New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

ReacherCreature

Chandler Jones for defensive rookie of the year. He's been terrific.

Son Of A Vidic

Finally got to look at Sunday's game, fúck me. Almost lost for words with the performance, they could have put the Seahawks away so many times it was ridiculous. The continuing inability to close out games is very worrying. Even more frustrating when they lost 3 games by a combined total of 4 points.

Very annoying when you see the D line make some key plays and then watch the offense squander the opportunity. The secondary is beyond poor at this stage. They are just not delivering, if they're not breaking up a play they're giving up a key penalty against us. I expect to see a few of these guys to start packing their bags at the end of the season.

Aside from hoping to draft some quality next April, we really need to sign up some experienced defensive hawks, to cover our asses in the secondary. I just hope if an opportunity arises that money is not a stumbling block. I think most of us were realistic about the question marks hanging over the secondary at the start of the season. I don't know about the rest of you, but like last season, I expected the Pats awesome offensive to deliver this season and make up for our defensive weakness.

I never expected the stuttering offense I have seen at times this season. Or an offense that would repeatedly fail to make plays at key moments in a game. That's the biggest worry for me. My biggest concern at the start of the season was the O line, but they have done a good job. No surprise that Coach Scarnecchia's has been clearly working his magic with them.

Positives from Sunday's game, Welker is the toughest little fúcker in the NFL, some of the hits he took were just savage. Woodhead continues to make keys plays and continues to make me eat humble pie after I gave out about him a few weeks ago. Lloyd is catching balls that defy the laws of physics. Great to have Hernandez back and Gostkowski seems to have his kicking boots back on again which is a relief. Jones will be the defensive rookie of the year and I hope Hightower can get back soon.

A very unBrady like performance on Sunday, but I think the savage hit he took in the third quarter might have had an effect. He took a savage helmet first hit under the chin by Jason Jones. He didn't get up straight away and he looked fairly shook. I know Brady denied it had any effect on him later, but he's a classy guy and that's what he does.

But the stats suggest otherwise, before he took that hit in the first three quarters, Brady was 31-for-45 with two touchdowns. After he took the hit, he was 5-for-13 with two interceptions and one intentional grounding call. Again I know he said it had no effect, but I don't swallow it. In the current climate players are naturally quick to play down these hits and the effect it might have.

This team, especially the offense needs to find consistency. 6 games in and I'm still not seeing it. So if the Jets don't motivate them to wake up next Sunday, then I don't know what will.

counterlock

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

This team, especially the offense needs to find consistency. 6 games in and I'm still not seeing it. So if the Jets don't motivate them to wake up next Sunday, then I don't know what will.

Rex Ryan has been talking up the Pats defence all week - its like the kiss of death

Shonn Greene's performance against the colts was amazing, but there is no chance that the jets will be able to run on the Patriots D-line. Vince has been the best defensive player on the team for a long time now, its a pity that Haynesworth turned out to be a lazy animal - those two would have made an amazing base to build the defence off.

As bad as the DB's are, Sanchez threw for 82 yards against the colts. I'd say we could be seeing more Tebow this week than the last few games.

Son Of A Vidic

We all know Ryan speaks outta both sides of his mouth, so I tend to switch off when he yaps tbh. I think Haynesworth sealed his fate when he squared up with our linebacker coach Pepper Johnson.But if any secondary is gonna make Sanchez or Tebow look good, it will probably be ours unfortunately.

Mike912

Great post CM, looked but couldn't find anything to disagree with (big Woodhead fan here). Feel kind of like the rug's been pulled out once again over this whole secondary issue. It's almost too much to take.

Didn't notice the hit on Brady. It sure explains his middling performance late in the game.

Here's hoping for a trouncing of the Jesters on Sunday.

Son Of A Vidic

Mike912 wrote: »

Didn't notice the hit on Brady. It sure explains his middling performance late in the game.

Here's some stills of the hit on Brady that might interest you.

Brady throws a completed pass to Woodhead and he hasn't even got the ball. Look at Jason Jones (number 90) coming at him. Moving at speed in a lower strike position than Brady. He strikes Brady head first in an upward motion.






Bang!!! He hits Brady helmet first to the chin/cheek area of the head. You see it better in the live footage but it was a savage upward moving power strike. A chicken shít hit on a defenseless QB.






Brady is clearly reeling here and who fecking wouldn't be.






Flat on the ground with a thrown penalty flag lying beside him. He lay like this for several seconds. He eventually rose to one knee and stayed like that for maybe another 6-7 seconds.




Brady is a tough nut though and he totally denied this affected him. Yet the stats that I mentioned in my earlier post, clearly showed that his performance was totally different after the hit.

Brady before the hit:31-for-45 (68.8% completion) with two touchdowns.

Brady after the hit: 5-for-13 (38.4% completion rate) for 81 yards.

eagle eye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLUEfD9yC8c

Gweedling

I was just logging in to here after the Jets TD about how we haven't got a chance, our defense is atrocious, if the offence play anything like they have the past couple of weeks we're screwed.

Then Mcourty. What a man.

Gweedling

and gronk

Son Of A Vidic

Gweedling wrote: »

and gronk

And Gronk again.

Son Of A Vidic

I don't know about the rest of ye, but I'm getting pretty sick of all this will they won't they business every week. Week 7 and this team should be getting into the groove now at this stage.

kryogen

Bothered, yes, worried, well, no because we should make the play offs comfortably tbh and if the team is in some sort of process where it is going to be coming to its peak from the play offs onward (like the Giants do regularly) then I will struggle through the season as a big ball of nervous energy happily!

Once we get our TE's fully fit the offence will be much more consistent, Hernandez is clearly nowhere near 100% for example, Welker needs to be involved more I feel though, and as always, for me, the lack of a genuine deep threat does hamstring the team as the opponents can squeeze the field more

The secondary is shambolic, there is no other word for it and it is a real black mark against BB imo. The D line has come up with some great plays already this season but anytime the ball goes toward the secondary we are ****ed basically, you can almost always guarantee that if they go long it will be a big catch or a pass interference call on the secondary.

A win is a win I guess. So important not to lose this one, hopefully the team can kick on, the Rams should not pose too much of a problem either and give a couple of guys more snaps and hopefully time to recover a bit more from the injuries they are carrying.

me89

Well that really was hard work but happy to get the win in the end, second half was poor again and at 23-13 you just knew we were going to keep going 3 and out to let them back into it..

Roll on next week:D

Son Of A Vidic

Worryingly the Brady - Lloyd connection isn't really happening right now. Brady targeted Lloyd 8 times during the game and Lloyd had only one reception for 6 yards. That's just not good enough, he was never going to be a Moss but I expected him to have at least 3-4 TD's in the bag at this point in the season.

PeterStrauss The Second

missed the game tonight. anyone where I can watch it online tomorrow?

any answers greatly accepted lads!

bruschi

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Worryingly the Brady - Lloyd connection isn't really happening right now. Brady targeted Lloyd 8 times during the game and Lloyd had only one reception for 6 yards. That's just not good enough, he was never going to be a Moss but I expected him to have at least 3-4 TD's in the bag at this point in the season.

he hasnt targeted him much tho in the endzone has he? I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 times that he has had a chance of a TD, and most were on long 30 yard type passes where its never a guarantee. Thought Lloyd was average though last night, just wonder if his shoulder was worse after last week than being said. he dropped a few that he has been making in previous weeks. I'm not too worried about their syncing, although I too would prefer to see more TDs but brady seems to have preferential targets when he gets near the goalline and at the moment, Lloyd is not one of them.

as for last nights game, again, we nearly let it slip when the ball is in our posession and with us to win the game. got lucky in that one, which makes a change after the 3 narrow losses.

Son Of A Vidic

PeterStrauss The Second wrote: »

missed the game tonight. anyone where I can watch it online tomorrow?

any answers greatly accepted lads!

Aside from Gamepass I don't really know, now if you have Sky Sports they will be replaying the game later today on Sky Sports 4. It's on from 14.00 - 16.00hrs and then later on at 23.00 - 01.00hrs.

Now if you don't have Sky, you can always call around to a mate who has Sky. And just 'accidentally' to sit on the remote, that just happened to flick on to the game coverage.:D

PeterStrauss The Second

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Aside from Gamepass I don't really know, now if you have Sky Sports they will be replaying the game later today on Sky Sports 4. It's on from 14.00 - 16.00hrs and then later on at 23.00 - 01.00hrs.

Now if you don't have Sky, you can always call around to a mate who has Sky. And just 'accidentally' to sit on the remote, that just happened to flick on to the game coverage.:D

Cheers mate that's perfect have sky sports so can catch it at 2, thanks!

Son Of A Vidic

PeterStrauss The Second wrote: »

Cheers mate that's perfect have sky sports so can catch it at 2, thanks!

Glad to be a help and prepare to be annoyed though. In fact, in keeping with the Pats form this season, you will experience every emotion while watching it.

Son Of A Vidic

bruschi wrote: »

he hasnt targeted him much tho in the endzone has he? I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 times that he has had a chance of a TD, and most were on long 30 yard type passes where its never a guarantee. Thought Lloyd was average though last night, just wonder if his shoulder was worse after last week than being said. he dropped a few that he has been making in previous weeks. I'm not too worried about their syncing, although I too would prefer to see more TDs but brady seems to have preferential targets when he gets near the goalline and at the moment, Lloyd is not one of them.

as for last nights game, again, we nearly let it slip when the ball is in our posession and with us to win the game. got lucky in that one, which makes a change after the 3 narrow losses.

No he hasn't really targeted him in the endzone/redzone alright. Whether that's down to Brady going for men who have delivered or something else, I suppose we won't really know. The shoulder might be an issue, but he can't use that as an excuse for letting some of the balls slip through his hands yesterday.

A couple of time this season Brady has throwing some perfect deep balls and Brandon hesitated on the early part of his route, ending up missing the pass. Where if he had have just kept going he would have made the catch. Then there have been one or two passes overthrown which looked like Brady wasn't confident that Brandon would get there.

The frustrating thing is, we've all seen him make circus catches this season that no other receiver could make. It was a bad day at the office yesterday and hopefully he'll put that behind him. I'm kinda hoping that when/hopefully they really do click on the deep balls. There could be a floodgate opened up.

Dohnny Jepp

I haven't really watched the patriots this year, other than highlights and redzone. How is brady playing in comparison to other years?
I see he has passed for more yardage than any other QB but with less td's. Is that down to him or the recievers or play calling.

I'm just waiting for that day when all of a sudden manning/brady/lewis start looking old.

Son Of A Vidic

Dohnny Jepp wrote: »

I haven't really watched the patriots this year, other than highlights and redzone. How is brady playing in comparison to other years?
I see he has passed for more yardage than any other QB but with less td's. Is that down to him or the recievers or play calling.

Well his stats are excellent as usual...

Week 7 2012 - 2104Yds with a 65.3% completion rate, 3 interceptions and thrown 12 TD's.

Total team rushing TD's @ week 7 = 10

Now compare with 2011...

Week 7 2011 - 2361Yds with a 67% completion rate, 8 interceptions and thrown 18 TD's.

Total team rushing TD's @ week 7 = 5

Passing TD's are down, but our rushing TD's have doubled for the same period last year. Brady has obviously thrown less TD's simply because there is a obvious focus this season on a balanced offense. If we learned any lesson from the SB defeat, it was that we need a strong ground game to vary our attack and to control and manage the clock better.

So considering the focus on rushing game, I think Brady's passing yardage so far is pretty excellent. He's on course for a 4600 - 4800 Yards season. This time last season he had thrown 8 Int's (4 in the Bills game:(), where as this year he has only thrown 3 Int's.

Dohnny Jepp wrote: »

I'm just waiting for that day when all of a sudden manning/brady/lewis start looking old.

Well Lewis will be first to go, he's out for the season and it's gonna be tough for him to get back next year. But he's a tough old nut and I can't see him going out on that triceps injury play.

Manning is in great form, but is it a swansong season? I think he'll be around for next year but after that it's hard to know.

Our boy Brady, well providing he stays injury free you don't need to be panicking. The guy really looks after himself, is a model professional and always has been. Even during the offseason the guy scientifically controls his diet down to the smallest detail.

Brady is going to be delivering for another 5 years at least and I won't be surprised if he break records for the longest playing successful franchise QB. Even Kraft said as much two weeks ago during an interview.

Danger_dave1

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Brady is going to be delivering for another 5 years at least and I won't be surprised if he break records for the longest playing successful franchise QB. Even Kraft said as much two weeks ago during an interview.

Can i have lend of your crystal ball ? Also is it not more likely that his level of play will decrease with age ? Not improve?

Sidenote: Not attacking Brady here, the guys record speaks for itself, but shouldn't it be a worry that his level of play could slip ?

Son Of A Vidic

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

Can i have lend of your crystal ball ?

No need for the sarcastic tone there. Just to glimpse at what I said earlier...

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Our boy Brady, well providing he stays injury free you don't need to be panicking. The guy really looks after himself, is a model professional and always has been. Even during the offseason the guy scientifically controls his diet down to the smallest detail. Brady is going to be delivering for another 5 years at least and I won't be surprised if he break records for the longest playing successful franchise QB. Even Kraft said as much two weeks ago during an interview.

Staying health is the key, because his focus and drive is as strong as ever. He is still first in and last out in the evenings for training, team meetings and film review.When he celebrated his 35th birthday during training camp, he was swarmed by journalist. Everyone one of them to a man (& woman) commented on Brady's youthful enthusiasm and love of the game being as strong as ever. His focus and professionalism is as meticulous as ever. So for me the only issue is staying healthy.

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

Also is it not more likely that his level of play will decrease with age ? Not improve?

Of course that will eventually happen, the question is when though? I'm just confident he'll be able to keep his production up for at least the next 5 years.
And where did I say anything about improving? Nope, mentioned nothing about improving. All he needs to do is maintain his current level and keep consistent.

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

: Not attacking Brady here, the guys record speaks for itself, but shouldn't it be a worry that his level of play could slip ?

But that's a worry for any player of any age. Again staying health is a big help here. When Tom Martinez died, Brady lost his career long time personal coach. Who worked on his throwing mechanics since high school. The media reckoned Brady didn't need anyone else, because his throwing mechanics are close to perfection.

But Brady hooks up with Tom House (also coaches Brees) as his new throwing mechanics coach. So you see it's that continuing quest for perfection, to always improve himself and not rest on his laurels. That's what separates the great from the good. That's why I have such confidence in the man

Chucky the tree

I'd be amazed if Brady is still playing to a good standard into his 40's.

taidghbaby

IMO Brady still throws the hardest short to intermediate throw in the NFL! He rifles it in there!! If he can keep that then he has the brain and work ethic to stay near the top of the QB rankings for the next few years!

Danger_dave1

I wouldn't it past Brady to play for another 2 or 3 years at a good level. But its just as probable that his performances will degrade with age.

Its worry for a player of any age yes, but we see it with quarterbacks they hit a certain point of no return and its generally in there mid to late 30's . You can't just dismiss his age.

I would disagree he'll keep up his level for 5 more years. I just can't see that.


Sidenote : apologies if you took offence to first comment, its just you seem very sure for 5 year gap and well its football doubt you can look into the future that much.

Son Of A Vidic

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

I would disagree he'll keep up his level for 5 more years. I just can't see that.

I'll talk to you in 5 years then.:D

Son Of A Vidic

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

apologies if you took offence to first comment, its just you seem very sure for 5 year gap and well its football doubt you can look into the future that much.

No bother and it's nice to see some decency in this forum for a change. I'm only basing my certainty on him staying healthy of course. There are no guarantees but I'm looking on the bright side. When it comes to the mental prep, focus and just plain will then he has that sown up. Him and Peyton stand alone in that facet of the game.

He's always tweaking his game and no doubt he'll keep doing that as he gets older. A lot of Pros sit back and a fall into old habits, but that's one pitfall he has always avoided. So it will stand to him in the long run I feel.

BizzyC

I dont see Brady being the same in 5 years.

Could he be starting, yes.
Will he be as good as he is now, no.

Everyone slows down with age, look at Ray Lewis this year.
He's the same Ray, smart as always, but his body can no longer keep up.