Bill Belichick dishes on differences between ’12’ and ’21’ personnel packages | Boston Herald
Love when BB decides to dive head-first into a football question.
Veteran defensive tackle Tommy Kelly is a powerful presence at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, and plays with what Bill Belichick described as “long levers.” On a “sudden change” situation, in which the Patriots’ defense had to stem the momentum after Brandon Bolden lost a fumble at the New England 19 with 3:21 remaining, Kelly simply powered his way through rookie right guard Larry Warford. Too powerful – the veteran schooling the youngster on how it’s done. With Kelly on the interior, the Patriots have the potential to get more interior penetration in 2013. He looks like a decisive upgrade over last year’s co-starters Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love.
Picked-up pieces from 1st-quarter review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
Yup, this has got me hot and bothered…
https://www.patspropaganda.com/veteran-defensive-tackle-tommy-kelly-is-a-powerful/
Not a bad first half for the first-team defense, especially when you consider how many bad situations they were put in via “quick change”.
The second half with the second-team defense is another story. Just about as brutal as it can get.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/not-a-bad-first-half-for-the-first-team-defense/
The biggest personnel notes on defense were with starting defensive tackle Vince Wilfork being held out of the game, which gave the coaching staff an extended look at rookie free-agent Joe Vellano. Also, starting linebacker Jerod Mayo only played in the dime package, so rookie Jamie Collins started alongside Brandon Spikes and Dont’a Hightower and Dane Fletcher also came on for two series in the base defense.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/the-biggest-personnel-notes-on-defense-were-with/
Well at least this nice pic of TFB came out of last night…
https://www.patspropaganda.com/well-at-least-this-nice-pic-of-tfb-came-out-of/
Patriots vs. Lions: Thoughts and Observations | NEPatriotsDraft.com – 2013 NFL Draft
Patriots vs. Lions: Thoughts and Observations | NEPatriotsDraft.com – 2013 NFL Draft
Been saying this all along, but I’ll let Mike Loyko hammer it home:
There is no doubt the Patriots rookie class and the receivers especially are an impressive group. But, for everyone expecting them to have a seamless transition to NFL stardom, they have to slow their roll. With so many rookies Patriot fans have to be patient and allow time to develop. I think it will be a case of the rookies getting better each week and hopefully by November-December the offense will be clicking on all cylinders. The Patriots and fans will just have to take the good with the bad because mistakes are going to happen.
Notes on a good butt-whipping: Pats offense sputters, Defense shows signs of promise
I’ve been picking the nuggets that ring truest to me so far today, now it’s time to weigh in with a big picture follow-up.
Let’s start on the offensive side of the ball.
I’ve been saying it all summer, this offense shows promise, but there are going to moments of inconsistency. Granted, last night was an ENTIRE GAME of inconsistency, but I still expect things like Sudfeld’s fumble, Thompkins 3rd-and-2 drop, and Dobson having trouble fighting through traffic to happen at various times throughout September and October.
The key for the offense will be to build on these moments and not let them continue into the winter months. For that reason, it is a positive to get a bunch of them out of the way now in the preseason.
This was an excellent lesson for this young offense on the road against a team that clearly came to play (as the Patriots should’ve expected). This will be a positive learning experience, but only if they can clean it up.
On defense, I like the resiliency they showed last night as a unit. They were definitely exposed yet again in the middle of the field and that is a little troubling.
Tommy Kelly is clearly going to make an impact this year and I am more excited about him that any other new player. Plug Wilfork back in, draw up an actual game plan, and this defense should be better, but they still had some of the same problems as last year.
Still, plenty to build on here.
