PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Notes on the Patriots-Bills re-watch

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Had a chance to take another look at the game last night and as those of you who’ve been long-time readers know, I tend to gravitate toward the defensive side of the ball. 

Here are the things that jumped out to me…

– The Pats played nickel nearly the whole game (we’ll get the snap counts later today) and it was Brandon Spikes getting the start with Mayo. Spikes left due to dehydration but returned and then had a rotation with Hightower similar to what we saw last year.

– They played a lot of man-to-man defense, something we thought they wanted to be able to do, and they rarely sent many blitzers. Most of the time if was just a four-man rush, though they did send Hightower once and he caused a rush throw that resulted in an incompletion.

– In the pass rush sub-package they shifted Chandler Jones inside for Tommy Kelly and brought on Michael Buchanan.

– Joe Vellano saw plenty of snaps but I didn’t see him make much impact. He got pushed out of the way and run over a couple of times. Hopefully Armond Armstead can upgrade him when he returns.

– I heard from some fans who thought Chandler Jones was invisible but I really thought he looked pretty good. Did he have a big impact sack? No, but he caused plenty of problems and looked a lot faster and more violent with his hands than he did last year. The sacks and stats will come for him, and I like what he brings as an inside rusher where he has better size than Jermaine Cunningham did last year.

– I thought Steve Gregory had a pretty good day as well considering most of us were writing him off this offseason. He’s a good combo with McCourty when he can play the “robber” role and come downhill to make tackles. He had some sure tackles yesterday. Makes me think he and McCourty could be the two for a while back there.

Picked-up pieces after first-half review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston

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Picked-up pieces after first-half review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston

Those who have read our picked-up pieces entries before may recall the term “rub concept” in which two receivers work off of each other, typically near the goal line. In its simplest form, the outside receiver runs in, the slot receiver runs out and a natural pick is formed. We expect the Patriots to use this concept extensively this season, but not just near the goal line. With two gifted slot targets in Amendola and Edelman, it’ll be a staple of their underneath passing game, as was the case on a third and 5. The two were the inside receivers as part of a three-man bunch to Tom Brady’s right side, with Edelman running roughly five yards before turning inside, while Amendola ran up the field for a couple of strides, stuttered and broke out, catching a pass just two yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The direction of Edelman’s route gave Amendola enough space to work with to grab the first down and move the chains. Those two will be a tough task for middle-of-the-field pass defenders.

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If you want to know who Tom Brady trusts, just pay attention to who is getting his passes when the game is on the line. In the team’s final 11-play, game-winning drive, Danny Amendola was targeted four times and Shane Vereen was targeted twice as Brady went 6 for 6 to help set up Gostkowski’s 35-yard field goal.

5 takeaways from the Patriots-Bills game – Extra Points – Boston.com

https://www.patspropaganda.com/if-you-want-to-know-who-tom-brady-trusts-just-pay/

Danny Amendola stirs visions of Wes Welker in New England Patriots debut – ESPN Boston

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Danny Amendola stirs visions of Wes Welker in New England Patriots debut – ESPN Boston

As I was saying…

No one is saying that there aren’t concerns for the Patriots with what unfolded. It was ugly, at times, for a team that prides itself on taking care of the football to be sloppy. Some of the team’s young players didn’t rise up. More on the Patriots Mike Reiss has the Patriots blanketed for ESPNBoston.com. Check in for all the latest coverage. Blog • Send a question for Mike’s mailbag But at the same time, if we haven’t learned by now that the opening game of the season isn’t always reflective of what is to come and that teams evolve over the course of a season, then we haven’t been watching closely enough. To be able to win with a clutch final drive, overcoming their mistake-filled ways, is something that Belichick, Brady and others believe has significance.

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I can’t make excuses, two balls on the ground is unacceptable. I’m not going to sit on the past. I have to accept where I messed up, made a mistake and grow from it. That’s really all you can do, not point the fingers but come back to work tomorrow. I hate it and it’s unfortunate but it’s part of the game of football that I’m just going to have to keep working, keep driving and keep pushing forward. We’ve got 15 weeks in front of us and I’m going right back to work.

patriots – With help of Shane Vereen, Tom Brady again great eraser – WEEI | Mike Petraglia

Ridley saying the right things, but he’s not going to keep getting chances if he doesn’t hold onto the ball. Like permanently. Maybe they need to do The Program drill with him where he has to carry the ball around everywhere he goes and guys can try to knock it away. Even when he’s in his onesie. Ugh…

https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-cant-make-excuses-two-balls-on-the-ground-is/

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Not much time to reflect on this one and that’s probably for the best. Reading too much into the opening game of the season is futile. If nothing else, it establishes the baseline of performance and gives each player and unit something to build off of. Anyone trying to extrapolate what every hit or miss from yesterday means in the big picture at this point is foolish.

One thing we can take away is that this is yet another Patriots team with plenty of fight and that will take them a long way regardless of whatever strengths or weaknesses begin to recur.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/not-much-time-to-reflect-on-this-one-and-thats/