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New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 8 vs. Bears

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The 5-2 New England Patriots welcome the 3-4 Chicago Bears this Sunday after a ten day break coming off their Thursday Night Football win over the New York Jets.

The Pats badly needed some time to regroup and get healthy, especially along the offensive line where Dan Connolly and Bryan Stork are still recovering from concussions. The Pats also got news that they’ll be without Chandler Jones for the next month, this coming on top of losing Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley for the season the week before.

The Patriots looked tired and had poor communication against the Jets, but hopefully the last ten days have given them some time to get back on the same page. They also traded for linebacker Akeem Ayers this week, who was buried on the Titans depth chart, but could see immediate action given the Pats’ injuries on defense.

Here’s the gameplan for the Bears…

Offensive Gameplan

Despite some up and downs against the Jets, the Patriots offense is starting to find their stride. Shane Vereen looks like he might now be New England’s feature back, while Brandon LaFell has developed into the big target Tom Brady has lacked for a while. 

With Rob Gronkowski looking better and better each week and Julian Edelman continuing on pace for 100 catches and 1,000 yards, the Pats offense should feast on a suspect Bears secondary.

The Bears are 30th in DVOA against tight ends and 26th against #2 WRs – signs that point to big games for Gronk and Edelman.

Tom Brady has never had a problem finding the open receiver, and if he continues to throw the ball downfield with better accuracy and consistency the Pats offense could find another gear this week.

Getting tight end Tim Wright even more involved should be a focus this week, especially with more expected spread formations. Perhaps it’s time to revisit the Vereen-White double RB sets.

This game will be about the pass, at least early. If the protection holds as it has in recent weeks, the Pats will move the ball.

Defensive Gameplan

The Patriots have had three ugly defensive performances – the win over the Jets and the two losses to Miami and Kansas City. All three looked the same with the Pats making fundamental errors – missed tackles, lost contain and untimely penalties being the main problems.

Those problems are fixable, but there’s little question the Bears will look to attack a Patriots run defense that has been shredded this season. They are currently 23rd in run defense DVOA.

The receiving combo of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey might provide the most interesting challenge of the season for the Pats’ secondary. Darrelle Revis has had success against Marshall in the past, while Brandon Browner’s size should be an asset against Jeffrey.

But even if the coverage is great, the pass rush might be the biggest concern. The Pats are currently 25th in the NFL on third down and they were that bad with Chandler Jones, their best pass rusher. How much worse will they be without him?

No secondary can cover forever, so it will be on the replacement pass rush parts – Dominique Easley, Zach Moore and perhaps Akeem Ayers to get after Jay Cutler and force mistakes.

Points of Emphasis

1. Generate Pressure Any Way Possible: As I mentioned above, getting to Jay Cutler could be the deciding factor in this game. If Belichick needs to get creative to generate pass rush so be it. In the past we’ve seen Belichick resort to walk-around amoeba defenses on third down to aid the pass rush. He’s not going to be sending six pass rushers every down, but the occasional slot corner blitz has had some success. Expect a healthy rotation in Chandler Jones’ spot, someone has to get the job done.

2. Fundamentals: This defense needs to find some consistency with their fundamental skills. With the extra time off, I expect we’ll see better tackling and the Pats are always more comfortable against a traditional pocket passer like Jay Cutler. When the Patriots simply make the tackles they’re in position to make and don’t get overaggressive and lose sight of their “job”, they’re a solid defense. But at some point they need to start stringing success together and it starts against a Bears offense that has plenty of weapons.

3. Hammer Down Immediately: The turmoil in the Bears locker room was well-documented last week and the Patriots need to come out of the gate with guns blazing to plant the seed of doubt immediately in this volatile team’s minds. This applies on both sides of the ball and it starts up front. The offensive and defensive lines must be ready to explode on their respective first series to set the tone and let the Bears know it’s going to be a long night. If that happens, the Bears could fold and start making mistakes that only make things worse.

4. Get the New Guys Involved: Between Jonas Grey, Zach Moore, Akeem Ayers and Dontae Skinner, the Patriots will need contributions from some new players going forward and it’s important to get them involved and start building their confidence and experience. This could come at the expense of giving up some plays, but it’s better to take those lumps now in October against an NFC opponent. The sooner we find out who can help the team win, the sooner they can start helping.

5. Win: I’m trying my best not to look ahead to the Denver game. Not only for the game itself, but for the awesome pregame tailgate giveaway party we’re throwing. But Brady-Manning is a headline game every season and the Broncos look like the best team in the NFL. That challenge will have to wait. For now the Pats have to take advantage of being at home against a team they should beat. This is the start of an incredibly hard stretch of games and every win matters. Get to 6-2 and worry about the rest next week.

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I’ve been teasing this for a while but now is the time to finally make the grand announcement. We’re having a big tailgate giveaway extravaganza before the Patriots-Broncos game featuring not only yours truly, but two of the best Patriots pundit personalities around – Jerry Thornton and the man, the myth, the legend… Fitzy!

It’s the Patriots Super Secret Tailgate Party!

Where will we be exactly? That’s the secret. All I can tell you is that it will be in a lot close to the stadium. We’ll start giving clues to our location a few hours before game time (watch our twitter feeds and the #PatriotsNRG tag).

We hope that you’ll come find us – not only to prepare for the biggest game of the season with us, but because we’ll have a bunch of awesome stuff to give away courtesy of NRG!

We’ll have tickets to the Pats-Bills game, swag bags, signed memorabilia and even some of our own t-shirts to give away! So watch for the clues, because those who find us first will be rewarded!

What better way to pregame for the latest epic chapter of Brady-Manning than with some of the biggest Patriots fans on the planet.

We hope to see you all there!!

https://www.patspropaganda.com/ive-been-teasing-this-for-a-while-but-now-is-the/

Patriots vs. Jets All-22 Thoughts: Offense Edition

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The Jets never make things easy for the Pats offense and this game was no exception. Featuring a good deal of Cover 3, the Jets played fairly conservative this time around, but when they picked up the pressure in the second half they had some success.

The difference though was Tom Brady, who was calm in the face of pressure all night, delivering strikes to the holes in the zones with remarkable consistency.

Here are my notes from the All-22 rewatch, offense edition:

Jets opened in off-man coverage and Brady-LaFell took advantage with two comeback routes in a row. Brady’s passes were a little high though. 

Jets were in a Cover-3 on Vereen’s first touchdown with five guys across the field at about five yards depth. Seemed like they would allow the short stuff then plan on coming downhill with big hits. The problem – the back left safety bit on Wright underneath leaving Vereen wide open. Big mental mistake, and one that really came back to haunt the Jets at the end.

 Second possession was a three-and-out but a nice hard run by Jonas Grey. Third down saw the same kind of coverage as Vereen’s touchdown, with the Jets dropping 7 in zone coverage. It seems like the Jets were also a little more respectful of the Pats deep passing game than they have been in year’s past. And certainly more than other opponents have been earlier this year.

Really vanilla coverages and not much aggression by the Jets so far. Has to be due to their lack of good cover corners. They’re playing some man on the Pats’ third possession but it’s off-man that’s supported with underneath zone coverage.

Here’s the Jets’ third down zone coverage, only rushing three. This one goes incomplete downfield to LaFell for the Pats second-straight three and out.

Jets send five guys on the first play of the fourth drive, but the protection holds and Brady easily lofts a perfect pass to Edelman for their first first down in three possessions.

The Jets’ zone coverage continues to work well early as Brady has a pass deflected at the line on second down. However there isn’t much pressure so it seems like Brady is finding a comfort level in the pocket.

Same coverage on third down and Brady finally finds the hole in the coverage, connecting with Gronk for a first down. Pinpoint throw, solid pocket. Drive continues…

Play-action comes next and the Jets pay for it because their linebackers aren’t dropping this time. Brady finds LaFell, showing good patience under a bit of pressure. As of now, the Jets defense certainly isn’t in his head like they often can be.

Gotta tip the hat to the pass protection so far. Those are some good rushers and Brady has all the time he needs. I think the Jets wanted to just rely on their guys winning the matchups instead of the usual deception of “who’s coming, who’s dropping”. They weren’t winning against our rag tag band of OL anti-heroes.

As Greg Bedard pointed out in his film review Jordan Devey has to have better awareness after just sprinting downfield, not realizing that the called screen to Shane Vereen had been blown up. Inexperience shows there.

Vereen’s second touchdown below and as you can see, the Jets drop 9 into coverage including four guys around Gronk. Brady waits and finds Vereen for the TD.

Brady really found his stride against the Jets zones on this drive, calmly taking his time and delivering pinpoint throws to the holes in the zones.

Final drive of the first half and the Jets start to send some more pressure, blitzing Davis and dropping Richardson into a short zone. Finally some more Rex-like defense. Then comes an LB/S blitz on the next down but Brady finds LaFell for the first down.

Great throw by Brady on the next down with pressure in his face as he finds Gronk for 20 yards. Jets rushed just four but finally got Wilkerson through as he beat Devey.

After a PI call the Pats get a 1st-and-10 at the 12 with :23 second left. First down – Jets drop eight, Brady can’t find a hole. Second down – Jets get a free rusher off the edge, forcing Brady to scramble and throw it away. Then Devey takes the retalitory penalty and we’re kicking a field goal headed into the half. Missed opportunity there, but good defense by the Jets.

Linebacker blitzes are continuing in the second half, along with Sheldon Richardson dropping into short zones. Brady’s on in this one though.

Third-and-3 and we’re seeing two deep safeties. Very surprised by this, especially from the Jets. Brady has time and finds Edelman for the first.

Just not a whole lot going on in the run game, only enough to keep the Jets aware of it. But this game was all about Brady and the passing game. Makes it even more befuddling that they tried to run on the last possession of the game. But we’ll get to that…

I don’t know how you defend the quick hand off to Edelman in motion. One of these days a defensive end is going to read it and clean Edelman’s clock, but for now it looks unstoppable.

Jets hold the Pats to a field goal 3rd-and-9, again running the three-deep, five-under coverage with just three rushing. Brady finds the hole but they come up just a couple yards short.

Jets force a three-and-out on the next drive, with their pressure finally winning some one-on-ones. Cannon gets beat on third down and Brady has to rush his throw to Amendola, who was open. Would prefer not to see Cannon rotating in at tackle any more, and definitely not at guard.

Another three-and-out due to pressure when the Jets sent 6 then an Edelman drop. On third down pressure is again a factor as Solder gets beat off the edge just enough to get Brady off rhythm. Jets pressure coming through in the clutch here in the second half.

Jets sending pressure again on the Pats final touchdown drive but Brady is right on the money three times in a row to get the Pats inside the 10 yard line.

But then two penalties back them out to the 19. That would’ve been a major storyline had Amendola not made a spectacular touchdown grab. Have to be more disciplined that close to the end zone with the game on the line.

Now the final Pats possession –  three straight handoffs to Shane Vereen that netted one total yard. I don’t know why they didn’t throw here. Brady was so on fire in this game, put the game in his hands.

Oh well, Chris Jones came through in the end.

Patriots vs. Jets All-22 Thoughts: Defense Edition

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This was as bad of a defensive performance as I’ve seen since, well, the Chiefs game, but the Pats get a bit of a pass given the short week and injuries they were coming off of.

Still, most of the defense lacked the necessary “pop” to their game, and save a three-drive stretch where they forced punts in the second half, the Jets offense basically had their way with them.

Still, they made the very last play of the game and that was enough to get an ugly win. The defense is much better than this and we’ll certainly see them look a lot better against the Bears this weekend.

Here are the All-22 Defense thoughts…

Pats mixed their coverage and personnel on the first drive, none of which was especially effective. Ninkovich immediately displayed the recurring problem of the night, crashing down and losing contain.

They matched receivers at times. Browner was playing outside cornerbacks as I expected. I really don’t think we’ll see him inside on tight ends or at safety. 

All four safeties saw snaps on the first drive. McCourty gave up a third down conversion after being in press man on Cumberland. Interesting that NE uses him not only on the back end but in this role as well.

Jamie Collins isn’t great in base against the run, but when he’s in subpackages and has room to use his speed he’s very good. He’s learned to take a beat to find where he needs to go rather than immediately reacting and getting himself out of position. He should be a good weapon against Matt Forte this week.

Not as impressed with Casey Walker early on as I have been in weeks past. He’s not getting off blocks. In fact, the entire DL is having trouble with that.

Sometimes it seems like Collins thinks he’s even more athletically capable than he is. Here’s a prime example where he needs to come downhill hard to Wilfork’s right. Chung has the backside. Collins isn’t fast enough to make this play headed where he’s headed.

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Chandler Jones is so slippery inside, it’s notable given his length. The Pats showed some looks on passing downs with him inside, they even shifted Easley to DE at one third-and-long.  Might need more of that.

There really is nothing worse than watching a quarterback scramble for a first down on third-and-long.

The shift to a 3-4 front seemed tied to their inability to stop the run. It’s a Wilfork-Walker-Jones front three. This included Chung in the box for an 8-man front.

Great screen recognition in the second quarter, along with a pressure from Easley that came quicker than the Jets were hoping it would. Small steps for Easley so far, still waiting for that first big play from him. Should be coming soon.

9 in the box and they still give up 5 yards on this run.

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Now here’s a hole. This went for 9, not sure where Casey Walker was going as he started at the left hash and basically took the whole defense to his right side out of the play. Collins is late to react but gets in the way to make the tackle.

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After sustained drives all half, along with so many games in a short time span, the defense looks gassed at the end of the first half. But they came through in the red zone once again.

Ninkovich picked up right where he left off by getting pinned inside and losing contain on two of the first three plays in the third quarter, picking up a total of 29 yards. 

We first saw the three cornerback, one safety package last year and it’s popping up again this year.  It often comes with press man across the board, but leaves a seven man box for run protection. It’s a mix of sub and base.

Twice the Jets converted third downs on their first drive of the third quarter with Kerley and Decker aligned closely together. First time they crossed and Decker got separation on Dennard. The second time Revis played outside leverage on Decker but the receivers crossed later again opening up enough separation for Decker to convert at 3rd-and-12. Nice play design by the Jets.

Jamie Collins is pretty solid at getting out on running back swing passes.

Just a dominant first drive of the third quarter by the Jets featuring a balanced attack. Had been hoping the Pats would bring some fire out of the locker room but it would have to wait until the next three drives.

Pats switched it up a bit on the next drive, going to a 4-3, then a 5-2 front. Coverage was good and helped force a four-play drive. Credit Dont’a Hightower with a good tackle that prevented the running back from converting a checkdown on 3rd-and-12.

They force a three-and-out on the next possession, bringing six on third-and-long with Chandler Jones finishing it off. Really, I don’t think the interior run stoppers looked that bad for most of the game. Once Ninkovich stopped losing contain there wasn’t anywhere for them to go.

Another solid stand, their third in a row, on the next drive. Again, more coverage than pressure on third down. Browner is what he is, a big outside corner who’s going to take some penalties this year. When he’s on the outside and has the sideline he’s effective, when he has to pursue across the field, he’s not as good. But his makeup speed is better than I thought it was.

Here’s Chandler Jones owning Ferguson on the edge, stopping Vick for a loss. Too bad there’s a penalty on Logan Ryan.

Probably the most frustrating play of the day comes on 3rd-and-2 as Geno Smith converts running it after being totally flushed out of the pocket and surrounded by Pats. How does he get out of this…?

Pressure was a big problem after reviewing this one, and here’s a great example below. Five man rush with four guys on single blockers and no one wins.

Yards-after-contact piling up here in the fourth quarter, especially inside. Defense is gassed top-to-bottom now.

Smith finds Cumberland for the touchdown to cap off another impressive drive. It was Chung in coverage, just a couple inches off. This is why Chung gets pulled off in coverage situations. Not his bag. Never has been. Never will be. Credit to Geno for finding that matchup.

They went back at him on the failed 2-point conversion but I liked how Chung stuck with Decker. Often those passes are wide open, but Chung did enough to force a perfect throw that Geno did not make.

Final drive to set up the missed field goal start with checkdowns from Geno. Good drive starters that the Pats seemed okay to allow.

Geno makes back to back throws to get them to the Pats 45 when the play essentially broke down but the pass rush just couldn’t finish him off. That’s what happens when you only send three guys. Pats then send five guys to remedy that and Geno finds the checkdown for another five yards.

Pats just couldn’t make that one final play to finish the game on this drive. Something we’ve seen plenty of in recent years in close losses. Luckily Chris Jones found that last bit of gas to preserve the win. 

3 GIFs That Defined Patriots Win Over Jets

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In a tight divisional game like this was, the plays at the end of the game are usually the ones that define it most. My choices this week are no exception. There was the Pats first touchdown pass that caught the Jets asleep and there were a few sacks, notably by Chandler Jones, that I could’ve gone with, but these three plays were the ones that gave the Patriots the win.

This first play was the feel-good moment of the game for those who had been waiting for Danny Amendola to show up in the passing game. Just an incredibly acrobatic catch from Amendola as it appeared that his kickoff returns got him into the game flow early in this one. Hard not to feel great for Amendola as he came through in the clutch like this. If he can continue to develop into a threat, the Pats offense will have another difficult dimension for opponents to defend.

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And as if the game-winning touchdown wasn’t enough, Amendola recovered this scary onsides kick on the very next play. It had to have been a frustrating start to the 2014 season for Amendola, but these two huge plays show why you just have to keep battling.

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Finally, comes the game-saving blocked field goal attempt. Such poetic justice after how last year’s overtime game ended with Jones getting called for a silly penalty that handed the Jets the win. I think there was a pretty good chance this one was going to be good too. Again, this should help spark Chris Jones in what has already been a solid start to his second season after coming back from injury.

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Previous Three GIFs:

@ Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

@ Minnesota Vikings

@ Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 7 vs. Jets

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The Patriots get their Thursday night game out of the way this week, facing their divisional rival the New York Jets. When the Pats and Jets meet we cant throw the records out the window. Yes, the Jets are 1-5, but have had close battles in almost all of the contests and there’s little question Gang Green will be up to play their rivals.

Full disclosure – I love Rex Ryan and love that he coaches the Jets. He’s the perfect Yang to Bill Belichick’s Ying and his defensive gameplans are always fascinating to study, especially when he’s going against Tom Brady.

The Jets have the right talent in the right spots to exploit some of the Patriots’ weaknesses but the game might ultimately rest on the shoulders of Geno Smith. If he plays a mostly error-free game, it will go down to the very end.

Offensive Gameplan

With rain in the forecast, mistakes become magnified, so the biggest thing on offense is execution, especially being careful with the ball. The Pats practiced with wet balls this week to hammer this point home. With two teams that know each other well an untimely fumble could be the difference in the game.

The Jets feature an impressive defensive front and Sheldon Richardson Damon Harrison and Muhammad Wilkerson should test a Patriots offensive line that has been shaky at times throughout the season. With Stork and Connolly out, backup Josh Kline, who struggled last week against the Bills, should see plenty of aggressive attacks from the Jets interior.

Nate Solder will also have his work cut out for him against Wilkerson as he looks to get his season on track.

Perhaps most important though will be the communication on the offensive line. Rex Ryan loves to run all kinds of blitzes that will test even the most veteran offensive lines. They cannot afford to miss someone and allow a free hitter in on Brady, especially with slippery conditions.

If the passing game is affected by the weather it will put the magnifying glass on the Pats’ run game sans Stevan Ridley. Their ability to move the ball on the ground could be another one of the major factors in this game.

Defensive Gameplan

Between the wet conditions and Geno Smith’s penchant for turnovers, all signs are pointing to the Pats playing mostly zone defense tonight. This can be maddening to watch, but it’s a staple of Bill Belichick’s defensive philosophy. If he doesn’t think a quarterback can execute without multiple game-deciding mistakes, he’s happy to put seven guys into coverage, send limited blitzes and wait for the interceptions to come.

Sometimes the quarterbacks will put together an error-free game in this scenario and it can be frustrating to watch multiple underneath passes completed. But usually the Pats defense will stiffen in the red zone even if the turnovers don’t come. 

This method puts the pressure on the front four of the Patriots. They must get to Smith to help force him into mistakes. If the pass rush is non-existent, Smith will make plays and then things could get dicey.

5 Points of Emphasis

1. Trench Warfare: You don’t want to oversimplify any points of emphasis, but this game will be won in the trenches on both sides of the ball. For the Patriots, protecting Tom Brady and picking up Rex Ryan’s complicated blitz schemes is paramount. As we’ve said time and again, if Brady has time, he’ll move the offense. If the Pats give up early pressure and don’t find a rhythm on offense it could be a long night.

2. Born to Run: With Stevan Ridley out of the season, the Pats must find who can carry the rock on early downs. Brandon Bolden might be the easiest choice, but he lacks Ridley’s explosiveness. Or perhaps practice squadder Jonas Grey gets a chance. Regardless, Shane Vereen must step up and make plays. If he doesn’t, the Pats offense could be dangerously close to one-dimensional.

3. Who will Stop (us from passing in) the Rain?: The Pats passing game is really starting to take off in the last couple weeks, and it would be a shame if the rain retards that development. With the Jets devastated by injuries in the secondary, it’s where they are most susceptible. Even with driving rain, the Pats must try to attack their cornerbacks. 

4. One way to Skinner the Jets: Deontae Skinner is likely to see plenty of action tonight, and while he looked very much like a rookie last week against the Bills, this is a time to get a good look at Skinner in a significant role to get a feeling for his ceiling. If they could manage to get a lead, it would be beneficial to get Dont’a Hightower off the field to rest his injured knee. Even Jamie Collins is battling a thigh injury. Tonight is Skinner’s shot to prove the Pats don’t need to go looking for another linebacker outside the organization. He might not get another one.

5. Win: The Pats get an extended break after this one – a great chance to get a bit healthy after a string of injuries the last two weeks. If they can get to 5-2, including 2-1 in the division, they will be in great shape as they approach the halfway point of the season. Tom Brady hasn’t lost an AFC East game at home since 2006 and the streak should continue if the Pats play their usual clean game.

Patriots vs. Bills All 22 Thoughts: Offense Edition

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We learned a lot about the New England Patriots offense against the Bills. Are they perfectly unstoppable yet? Nope. But they have a resiliency about them that was shown multiple times in this game. 

The protection continues to improve, as does Rob Gronkowski. Along with Edelman and Brandon LaFell the Pats’ attack is looking more and more diverse with each game and that’s a great thing.

While the questions swirl around how they’ll replace Stevan Ridley, there are plenty of other things to feel good about with this offense.

Here’s what stood out on the All 22 film re-watch, offense edition.

Communication on the offensive line stood out on the first third down of the day. Adjusting and passing guys off in perfect sync. This is what takes time to build and the better results are obvious.

Just overall the pocket is much cleaner now as well. No longer is it total chaos with guys flailing all over the place.

Josh Kline whiffs on Dareus on the second drive but Brady already got the ball out. Still, Kline fights pretty hard. Not sure how he wasn’t in the mix early in the year, perhaps injury?

Not sure why we’re running into this front…

Kinda strange to throw a WR screen to Brandon LaFell with Amendola and Edelman blocking for him, but I guess that’s the unexpected.

Ah, the fullback dive… I have a bad feeling we’ll be seeing Develin with more of these. And I like Develin, but the OL just doesn’t seem to be explosive enough off the ball to open those quick seams up front.

It’s really amazing how the Pats neutralized Brandon Spikes in this one. Spikes is a devastating run blocker but the Pats’ game plan completely took him out of the equation.

Not sure what Nate Solder was doing on the sack he gave up in the second quarter. He looked down on the snap and opened the door for Hughes. If he just squares up there’s no sack. Might’ve been a communication thing.

Give Buffalo’s D some credit they swarmed the ball in the running game. Their secondary just couldn’t disrupt Brady’s timing in the pass game.

The next pressure Solder gave up on the next possession was all him though, Hughes just got under him and flew around the corner to flush Brady out. That was the one that got him a seat on the bench the next possession.

If Brady wasn’t pulling it down after looking at Gronk (in middle) he might’ve had Amendola on the out up top.

Ridley’s best run of the day came off a quick snap that the Bills weren’t ready for. Guess you have to get them any way you can.

Spikes gets stuck covering LaFell on a third quarter third down and totally misses the jam allowing a free release. LaFell finds the open zone in the middle of the field and takes it for a first down. 

Still just so impressed with Tyms’ touchdown catch. I really hope this is just the beginning with him, he has real deep ball talent. Still, if I’m an opposing defense and I see him come on the field there’s one route I’m bailing and covering downfield.

Gronk did a lot of damage on the outside matched up against cornerbacks. Such a tough assignment for a guy six feet or under.

Total whiff by Josh Kline pulling for Ridley in the third quarter, okay maybe that’s why he was stuck on the bench. BTW – how have I not noticed Jordan Devey yet?

 For a guy known for his blocking, LaFell didn’t get anything of his man on the play Ridley got injured. Tough to see again…

Still wondering where the hard-charging-downhill Brandon Spikes was this game. Not that I’m complaining.

Pretty impressive how in sync Edelman and Brady are. He just continues to make it look like Wes Welker never left.

There wasn’t much there for him, but Brandon Bolden sure ain’t generating anything on his own. Is he really about to be the lead early-down back?

 This is what it has to look like for Bolden to pick up a chunk of yardage:

Wow, just saw Devey make an open field block to spring Gronk late in the fourth. I don’t know, maybe he isn’t a total loss?

Such a perfect play on LaFell’s touchdown for so many reasons. Offense showing “finish”. Brady showing faith in a new receiver. Love it.

Bolden is not turning this into anything but a loss:

The third-and-long conversion to Gronkowski was one of the best plays of the day. Protection was strong and Brady stood tall and waited for Gronk to get open.

The second LaFell touchdown to close it out was just the icing on the cake.