An Independent Patriots Blog
It was a classic opening week of Patriots free agency, with the team avoiding the monster top-of-roster deals and instead focusing on filling their holes with mid-range vets.
But with the departures of Cordarrelle Patterson and LaAdrian Waddle, more roster holes have appeared and should be addressed in the next couple of weeks as the market settles in.
Let’s jump into some Posits about where the Pats stand now and where they’ll need to focus on next.
What a win it was for the 3-0 Patriots, and this was the first time we saw the huge impact that Pro Football Focus’s second-ranked special teams unit can have on a game.
Instead of detailing one specific area, I decided to touch on several facets in which the Patriots excelled or had room for improvement because there was so much to discuss regarding special teams this week.
Of course, the work of the Patriots kickoff unit has to lead off. The Patriots were able to come up with two clutch turnovers that swung the game firmly in their favor, giving Jacoby Brissett the ball twice inside the Houston 25 yard line (both at times in which the game was still up for grabs).
[Read more…] about Patriots Special Teams Report – Week 3 vs. Houston Texans
While special teams appeared to make little impact on Sunday’s nail-biter of a win against the pesky Dolphins, Ryan Allen’s struggles throughout the day had great significance in the field position battle. Miami’s average starting field position after Allen’s punts was the Miami 17, which, on paper, seems to indicate that Allen was able to flip the field successfully on several occasions.
However, Allen left a ton of “hidden yardage” on the field, meaning that the Dolphins mediocre field position could have easily been worse if Allen had been able to place his punts with better accuracy. None of his four punts landed inside the Miami 14 yard line, despite the fact that not a single one was from deep in Patriot territory. In fact, the deepest Allen was forced to punt from was the NE 41. He punted from the MIA 47, MIA 44, NE 41, and the NE 46, meaning that Allen had a relatively easy chance to back the Dolphins up to their own goal line, and failed to do so each time.
[Read more…] about Patriots Special Teams Report: Week 2 vs. Miami Dolphins
Three months removed, it’s clear that Ryan Allen should have replaced the incumbent Zoltan Mesko as the New England Patriots punter. The rookie is 2.7 yards off the league lead in punting average (46.2), and 2.9 yards off the pace in net average (43.4). The Pittsburgh Steelers, meanwhile, released Mesko, earlier this week after a disappointing start to the year.
Proper training routine has New England Patriots rookie P Ryan Allen booming the ball | masslive.com
Interesting read on a position that isn’t often interesting to read about.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/three-months-removed-its-clear-that-ryan-allen/
The 49ers Kept Plans Close to the Vest, and 9 More Preseason Takeaways | The MMQB with Peter King
The Patriots made an interesting decision (no, it didn’t have to do with a quarterback) when it decided to cut veteran punter Zoltan Mesko and retain undrafted rookie Ryan Allen. Allen, who won the Ray Guy Award twice as the best punter in college football, is no slouch. Mesko opened the door last year when instead of ascending to elite status he plateaued, and he was average in big spots. Competitions are decided by practices and games, with the latter factoring in a little more heavily considering the pressure. After watching all four preseason games, I’d call the Mesko-Allen battle basically a draw. Allen and Mesko, respectively, were just about even in gross average (44.8 yards each), net (38.6 to 37.2 when you toss out the big Eagles return on Allen’s first punt), get-off time (1.32 to 1.30, hand to foot), and inside the 20-yard line conversions (4 of 5 for Allen, 2 of 2 for Mesko). Mesko’s advantage came in hangtime, 4.4 to 4.25, which points to a little bit more consistency.