Game 2, Miami -- Silver Linings

[Saints Rest]

I might need @BaseballJones to fill this one out, as I'm not sure what I can say, but I'm committed to the idea that even in losses, there are silver linings, so I'll start.

• Christian Gonzalez. Two excellent games in a row going against the elite of the NFL.
• Brendan Schooler. It's a copycat league, so let's see how often this becomes a thing in the future.

 

[8slim]

The uniforms were fire.

 

[tims4wins]

The rookie kickers. Ryland hitting from 49, Barringer with 4 / 48.0, long 58, 3 inside the 20, no touchbacks.

 

[Dotrat]

A secondary depleted by injury mostly hung in there. And definitely the uniforms.

 

[Cellar-Door]

The defense as a whole played very well as did special teams.

 

[tims4wins]

The defense as a whole played very well as did special teams.

I know this is the silver linings thread, and you generally would take 24 points / 389 yards against Miami, but they gave up long scoring drives each of the first two drives and fell behind 10-0. With this offense, that's a death knell. The D was fine last night, but I can't say it played very well. They also gave up the TD once it got to 17-10.

Similar story last week, the Pats got it to 16-14 and the D gave up 2 long FG drives which were very harmful.

It's a good defense, and it would probably look awesome with a lead. But it's been a part of why they've lost both games, too.

 

[dirtynine]

Once or twice a game (maybe once a half) Mac gets the offense in a rhythm and they cook. I described it in a game thread as like when you get an invincibility star in Mario Bros. They just move and click for a series or two, then back to pedestrian 3- or 7-and-outs, or a turnover. I’m starting to think it involves no huddle and spreading things out to let him see the field, and even asking him to do more with his legs (it’s looking like he can do more there than the collective wisdom). I know BOB can do in-game adjustments; hopefully he can make in-season changes too. Something is there to unlock.

 

[Jinhocho]

Well at some point you have to be able to count on your offense to be able to score 25 or more points. It is just a crazy statistic that in Jones's career they have never want a game where the other team has scored 25 points or more.

 

[OurF'ingCity]

Once or twice a game (maybe once a half) Mac gets the offense in a rhythm and they cook. I described it in a game thread as like when you get an invincibility star in Mario Bros. They just move and click for a series or two, then back to pedestrian 3- or 7-and-outs, or a turnover. I’m starting to think it involves no huddle and spreading things out to let him see the field, and even asking him to do more with his legs (it’s looking like he can do more there than the collective wisdom). I know BOB can do in-game adjustments; hopefully he can make in-season changes too. Something is there to unlock.

Came here to post something like this. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Mac performed on the run - as far as I can recall they have never really drawn up rollouts or anything like that for him but I’d hope they involve that more in the game plan going forward, especially given that it can buy him some more time given how bad the OL is.

 

[Caspir]

We are one loss closer to Caleb Williams.

Also Christian Gonzalez looks like he is going to mature into a true shut down corner. He looks like a home run draft pick, and that's fantastic news.

 

[Cellar-Door]

I know this is the silver linings thread, and you generally would take 24 points / 389 yards against Miami, but they gave up long scoring drives each of the first two drives and fell behind 10-0. With this offense, that's a death knell. The D was fine last night, but I can't say it played very well. They also gave up the TD once it got to 17-10.

Similar story last week, the Pats got it to 16-14 and the D gave up 2 long FG drives which were very harmful.

It's a good defense, and it would probably look awesome with a lead. But it's been a part of why they've lost both games, too.

It's the NFL, the Dolphins are really good. This happened last year too, expecting the defense to be the best defense of the decade every year is silly, especially when the offense is not producing and consistently putting them in adverse situations.

The Patriots defense allowed 24 points to arguably the best offense in the league, they did it down 3 of their 4 best CBs, they held MIA to 40% 3rd down conversion rate, they allowed 7 points on 7 drives in the 2nd half.... that's a very good defensive performance.

There is this wild expectation on this board that the defense is going to get a stop every drive. They played 2 of the top offenses in the league last year (PHI 2nd, MIA was 5th in games Tua played) and held them to very reasonable numbers.

The timing of the TDs or FGs seems to you like it's indicative of something, but really all it indicates is our offense stinks so the Dolphins got 6 tries to score in the time it took us to score a TD and finally got one.

Edit- also, as has been the case both games, one of the scores came on or after a turnover by the offense.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Pleasantly surprised how well Mac threw the ball on the run when the line began leaking. That seems to be an improvement from previous seasons but only one game.

Hurry up offense looked decent.

Kicking game looks like it is locked in for the next few year.

Gonzalez has really been better than advertised. Some of the reasons I read after the draft as to why he fell were questions regarding how physical he could be when it comes to coverage and tackling in the run game. He's more than passed those early tests.

TEs look like weapons and Parker looked spry on a couple of plays in space with the ball in his hand.

 

[IdiotKicker]

The pass defense was outstanding, given that they were missing 3 of their top 4 corners. Gonzalez, as noted, is quite good.

The rookie specialists did their jobs.

Kyle Dugger is so athletic that he makes really challenging plays look easy.

Mac was surprisingly good out of structure, which makes you wonder what this offense could do if they had even league-average protection.

 

[Garshaparra]

In particular, pass coverage from the LBs was fantastic. Yes, Mapu got nailed for a personal foul on his hit on Waddle, but his intent was clearly to dislodge with a hit to the body, and Waddle's head just flailed over as the ball tipped up. I'll take that work every time. And while the O-line struggles, the short passing game is generally very good to counteract. One of these games, Mac needs to hit an actual long pass though (20+ yards).

 

[Nator]

Duggar had a good game. He blew up that misdirection run play that looked like it was about to go for 30+ yards, and he had that nice pass deflection.

 

[Jungleland]

The very, very depleted secondary played well enough to keep it a game. That's the main silver lining. Gonzalez is looking excellent. I didn't watch Bryant closely enough to say he played great, but the ratio of how much fear I had about him in a game with Waddle/Hill on the other side to how little I noticed him suggests he was at least decent. He had one bad series and otherwise didn't stand out.

I don't think this game was as close as the score implies, so the moral victory game feels especially hollow. But it's hard to be fully out on this team's potential until we see them closer to full strength. No Jon or Jack Jones, no Thornton, no Trent Brown, Strange and Onwenu knocking off the rust, Juju pretty clearly not at 100%...the state of the roster feels more behind the 8-ball for week 2 than in an average year. Other players are likely going to get hurt and there are question marks beyond health with a lot of that list, so it's far from guaranteed, but I can see this team being capable of much better football in October/November so long as they don't dig themselves too big a hole by then.

 

[Gash Prex]

I thought Parker looked useful and quick, other than the bad route on the INT,

Gonzalez and the overall secondary was a positive - even Myles Bryant made some plays.

Mac has looked 100% more comfortable under pressure and seems to have "answers" that he lacked last year.

View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1703606001100820958


Punting has been a massive improvement - and overall special teams.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

Gesicki's lateral to Strange was a good, alert decision. The game would've ended if he hung on, so what the hell...

 

[Sille Skrub]

Gonzalez Island
The uniforms
The new "keeper of the bell" thing - really, really cool

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

In particular, pass coverage from the LBs was fantastic. Yes, Mapu got nailed for a personal foul on his hit on Waddle, but his intent was clearly to dislodge with a hit to the body, and Waddle's head just flailed over as the ball tipped up. I'll take that work every time. And while the O-line struggles, the short passing game is generally very good to counteract. One of these games, Mac needs to hit an actual long pass though (20+ yards).

Did the corner route to Douglas last week (23 yards) not count?

 

[ifmanis5]

This is a playoff level defense.
The special teams went from being a disaster to an asset.
Those uniforms should be their regular kit.

 

[Jimbodandy]

The secondary, especially Gonzo, is gold.
BoB trying to make a seven course meal out of this offensive roster is still a joy to watch. More creativity and deception in yesterday's game plan than in 17 games last year, despite the little good that it did in the end.
Special teams not killing us is also fun to watch. Last year was trying.

 

[BigJimEd]

As I mentioned in other thread Gonzalez and special teams. Nice to see the special teams unit be a plus.

Agree on the uniforms and the field as well.

We are one loss closer to Caleb Williams.

And very possibly to Hard Knocks for those who'd love to see that.

The new "keeper of the bell" thing - really, really cool

It's probably due to the fact that I'm old but I find it weak. Seems overdone and forced but also mostly harmless.


.

 

[Sille Skrub]

It's probably due to the fact that I'm old but I find it weak. Seems overdone and forced but also mostly harmless.

Work with me here. I am generally a positive person, but I am scraping this morning to find silver linings.

 

[PRabbit]

This defense has the chance to be something special. If Mac had an OL that could keep him from running for his life or let routes develop we'd be talking about it a lot more.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

To me, they are currently just good enough to hang around versus the upper tier teams. They aren't likely to get blown out but they need near-peak performances to have any shot of beating those types of opponents.

Absent the unlikely addition of more skill players, any improvement/adjustment will have to come internally. That said, setting aside roster construction (its a silver linings thread - you know what Skrubby is going to say if you go off on me here) BB & staff have typically done an ok job mitigating problem areas over the course of a season.

In short, even if they cannot fix anything - and I think they can - this is a competitive, bad team. There's entertainment value in that whether its the watching or the complaining.

 

[8slim]

It's probably due to the fact that I'm old but I find it weak. Seems overdone and forced but also mostly harmless.

It's something they should have done 15-20 years ago. It's always struck me as odd that a franchise as insanely successful as the Pats doesn't have nearly any traditions. No team song (Fly Eagles Fly), no chants (J-E-T-S), no pre-game crowd rituals (SKOL). Basically there's the playing of "Your Love". It's weird since the Sox, Bruins and Cs all have traditions.

So I'm glad they're finally doing something. It's just that it's pretty darn derivative at this point, since so many other franchises do something similar.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Gesicki's lateral to Strange was a good, alert decision. The game would've ended if he hung on, so what the hell...

I was enjoying that play a lot until the video review of the spot.

 

[Shelterdog]

I like the "keeper of the lighthouse" thing but I think it should be something other than a bell. It's a lighthouse. For night games dim the lightsm have the keeper pull down some steampunk looking Frankenstein style electrical switch, have some smoke machines, and have a damn giant ray of light bust out of that thing.

 

[astrozombie]

The defense looked pretty good against a tough Miami offense. The offense continues to look at least competent rather than an unmitigated disaster like last year. I get the sense that if the Pats had anything resembling a pro O-line and at least one receiver that caused defenses to pause for a millisecond, this would be solidly a playoff team. In other words, at least they have the structure to be competent and are just missing the talent, unlike last year's cluster of bad ideas and people who could not execute on them. At this point I am expecting another .500-ish season, but at least there is a foundation that can be built upon.

 

[IdiotKicker]

I like the "keeper of the lighthouse" thing but I think it should be something other than a bell. It's a lighthouse. For night games dim the lightsm have the keeper pull down some steampunk looking Frankenstein style electrical switch, have some smoke machines, and have a damn giant ray of light bust out of that thing.

And you have to find someone better than Kenny Chesney to do the second one ever. I say this as someone who has attended half a dozen Chesney concerts.

 

[bigq]

I was enjoying that play a lot until the video review of the spot.

Same. It was my favorite play of the day minus the end result. Strange had a leaping sort of pirouette to grab the high toss showing impressive hands and athleticism to come down with it and pick up positive yards after he landed. Seeing it live I was nearly certain he had the first down.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Cool wrinkle someone (no clue who this account is but the pictures are what we're here for) pointed out on the block. They had a guy whose job is to go to the spot the ball might bounce to so he's ready to scoop and run.

View: https://twitter.com/TheSpottersView/status/1703601958861382012

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

Cool wrinkle someone (no clue who this account is but the pictures are what we're here for) pointed out on the block. They had a guy whose job is to go to the spot the ball might bounce to so he's ready to scoop and run.

View: https://twitter.com/TheSpottersView/status/1703601958861382012

I just saw a great breakdown on this by McAfee -- it will try to find a link. But short story long- the timing was tied to Bailey. Something that BB probably picked up on over all the years.
He then also shamed himself showing a blocked PAT by Collins against the Colts where he was the holder -- "I may have left a brown stain on the turf there"

 

[DJnVa]

And you have to find someone better than Kenny Chesney to do the second one ever. I say this as someone who has attended half a dozen Chesney concerts.

Yeah--this should be former Pats every single week.

 

[tims4wins]

Here's the McAfee video

View: https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1703810200266805294

 

[FL4WL3SS]

I know this is the silver linings thread, and you generally would take 24 points / 389 yards against Miami, but they gave up long scoring drives each of the first two drives and fell behind 10-0. With this offense, that's a death knell. The D was fine last night, but I can't say it played very well. They also gave up the TD once it got to 17-10.

Similar story last week, the Pats got it to 16-14 and the D gave up 2 long FG drives which were very harmful.

It's a good defense, and it would probably look awesome with a lead. But it's been a part of why they've lost both games, too.

It would look awesome with an offense that could score. If the offense could put together multiple long drives and burn more clock, we'd be talking about the defense being top 3 in the league. The usual story, the offense is doing the defense zero favors.

Edit: 71 plays and only 29 minutes of possession is terrible

 

[8slim]

And you have to find someone better than Kenny Chesney to do the second one ever. I say this as someone who has attended half a dozen Chesney concerts.

Yep, that was really weird. I mean if you're going to "honor" someone who's connection to the Pats is playing Gillette a few times, they might as well start bring back the living members of the Dead.

They should be inviting former Pats, local celebs, or someone with a connection to the opponent that allows us to tweak said opponent.

I would have expected last night to be some former "Squish the Fish" Pat, like an Andre Tippett.

 

[Kenesaw Martin Landau]

I like the "keeper of the lighthouse" thing but I think it should be something other than a bell. It's a lighthouse. For night games dim the lightsm have the keeper pull down some steampunk looking Frankenstein style electrical switch, have some smoke machines, and have a damn giant ray of light bust out of that thing.
[/

Cool idea, would be grade A pageantry, but most games take place during daylight hours.

It's pretty typical for NE lighthouse to have a fog bell, i guess that is what they were going for?

Still seems too close to the 76ers thing.

 

[Sille Skrub]

Still seems too close to the 76ers thing.

What do the Sixers do?

 

[Kenesaw Martin Landau]

https://theathletic.com/969705/2019/05/09/the-short-but-resonant-history-of-the-sixers-bell-ringing-ceremony-and-how-it-unites-philadelphia/

 

[katnado]

It would look awesome with an offense that could score. If the offense could put together multiple long drives and burn more clock, we'd be talking about the defense being top 3 in the league. The usual story, the offense is doing the defense zero favors.

Edit: 71 plays and only 29 minutes of possession is terrible

Dolphins had 30:19 in 61 plays, so by that metric they weren't great either. Technically the Pats had 29:41 which while your point remains there was an extra 41 seconds. haha

 

[BigJimEd]

It would look awesome with an offense that could score. If the offense could put together multiple long drives and burn more clock, we'd be talking about the defense being top 3 in the league. The usual story, the offense is doing the defense zero favors.

Edit: 71 plays and only 29 minutes of possession is terrible

Is it? How so, too much pace/tempo?
Patriots offense hasn't been very good and probably isn't doing the defense much favors but I don't think the O is hurting the D either, at least not causing the D to tire out.

 

[rodderick]

They'll run up tempo all year, sometimes it'll make the defense come back on the field after 20 seconds pass on the gameclock, sometimes they'll get into a rhythm and put together a drive. It's fine, some of their best moments have come in those scenarios.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

That's pretty good.
View: https://twitter.com/_AndrewCallahan/status/1703856578841948562?s=20

Andrew Callahan: Mac Jones again played well in the face of pressure against Miami, a major shift from last season. Under pressure, I had him 9-of-13 for 81 yards with 4 sacks and an 18-yard scramble. Against the blitz, Mac went 7-of-9 for 74 yards and a sack.

 

[SMU_Sox]

They passed at the same depth and completed passes at a similar rate.



Hunter Henry has been good. Parker is a decent 3rd option.

A possible silver lining is that if Mac can perform at a similar level as Tua then if he had a better supporting cast he could actually do something.

 

[scotian1]

A fog horn might be more appropriate.

 

[Groovenstein]

BB’s flag spike

 

[Bowser]

Pop Douglas (minus the obvious), because he looks like a very useful part.

 

[Just a bit outside]

The rookie kickers looked great. Big legs and looked very confident.