52 replies to this topic

[SeoulSoxFan]

Who expected this outcome? Here's another surprise - 1st game ball thread where I only give out a single ball. And it goes to...

• Brandon Lloyd: for all the shit he took, a big FU game tonight

Oh yeah, and this (tx sachmoney):

Edited by SeoulSoxFan, 10 December 2012 - 11:20 PM.

[jsinger121]

McCourty - game changing int
Talib/Dennard - made Andre Johnson a non factor
Mayo/Spikes/Hightower - made Arian Foster a non factor

[SeoulSoxFan]

Was this Mayo's best game as a Patriot? He was everywhere.

[SeoulSoxFan]

Also, the Stallworth TD was eerily reminiscent of the last time Pats blew out a Wade Phillips team:

Warning - video is very shaky:

[tims4wins]

Special mention to Hernandez - 2 TDs, several other catches, and a huge fumble recovery on a pure hustle play.

[NortheasternPJ]

McCourty - game changing int
Talib/Dennard - made Andre Johnson a non factor
Mayo/Spikes/Hightower - made Arian Foster a non factor

Add Vince to that list as well. Quiet 2nd half, but a huge 1st half.

[wilked]

Ya I like Hernandez and VInce

[ZP1]

Wilfork in the 1st half was everywhere. It's like he's the only grown up on the field and everyone on the opposing team is a 12 year old boy.

[Wilco's Last Fan]

Kyle Arrington has morphed into a pretty nice slot CB. Who knew?

[Ralphwiggum]

Brady. Tons of pressure all night long. Welker with like 4 drops. And still 300 yards 4 TDs and no picks.

[OldSaintJohn]

Secondary did a great job keeping everything in front of them. Hell of a defensive effort

[Youkilis vs Wild]

Brady. Mayo. Wilfork. Hernandez. McCourty. Lloyd. Talib and Dennard. How 'bout this? Huge team win.

[Alternate34]

Game ball to my penis. For exploding.

And to Vince Wilfork. He was amazing in the first half and still solid. Though you could give it to Tom Brady too. Or Lloyd. Or Hernandez. Or Mayo. Etc.

[JimBoSox9]

In order:

D:
Wilfork
Mayo
Arrington
Dennard
Hightower
Spikes

O:
Brady
Lloyd
Hernandez

[phragle]

Wilfork. He continues his post bye week tear. He was an unblockable force today.

[SeoulSoxFan]

Wilfork. He continues his post bye week tear. He was an unblockable force today.

Wilfork says he'll get started on film on SF.

TONIGHT.

P.S. Does Bianca approve? I have a feeling she does.

[Vertebreaker]

Great, great win for the Pats.

I said it in the thread and I'll say it again: Hernandez fumble recovery and touchdown were huge. Really set the tone for the game.

O-Line: Physical early, kept Brady upright and supplied 130 rush yards. Didn't let the Houston D-Line control the game.

Wilfork: Everywhere, just fucking everywhere.

Secondary: The difference a quality corner can make. Even former bums like Arrington are playing well.

Lloyd: Everyone talks about how he doesn't really show up. Well he certainly made the big plays today.

McDaniels: Takes a lot of shit, but he drew up a great gameplan against a good defense. That PA td to Lloyd was beautiful.

This was a great game. I can't recall a regular season game I enjoyed more then this one.

[phragle]

Who expected this outcome?

I know someone did.

Houston sucks. I'm calling it now, the Pats beat houston by at least 21

I'm going to keep bragging about being awesome until somebody tells me to shut up.

Edited by phragle, 11 December 2012 - 12:15 AM.

[Rasputin]

I know someone did.



I'm going to keep bragging about being awesome until somebody tells me to shut up.

I know someone did.



I'm going to keep bragging about being awesome until somebody tells me to shut up.

Shut up.











Nah, sokay. Fuck Texas.

[CaptainLaddie]

Well, there was the Thanksgiving game a few weeks ago...

[RedOctober3829]

Wilfork, Mayo, and Talib on D.

Brady, Hernandez, and Lloyd on O. Also, 130 yards on the ground. Weren't all in garbage time either.

[Shelterdog]

[I'm going to keep bragging about being awesome until somebody tells me to shut up.

As long as you stop before you mention the mad coupons your mother in law got you.

[Tony C]

1: Brady
2: Talib/Dennard/Arrington -- the calvary arrives! alas the calvary was also carted out on a figurative stretcher, here's hoping that now that we finally have a secondary that they're healthy enough to play.
3: Wilfork and Mayo

no balls to: harsh to find something to criticize, but I think someone mentioned Spikes wasn't great tonight and Hightower made a few plays, but I think he's still hurt -- lacks the pop he had at the start of the year.

[Bongorific]

Can a game all be given to tackling? Johnson and Foster had several moments where it looked like they were about to make the last man miss and were wrapped up. The Pats were struggling with this early in the season, but last night the tackling was much improved. No big plays to two of the best RB and WR in the league

[Chuck Z]

Probably not MVP-worthy, but McDaniels had himself an awesome game. In particular, the stretch play-action into the opposite corner read to Lloyd for the TD was one of the best drawn-up plays I've seen all year, in particular against a really aggressive defense that loves to over-pursue. They ran another one of those in the 2nd half to Hernandez too that went for 8-10 yards. Just another wrinkle we haven't seen all year that was perfect for the situation.

[Rico Guapo]

McCourty, Wilfork, Sweetleaf.

[crystalline]

Brady got hit a lot last night. There was a series when the score was 21-0 I believe, that they went 3 and out, all three plays were passes, all three were incomplete, and all three times Brady ended up on the ground at the end of the play. There were only 1 or 2 hard hits but how many times was he knocked down? 10? 15? I'd believe 20.

Still he had a great passing game.

And there were a lot of downfield throws last night. Brady and the offense went deep a lot. Traded a few 3 and outs for the long completions that broke the game open.

[Lose Remerswaal]

Wilifork was a beast. And I noticed he got a bunch of plays off, especially early in Texans' drives. And the Texans did much better without old number 75 on the line. Would love to see stats comparing the results of plays with Vince out there and with Vince on the sidelines.

[Ferm Sheller]

[Responding to crystalline's post]

And aside from one seemingly inadvertant helmet hit, all the hits were clean, much to the Texans' credit. I have to say, as far as foes go, they're a pretty likable bunch. No pre-game trash talking, little if any in game whining and clean playing. If the Pats trip up, I have no problem pulling for that group to hoist the Lombardi.

Edited by Ferm Sheller, 11 December 2012 - 08:20 AM.

[lostjumper]

Brady, Talib, Dennard, Mayo, Hernandez, Lloyd...so many played great football last night. But if I only have 1 game ball, I give it to Vince. The man is absolutely unblockable and just a beast right now. We watched the replay a few extra times of the play were Wilfork batted the ball out of schaub's hand. He drove his man back 8 yards in 4 seconds to get to Schaub. Most plays he is double or tripled team, which means all the other guys are getting single coverage. He's the most important piece to that defensive front 7.

[TheoShmeo]

Here's a nod to Belichick and his staff. That Pats team was as ready and focused as they could have been. The Texans players commented on it after the game. The credit also goes to the players and leaders on that team, but not all of it. And beyond the intangibles, they were ready for or adjusted well to Wade Phillips' man to man coverage, and never seem at all surprised by what the Texans were doing on offense.

[PaulinMyrBch]

Anti game ball to Welker, who caught the one pass he didn't in the Super Bowl and dropped all the ones he did.

[DrewDawg]

First game this season Watt had no sacks, TFLs, or passes knocked down. Some kudos to the guys matched up on him.

[Ralphwiggum]

Watt had like 5 hits on Brady, though. When was the last time that happened? He also had the forced fumble on Woodhead. I haven' t seen much of the Texans and I'm sure it wasn't his best game, but I thought he was pretty disruptive. It is just that Brady gets rid of the ball so quickly he's very hard to sack.

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

no balls to: harsh to find something to criticize, but I think someone mentioned Spikes wasn't great tonight and Hightower made a few plays, but I think he's still hurt -- lacks the pop he had at the start of the year.

I was coming here to say the exact opposite. I thought Hightower looked like he was finally healthy. He looked rangier to me last night and I thought he had a very solid if unspectacular game. That open field tackle he made was beautiful.

Also Mayo was fantastic. I always thought he was a baseline average #10 pick. Franchise stalwart, dependable, a guy that gives you 7 to 8 above average years but isn't spectacular. But this year he has been making game changing plays at a much faster rate.

(stats from espn)
2008 to 2011:
Sacks: 4.5
INT: 2
Forced Fumbles: 4

2012
Sacks: 3
INT: 1
FF: 4

Last night he didn't record a sack, but he had two pressures that resulted in positive outcomes (one of which was on a 3rd down). I am enjoying the new play making Jerod Mayo very much.

[Jettisoned]

Man did the Texans ever have an awful defensive gameplan. It was as if they just heard that the Pats run the ball a lot and oh this Brady guy's a good passer but if you sack him he can't throw it! So they sold out for the run and sent 5-7 pass rushers every play. Did they even bother to watch any game film?

Edited by Jettisoned, 11 December 2012 - 09:09 AM.

[NortheasternPJ]

You give Brady time, he's going to kill you. You go man to man and blitz he's going to kill you. Not really sure what they should have done. I don't really blame them if their game plan was to hit Brady as much as possible and see what happens. It's worked before, thank fully it didn't last night.

[Reggie's Racquet]

When Mankins plays he brings an attitude to this team they really need. He was terrific.

[abty]

Give it to your cornerbacks because I can't recall the last time Johnson and the offese of Texas looked so pathetic. They flat out shut down the Texans and gave the Patriots time to pad a lead and run away with it. Late last year or maybe earlier this year the Texans would have had a field day on your corners. It looks like you are a different team now with the secondary. /2 cents.

[Hendu for Kutch]

Whoever said this:

"They look cute," the Patriots player said of the Texans in their jackets. "They look like a high school swim team."

[phragle]

PFF: Texans @ Patriots Refocused

Game Notes
- The Patriots certainly didn’t want J.J. Watt to have much time to get pressure in this game; Brady’s average time to throw this week was 2.27 seconds – one of the quickest single game snap to release times of the season in the league.
- New signing Stanford Routt made his Houston debut this week and recorded a solitary defensive snap whilst surrendering a penalty on special teams.
- Covering Andre Johnson rookie corner Alfonzo Dennard did a solid job recording a pass defense and a third down stop on three targets.
PFF Game Ball
The Patriots jumped on this game early and kept the Texans at arm’s length the rest of the way.Vince Wilfork was a big reason for the Texans being kept off of the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter.

[phragle]

I love it when the stats agree with what your eyes are seeing

Wilfork's PFF ratings

Edited by phragle, 11 December 2012 - 10:28 AM.

[Oppo]

The brilliant play of woodhead to let the ball get popped out right to lloyd for a td. Good play design and execution.

[MentalDisabldLst]

[Responding to crystalline's post]

And aside from one seemingly inadvertant helmet hit, all the hits were clean, much to the Texans' credit. I have to say, as far as foes go, they're a pretty likable bunch. No pre-game trash talking, little if any in game whining and clean playing. If the Pats trip up, I have no problem pulling for that group to hoist the Lombardi.

Hey now, don't forget Andre Johnson taking a couple local orphans and turning his local Wal-Mart into an episode of Supermarket Sweep.

All kidding aside, the tackling was spectacular last night - Dennard, Mayo and Vince all made some great game-changing tackles that often are broken by NFL WRs and RBs. The offense did a lot of things right, but the tackling was the difference between a 28-point laugher and a 7-point nail-biter.

[neil]

Watt had like 5 hits on Brady, though. When was the last time that happened? He also had the forced fumble on Woodhead.

Unfortunate for Watt on that play really. That was an amazing pursuit and punch to force the fumble. Pats were incredibly lucky on that play. Watt is an incredible player, I remember the 2011 draft and people hoping either that Pats went up to get him or he fell to 17.

To sound like a Belichick press conference, I'd give the game ball to the team. On both sides of the ball they seemed very focused. The coaching seemed spot on. It was just a dominate performance by the Pats against a much heralded team. It's that kind of performance that gets you seriously thinking about the SuperBowl.

[dbn]

Man did the Texans ever have an awful defensive gameplan. It was as if they just heard that the Pats run the ball a lot and oh this Brady guy's a good passer but if you sack him he can't throw it! So they sold out for the run and sent 5-7 pass rushers every play. Did they even bother to watch any game film?

There may be some truth to this, but I thought Josh put together a pretty great offensive game plan.

When their awful defensive and our terrific offensive game plans meet, awesome happens.

I thought the Texans offensive game plan was more terrible than their defensive plan. Going in to this week, NE was 22nd in run-defense DVOA and 7th in pass-defense DVOA. How many times did they show highlights of the coverage on Johnson... during a running play? (Okay, that might go on the MNF director's game plan.) Just now looking at the play-by-play: the Texans were pretty much 50-50 run-pass in the first Q. By the time they got the ball in the 2nd, they were already down 21-0 and started to throw more than run.

[dbn]

dp

Edited by dbn, 11 December 2012 - 11:41 AM.

[Lose Remerswaal]

You give Brady time, he's going to kill you. You go man to man and blitz he's going to kill you. Not really sure what they should have done. I don't really blame them if their game plan was to hit Brady as much as possible and see what happens. It's worked before, thank fully it didn't last night.

Which is why what works best is when the defense hides their intentions. Confuse Brady a bit and you can get him to throw some Intentional Groundings. If he can pick out the "mike" as soon as he gets to the line and the defense isn't moving around, then everyone knows their blocking and Brady has the best shot for beating you easily.

[LogansDad]

I didn't see them on here, but I wanted to mention the punt unit, and specifically (I think) Slater. I think there were three times last night where it looked like the Texans were going to get good field position, and the STers either got down and made a quick stop, or totally blew by their defender and drew an illegal block penalty. I think there were three penalties on Houston punt returns, all of which ended up pinning the Texans deep.

[tims4wins]

I love it when the stats agree with what your eyes are seeing

Wilfork's PFF ratings

ESPN ran a short piece on Wilfork's impact today. The numbers are astounding.

Patriots D with Wilfork on/off field

ON FIELD / OFF FIELD
PLAYS 678 / 168
YPC 3.60 / 5.35
SACKS 27 / 1
Dropbacks / Sack 15.6 / 105

Edited by tims4wins, 12 December 2012 - 03:35 PM.