan, the Falcons were able to take advantage of a couple of grievous errors on the part of the Patriots, and were just one Aqib Talib defended pass in the end zone away from tying a game that they had trailed by 17 points with just six minutes remaining.
But, as pointed out, Dalton is no Matt Ryan so it is essential for the Bengals to run the ball and to get the ball to their backs and tight ends in the pattern to control the clock and limit the number of possessions for Tom Brady and the New England offense.
How New England prevents this from happening starts with the thought that the Patriots have no one on the roster - nor the practice squad for that matter - that can take on the role that Wilfork played. That's gone. The ability to redirect plays by presence alone and to reestablish the line of scrimmage two to three yards deep in the opponent's backfield is gone, and Bill Belichick knows this.
He also knows that since he can't field a traditional base defense until he knows what his options are, the next best thing is to get all of your best athletes on the field in some sort of cohesive manner and turn them loose.
The need to stop the run is omnipresent, and to do this as well as the ability to pressure the quarterback with a three man rush is the key to matching up with Cincinnati's "12 Personnel" package - enabling Belichick to get all of his best athletes on the field at the same time and take away every option he has underneath - forcing Dalton to do what he can't consistently, which is throwing the deep ball.
It sounds weird, forcing the ball in the direction of the Bengals' most dynamic weapon in Green, but in successfully shutting down Dalton's comfort zones, the flats and the intermediate seam, it leaves Cincinnati one dimensional and it comes down the Patriots' corners abilities to win one on one - and if they were successful against Ryan and his targets in Jones and White, it should work here, in theory.
The Big Nickle defense (4-2-5 or 3-3-5) has been the preferred deterrent to offenses with two able pass catching tight ends occupying the underneath and intermediate zones while being able to account for a running back plus a couple of split ends - starting with a three man front and one downhill thumping linebacker with gap responsibility...
...bringing a safety up in the box to take one of the tight ends while the two outside 'backers key on the other tight end and the running back - the corners split the responsibility for the vertical threat and the possession receiver, and of course the slot corner on the slot and a single high safety over the top.
There's just too many weapons to take them all away, so the Patriots defense is going to have to pick their poison and take away as much as they can and make plays on the rest.
That said, who covers whom? It's easy enough to assume that Talib and Alfonzo Dennard will split the responsibility for Green and Sanu as they did Jones and White last Sunday, and that Kyle Arrington will be a key player underneath, both on Marvin Jones and also in run support - and the discipline of the defensive ends play a role in blowing up the flats...
...but the Bengals' tight ends present issues that will be difficult for the Patriots to overcome with base personnel. That's where the big nickle safety comes into play - and where Belichick is going to have to throw caution to the wind and insert his rookie defenders into the fire and hope they don't get burned.
He really has no choice. Dont'a Hightower is their best cover 'backer, but he had some serious issues trying to stay with Gonzalez in Atlanta, so in having choices this week, he'll probably be assigned to the slower but more physical Gresham and the faster and more athletic Eifert will most likely see a combination of coverages involving linebackers and safeties.
Patriots' fans should expect to see the rookie defenders on the field much of the time, as the team tries to compensate for their liabilities in matching up with the Bengals' skill players - and this game, plus next week's contest against the Saints are why New England spent draft picks on the likes of hybrids like Jamie Collins and Duron Harmon, to provide an element of athleticism to be able to evolve into what they need to be...
...and this week - and probably next, as well - they need the Big Nickle.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Patriots Week 4 final grades - Edelman ascending...
The New England Patriots have a fine set of shiny new pass catchers, which will soon be joined by the likes of Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski - yet even without those two top shelf targets to take most of a defense's attention, rookies Aaron Dobson and, to a greater degree, Kenbrell Thompkins have established themselves as viable targets for future Hall of Famer Tom Brady.
Thompkins is an emerging star in his own right, drawing comparisons to former all pro performers in just his fourth professional game, and while Dobson has not shown to be as explosive as his fellow rookie receiver, his potential to do so is through the dome, so to speak...
...and with Josh Boyce ready to bust out into something proper, this pass catching corps is perhaps the best the Patriots have ever had, and there's one thing that binds the whole thing together and provides Brady with a trustworthy security blanket - just in case...
Julian Edelman is a spaz.
Brady said as much in a Wednesday press conference, but also praised the fifth year veteran for being ready to swallow up his opportunity to shine after playing behind Wes Welker for the last four years.
"Very hard worker, he’s dedicated, nobody works harder than Julian." Brady said on Wednesday, "It’s hard when you’re playing behind Wes for all these years. You’re just not going to get a lot of opportunity because Wes was such a great player, was durable and Jules never got a chance. Now he’s got it and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at all."
Long referred to by the moniker "mini-Welker", it's time to call Edelman what he really is - a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, and a damned good one.
In fact, at the quarter pole of the 2013 National Football League season, Edelman leads all of professional football with 34 catches, which projects out to 136 for the season, if you track such things - but numbers can't measure what the former college quarterback brings as a skill set, and the production is not unprecedented.
Drafted in the 7th round in 2009 by a team that seems to have freakishly good luck with bottom of the barrel selections - names like Deaderick, Dennard, Beauharnais and Buchanan are recent examples - The three year starter as the signal caller at Kent State University has grasped his big opportunity by the throat, and with those hands, he's sure to have it in a death grip all season.
The amazing thing is that he was almost an afterthought in the offseason.
An unrestricted free agent trying to recover from a broken bone in his right foot, he found very little interest on the open market, but the Patriots were more than happy to sign him to a one year deal to be Danny Amendola's back up - and, yes. Here we are.
Julian Edelman isn't anyone's backup any more.
Passing offense: A-
In setting up the Falcons for a second half assault, quarterback Tom Brady attempted just nine passes in the first half while handing the ball to his trio of running backs to establish balance - a balance that would serve them well in the 4th quarter.
The also two to one ration of run vs. pass in the first half flip-flopped in the second half, and the play action that the running disparity caused absolutely devastated the Falcons' pass defense. It's compelling that Belichick felt that he could afford the time in the first half to properly set up the second half - and whether that was by design or something that was something that they discovered during the course of the half, it worked to perfection.
Part of that had to do with the offensive line getting a huge push in the running game. After the game, guard Logan Mankins quipped that "I Didn't even know if I could pass block, because we hadn't had to" to that point. The line also had their best game to date and kept Brady upright and clean.
There were times, particularly on the stretch plays, that Brady appeared to have enough time to grab a coffee and a croissant - from France.
Brady's pass to Matthew Mulligan might be his best throw of the season thus far, and Kenbrell Thompkins going up over safety William Moore to take the ball from him is bar far his best catch of the season. Mulligan is something of an intriguing prospect as far as Patriots' fans go - he's a load as a blocking tight end, but also obviously has great hands and wicked focus.
Brady was high in praise of Mulligan as well, citing his intelligence and work ethic, but also for staying with his route and the ball, despite being the second checkdown after Michale Hoomanawanui and Zach Sudfeld on the play.
"For him to go out there and make that play, that was pretty cool for a guy that wasn’t even on the roster five weeks ago, to make a play like that in the game" Brady said, and at the same time, we all notice how much nicer it is that Brady is praising his pass catchers instead of yelling at them.
Josh Boyce is also ready to contribute, and showed fantastic hands on his one catch, a fluttering ball that Brady threw under duress, Boyce snagging the ball right off of his shoelaces and using his unnatural speed to turn a five yard floater into a 24 yard chunk in the blink of an eye.
Rushing Offense: B+
Again, it was LeGarrette Blount that brought down the hammer at winning time, taking a handoff from Brady, sliding through a tool booth sized hole in the heart of the Falcons' run defense and taking it outside, rumbling 47 yards for a score.
But the running game was working far earlier than that, the offensive line generating a huge push to the left and running right at Osi Umenyiora on a will killing drive for the Patriots' only touchdown of the first half.
All three of the New England trifecta of running backs found holes as the Patriots took 75 yards in 12 plays, 50 yards in 10 runs, a 24 yard catch and run by Stevan Ridley (who knew?) and the one yard rocket from Brady to Mulligan for paydirt.
If there is any criticism toward the running game, it lies solely with the play calling on the 3rd and 4th down plays that could have salted the game away for the Patriots late in the 4th quarter. As it is, on the 3rd and two, replays showed that Blount had the first down, but the officials called him short, then couldn't find compelling evidence (again, who knew?) to overturn the spot on the field.
On fourth down, Brady appeared to pull away from center early as if he needed to get to a spot quickly to give Blount the best chance to pick up a few inches, perhaps another of those stretch plays as Blount was headed off tackle - and the ball never made it to Brady. That almost turned out to be a disaster.
Pass Defense: B
Too much Tony Gonzalez, not enough defenders. The Patriots were obviously more worried about Julio Jones, which they should have been, but their scheme seemed to lack any urgency in regard to an eroding but still dangerous tight end Gonzalez.
When they started doubling Gonzalez, Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan went deep, putting money balls right on his receivers, and they caught enough to make things interesting. In the end, the Falcons had too many weapons for the Patriots to adequately account for all of them, so they shut down the run and blanketed the deep pass catchers, opting to let Gonzlaez burn them...
...and burn them he did, and it really didn't have to be as bad as it was, but some coverage mix ups and just some perfectly thrown balls contributed to his big night - and Jones had a decent statistical night as well, but didn't have nearly the impact on the game that he would have without some solid coverage work by Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard.
Talib and Dennard both had him for an equal number of snaps, and while Talib showed the entire football world why he is a former first round draft pick, it deserves mentioning that Dennard wasn't too shabby on him either, only some perfectly thrown balls from Ryan made it through. Obviously Talib is on another planet in his experienced skill, and Dennard can be there some day.
The pass rush was effective enough to move Ryan off of his sweet spot in the pocket a half a dozen times, Chandler Jones and Tommy Kelly seeming to always be right in Ryan's face - Joe Vellano catching Ryan from behind for his pivotal sack in the third quarter, then Buchanan recorded his second sack of the year two drives later.
Rush Defense: B+
Exceptional job of taking the Falcons' running game away from them - and that includes staying disciplined on screens, which in the Falcons' offense is like an extended handoff as they use the backs a lot for the majority of their screen game snaps.
Without Vince Wilfork on the field for most of the game - and now probably for the entire season with a torn Achilles - Tommy Kelly and Joe Vellano put in their best performances of the young season, though it was curious that the Falcons' didn't try harder to expose the fact that a premier run stuffer was not where he was supposed to be.
Nothing curious as to Brandon Spikes rapidly declining playing time, however, but it should be noted that it's not a performance issue, rather, a game planning decision. But with Wilfork out for the foreseeable future, Spikes is going to have a lot of say in limiting the opposition's running game going forward, perhaps as a psycho-style downhill gap plugger....
...but the onus will be on Vellano, Kelly, newly signed Chris Jones and either A. J. Francis or Marcus Forston from the practice squad to set the tone in run defense, to take on the blocks and create gaps for Spikes and the rest of New England's athletic 'backers.
Thompkins is an emerging star in his own right, drawing comparisons to former all pro performers in just his fourth professional game, and while Dobson has not shown to be as explosive as his fellow rookie receiver, his potential to do so is through the dome, so to speak...
...and with Josh Boyce ready to bust out into something proper, this pass catching corps is perhaps the best the Patriots have ever had, and there's one thing that binds the whole thing together and provides Brady with a trustworthy security blanket - just in case...
Julian Edelman is a spaz.
Brady said as much in a Wednesday press conference, but also praised the fifth year veteran for being ready to swallow up his opportunity to shine after playing behind Wes Welker for the last four years.
"Very hard worker, he’s dedicated, nobody works harder than Julian." Brady said on Wednesday, "It’s hard when you’re playing behind Wes for all these years. You’re just not going to get a lot of opportunity because Wes was such a great player, was durable and Jules never got a chance. Now he’s got it and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at all."
Long referred to by the moniker "mini-Welker", it's time to call Edelman what he really is - a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, and a damned good one.
In fact, at the quarter pole of the 2013 National Football League season, Edelman leads all of professional football with 34 catches, which projects out to 136 for the season, if you track such things - but numbers can't measure what the former college quarterback brings as a skill set, and the production is not unprecedented.
Drafted in the 7th round in 2009 by a team that seems to have freakishly good luck with bottom of the barrel selections - names like Deaderick, Dennard, Beauharnais and Buchanan are recent examples - The three year starter as the signal caller at Kent State University has grasped his big opportunity by the throat, and with those hands, he's sure to have it in a death grip all season.
The amazing thing is that he was almost an afterthought in the offseason.
An unrestricted free agent trying to recover from a broken bone in his right foot, he found very little interest on the open market, but the Patriots were more than happy to sign him to a one year deal to be Danny Amendola's back up - and, yes. Here we are.
Julian Edelman isn't anyone's backup any more.
Passing offense: A-
In setting up the Falcons for a second half assault, quarterback Tom Brady attempted just nine passes in the first half while handing the ball to his trio of running backs to establish balance - a balance that would serve them well in the 4th quarter.
The also two to one ration of run vs. pass in the first half flip-flopped in the second half, and the play action that the running disparity caused absolutely devastated the Falcons' pass defense. It's compelling that Belichick felt that he could afford the time in the first half to properly set up the second half - and whether that was by design or something that was something that they discovered during the course of the half, it worked to perfection.
Part of that had to do with the offensive line getting a huge push in the running game. After the game, guard Logan Mankins quipped that "I Didn't even know if I could pass block, because we hadn't had to" to that point. The line also had their best game to date and kept Brady upright and clean.
There were times, particularly on the stretch plays, that Brady appeared to have enough time to grab a coffee and a croissant - from France.
Brady's pass to Matthew Mulligan might be his best throw of the season thus far, and Kenbrell Thompkins going up over safety William Moore to take the ball from him is bar far his best catch of the season. Mulligan is something of an intriguing prospect as far as Patriots' fans go - he's a load as a blocking tight end, but also obviously has great hands and wicked focus.
Brady was high in praise of Mulligan as well, citing his intelligence and work ethic, but also for staying with his route and the ball, despite being the second checkdown after Michale Hoomanawanui and Zach Sudfeld on the play.
"For him to go out there and make that play, that was pretty cool for a guy that wasn’t even on the roster five weeks ago, to make a play like that in the game" Brady said, and at the same time, we all notice how much nicer it is that Brady is praising his pass catchers instead of yelling at them.
Josh Boyce is also ready to contribute, and showed fantastic hands on his one catch, a fluttering ball that Brady threw under duress, Boyce snagging the ball right off of his shoelaces and using his unnatural speed to turn a five yard floater into a 24 yard chunk in the blink of an eye.
Rushing Offense: B+
Again, it was LeGarrette Blount that brought down the hammer at winning time, taking a handoff from Brady, sliding through a tool booth sized hole in the heart of the Falcons' run defense and taking it outside, rumbling 47 yards for a score.
But the running game was working far earlier than that, the offensive line generating a huge push to the left and running right at Osi Umenyiora on a will killing drive for the Patriots' only touchdown of the first half.
All three of the New England trifecta of running backs found holes as the Patriots took 75 yards in 12 plays, 50 yards in 10 runs, a 24 yard catch and run by Stevan Ridley (who knew?) and the one yard rocket from Brady to Mulligan for paydirt.
If there is any criticism toward the running game, it lies solely with the play calling on the 3rd and 4th down plays that could have salted the game away for the Patriots late in the 4th quarter. As it is, on the 3rd and two, replays showed that Blount had the first down, but the officials called him short, then couldn't find compelling evidence (again, who knew?) to overturn the spot on the field.
On fourth down, Brady appeared to pull away from center early as if he needed to get to a spot quickly to give Blount the best chance to pick up a few inches, perhaps another of those stretch plays as Blount was headed off tackle - and the ball never made it to Brady. That almost turned out to be a disaster.
Pass Defense: B
Too much Tony Gonzalez, not enough defenders. The Patriots were obviously more worried about Julio Jones, which they should have been, but their scheme seemed to lack any urgency in regard to an eroding but still dangerous tight end Gonzalez.
When they started doubling Gonzalez, Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan went deep, putting money balls right on his receivers, and they caught enough to make things interesting. In the end, the Falcons had too many weapons for the Patriots to adequately account for all of them, so they shut down the run and blanketed the deep pass catchers, opting to let Gonzlaez burn them...
...and burn them he did, and it really didn't have to be as bad as it was, but some coverage mix ups and just some perfectly thrown balls contributed to his big night - and Jones had a decent statistical night as well, but didn't have nearly the impact on the game that he would have without some solid coverage work by Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard.
Talib and Dennard both had him for an equal number of snaps, and while Talib showed the entire football world why he is a former first round draft pick, it deserves mentioning that Dennard wasn't too shabby on him either, only some perfectly thrown balls from Ryan made it through. Obviously Talib is on another planet in his experienced skill, and Dennard can be there some day.
The pass rush was effective enough to move Ryan off of his sweet spot in the pocket a half a dozen times, Chandler Jones and Tommy Kelly seeming to always be right in Ryan's face - Joe Vellano catching Ryan from behind for his pivotal sack in the third quarter, then Buchanan recorded his second sack of the year two drives later.
Rush Defense: B+
Exceptional job of taking the Falcons' running game away from them - and that includes staying disciplined on screens, which in the Falcons' offense is like an extended handoff as they use the backs a lot for the majority of their screen game snaps.
Without Vince Wilfork on the field for most of the game - and now probably for the entire season with a torn Achilles - Tommy Kelly and Joe Vellano put in their best performances of the young season, though it was curious that the Falcons' didn't try harder to expose the fact that a premier run stuffer was not where he was supposed to be.
Nothing curious as to Brandon Spikes rapidly declining playing time, however, but it should be noted that it's not a performance issue, rather, a game planning decision. But with Wilfork out for the foreseeable future, Spikes is going to have a lot of say in limiting the opposition's running game going forward, perhaps as a psycho-style downhill gap plugger....
...but the onus will be on Vellano, Kelly, newly signed Chris Jones and either A. J. Francis or Marcus Forston from the practice squad to set the tone in run defense, to take on the blocks and create gaps for Spikes and the rest of New England's athletic 'backers.
Source: The Pentavirate to mediate Gronkowski / Patriots stalemate
Break glass only in the event of emergency.
Maybe that's what should be happening with New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski, stashed away in a heavy duty welded metal box with a glass face, a short chain with a tiny tack hammer dangling from it...
...slide a sandwich in every now and then, let him out for an hour or so a day to catch 17 passes and get a little contact, then tuck him gently back into his glass prison. It's the only solution to the soap opera that has engulfed the Gronkowski "inner circle", a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
They have convened an emergency session of the Pentavirate in an attempt to mediate a equitable solution to the "Patriot problem". At issue, according to sources, is that the the Patriots want him to suit up and play football and this "inner circle" is urging the man-child to hold out another week or so, just to make sure.
Just to make sure of what is a matter of some conjecture among the working press, who are overreacting to reports from anonymous sources
After all,the Patriots are 4-0 without their 54 million dollar tight end - but that isn't the point
Maybe that's what should be happening with New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski, stashed away in a heavy duty welded metal box with a glass face, a short chain with a tiny tack hammer dangling from it...
...slide a sandwich in every now and then, let him out for an hour or so a day to catch 17 passes and get a little contact, then tuck him gently back into his glass prison. It's the only solution to the soap opera that has engulfed the Gronkowski "inner circle", a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
They have convened an emergency session of the Pentavirate in an attempt to mediate a equitable solution to the "Patriot problem". At issue, according to sources, is that the the Patriots want him to suit up and play football and this "inner circle" is urging the man-child to hold out another week or so, just to make sure.
Just to make sure of what is a matter of some conjecture among the working press, who are overreacting to reports from anonymous sources
After all,the Patriots are 4-0 without their 54 million dollar tight end - but that isn't the point
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Guerrilla Bill
If you're searching for reasons to admire Bill Belichick, or even to hate him, you don't have to go any further than what the entire football world witnessed on Sunday night when his New England Patriots beat the Falcons in Atlanta...
...because what we all witnessed was a group of individual players evolving into a cohesive unit - and doing so without the services of three of their top targets on offense and without their cornerstone on defense.
When the adversity is at it's worst, that's when Bill Belichick is at his best - and that comes from meticulous game planning, utilizing deftly acquired players and making them practice situational football over and over and over again.
Two of those acquired players, Aqib Talib and LeGarrette Blount, were Tampa Bay Buccaneers at this time last season, Talib preparing to serve a four game suspension and Blount floundering on the end of the bench, relieved of his featured back role by rookie Doug Martin...
...No one saw the Talib trade coming, but on the day after Halloween Belichick swapped a 4th round draft pick for the former first round pick out of Kansas, and he immediately became the best corner on the team, even while serving the last game of his suspension.
Conversely, everyone knew Blount would be moved at some point - but who would have thought that the Patriots would be his suitor? Blount came to New England on a Draft day trade, Belichick sending Jeff Demps and a seventh rounder to Tampa.
Neither was a Greg Schiano guy. Schiano had nothing invested in them because he didn't draft them, but the way he handled their situations was dismissive and cold - leading to a mutiny of sorts in the Buccaneers' locker room - which has carried over to this season with the escalating Josh Freeman drama...
...which is neither here nor there so far as Patriots' fans are concerned, but Belichick had the players in his crosshairs and took them off of his good friends' hands at what can only be called liquidation pricing.
The point is that the New England depth chart is replete with players acquired on the cheap, but not because they came at a bargain basement asking price - that is just a curious side effect of practicing due diligence - but simply because Belichick is a master at guerrilla warfare, taking other teams' unwanted weapons and using them against all of his enemies.
He did it to the Raiders with Randy Moss and to the Dolphins for Wes Welker - tried doing it to the Giants with Jake Ballard and absolutely mugged his friend in Tampa for Talib and Blount...
...and why not? It had a history of working out pretty well, taking other teams' already trained excess baggage and turning them into the mythical Jericho missile - other than with Ballard, which was a measured victory in that he made Giants' coach Tom Coughlin look like a foolish old man - and he has hit paydirt again with Talib and Blount.
Two weeks straight now that Blount has ripped off something proper to take the will away from the opposing defenses - an eight carry, 56 yard clock killing effort in a four minute offense against his old team and the coach who benched him and Sunday night's 47 yard touchdown run right into the teeth of the Falcons' defense....
...while Talib has just been playing Postmaster General since Game 1, cancelling the opponent's first class receiver like a stamp.
He does the same thing in free agency and in the draft, always looking for value in the dependability and versatility and athleticism that he covets, which can account for the seven - count 'em, seven - undrafted rookie free agents, wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, punter Ryan Allen and defensive tackle Joe Vellano among them.
So when the media coerces fans with their typical knee-jerk solution of acquiring washed up veterans every time an injury occurs to a Patriots' starter, perhaps they should stop to remember that the way Belichick has constructed his team provides one the very definition of "Next Man Up", because there's always some swap meet gem waiting in the wings to reward Bill's due diligence.
...because what we all witnessed was a group of individual players evolving into a cohesive unit - and doing so without the services of three of their top targets on offense and without their cornerstone on defense.
When the adversity is at it's worst, that's when Bill Belichick is at his best - and that comes from meticulous game planning, utilizing deftly acquired players and making them practice situational football over and over and over again.
Two of those acquired players, Aqib Talib and LeGarrette Blount, were Tampa Bay Buccaneers at this time last season, Talib preparing to serve a four game suspension and Blount floundering on the end of the bench, relieved of his featured back role by rookie Doug Martin...
...No one saw the Talib trade coming, but on the day after Halloween Belichick swapped a 4th round draft pick for the former first round pick out of Kansas, and he immediately became the best corner on the team, even while serving the last game of his suspension.
Conversely, everyone knew Blount would be moved at some point - but who would have thought that the Patriots would be his suitor? Blount came to New England on a Draft day trade, Belichick sending Jeff Demps and a seventh rounder to Tampa.
Neither was a Greg Schiano guy. Schiano had nothing invested in them because he didn't draft them, but the way he handled their situations was dismissive and cold - leading to a mutiny of sorts in the Buccaneers' locker room - which has carried over to this season with the escalating Josh Freeman drama...
...which is neither here nor there so far as Patriots' fans are concerned, but Belichick had the players in his crosshairs and took them off of his good friends' hands at what can only be called liquidation pricing.
The point is that the New England depth chart is replete with players acquired on the cheap, but not because they came at a bargain basement asking price - that is just a curious side effect of practicing due diligence - but simply because Belichick is a master at guerrilla warfare, taking other teams' unwanted weapons and using them against all of his enemies.
He did it to the Raiders with Randy Moss and to the Dolphins for Wes Welker - tried doing it to the Giants with Jake Ballard and absolutely mugged his friend in Tampa for Talib and Blount...
...and why not? It had a history of working out pretty well, taking other teams' already trained excess baggage and turning them into the mythical Jericho missile - other than with Ballard, which was a measured victory in that he made Giants' coach Tom Coughlin look like a foolish old man - and he has hit paydirt again with Talib and Blount.
Two weeks straight now that Blount has ripped off something proper to take the will away from the opposing defenses - an eight carry, 56 yard clock killing effort in a four minute offense against his old team and the coach who benched him and Sunday night's 47 yard touchdown run right into the teeth of the Falcons' defense....
...while Talib has just been playing Postmaster General since Game 1, cancelling the opponent's first class receiver like a stamp.
He does the same thing in free agency and in the draft, always looking for value in the dependability and versatility and athleticism that he covets, which can account for the seven - count 'em, seven - undrafted rookie free agents, wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, punter Ryan Allen and defensive tackle Joe Vellano among them.
So when the media coerces fans with their typical knee-jerk solution of acquiring washed up veterans every time an injury occurs to a Patriots' starter, perhaps they should stop to remember that the way Belichick has constructed his team provides one the very definition of "Next Man Up", because there's always some swap meet gem waiting in the wings to reward Bill's due diligence.
Boyce catch first step to gaining Brady's trust
With nine minutes to play in regulation and the New England Patriots with a comfortable lead on the host Atlanta Falcons, the Patriots faced a second and eleven from their own forty yard line.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had called for play action passes out of the stretch several times during the course of the game, and usually for success down the field - but always moving to the right, quarterback Tom Brady selling the stretch hand off then curling back to his left, setting his feet and firing with maximum follow through...
...which is a beautiful thing. No matter which team you root for, you're quarterback standing tall, arm cocked and eyes surveying the field without a pass rusher within 10 yards has a tendency to bring you up out of your chair. Brady had three wide, with Michael Hoomanawanui motioning from right to left at Brady's command, LeGarrette Blount the single back.
This time, however, everyone went left.
Blount, whom had just burned the Falcons' defense on a 47 yards touchdown run right up the gut moved left in tandem with the line, his presence alone now helping to sell the play action - Brady put the ball in his gut and pulled it right back out - but the Falcons had this one sniffed out, so when Brady curled back to the right, he was suddenly face to face with two very large defensive linemen wearing red jerseys.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brady saw a white flash coming across the middle about 10 yards out and he wristed the ball towards the flash just as he took a shot to his midsection - rookie Josh Boyce eyed the fluttering pass headed for the turf, adjusted his angle and snared the ball right off of his shoe laces without breaking stride and turned upfield with full afterburners engaged.
The 24 yard gain probably went unnoticed to the casual fan - the Patriots' offense finally in overdrive and moving the ball at will - but it was perhaps one of the most significant developments that came out of New England's thrilling 30-23 victory on Sunday night.
Significant not just because it was Boyce's first catch of the season, but because Tom Brady and Boyce connected - and in the process, the beginning of trust.
Boyce was flanked out to the left just inside the numbers, while fellow rookie Kenbrell Thompkins was lined up wide right with Julian Edelman in the slot - and at the snap Thompkins went fly and Edelman deep slant, clearing underneath for Boyce to run a crossing pattern, showing his numbers to Brady and then, most importantly, making the difficult grab and turning upfield.
There is nothing on this planet that will build Tom Brady's trust in you more than to catch what he throws to you, and even more so if you clean up after him. Brady may have just seen the white flash and threw it out there, but also trusting that the flash would catch what he threw...
...and now that he did, perhaps McDaniels will integrate the speedster into the offense a little more.
With that speed, perhaps it's time to see what he can do on kick returns as well.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had called for play action passes out of the stretch several times during the course of the game, and usually for success down the field - but always moving to the right, quarterback Tom Brady selling the stretch hand off then curling back to his left, setting his feet and firing with maximum follow through...
...which is a beautiful thing. No matter which team you root for, you're quarterback standing tall, arm cocked and eyes surveying the field without a pass rusher within 10 yards has a tendency to bring you up out of your chair. Brady had three wide, with Michael Hoomanawanui motioning from right to left at Brady's command, LeGarrette Blount the single back.
This time, however, everyone went left.
Blount, whom had just burned the Falcons' defense on a 47 yards touchdown run right up the gut moved left in tandem with the line, his presence alone now helping to sell the play action - Brady put the ball in his gut and pulled it right back out - but the Falcons had this one sniffed out, so when Brady curled back to the right, he was suddenly face to face with two very large defensive linemen wearing red jerseys.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brady saw a white flash coming across the middle about 10 yards out and he wristed the ball towards the flash just as he took a shot to his midsection - rookie Josh Boyce eyed the fluttering pass headed for the turf, adjusted his angle and snared the ball right off of his shoe laces without breaking stride and turned upfield with full afterburners engaged.
The 24 yard gain probably went unnoticed to the casual fan - the Patriots' offense finally in overdrive and moving the ball at will - but it was perhaps one of the most significant developments that came out of New England's thrilling 30-23 victory on Sunday night.
Significant not just because it was Boyce's first catch of the season, but because Tom Brady and Boyce connected - and in the process, the beginning of trust.
Boyce was flanked out to the left just inside the numbers, while fellow rookie Kenbrell Thompkins was lined up wide right with Julian Edelman in the slot - and at the snap Thompkins went fly and Edelman deep slant, clearing underneath for Boyce to run a crossing pattern, showing his numbers to Brady and then, most importantly, making the difficult grab and turning upfield.
There is nothing on this planet that will build Tom Brady's trust in you more than to catch what he throws to you, and even more so if you clean up after him. Brady may have just seen the white flash and threw it out there, but also trusting that the flash would catch what he threw...
...and now that he did, perhaps McDaniels will integrate the speedster into the offense a little more.
With that speed, perhaps it's time to see what he can do on kick returns as well.
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