The Game Ball Thread: Wk 2 vs Phins

[lexrageorge]

This is rose-colored nonsense. They are 15th in points allowed, 25th in yards allowed, 21st in points per drive allowed. They were playing a Dolphins team that finished 27th in points (26th in yards) last year and scored 7 points in Week 1.

If there's any nonsense, it's your reply. There have been all of 4 halves of football; the New England D played great in 2 of them, OK in one (with one TD off a very short field), and horrible in one. Humidity could have been a factor; defenses do tend to tire in the 4th quarter of games.

The pass rush is admittedly something that needs to be watched going forward.

 

[C4CRVT]

Discussing how good the D is or can be (for now) should be filed in the same room as "Jimmy G's trade proposals" and "Moncada- HOF?" threads: too soon to tell.

Clearly they looked gassed, were playing prevent D and would have been better with DHT. At some point you also have to tip your cap and say that the Phins qb and receiving corps executed some pretty tough plays. That being said, there were a few plays that looked extra bad to me. Collins whiffed pretty bad on a tackle. Coleman (I think it was) at one point ran into the receiver and knocked him over before the ball got there, cost the team like 20 plus yards. On another play, he fell down. Jesus kid, get your head out of your ass.

 

[C4CRVT]

Ha, game ball thread. Sorry about that!!
Mine goes to Blount. I've been critical of him in the past but he was a beast yesterday.

Honorable Mention: Jimmy G, Bennett, Amendola, Hogan and the first half D.

 

[TheMoralBully]

I see Nomario's point, though. There may be a lot of NFL quality players they can throw in on the d-line, but it's definitely lacking in the top-end talent you see powering top 5 units like Denver and Minny. And while the secondary is better than they have looked, I'm not sure what they have is, at its best, any better than 'good'. It's a perfectly good D they can win a championship with if the offense is what we think it can be, but there's a lot more pointing to it being in line with last years D than it making some big leap.

Game ball to Long, he's showing he has a lot left. And Bennett for looking like a monster after the catch. Two new guys already looking like important parts.

 

[Super Nomario]

If there's any nonsense, it's your reply. There have been all of 4 halves of football; the New England D played great in 2 of them, OK in one (with one TD off a very short field), and horrible in one. Humidity could have been a factor; defenses do tend to tire in the 4th quarter of games.

Arizona only had four drives in the second half of the first game and scored two TDs (one, to be fair, on a short field) and drove 63 yards needing a FG to tie at the end. Basically, the defense made one stop on four second-half drives. That's a terrible half. I'm not sure what breaking it down into halves does for our understanding, anyway - you play football for 60 minutes. And as for the defense tiring, the Patriots dominated time of possession yesterday, even winning TOP in the second half. In large part that's because Miami's offense had such an easy time scoring.

I hope you're right on the D and I'm being a negative nelly. Thursday is a good test against a mediocre Houston offense (17th in points, 20th in yards). If the D really is in the neighborhood of "top 5 caliber," it should be able to keep the Pats in the game even if the offense struggles.

 

[lexrageorge]

Arizona only had four drives in the second half of the first game and scored two TDs (one, to be fair, on a short field) and drove 63 yards needing a FG to tie at the end. Basically, the defense made one stop on four second-half drives. That's a terrible half. I'm not sure what breaking it down into halves does for our understanding, anyway - you play football for 60 minutes. And as for the defense tiring, the Patriots dominated time of possession yesterday, even winning TOP in the second half. In large part that's because Miami's offense had such an easy time scoring.

I hope you're right on the D and I'm being a negative nelly. Thursday is a good test against a mediocre Houston offense (17th in points, 20th in yards). If the D really is in the neighborhood of "top 5 caliber," it should be able to keep the Pats in the game even if the offense struggles.

IOW, We're On To Houston!!

 

[MainerInExile]

LGBT for me.

At his age, his size, coming off an injury, I didn't expect him to play as well as he has this year. Makes a lot more sense that BB didn't pick up more RB help this offseason.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Arizona only had four drives in the second half of the first game and scored two TDs (one, to be fair, on a short field) and drove 63 yards needing a FG to tie at the end. Basically, the defense made one stop on four second-half drives. That's a terrible half. I'm not sure what breaking it down into halves does for our understanding, anyway - you play football for 60 minutes. And as for the defense tiring, the Patriots dominated time of possession yesterday, even winning TOP in the second half. In large part that's because Miami's offense had such an easy time scoring.

I hope you're right on the D and I'm being a negative nelly. Thursday is a good test against a mediocre Houston offense (17th in points, 20th in yards). If the D really is in the neighborhood of "top 5 caliber," it should be able to keep the Pats in the game even if the offense struggles.

Nitpick - the FG attempt was to win.

 

[soxfan121]

 

[JohnnyTheBone]

Awesome. He hurdles the defender at the 28, and rumbles an extra 18 yards before being dragged down at the 46. LeGarrette Blount was a man among boys yesterday.

My game ball nominee is LeGarrette Blount.

 

[steveluck7]

Byron Maxwell had a tough game. Took the nasty stiff arm from Marcellus and then goes and gets hurdled (and kicked in the head) by LGBT.

 

[riboflav]

Arizona only had four drives in the second half of the first game and scored two TDs (one, to be fair, on a short field) and drove 63 yards needing a FG to tie at the end. Basically, the defense made one stop on four second-half drives. That's a terrible half. I'm not sure what breaking it down into halves does for our understanding, anyway - you play football for 60 minutes. And as for the defense tiring, the Patriots dominated time of possession yesterday, even winning TOP in the second half. In large part that's because Miami's offense had such an easy time scoring.

I hope you're right on the D and I'm being a negative nelly. Thursday is a good test against a mediocre Houston offense (17th in points, 20th in yards). If the D really is in the neighborhood of "top 5 caliber," it should be able to keep the Pats in the game even if the offense struggles.

Care to comment, now?

 

[Stitch01]

Not sure what the being a prick and bumping this is all about. I'd still bet he's right, this isn't a top five defense. Top ten more realistic.

 

[riboflav]

NM

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Don't.