pats posits

I always thought it would be hard to top the fan experience I had in 2006 when I saw the Pats upset the Chargers in the playoffs from about 15 rows in back of the New England bench, but it might’ve just happened on Sunday.

First, a huge thank to NRG who gave us a ton of swag bags and two pairs of tickets to give away. Walking through the lots with my sister Mary, Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, George “the other guy in those funny videos” Kippenhan, and the one and only Jerry Thornton, handing out free stuff, making people’s day and meeting many passionate Patriots fans, it was just awesome.

The Pats could’ve gotten blown out and it still would’ve been a legendary day, but obviously the game ended up topping the pregame.

What more could you ask for out of a game? A blow out of a long-time rival and arguably the best team in the NFL (coming in), interceptions, a punt return TD, multiple fourth-down stops and a ridiculous catch by Gronk. The entire day could not have been scripted better.

I’m still in the afterglow two days later. Glad it’s the bye week so I can draw out breaking down the game without having to turn the page to the next opponent immediately.

Now as for the game, it’s always amazing to me the difference between watching the game on TV and in person. In person you can really see the matchups and strategy unfold a little clearer because you can focus on what you want, like when I saw Chung manned up on Julius Thomas and called the coming touchdown to my sister.

So now everyone comes running back to the Patriots band wagon. Tom Brady for MVP! Pats #1 in the Power Rankings! Yay!

Around here we’ll do our best to Ignore the Noise. The Patriots are good enough to win the Super Bowl, we are assured of that now. But can they put together three perfect games where they get the bounces needed to win the Super Bowl? That’s still a big question mark.

For now let’s just enjoy seeing the team once again overcome significant injuries and turnover and start to round in to shape.

How good are these Patriots really? Offensively, if they stay healthy, they’re just going to keep getting harder to stop. Could the offensive line regress for another game or two and some point? Certainly. And as long as they get that out of their system before the playoffs, the Pats should make another Lombardi run.

What we saw Sunday was a team that is completely tuned in and, for lack of a better phrase “in the zone”. Are the Patriots really that good? Probably not. The game unfolded almost perfectly for them. But they’re certainly not as bad as they looked against the Chiefs either.

So now what do we hope for during the bye week? First and foremost is a chance for all the little nagging dings to heal up. It will also be a chance for Akeem Ayers, Alan Branch and Tim Wright to get even more caught up on the playbook.

It will be a chance to step back schematically and see what’s working and what’s not as well.

I will say this though, this Patriots team is more well-rounded than the’ve been since 2007. They have size and speed and a secondary that can be difference-makers. If they can continue to compensate for the losses of Chandler and Mayo, they could be in position for a bye.

But make no mistake, there’s little margin for error and the schedule is unrelenting. The win over the Broncos was a nice feather in the cap, but the biggest challenges are still coming.

Just like the yearly September loss to an inferior opponent, the October blowout is another annual tradition for the Patriots. Yesterday’s victim were the Bears, a team that we all knew would close up shop if the Pats got off to a good start.

The Pats got off to a great start and never looked back, proving how an offense can take time to come together – just because they were out of sync last month didn’t mean they weren’t going to put it together.

Now, the ceiling has been set, and that couldn’t have happened at a better time. Had the Pats squeaked one out over the Bears like the did the Jets, nobody would be giving them a chance this weekend.

Suddenly Julian Edelman can disappear for a game and they don’t even miss him. I’ll be interested to see what the Bears did to keep him a non-factor. But I’m really not concerned outside of the drops that continued in this game. Edelman’s is too good to fall off a cliff production-wise. But it’s great to know he’s not the entire offense anymore.

Of course the biggest damage was done by Rob Gronkowski and Brandon LaFell who each had off-the-chart games.

For all the talk of Emmanuel Sanders, give me LaFell for the Patriots every time. His size and run-after-catch ability make him such a perfect fit for the offense. Brady’s been a lot better throwing deep in recent weeks, but I’m not sure he would truly be able to maximize Sanders’ skillset. With LaFell it’s a dream combination.

Gronk’s blocking is catching up with his route running and the rest of the NFL should be on notice –  the best tight end in the game is back to reclaim his crown. It’s not surprising that the Pats offensive rise to excellence has coincided with Gronkowksi getting back to his old self.

Jonas Grey ran hard and looked capable yesterday. While injuries always stink, it is fun to see new guys get their shots and especially fun when they take advantage of them. The run blocking still isn’t great, but given what he had to work with, Grey looks like he earned another chance vs. Denver.

Three penalties on Stork… just going to put my fingers in my ears and “alalalalala I can’t hear you he had a concussion alalalalala…”

I thought Dominique Easley finally looked like a first round pick starting at defensive end in place of Chandler Jones. Easley was strong on the edge and picked up his first sack (thanks to Vince) as well. He gave me a lot of reasons for optimism that he could be an effective edge player which is really remarkable considering I was a huge fan of his in the draft but only really projected him as a sub-package interior rusher. Easley seems like he’s so much more than that and he’s only scratching the surface.

Part of me can’t help but feel like the Jerod Mayo era on defense is over and now it will be the Dont’a Hightower era, and I’m actually okay with it. There’s a lot to love about Mayo, and I really don’t want to minimize his value to the team or how good of a player he was, but I’m kind of enjoying the Hightower feel to the defense. He’s just so strong, and even if he’s not as fast as Mayo, he’s a playmaker.

Not sure if there are auditions at slot corner going on right now or if Arrington and Dennard have not been practicing well. Nothing I’ve seen in games has warranted a benching of Arrington. Though with Dennard I love a lot of what he brings but the penalties and untimely catches allowed were consistent problems. Perhaps this was a message to step back and play more consistently and cleaner.

The pass rush wasn’t great yesterday but the coverage came through, including Browner’s two plays on the first two third downs to force punts. Those were game-defining plays and you’ll see one of them pop up in our Three Plays piece later today.  As I’ve said, third down is what it’s all about for this defense and yesterday they were really good on third down (4-of-11).

I don’t use the word elite unless absolutely necessary but Brady and Revis are elite. If those guys keep playing at their respective levels, the Pats are going to be a very hard out in the playoffs. If the pass rush comes alive that’s what will put them over the top as a Super Bowl favorite.

Looks like the offensive line is finally settling in, but they’ll have a huge test this weekend. The tackles get Demarcus Ware and Von Miller. The interior gets a chance to prove they won’t get owned by Terrence Knighton like they did in the playoffs.

Finally, I’ll headed to Foxboro for the game this weekend, ready to cross Brady-Manning off my bucket list, but also to throw a tailgate party with tons of giveaways from NRG. Hope to see anyone who’s there stop by. Keep an eye on twitter as we give clues to our location. Those who find us get stuff.

Well, well, well, so the Patriots don’t suck after all. I’ve been enjoying the afterglow for the last 15 hours and going back to look at the game was every bit as sweet as I thought it would be.

This looked like the Patriots team we’re used to seeing. They played with an edge and though it wasn’t a perfect night by any stretch of the imagination, it’s clear that the 2014 Patriots will be in the thick of the AFC hunt once again.

The penalties were an absolute disgrace but it didn’t even matter. The Pats were ready to steamroll the Bengals despite 12 penalties for 112 yards. Honestly the penalties didn’t even bother me that much –  the Pats were pissed off and I’ll take that edge every Sunday.

The offensive line had an excellent night. The downfield blocking opened up a ton of seams and the result was an explosive ground game that put up over 200 yards after struggling to get more than 3.5 yards-per-carry the last couple weeks.

For a guy we wrote off as “just a center” Ryan Wendell was a godsend at right guard. The quickness and ability to sustain blocks downfield was apparent all night long. Not to mention the pass protection which allowed just one sack. And on that one it was more of a coverage sack as Brady couldn’t find anyone open and Gronk couldn’t hold his block.

And how about Gronk? He’s slowly shaping into that best tight end in the NFL we remember. Kind of funny for all the “Brady has no weapons talk”, I guess everyone forgot Gronk is actually one of the best weapons in the game?

Tim Wright starting to come around as well. As I’ve said before he just looks like the kind of player that is the perfect fit for the Pats, and he’s still not even playing that much – 19 of 84 snaps. 

Brandon LaFell is another one who just seems to fit and Brady seems to be developing more and more confidence each week in him. Is he a downfield homerun hitter? No but he’s a blocking beast and brings size and physicality to the short-to-intermediate zones that are the Pats bread and butter. 

Ridley and Vereen looked like the backs we expect them to be and of course a lot of it had to do with the blocking.

I said it all last week, and here was Darrelle Revis on full display. What a night for him and luckily it doesn’t appear that his injury was anything that will keep him out. That was a “best corner in football” showing last night.

Not to mention how huge getting Alfonzo Dennard back was. It’s great to have one corner who can play press but having that second outside guy who can do it opens up so many doors. I can only imagine what it looks like with Browner in the mix as well.

Kyle Arrington doesn’t get a ton of love, but he’s as good of a slot corner as there is out there. His physicality at the line of scrimmage continues to impress. 

Bounce-back game for Jerod Mayo who looked good stopping the run from the sub defense, one of the big keys for this game. Jamie Collins had a good game as well, as the heavy amount of sub played into his strengths.

He played just 14 snaps but new DL Chris Walker showed up a couple times causing disruption in the middle. He could be a real find with Siliga out.

Chris Jones again showed some positive progress this week, picking up the first sack the Bengals have allowed this year. Now that he can be a rotational player he’s starting to show up both getting upfield and holding his ground.

Pats are starting to get dinged up – Hightower/Ebner were inactive, Easley and McCourty left the game and didn’t return, Chandler Jones was limited with a shoulder injury and Revis left the game with a hamstring issue but returned. How these injuries play out with two big divisional games in the next 10 days will be something to monitor.

Finally I’ll wrap this up with a comment about Tom Brady. So good to see him so comfortable in the pocket. He just had a spring in his step that instantly demonstrated he was on for this one. We can debate who’s elite or declining and all that stuff, but the simple fact is Tom Brady is still really good and still a quarterback you can win a Super Bowl with.

Three GIFs coming later today…

It’s going to be a rough week Patriots fans. Everyone will have their theory about what the root of the Pats problems are. 

Tom Brady doesn’t have enough weapons. There’s no deep threat. Belichick the GM isn’t helping Belichick the coach. They shouldn’t have traded Logan Mankins. The play calling. You’ve heard them all by now and it didn’t take a blow out to make any of them definitively true.

On defense it was pretty simple, they weren’t ready to play. They were out-coached. Blown tackles started them off on the wrong foot, over compensating with over-aggressiveness just made it worse, and things snowballed from there.

Offensively the protection was a bit better but the blocking still looks messy and out-of-sync. The running game is all but ignored. And in a recurring theme, teams are just stacking the line of scrimmage because they don’t think the Pats offense can beat them beyond seven yards. 

Thus the box is stacked for the running game, and any receiver who catches a short pass is immediately killed if he doesn’t get immediately to the ground.

The defense still has potential. They were way to sloppy last night and that is a concern – not that they don’t have the talent, but it seems almost as if they think they don’t have to earn it every game. Once they start playing like they have to earn it every down, they’ll be pretty good. There’s too much talent for them to be as bad as they were last night.

Offensively, the concerns are real and have been for a while. It’s as if they just can’t get our of their own way to get this offense to where it needs to be. Everything seems overthought on offense. They can’t put two good plays together at this point.

The hard part is that after a quarter of the season you should know to an extent what you have and I can’t say for sure what the Patriots have on either side of the ball. 

I tend to think the defense can and will be okay, but I have real concerns about the offense that run deep and have for a while now. Pointing out individual players seems like a waste because everyone is at fault.

My only prescription? Find the best OL combo and stick with it. Establish a level of trust from Brady because he doesn’t have that now. Lean on the running game more. Get Dobson in there and do whatever they can to pull some coverage away from the line of scrimmage.

Ignore the noise this week. There’s plenty to be excited about this weekend with an undefeated team coming to town on national TV. Things look bad right now, but one thing I’ve learned is to never count the Patriots out until their season is over.

The season isn’t even close to over.

The New England Patriots bounced back on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings to even their record at 1-1. It was still an ugly affair – with the Pats getting called for a whopping 15 penalties for 163 yards.

The general NFL sentiment and betting expectations were not favorable to the Patriots after their opening weekend loss, but with big games just around the corner, including a Monday Night Football matchup in Kansas City on the horizon, the Pats look to be coming into form. You can read more on the best NFL news here.

It’s always better to take a second, emotion-less look at the game before going to the All-22 film. I finished this game feeling a great sense of “what if”.

What happens when this offense cuts their excessive penalties? They will be tough to stop. And the defense looks like they are starting to find their stride and that’s a good thing – the season is about to get very real, very soon.

Here are my observations on the rewatch.

Hard for the penalties not to be the first thing that jumped out immediately. So many positive plays and momentum were killed by flags. Just unprecedented and I’m not sure why the Patriots are the worst team in the NFL right now in penalties. They just have to be better and the results should really make a huge difference.

Packages:

Standard

• Ninkovich-Wilfork-Siliga-Chandler
• Hightower-Mayo-Skinner

34

• Wilfork-Siliga-Chris Jones

Nickel/Dime Combos

• Easley/Jones inside, Easley only in dime.

Easley over center, best spot for him to use his quickness/disruption. Really like combining him and Chris Jones inside, that’s the pass rush interior front I’ve been waiting for a long time.

Start of second quarter – did they send McCourty on a blitz? Seemed like there were a few DB blitzes in this one. Not usually a big tenet of the defense.

Second drive went to double nose with Wilfork/Siliga two-gapping inside and letting Ninkovich/Chandler deal with the edges. This might not be the best interior pass rush package, but it’s probably the most balanced and effective early down package unless it’s one of the better passing offenses. Then I think you work Chris Jones and Easley more into the early down rotation.

With Fleming as blocking TE, Cannon/Devey at G, the Pats were essentially running a 5 tackle offensive line. Hopefully that kind of size can make a difference.

After first drive the Pats started dropping Ninkovich and Hightower (edges) into short zones that would allow them to come downhill and nail any crossing routes.

Third-and-three with time winding down in the second quarter, the Pats send the blitz but Cassel gets it off. Worth taking a closer look at this one on A22. They were spinning the dial a bit on defense.

Tackling and getting off blocks were so much better than last week. That made such a difference and allowed them to overcome the penalties.

Stephen Gostkowski is such an unsung story. To replace Vinatieri as seamlessly as he did is pretty impressive. Now he’s reached that level we had with Vinatieri where you pretty much expect to make every kick and an occasional miss is forgivable.

The defense really settled in during the second half, likely because Minnesota was in a hole. Their physicality and aggressiveness really stood out.

Logan Ryan is such a smooth corner, even when he allows a catch he seems to be right there and immediately makes the tackle. His interception was just the perfect undercut of the route.

Offense still looked sloppy and couldn’t get out of their own way. They’re going to put it all together, probably this weekend, and when they do expect a 2007-ish explosion.

Despite that, Tom Brady was really starting to step into his throws with great accuracy. Second-and-10 pass to Edelman in the third quarter showed how much arm Brady has left. Those are the throws that indicate to me that he’s feeling comfortable with the protection. He wasn’t stepping into them last week.

The thought of Brandon Bolden being the lead back for a full game scares me. I would love to see James White start to eat into Bolden’s limited carries. The rookie just needs to work on pass protection I’m sure, that’s the hardest thing for a rookie RB.

The only sack of the game is mostly on Cannon. I thought Brady had enough time to get the ball out, but the coverage was solid. Cannon was stunned by a good initial punch and that allowed the DL to get by him.

Not enough push from Devey and Stork on Brady’s failed 4th quarter sneak attempt. Good to get Stork’s feet wet though.

Great athletic play by Easley on his interception. He might not’ve gotten any sacks but he’s a handful inside. As he learns to be a better pass rusher in the pros, his production will only go up. He knows how to use his hands that’s for sure.

Not to oversimplify anything, but just eliminate the penalties and I think we’ll be amazed by how good this Patriots team can be. Hard to have any momentum on offense with that many penalties. And I really can’t wait to see this defense go up against a quality passing offense.

I’ll take a look at the All-22 tomorrow to take a closer look at coverages and schemes.