Thru 2 weeks, the Patriots have run 153 plays from scrimmage & 13 in no huddle–11.8%. Last 2 years, they were in no huddle an avg. of 25%.
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) September 14, 2013
No one said this would be seamless. We all knew there would be growing pains, even if the ones we’ve seen the first two games have been a bit more extreme than anticipated. Brady previously said he’s had to be more of a teacher this year, which requires more patience because this might be the greatest challenge of his career, breaking in the young guys.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/no-one-said-this-would-be-seamless-we-all-knew/
There has to be something going on injury-wise with Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. He’s never going to wow with quarterback pressure, but he has been elite at taking on double teams and holding his gap against the run. Wilfork struggled mightily with that in the first two games, to the point that Jets guard Vlad Ducasse completely handled him on Thursday night. This is something to watch because the Patriots are basically playing a three-man tackle rotation with Wilfork, Tommy Kelly (who also tired against the Bills) and undrafted free agent Joe Vellano. That’s all the Patriots have.
Greg Bedard’s NFL Weekend Notes Column | The MMQB with Peter King
Of all the negativity and criticism surrounding the Pats at this moment, nothing worries me more than this…
https://www.patspropaganda.com/there-has-to-be-something-going-on-injury-wise/
ReFo: NYJ @ NE, Week 2 | ProFootballFocus.com
ReFo: NYJ @ NE, Week 2 | ProFootballFocus.com
In our premium section you will see a large block of red on the Patriots’ defensive page for this game, as the front seven struggled against the Jets’ run blockers. The exception in that defensive front was Rob Ninkovich whose four stops, five pressures and a forced fumble earned him a 3.2 overall grade. His first stop came off the back of Geno Smith reversing field toward him on a read-option play, but thereafter Ninkovich was his usual hard working self. His forced fumble from Chris Ivory got him underway in the second quarter, and he built on that with two hurries and a hit in a strong second quarter — with a stunt for a tackle for loss highlighting his second half work. Ninkovich’s run defense was also his strong suit in Week 1, when he racked up six defensive stops against the Bills. Through two games, Ninkovich has already matched his output from the first month of last season with 10 stops.
Picked-up pieces from 2nd-half review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
Picked-up pieces from 2nd-half review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
First-down rushing plays (non kneel-downs) in the second half for the Patriots: Minus-1 yard, 1 yard, 7 yards, 2 yards, minus-1 yard, 5 yards, 0 yards. There was just not enough positive momentum on first down in the running game, which set up undesirable long yardage situations on second and third down. Some of the credit goes to a tough Jets defense. But I also trace it back to the first quarter when the Patriots had some good things going in the running game and seemed to get away from the chance to build momentum and more balance there. Hard to turn it on and off like that (24 passes vs. 12 rushes at the half).
I don’t really have any expectations for any rookie players. We just coach them from the day they get here. We try to get every player to improve and just get better and learn our system and become a better football player in the NFL. That’s a process. Some guys go at different rates, I’ve learned that through a lot of experience. Some players start quickly and fizzle out. Some players start slowly and come on strong. Some players are more steady than others. You really don’t know that until their rookie season is over, what the rate is or how it’s all going to turn out. You just take it day-to-day, get better on a daily basis and teach them all the things that you can teach them, get them the practice time you can practice them with, correct all the mistakes and keep moving forward. That’s what being a rookie is in the National Football League. It’s a great learning experience every day, every week and hopefully at the end of that rookie season, the player has accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience and is able to use that as a good springboard the rest of his career.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-dont-really-have-any-expectations-for-any/
First off: love the blog and your insight to all things Pats. Now: while the offense was beyond sloppy last night I do think there were positives. Brady seemed determined to push the ball downfield and KT and Dobson seemed to get behind jets coverage pretty well. And Brady did target them often because he knows he has to get them acclimated. You agree? I’m surprised they haven’t tried using Boyce on some of the screen passes considering his speed.
Thank you! Getting a lot of these kind of questions today, let’s hit on Boyce first because even I expected he’d get more snaps than he did. What can we say? Clearly the Pats don’t think he’s ready yet based on what he’s shown in practice and we haven’t seen.
The fact that Dobson and Thompkins were getting open downfield is huge. Again, they just need to catch the ball. And that Brady keeps going to them is a good sign. He has no choice really, and I continue to believe that in the long run, it will make things that much better.
Dare I say it, but we might’ve found a couple DEEEEEEEP THREATS!
