Pats vs Texans: The buildup
- Thread starter jsinger121
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Having re-watched the Pats-Fins game, I note a few things related to the topics in this and other threads:
- Brady may have a thigh or a knee (in Al Michaels parlance), but between his 6 yard run for a first down early in the game and his general fluidity in the pocket, I doubt that it will have much impact on him on Saturday night unless it gets tweaked or worse; this is very low on my list of worries;
- the Pats have benefited from competent officiating for the last several games; there are always missed calls but I can't remember a stinker or anything that was worthy of discussion since the arguable PI on Gronk against Seatlle; and even there the zebras probably got it right; the NFL giving them Pete Morelli feels like a FU from Roger; the scarier thought is that they could see that assclown against in the SB (as they did with Vinovich in the divisional round and SB 49); there wasn't a single call in the Miami game that gave rise to my knee jerk, heat of the game "the NFL is trying to screw them" overreaction; somehow, I doubt we will be this fortunate on Saturday night;
- if I were in Bill's shoes, I would have Floyd active for this coming game; he made three plays that I'm not sure another WR on the Pats would have made -- the TD with four guys on him for about three yards, the highlight block of the season and the high point catch along the sidelines; not saying no one could make those plays but it took a certain level of strength, height and/or physicality to make them, and Floyd definitely has a leg up on the other 4 guys; it would be a tough decision but I would either de-activate Mitchell on the theory that being a veteran and the punt returning duties gives Amendola an edge or go with 5 WRs.
- that the Pats' THIRD WR for SB 36 was the immortal Charles Johnson, who was not good enough to be even regarded as a decoy during that game, makes this discussion all the more remarkable;
- Bill's ability to consistently get something out of players who others discarded or lightly valued would be amazing if it was not something we have seen for all these years; the SB 36 team was littered with such players but even now, seeing the likes of Van Noy, Lengel, Develin, McClellin and others out there making plays and contributing says a lot about Bill, Caserio (that he is staying is quietly awesome news in my opinion) and whoever else has a say in their pro scouting; and that ignores the great work they do in acquiring special teams players; and
- not that I think that any of the three candidates would beat the Pats, but I think they were fortunate to miss the Fins; that team had periods of offensive dominance in both regular season games and as Speier touched on in today's Globe, a team that knows you well generally has a better shot at pulling an upset.
PS: If you have not re-watched that block at game speed in a few days, I highly recommend it. Is there a better candidate for Most Enjoyable Play of the Regular Season?
- Brady may have a thigh or a knee (in Al Michaels parlance), but between his 6 yard run for a first down early in the game and his general fluidity in the pocket, I doubt that it will have much impact on him on Saturday night unless it gets tweaked or worse; this is very low on my list of worries;
- the Pats have benefited from competent officiating for the last several games; there are always missed calls but I can't remember a stinker or anything that was worthy of discussion since the arguable PI on Gronk against Seatlle; and even there the zebras probably got it right; the NFL giving them Pete Morelli feels like a FU from Roger; the scarier thought is that they could see that assclown against in the SB (as they did with Vinovich in the divisional round and SB 49); there wasn't a single call in the Miami game that gave rise to my knee jerk, heat of the game "the NFL is trying to screw them" overreaction; somehow, I doubt we will be this fortunate on Saturday night;
- if I were in Bill's shoes, I would have Floyd active for this coming game; he made three plays that I'm not sure another WR on the Pats would have made -- the TD with four guys on him for about three yards, the highlight block of the season and the high point catch along the sidelines; not saying no one could make those plays but it took a certain level of strength, height and/or physicality to make them, and Floyd definitely has a leg up on the other 4 guys; it would be a tough decision but I would either de-activate Mitchell on the theory that being a veteran and the punt returning duties gives Amendola an edge or go with 5 WRs.
- that the Pats' THIRD WR for SB 36 was the immortal Charles Johnson, who was not good enough to be even regarded as a decoy during that game, makes this discussion all the more remarkable;
- Bill's ability to consistently get something out of players who others discarded or lightly valued would be amazing if it was not something we have seen for all these years; the SB 36 team was littered with such players but even now, seeing the likes of Van Noy, Lengel, Develin, McClellin and others out there making plays and contributing says a lot about Bill, Caserio (that he is staying is quietly awesome news in my opinion) and whoever else has a say in their pro scouting; and that ignores the great work they do in acquiring special teams players; and
- not that I think that any of the three candidates would beat the Pats, but I think they were fortunate to miss the Fins; that team had periods of offensive dominance in both regular season games and as Speier touched on in today's Globe, a team that knows you well generally has a better shot at pulling an upset.
PS: If you have not re-watched that block at game speed in a few days, I highly recommend it. Is there a better candidate for Most Enjoyable Play of the Regular Season?
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I think any of the Patriots WRs make that block (though maybe not a knockout type block, Edelman always scores there). Hogan and Mitchell have been good blockers this year, and Amendola has always been good in that area, too.
I do think Floyd is a candidate to get playing time over Mitchell because he does have some physical gifts no one else has. Seems like he may get some of the red zone work that might otherwise have gone to Gronk. Would not surprise me to see Mitchell inactive if Amendola is healthy.
Edelman is a vicious blocker, he lights Lippett up there every time. Dola and Hogan probably do too. I agree with the general argument that Floyd's physical gifts are unique and important, but that block was more about awareness. You don't have to be huge to lay a guy out when he's not looking.
Yes, that is true. I thought about qualifying that comment, as I know that of the three plays I mentioned, that the block was most likely made by the others. That having been said, I would worry about Julian hurting himself while making such a block. As vicious of a blocker as he is, I don't recall him blowing up an opponent to that extent, ever, and I always worry Edelman's balls to the walls style of play hurting him, and that kind of play could do just that given his size.
Chad Johnson, but still... This just brought back the memory I have of that game, following Johnson's catch (his only one, but for 21 yards!), where a buddy of mine, not a fan of either team, posted on Facebook "Wait...OchoCinco is on the Patriots now? WTF?"
That about summed up that experiment.
Don't disagree generally, but in terms of him making a block like that, he nearly killed a guy on the Bills back in 09 or 10 I think. On phone so hard to link, but it's in his highlight reel for sure.
I assume northumb was referencing BernieRicoBoomer's video a couple posts up, but the one I think of is an Edelman block during a Gronk reception a couple years back. It was one of those amazing Gronk catches where he runs for about 25 yards after the catch. But part of it was Edelman blowing up a guy. I'll see if I can find it.
In 2001, it was Charles Johnson.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnCh00.htm
You're thinking about 2007.
And all, point taken on Julian. He has had some great blocks. In fairness, I put that Floyd Block way up in there in the pantheon on Patriots WR Blow Ups. But either way, Julian can and has delivered some crushing blocks and they worry me each time given his importance to the team's prospects.
The Pats' receiving stats in 36 are amazing to behold. Only three WR/TE caught passes in the game; 6 to Brown, 2 to Wiggins, 1 to Patten. Redmond was the #2 pass-catcher in the game going 3 for 24, all in the final drive.
Checking the play log again, pre-BBTL SoSH must have lost its collective shit when Ken Walter hit a 30 yard punt OOB to put the Rams at the 45 to begin their final drive.
Checking the play log again, pre-BBTL SoSH must have lost its collective shit when Ken Walter hit a 30 yard punt OOB to put the Rams at the 45 to begin their final drive.
Just heard Perillo say on 98.5 that Houston's point differential is the worst for a playoff team in 25 years.
Edelman block on Gronk TD vs Colts. Not lit up as bad as Edelman block posted before. But it is the one I thought of too, on one of my favorite Gronk TDs.
Is it just me or is it surprising to hear Mitchell sitting vs Amendola, he seems to be very similar to Edelman. Mitchell brings a different offensive threat to the offense with himself, Edelman, Hogan and Floyd out there. This game just seems ripe for Mitchell to have a huge impact in 3 WR sets, I get the duplication potentially with Hogan/Mitchell and Floyd but to me it just seems Mitchell is more valuable and Edelman will likely be fielding punts anyways...
It's been talked about in the WR crunch thread, but as of right now Mitchell is listed as a limited participant in practice, where as Amendola was a full go. So I am guessing that Reiss is projecting mainly based on dressing the four healthiest guys.
I think is right so far. As for duplication, if the Mitchell/Floyd winner gets hurt mid-game, they could get by with the other 3WRS - Edleman, Amendola and Hogan. If Amendola sits, and Edelman gets hurt, they are screwed both in the slot and returning punts. So, to me, even assuming Mitchell is healthy, either he or Floyd sits.
Reiss was just on WEEI, and acknowledged that he predicted Mitchell would be inactive due to health. He then doubled-down on his previously stated opinion that Matt Lengel may be the surprise inactive, and they'll go with 5 WR and use Cam Fleming as the 2nd Tight End.
I forgot that that was also the same play as the Jonas Gray nutpunch of the colts defender in the end zone. Also, what's up with the Colts mascot(?) holding up a Jimmy Fallon head to try to distract Ghost on the PAT at the end of that same clip.
Maybe he had attended a game there and the mascot was trying to hang a banner to commemorate it
Looks like both teams will be at essentially full strength for this one. It amazes me how confident I feel going into these playoffs despite the lack of Gronk, and really speaks to the strength of this year's roster construction, in particular Bennett. But really, this team is so deep and versatile on offense that even if we had an average/second-tier TE instead, I would still feel pretty confident with just this crop of WRs & RBs, which I haven't been able to say in past years.
Wow look at the number of guys they added to their roster in just the past two seasons. There's a LOT of guys on this team (30) that weren't even around for their last SB championship. 30 out of 53 (56.7%). I would guess this kind of turnover is normal in the NFL?