Don't you just love watching Laurence Maroney run the football? Nothing against Dillon, but I personally haven't been this excited about a running back since Curtis Martin's rookie year. I have a lot to say in this post, but not all in a particular category, so I'm just going to list them out, point by point.
Barry, I know you'd like to see a post on Monday...I'm not sure I could do it, but if I did what do you want? I'm not giving a game summary. How about key plays, best player and observations? I could also just post 'blank' game blogs and let all of YOU post your monday morning thoughts.
It's really amazing what one game can do to the confidence of patriots fans and the media. For 3 weeks we heard that Brady's not Brady and after the Denver loss we heard that the team was in trouble. As it turns out, the Denver fiasco was just one game. Denver really does have something on the pats and from the teams I've seen, they have to be the superbowl favorite hands down.
Kudos to the patchwork secondary. With Hobbs and Wilson out no one gave them a chance to cover Johnson and Whosyourmamma, but somehow they did. Maybe Poteat and Scott and Hawkins should have been the starters all along!
A+ to the coaches for the gameplan. I'm not as much of an X's and O's guy as I'd like to be, and the camera angles we get on TV don't allow us to see the 'exotic' coverages, but whatever they did in the scheme seemed to work very well. This was also the first game that I liked the Offensive play calling. I loved the direct snap to Faulk reverse to Jackson, that was a nice wrinkle on a play we've seen numerous times.
I hope the Pats got wind of the Carson Palmer post game comments. He was disappointed that his team didn't play well against a team they should beat and will beat when they play again. How'd that turf taste Carson?
The least glamorous guys - the ones in the trenches are playing great on both sides of the ball. Green had a monster game (3 sacks, forced fumble and fumble recovery) and Warren was right behind him (2 sacks forced fumble, fumble recovery). But let's not forget the O-Line in this game. 236 rushing yards, a 5.8 yd avg and no sacks and only 5 hurries on 26 pass attempts. This with the likes of Wesley Britt (WHO??) starting at right tackle. Britt played at Alabama and was drafted in the fifth round in 2005 by the Chargers. He was released in January and the Pats signed him to their practice squad. Roll Tide!
Through one-fourth of the season the Pats are in the top ten in the following statistical categories as noted on Mike Reis' Blog:
* Punt coverage -- 1st in the NFL Opponents averaging just 1.5 yards per return
* First downs -- 2ndWith 91, only the Colts (96) have more
* Rushing yards per game -- 3rdWith Laurence Maroney (60 carries) and Corey Dillon (58 carries) essentially splitting duties 50-50, the team is averaging 154 rushing yards per outing (only the Falcons and Chargers are better)
* Net punting -- 3rdJosh Miller makes an early statement among AFC punters for Pro Bowl consideration with an impressive 41.4 net
* Sacks allowed per pass play -- 4thTom Brady has dropped back to pass 137 times and only been sacked four times
* Punt return average -- 4thKevin Faulk's career average is 8.3 yards, but he's at 13.4 at this point
* Points allowed -- tied-7thThe most important stat of all: the Patriots are holding foes to 16 points per game
* Third-down offense -- tied-9thTeam has converted 23 of 56 third downs, for a 41.1 percent success rate
Looking ahead to Miami, the Pats should beat this team with the same 38-13 score as last week, however, the Dolphins are a division opponent and they are a desperate team. They really need to win or their season may be over. Expect them to come out with everything they've got, a desperate team is a dangerous team. Watch for the same gameplan that Denver employed, loading the box with 8-9 guys to stop the run and force Brady to find his chemistry with the receivers or lose the game.
Pats 17-13.
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3 comments:
I like the idea of posting thoughts on monday. It does kind of suck to have to wait until Wednesday to start discussing the games.
One big bonus that I saw on Sunday had to do with not allowing TD's and forcing the field goal. Granted it's still putting points on the board, but 3 points is much better than 7. They were able to keep their momentum going and that in turn allowed for big plays. If those drives turned into TD's, this may have been a different game.
It's very reassuring to see Brady and the receivers finally start to mesh, and the running game was phenomenal. I can't believe that the Pats have become a running threat, something we're not used to here in Foxboro. It also looks like they worked on their tackling. Alot of big hits on both sides of ball and proper execution. Speaking of big hits, do you think Caldwell's eyes stick out of his head FURTHER now? :)
I love when people give props to the O-Line. I used to play center, and nobody ever gives them enough credit. They didn't just provide holes, they provided caverns you could drive a truck through.
My only fear with this coming week is the fact that it is Miami. Even when they aren't any good they have still beaten us. I'd also like to see the secondary get healthy. I'm tired of this needing to pick guys up off the street to fill the secondary all of the time. I'm not saying they did a bad job last week, just would like to see some consistency. Ellis Hobbs had surgery, but I think Wilson should fine. As long as the D keeps doing what they are doing, Daute Suckpepper won't be able to do anything, and a huge showing from the secondary won't be as important.
What about kicker? My hopes are in the fact that he takes the same route as that traitor who went to Indy. He was nothing special when he first came to the Pats, and turned into one of the best kickers in the league. It was tough watching that kick shank hard right on Sunday. I think it's just nerves right now, he's filling some rather large shoes on this team.
Oh, and that ball Dillon tossed into the stands was worth every penny of the $5K. You can't tell me that BB didn't want Dillon to be the only person to make that touchdown when they were on the 1.
Here's a pretty good article recapping last week and giving some stats about the Miami game.
http://tinyurl.com/pw3cn
nice site, i'm usually over at the Bruins report but i really like the pats too, and living in canada dont get much info on the american teams.
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