Lots of darksiders out in full force today. But you know what, I'm going to say something that needs to be said. This is a good team. Things I liked: 1. Everyone seems to be whining about how our o-line sucks. Guys, the NE front 7 is the best front 7 in football. Seymour is the second best player on that team and they have some pretty good linebackers. That we could get Chad some time to throw when he did tells me that our o-line will be able to play with them next time when the run-blocking is better. Our o-line has a pretty bright future. Lots of young guys that are getting better and better. 2. We have some top-caliber receivers. A lot of people thought that our skill positions were a problem. I actually think our receivers can compare pretty favorably with any other in the league. That catch and run by Coles makes me think that we need him out in the open field on slants and things more often. 3. Chad is a great QB. He is a little stiff in the pocket at times, but man, does the guy have a great touch. His short passes are about as accurate as can be. I think we should use the short pass as our running game instead of our actual running game. Things I didn't like: 1. Our running game looked bad. Granted, it's against the best front-7 in football, but we have some problems running up the gut, where good running teams go. I'm not sure why we're not employing some sort of draw-runs that made C-Mart so successful over the years. It seems pretty well-suited to Barlow's talents. 2. Our d-line really needs to play more physically. We got blown off the ball at times against the run and couldn't sack Brady on obvious passing downs. The real difference in the game was the Pat's 3rd down conversions. If we stop just two or three more, we have a chance coming into the final drive. 3. Our secondary got a bit lazy and undisciplined. How that rookie got so open against Dyson at the end of the first half is beyond me. The penalties sucked as well. The Pats had a good game plan: run and pass to tight ends. We really couldn't match up against their tight ends. The decision to go for it on 4th and inches was fine, but honestly, why aren't we using the QB sneak on 4th and inches?!? Play-action there would have sent us in the end-zone. Coaching-wise, we did okay, but again, this is against the best coach in the league, so I'm not too worried. Next week we go against Buffalo, who has a solid pass-rush. I'm a bit worried about that, but at least we can run against them.
All in all a decent post. i do agree that this team will not be as big of a dissapointment as some may have thought. i started off thinking 5-7 wins, now i'm thinking maybe 7-9 wins. the one thing you said about running on buffalo.... i disagree with. i honestly don't think we will be able to run effectively against any team this year.
Yea the running game looked horrible.....(where's Houston)...That Bills crowd is gonna be in full force.....we have to run it if we wanna chance 2 win.....
one thing i will like to add to this is Barton should not be covering Tes.. Watson and graham where just going right by him.
The past two games, we went against some pretty tough, run-stuffing teams. Haynesworth is a monster and Seymour/Wolfork/Warren are run-stuffers as well. Buffalo has more of a pass-rush type feel to them. Should be a good game. I think we'll match up okay with them.
Very tough game (Patriots). I'm disappointed in our Def overall... thought they could have played better. Constant 3rd-down conversions killed us and Brady had very little pressure throughout the game, except in several instances. With little or no pressure on Brady, it gave him time to pick our secondary apart. This also helped their running game, especially Maroney. Things could have been different had our Defensive line performed better. Mangini did the best he could (pulling Catnip and inserting Jones), but it was too little too late and still not the right personnel for that matchup.
