PatsPropaganda

Well Mayo, Vince and Kelly are dead to me at this point (unfortunately). It’s like the old saying goes, there’s no use crying over guys on IR. As for Dennard and Gregory, I’d love to have them back next week but I think with Talib back we should be okay tonight.

This will be a base game anyways, probably not much sub unless the Pats take a sizable lead. Should be an interesting night to watch Duron Harmon. Will be curious to see if he takes on the robber role that Gregory played a lot of this season. Mostly we’ve seen Harmon on the back end in sub, now will he be coming downhill? Could be a big area to watch against the Panthers’ running backs. Harmon will have to make some hits and tackles.

According to PFF Brady’s still solid against the blitz. The numbers:

Blitzed 109 times, 5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 55% completions, and a QB rating of 90.0.

Though when you compare to recent seasons, those numbers actually look pedestrian.

In 2012: 64.4% completions, 18 TD, 0 INT, 126.5 QB Rating

In 2011: 61.5% completions, 14 TD, 2 INT, 114.8 QB Rating

In 2010: 56.8% completions, 7 TD, 3 INT, 91.0 QB Rating

So he might be off the numbers of the last two years, but considering he was the unanimous MVP in 2010, it’s hard to get too carried away by these numbers. 

What you can say is that despite the inconsistencies on offense, Brady has still be cool under pressure and has avoided making mistakes that might be prompted by frustration.

It’s going to be interesting. Everyone’s saying they’re going to manage him but Gronk’s first game back he was targeted 17 times. And his injuries seem far more severe than Vereen’s wrist.

I also think it’s going to be a spread offense-type game, and that will soon be Vereen’s main role. If he was fully healthy I think you’d see him get more touches than anyone else tonight. 

We’ll see how it goes, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out there early as the Pats go with a pass-heavy attack to soften up the Panthers defense. Then we’ll see Ridley once the defense gets a little tired. 

If we see Bolden out there you’ll know Vereen really is being managed.