Fun look at a punt return from Oliver Thomas.
Transformer: How return of Shane Vereen changes Patriots offense – WEEI | Christopher Price
Transformer: How return of Shane Vereen changes Patriots offense – WEEI | Christopher Price
More Vereen anticipation, the hot-button topic of the post-bye week.
At least when it comes to short-term expectations, pumping the brakes might be the best course of action when it comes to the expectation level regarding Vereen. He’s a dynamic offensive option – the most versatile presence the Patriots have – but needs to have a week or two before he returns to full speed. It takes time to build up the cardio needed to play 60 minutes worth of football: as Bill Belichick has said on a number of occasions, you can’t get in football shape by running around the track.
Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript
Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript
Q: According to last year’s statistics, Carolina led the league in read-option plays. Has going against other read-option teams already this year helped you in your preparation for Monday night’s game?
BB: I think our exposure to it going all the way back to Philadelphia in preseason, working against the Eagles and of course we saw some of it last year, especially against San Francisco. We knew coming into the season this was going to be an area we needed to make sure that we had enough defense for and we spent enough time so our players understood their different responsibilities with this type of offense.
Simply put, Reed’s eyes move faster than his legs. At 35, Reed does not have the speed and functional mobility he had during the prime years of his career. Where this limitation shows up most is on downfield throws on which he needs to drift from his center field alignment to provide aid over the top to a cornerback.
Analysis: Could Ed Reed help the New England Patriots? – ESPN Boston
As I mentioned yesterday, it’s a long shot for Reed to end up in New England. Given his lack of range the only real place I could see him is at the third safety spot in the sub-packages.
This could work because it would only give him half the field to worry about and between him and McCourty covering deep it would be a pretty good tandem defending against Peyton next weekend.
I get why Pats fans are clamoring for him, but we’re about three years too late for the real Ed Reed. Still, if the move was made, I think he could help in some ways.
Get your Patriots tickets!
https://www.patspropaganda.com/simply-put-reeds-eyes-move-faster-than-his-legs/
Expectations for Shane Vereen will be high when he returns to the field | masslive.com
Expectations for Shane Vereen will be high when he returns to the field | masslive.com
Totally with Nick Underhill on his quote below and like him, I wonder if we’re expecting too much. Vereen has flashed a lot in the recent games he’s played, but he was also invisible in the AFC Championship (4 carries, 4 targets 38 total yards), a game where the Pats needed a spark on offense. We’ll see…
I see Vereen, operating out of the hurry-up offense, stepping around a couple defensive linemen and then outrunning a linebacker for a big gain. I picture him catching a screen pass and then splitting out wide on the next down. My vision, basically, is Vereen serving as the new Aaron Hernandez, the multifaceted weapon who makes the no-huddle offense hum. Maybe my expectations are unreasonable, maybe Vereen won’t be that type of player, but big things will be expected from the running back when he returns from injured reserve following a Week 1 wrist injury, which could happen as soon as Monday night against the Carolina Panthers.
Rob Gronkowski – GameTime By UNO (by Team Uno)
A Gronk rap for Wednesday. Gronk has taken his off the field game to a new level since returning from injury. It’s like he has a full-time team working around the clock putting together events and videos. Kinda prefer he’d save this stuff for the offseason. Oh well, never a dull moment…
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/rob-gronkowski-gametime-by-uno-by-team-uno-a/
did you watch panthers and 49ers? thoughts on the panthers?
Just watched a few of the Panthers’ games and I came away really impressed with their defense. Kuechly is the kind of linebacker I wish Mayo was. He’s the kind of linebacker the Pats defense needs, as I heard him called, a 360 degree linebacker.
They have a good rotation at defensive tackle which goes four deep, another thing the Pats need, and have two strong defensive ends in Johnson and Hardy. All of them can get after the quarterback so the Pats offensive line will have to play their best game of the season.
I think defensively they should be an excellent challenge for the Pats’ offense, and hopefully Shane Vereen is back to bring a new twist into the fold.
I think the gameplan will call for a lot of spread and hurry-up to keep the Panthers pass rushers on their heels and to limit how much they can rotate their defensive tackles.
Offensively I still see a lot of inconsistency from Cam Newton, but it’s their running backs that I’m most concerned with. Given the Pats’ problems against the run they could cause real problems.
Overall, I think the defensive game plan will be similar to what it was against the Steelers – make Cam beat them from the pocket.
In a perfect world, the Pats would grab a lead and that would take the Panthers out of their comfort zone offensively. If the Pats fall behind the Panthers could be really tough to catch up on, though I do think the Pats will throw the ball a lot and that’s why Vereen’s return would be key.
