The Game Ball Thread: AFCDG vs Colts

[SeoulSoxFan]

A close 3rd quarter contest turned into a blowout, thanks to (yeah, the game balls):

• The Offensive Line: Blount sets records, but my first game ball goes to the OL for opening seams all night and for not letting Mathis run havoc
• LGBT: the unbelievable cut springs him for a 73 yard backbreaker - that was a thing of pure beauty by the beast
• Collins: what a game -- covers, sacks, run supports -- does it all in the biggest game (so far) of the year
• Ghost: had some beautiful punts 

Honorable mention goes to Dennard, who's quickly becoming The Luck Killer (2 out of 4 INTs), and McD for keeping it on the ground. 
 
Onto the AFCCG!!!

 

[Ralphwiggum]

LGBT
Collins

 

[Boston Brawler]

LGBT
Collins

 

[GLOSS]

 

[Kliq]

Gostkowski: Let's see Prater or Tucker (guys who made the all-pro teams over him) handle both kicking duties.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Holy shit.  Awesome.

 

[dcmissle]

Cowher loving him some Jamie Collins ... Marino crestfallen

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

 
Holy shit - that's just ducky. 

 

[axx]

Yeah the OL.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Hoo-man made some awesome blocks tonight.

 

[bankshot1]

OL
Blount
Collins
Ghost
 
and Dennard for setting the tone. 

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Also extra point goes to BB for blowing off OC Pep Hamilton apparently trying to apologize/make excuses for himself after the game. 

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Blount, Collins, the OL, Ghost.

Goats: Allen. Not sure I want him back next week.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Hoo-man made some awesome blocks tonight.

 
+1

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Also, honorable mention to Pagano for punting in 4th and inches.

 

[Rico Guapo]

Blount
OL
Collins

 

[Wave em in Wendall]

Mankins and Collins. 

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Also, honorable mention to Pagano for punting in 4th and inches.

TMQ wrote Game Over in his notebook.

 

[Dogman]

Hightower had a great, great game.  In position on every play and solid tackling.

 

[tims4wins]

TMQ wrote Game Over in his notebook.

No joke though. This was inexcusable.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Collins will get most of the attention(for good reason) but Hightower was great as well.

 

[lostjumper]

Blount
Collins
Denard
Ridley O-Line
Edelman
Ghost
Hightower
Silinga
You could probably give out 15 game balls tonight. So many people played well.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Hoo-man made some awesome blocks tonight.

He was fucking great tonight

 

[RorschachsMask]

Ridleys numbers didn't look as good as he did. Dude had some great, tough as hell runs.
 
Obviously Blount/Collins/Dennard/Hightower/Hooman, Collins is a physical freak.

 

[Reardon's Beard]

Game ball goes to the T-E-A-M.

 

[Saints Rest]

Amazing that the Pats not only win, but score 6 TDs and no one in here (and rightfully so) has mentioned Tom Brady.

 

[ShaneTrot]

Collins will get most of the attention(for good reason) but Hightower was great as well.

Hightower was great against the run and excellent covering backs out of the backfield. He lead the team in tackles plus the INT. Collins did it all tackle for loss, a sack, and an INT. Two INT by LBs in this game is amazing. NE LBs only had one INT this year in 16 games.
 
I love the toughness tonight. They beat up the Colts.

 

[singaporesoxfan]

Amazing that the Pats not only win, but score 6 TDs and no one in here (and rightfully so) has mentioned Tom Brady.

 
Who ever gives the game ball to the holder on extra points?

 

[RedOctober3829]

Collins was a fucking beast. He was what we all thought he could be tonight.

LGBT. Enough said.

O-line.

Goat: McDaniels. Some unreal play calls. 3rd and 1 run with Develin?

 

[tims4wins]

McD also had some great 3rd down play calls early. Also the play action to Amendola

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Collins was a fucking beast. He was what we all thought he could be tonight.

LGBT. Enough said.

O-line.

Goat: McDaniels. Some unreal play calls. 3rd and 1 run with Develin?

 
Huh?  I thought it was one of Josh's best games start to finish.  Not every single play is going to work.

 

[crystalline]

Being a Patriots fan is an incredibly fun experience. This team is the class of the NFL over the past decade and it starts at the top with Belichick and with Brady.

When they have passing weapons they spread it out and beat teams with the pass (2007). Sometimes they manhandle teams in the running game. The diversity is crazy. They beat teams with little details- they even appear to coach their punters to flip the ball out the back of the end zone when being tackled on the one.

Fun season and fun game tonight. They are great competitors out there.

 

[dcmissle]

Gostkowski: Let's see Prater or Tucker (guys who made the all-pro teams over him) handle both kicking duties.

If he couldn't have handled the punting when the job was handed to him , which would have been understandable given the weather and magnitude of the game , we would have been in really big trouble.

 

[Super Nomario]

Great team win. a couple breakdowns in the secondary, but Luck completed fewer than half his passes and threw four picks. When the goat is Danny Aiken, the long snapper, you know you had a good night.
 
Blount, obviously
The run-blocking OL
Hightower and Collins were everywhere
 
 

Goat: McDaniels. Some unreal play calls. 3rd and 1 run with Develin?

I thought the good way, way outweighed the bad. They ran the ball aggressively and generally had effective playcalls on 3rd down - they were 11 of 18 on 3rds. The red zone performance was terrific. And they set up the two kill shots great - the counter action to Blount for the big run, and the long play-action pass to Amendola. I thought the playcalling was by-and-large excellent.
 
Also, major props to Belichick for the next-man-up preparation. Having guys like Collins and Cannon and Hoomananawanui and Siliga, etc. step in when they knew they would be playing is one thing, but they lost the punter partway through the game and dealt with it.
 
Doug Kyed ‏@DougKyedNESN35m
Belichick says Gostkowski punts in practice. It was obvious.
 
Sometimes you win games on Sunday, but sometimes you win them on Wednesday and Thursday. That's the most underrated part of coaching, IMO, and where Belichick generally excels.

 

[Jungleland]

Blount
Collins
Hightower
Gostkowski
Dennard

Probably in that order. Impressive game overall, and very exciting to see the young guys step up so hard.

 

[Bellhorn]

Huh?  I thought it was one of Josh's best games start to finish.  Not every single play is going to work.

Yes, agreed. Tremendous perseverance in sticking with the run even after the series of 3 and outs. Also loved the shotgun draw to Vereen to pick up a 3rd and 3 early in the game.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Yes, agreed. Tremendous perseverance in sticking with the run even after the series of 3 and outs. Also loved the shotgun draw to Vereen to pick up a 3rd and 3 early in the game.

 
Belichick also mentioned McDaniels specifically in the post-game press conference.  Even if you give the first 7 points to the D, it was still a great performance by the offense.
 
The fullback dive call sucked and I was cursing it too, but that's one misstep.  He stuck with the rushing game all game long even when it went through spurts of being ineffective. He used the play action masterfully.  And the red zone performance was masterful.

 

[Eric Ampersand]

Early in the game Collins made a ridiculous play covering Fleener down the sideline as if he were a CB. At first I though it was Talib but no it was Collins being amazing.
 
/Also, Slater and the ST coverage unit deserve a game ball. 

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Sometimes you win games on Sunday, but sometimes you win them on Wednesday and Thursday. That's the most underrated part of coaching, IMO, and where Belichick generally excels.

 
There was a great exchange between Cowher & BB, where Cowher says "you'll probably go down as the greatest coach ever" and BB pays it right back with "it means a lot coming from you". 
 
There's no better in-between the games coach, as well as the in-game coach. 
 
Among BB, Doc, Francona/Farrell, and Julien, this has been absolutely the best groups of coaches I've ever had the pleasure to watch in person. 

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Early in the game Collins made a ridiculous play covering Fleener down the sideline as if he were a CB. At first I though it was Talib but no it was Collins being amazing.
 
/Also, Slater and the ST coverage unit deserve a game ball. 

 
Slater yes, but 3 ST penalties will not make the coaching staff happy. 

 

[Dogman]

 
Slater yes, but 3 ST penalties will not make the coaching staff happy. 

 
Or the botched snap that led to the Allen injury.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Amazing that the Pats not only win, but score 6 TDs and no one in here (and rightfully so) has mentioned Tom Brady.

 
He was great on those holds for Ghost.

 

[triniSox]

If I were Robert Kraft, I'd go give Belichick a game ball and a big hug right now. I'm sick and tired about hearing BB the "GM" is bad. 8 AFC title games is amazing.

 

[Eric Ampersand]

I give the coverage team credit because Ghost was punting. Two of those flags were on the return team however.

 

[dbn]

Jeff Demps/USA track
Collins. Please play like that always.
McDaniels for sticking with the game plan (other than the dive by Develin)

 

[Seels]

Blount, Collins, the OL, Ghost.

Goats: Allen. Not sure I want him back next week.

What did Allen do wrong aside from not be 14 feet tall?

 

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

Technically he could have thrown it at Wilson's feet and it would have been an incomplete pass, colts ball at the 50. Right?

 

[dbn]

If he could have thrown an incomplete pass to whomever that was nearby it would have been the best possible outcome, but you are right he absolutely should have kicked it through the end zone and they were very lucky that the Colts dude accidentally swatted it through the end zone.

 

[RedOctober3829]

You guys are right about McD. Overreaction on my part.

 

[TomTerrific]

Well, he should have kicked the ball out of the end zone. Only a fluke tip by that 3rd Colts player prevented a cheap TD for Indy.

 
Yes, this one completely surprised me in that it's just a preparation thing, something Belichick & co seem to excel at. His absolute first instinct should be to kick it out of the endzone.
 
Was it just me, or were the announcers completely brain-damaged on this as well--it seemed like they were trying to defend what Allen tried to do.