The Game Ball Thread: Wk 13 vs Rams

SeoulSoxFan

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A Scud Away from Hell
Solid Win. No injuries. Game Balls.

Mine goes to the coaching staff. Got the team focused post-Gronk.

Honorable ball goes to Brady for the record win.
 

JohnnyTheBone

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My game ball goes to the criminally underappreciated LeGarrette Blount, along with Malcolm "Mitch" Mitchell and Malcolm "Geezer" Butler.
 

Byrdbrain

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Amendola went out with an ankle, I believe.
Some guy on Twitter who posts on here and is owed hundreds if not thousands of dollars thinks it might be an Achilles.

Mitchell- he reminds me of Lafell but with hands
Van Noy- really stood out when he played in the middle
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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He's not a Patriot, but that 10 foot tall ginger kicker deserves a game ball. 8 kicks for 430 yards, five inside the 20, and only 7 return yards. Not a UFA until 2021. I checked.

Jones gets the opposite of a game ball. I would have rather Belichick left him in the game even after the muff now that I hear Amendola is in a boot. Not sure why Danny even tried to return it. That punter drops it right in to his gunner's path.
 

McDrew

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Chris Long has seemed to get a huge 3rd down stop at least once every week for the last month. He's a great Belichcick reclamation project.
Malcolm Mitchell got open and Tom Brady found him. Good to hear via the announcers that Brady has complimented Mitchell's work in practice.
 

jablo1312

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Second on Blount. That guy a real talent, and he doesn't get enough credit locally or nationally. Good to have Ghost turn in an ole reliable game, but I'm gonna need like 4 more of those in a row before I stop being nervous about him.

On another note, I would almost prefer they just put no one back for punt returns instead of having Edelman do it. Thats the cog they 100% cannot afford to lose.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I am going to channel my Mike Reiss. I have not read his ups/downs part for this week...

but I am going to start with 2 down:
Bennet- 2 holding calls, failed to make the catch in the endzone. didn't show burst after catch when targeted.
Cyrus Jones- Muffed punt return. Can't have that. Only came back in because Amen$ got hurt.

Ups:
Brady. - Most all time wins. Not his best effort, but wins count for something.
Blount - Nothing to complain about. Made the yards when he needed to (and then some)
Lines. - OLine gave protection that the DLine disrupted.
 

Ed Hillel

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Fielding that punt was so incredibly stupid. The coaching staff needs to take some blame, just like with Harper last year. Reps are nice and all, but just tell them to fair catch the damned thing when the game is in hand. The turnover and injury risk isn't worth it.
 

Phil Plantier

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We know that Belichick values the field position advantage in special teams, so I don't see the Fair Catch Doctrine being adopted.

Can't the team unearth some specialist kick/punt returner? I know that's not their usual optimal roster usage, but it seems like it's becoming an acute need.
 

Saints Rest

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We know that Belichick values the field position advantage in special teams, so I don't see the Fair Catch Doctrine being adopted.

Can't the team unearth some specialist kick/punt returner? I know that's not their usual optimal roster usage, but it seems like it's becoming an acute need.
It seems like they've done exactly that with Cyrus Jones, though I did see him in for at least one play at CB. The problem is he sucks at it. When he's not making poor decisions, he simply has stone hands.

On the plus side, I thought the OL played well overall but particularly Cannon, who looked worth every bit of his new extension.
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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Matt Patricia (or that guy in the stands who I think replaced him) for actually sending pass rushers and putting pressure on Goff - although I wasn't surprised at all when they went back to the no-pressure defense in the 4th and the Rams scored immediately.

Ghost for looking like his old self for a little bit.

Mitchell for looking like he might be the real thing.
 

Stitch01

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It seems like they've done exactly that with Cyrus Jones, though I did see him in for at least one play at CB. The problem is he sucks at it. When he's not making poor decisions, he simply has stone hands.

On the plus side, I thought the OL played well overall but particularly Cannon, who looked worth every bit of his new extension.
Jones played 18 snaps, maybe mostly after Rowe tweaked his hammy but that's an assumption.

Pats rotated pretty heavy both at DL and Linebacker. Not sure if its because they were playing the Rams or they want to keep the front seven fresh and are going to rotate at LB now.

Matt Patricia (or that guy in the stands who I think replaced him) for actually sending pass rushers and putting pressure on Goff - although I wasn't surprised at all when they went back to the no-pressure defense in the 4th and the Rams scored immediately.

I bet this continues to change week to week. They were fairly effective against the Jets rushing three much of the time. Lynch speculated on the broadcast that the Pats would bring some as film showed that Goff was watching the pass rush. Most plays the Pats rushed four in a creative manner. On the Rams TD drive they rushed 4, 4, 3 on 3rd and 17, 4, so I don't think the scoring drive was a result of changing up pressure, the secondary just had a screw up. Good game plan though.
 

Toe Nash

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Mitchell stood way out for me. Really exciting to have another threat, especially as a rookie. Not sure he has much upside beyond what's he's providing right now (not breakaway speed or elusiveness) but it's great to have a WR who gets open, gets the ball, and is pretty big to boot.

Edit: I guess he's only listed at 5'11" but I'm used to Edelman / Amendola / Welker. He seems long.
 

Dogman

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I thought Sheard played a pretty good game. He brought pressure, got his hands up a bunch, and when he dropped into coverage he batted a few balls and made some good open field tackles. Perhaps Patricia wasn't using him to his best ability. Or maybe his zone technique is an asset when rushing 3. Either way, I liked what I saw from him.
 

eustis22

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Am I the only one concerned about the offense failing multiple times to get into the Red Zone? I counted at least 4 drives that stalled after passing the Rams 40.
 

tims4wins

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Am I the only one concerned about the offense failing multiple times to get into the Red Zone? I counted at least 4 drives that stalled after passing the Rams 40.
Two things. One, the Rams D is decent. Two, first game without Gronk. Gost is going to be more important than we hoped.
 

eustis22

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Let it be written that a battle of FGs is a losing proposition for the Pats in this fan's mind.
 

Toe Nash

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Am I the only one concerned about the offense failing multiple times to get into the Red Zone? I counted at least 4 drives that stalled after passing the Rams 40.
Two of those were hurt by Bennett -- one on a holding he committed and one where he couldn't make the catch in the end zone from the 9 or so (with decent defensive coverage). He can do a lot of what Gronk gave you but he's not 100%. I think they will get stronger in the red zone if/when Bennett gets healthy and when they can adapt the playbook to the loss of Gronk a bit.
 

steveluck7

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The game plan overall seemed incredibly vanilla. I can't recall many pass plays over the middle. It seemed almost all screens and throws outside the numbers. The one i do recall was JE on the drag route where Brady chucked it up for the long completion. Even that was completed outside. I wonder if they installed a basic game plan to get through the Rams while minimizing injury risk. Could also explain why Jones was returning punts at the start
 

TheMoralBully

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The red zone has been a problem for a few weeks now, they're just 50% in TD % over their last three games. They've been moving the ball well but leaving a lot of points on the table.

Stating the obvious, but Gronk has been head and shoulders above any other skill player on offense this year. He basically played in six games, and had over 500 yards at over 20 ypc. With Mitchell, Bennett, Hogan, and a healthy Edelman now, this offense shouldn't turn into the slightly above average unit it has in the past when Gronk has been out, but things are definitely going to change. I really hope Lewis can get back to a similar workload to what he had last year. He's the type of talent, like Gronk, that can make things a lot easier on Brady.
 

InstaFace

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3 RB/WR on the Practice squad (plus Tyler Gaffney) and none of them have more than a half dozen kick/punt returns in their college backgrounds.
Neither did Edelman. It's not the hardest skillset in football to teach.

Also, the hang-wringing over Gostkowski is absurd bordering on sad. The guy has been the best, most-consistent placekicker in the league over the last 10 years, with success bordering on HOF-worthy (if he had more clutch opportunities in the playoffs, say), and a streak in the record books that may stand for all time. Then he goes and misses a few kicks and a few PATs this year... and then returns to his reliable self... and people are saying stuff like this:

Good to have Ghost turn in an ole reliable game, but I'm gonna need like 4 more of those in a row before I stop being nervous about him.
Ghost for looking like his old self for a little bit.
Let it be written that a battle of FGs is a losing proposition for the Pats in this fan's mind.
I mean, come the heck on. Even Mariano Rivera had some hiccup-y parts of seasons, nevermind some hiccup-y moments in the postseason. If TEN YEARS of near-GOAT performance aren't enough for him to have some credit in your bank to draw down on, you are being scrooge-like with him.
 

Saints Rest

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The game plan overall seemed incredibly vanilla. I can't recall many pass plays over the middle. It seemed almost all screens and throws outside the numbers. The one i do recall was JE on the drag route where Brady chucked it up for the long completion. Even that was completed outside. I wonder if they installed a basic game plan to get through the Rams while minimizing injury risk. Could also explain why Jones was returning punts at the start
I fear that the WR screen, and to a lesser extent, the RB screen, has become such a Patriot staple, that teams are now ready for it. It seemed that the Rams blew up every single one.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Mitchell stood way out for me. Really exciting to have another threat, especially as a rookie. Not sure he has much upside beyond what's he's providing right now (not breakaway speed or elusiveness) but it's great to have a WR who gets open, gets the ball, and is pretty big to boot.

Edit: I guess he's only listed at 5'11" but I'm used to Edelman / Amendola / Welker. He seems long.
He definitely plays bigger than our other receivers. Big catch radius and good hands, makes plays with his arms extended. Of course, if he were 6'4" you're likely not talking about him as a 4th round pick.

I fear that the WR screen, and to a lesser extent, the RB screen, has become such a Patriot staple, that teams are now ready for it. It seemed that the Rams blew up every single one.
Setting up the inevitable fake in the playoffs.
 

gammoseditor

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I fear that the WR screen, and to a lesser extent, the RB screen, has become such a Patriot staple, that teams are now ready for it. It seemed that the Rams blew up every single one.
The announcers noted the rams struggled against screens last week. Seems like it was a bigger part of the game plane because of the opponent.
 

Super Nomario

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Chris Long has seemed to get a huge 3rd down stop at least once every week for the last month. He's a great Belichcick reclamation project.
Long's improved play seems to correspond to a reduction in workload - almost 50 snaps / game before the bye, ~35 since. That almost exactly mirrors Flowers' uptick in PT (~30 / game before bye, ~45 after). Sheard's workload is also reduced (almost 50 to ~25, less if you count the inactive week).
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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Also, the hang-wringing over Gostkowski is absurd bordering on sad. The guy has been the best, most-consistent placekicker in the league over the last 10 years, with success bordering on HOF-worthy (if he had more clutch opportunities in the playoffs, say), and a streak in the record books that may stand for all time.
I don't really put a lot of stock in "HOF career" because everyone falls apart eventually (although kickers seem to last a long time) - but there's a ton of just being spoiled by his previous greatness.

Right now the league average for XPs is 26.1/27.8 (93.8%) - Ghost is 33/36 (91.7%). He has essentially missed one (.7) more XP than average.

Right now the league average for FG is 19.7/23.3(84.5%) - he is 20/24(83.3). He has essentially missed an extra quarter(.28) of a kick. Pretty much the entire difference is that he's 7/9 in the 30-39 range and should be 6.5/6.9 (he's better than average at the other ranges)

He's league average despite some shaky mechanics, with a history of being elite. He'll be fine.
 

InstaFace

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I agree of course, but... so why the lamenting tone in your post that I quoted? He's not "looking like his old self for a little bit", I'd say he IS his old self, with all the normal variation that you expect of, you know, humans.
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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I meant looked in the literal sense - visually - he looked smooth this week - like the mechanical issues may be sorted out.

Kickers' normal downward fluctuations often are accompanied by mechanical issues, so it's not all that surprising that he looks better on a day where he kicked well though, and yeah, its all pretty normal.