The Game Ball Thread: Wk.1 vs Phins

SeoulSoxFan

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Cam looked as good as I had hoped for game 1.

The defense was stingy except for a few costly PI calls.

I have a new binky in JJ Taylor.

1-0 and it's game ball time!
 

SMU_Sox

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Cam and Wino. Wino is making quite the leap.

HM: JC Jackson was aces all day. Rivers for finally getting that sack and he looked good in limited snaps. Onwenu for being a secret weapon additional run blocker. All the RBs including Sony who looked better and more explosive. He also got more yards after contact.

Edit: Cam was incredible. 75 yards rushing and team total of 217. WOW.
 

heavyde050

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I give it to the running game and play calling. Didn't ask Cam to do anything outside of his comfort zone.
The opportunistic defense with three interceptions also gets one.
 

Catcher Block

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Game ball to Cam. He made a lot of good decisions, but more importantly didn't make any really bad ones. Just need to get the audibles worked out before a better team takes advantage.
 

Ed Hillel

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Cam was great, but he's already hobbling. At 31 years old off a major injury, I really hope they alter the gameplan a bit.

Cam
JC Jackson
Winovich
Andrews
 

SMU_Sox

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Before the last drive the Patriots had 208 rushing yards as a team and their leading rusher was Cam Newton with 65 yards. They ended with 217 yards and Cam with 75 but I asked my friend Matt St. Jean when was the last time a team had over 200 yards rushing and their leading rusher had <= 65 yards rushing.

The answer? 2012 SF vs NYJ. It had been 8 years since we saw something like that. What a diverse rushing package. JJ Taylor. Whew is he fun. I missed on him one game in. Liked his game but thought he was too small. Lil Dion indeed ;)

Edit: Thank you Matt!!
Edit 2: Had 76 yards for Cam not 75.
 
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bluefenderstrat

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The tradition continues! Cam, JE11, secondary, Wino, running game...just a good opening effort. Sorry to those SoSH prognosticators who said 6 points was a "gift" for Miami.
 

Gash Prex

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Cam looked very accurate and comfortable in the type of throws they asked him to make. That slant to Edelman was fantastic. But for the Edelman drop, missed FG, Newton slip/sack, and Harry fumble, could have scored 35 easily

I assume they will build the offense moving forward.
 

BrazilianSoxFan

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Before the last drive the Patriots had 208 rushing yards as a team and their leading rusher was Cam Newton with 65 yards. They ended with 217 yards and Cam with 76 but I asked my friend Matt St. Jean when was the last time a team had over 200 yards rushing and their leading rusher had <= 65 yards rushing.

The answer? 2012 SF vs NYJ. It had been 8 years since we saw something like that. What a diverse rushing package. JJ Taylor. Whew is he fun. I missed on him one game in. Liked his game but thought he was too small. Lil Dion indeed ;)

Edit: Thank you Matt!!
Didn't Cam have 75yds?
 

Eddie Jurak

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One for Cam.
One for the O-line, including Onwenu.
One for Gilmore.
This is exactly who I would have gone with.

BTW, doesn't JJ Taylor already look better than Sony Michel? Michel can get what is blocked, but I really never expect much else from him.
 

RG33

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Lots of game balls to go around, most have been mentioned.

One other that should be:

William Belichick — Team was well prepared, executed, carried over the great defense from last year, and didn’t really skip a beat under crazy circumstances.
 

DJnVa

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Cam (Patriots QB rushing record)
Running game (I missed some of game but even Sony was hitting holes hard when I was watching)
Josh
Defense
 

Garshaparra

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Need to lock him up
He'll deserve huge-ass money. Pats have one chance to re-sign him: if DMC retires.

Oh, and game balls:

Cam - I was gawking at how long his stride-for-stride read options with the RBs run for. It feels like a fumble's gonna happen every play, but then, zoom, 5-8 easy yards
Next men up - the new LBs and NBs looked great. Joejuan just needed Chung out of the way to step into the role.
O-Line - vast improvement over last year. Most of the RBs were getting very little after the tackle, but they already had 5 yards before first contact. That's great o-line work.
 
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Captaincoop

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Cam (Patriots QB rushing record)
Running game (I missed some of game but even Sony was hitting holes hard when I was watching)
Josh
Defense
I'm surprised people were impressed with Michel. Looked to me like the o line blew holes open all day and he took the minimum that was there. I'm looking forward to more Taylor and the Harris debut.
 

DJnVa

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I'm surprised people were impressed with Michel. Looked to me like the o line blew holes open all day and he took the minimum that was there. I'm looking forward to more Taylor and the Harris debut.
You quoted me, so I'll respond--I didn't say I was "impressed", I said he appeared to hit the holes hard from what I saw and put disclaimer in that I didn't see everything.
 

5dice

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I'm surprised people were impressed with Michel. Looked to me like the o line blew holes open all day and he took the minimum that was there. I'm looking forward to more Taylor and the Harris debut.
I was’t blown away either, but it did seem like of that deep group of RB’s in use today, he got called into the hardest, most run-obvious situations where Miami expected it was coming. I was glad he got the TD run opportunity and cashed it in.
 

Harry Hooper

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Taylor had one run where he took the ball to the right of Newton. It was hard for the D to see him as he headed upfield through the left side of the OL. It was a vintage Joe Morris run.
 

SMU_Sox

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HM to JJW. He was excellent today in his role as a TE eraser. Excited with the safety situation. They used Dugger a lot too - a lot of us thought he might need a year to be up to speed from Division 2 to the NFL but he looked good and will have a versatile role this year. Exciting young secondary gets even better from 2019? Sign me up.

Star on the helmet for Izzo - looked so much better blocking so far this year. Also had a nice grab for 25 yards.
 
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SMU_Sox

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Sony got 2 3rd and short carries that hurt his average. He also had a 1 yard TD. When you only get 10 carries and 3 of them are short yardage situations that hurts the average. Sony had runs of: 1 (TD), 1, 2 (first down), 2 (first down), 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7. Not once stopped for no-gain is an improvement from last year. Taking away obvious short yardage situations he was 7 for 32 which is ~4.6 yards a carry. That is an improvement from his play last year. I still want to see what Harris can bring as I am not sold on Sony but liked what I saw so far in 2020 vs his uninspiring 2019.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Gotta give out an HM to Anfernee Jennings for hanging in with the big boys in his first game.

With KVN looking rather pedestrian and Jamie Collins getting ejected in the 1st quarter with the Lions, it's even more deserved.

Also, that 55-yard punt by Bailey was a thing of beauty.
 

SMU_Sox

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Asking as someone who didn’t see the game: how did the front 7 look on D?
Excellent. Thoroughly dominated the trenches in the run game and got fairly consistent pressure on Fitz all day even though they only had one sack. Wino took a huge leap. Bentley was all over the run. Jennings like @SeoulSoxFan mentioned had some nice highlights. I thought Cowart, Wise, and Rivers looked good too. Very encouraging first performance given the roster turnover at LB.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Excellent. Thoroughly dominated the trenches in the run game and got fairly consistent pressure on Fitz all day even though they only had one sack. Wino took a huge leap. Bentley was all over the run. Jennings like @SeoulSoxFan mentioned had some nice highlights. I thought Cowart, Wise, and Rivers looked good too. Very encouraging first performance given the roster turnover at LB.
Cowart, Bentley, and Rivers made me giddy today.

Along with Guy and Butler, this may be the most unheralded front-7 BB has ever assembled.
 

lexrageorge

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I only saw parts of the game off and on, but my game balls:

Cam
OL for run blocking, a huge problem all last season
Taylor - could be a classic Belichick pickup
Edelman for being Edelman
Defense

I liked how J Williams stepped up with some plays in his first game after what was essentially an apprentice season his rookie year. Thought the younger players did well, which was a good sign. Of course, it's one game, against an opponent that appears like it may need a few games to find its own rhythm.

I know Volin essentially dismissed Harry's 5 catches as being meaningless, but I thought Harry looked good in that one drive where he caught 4 of those 5 passes. Looked like he was finally establishing a rhythm with Cam while gaining confidence. Had it not been for the fumble, I would have given him a B for the day. However, the fumble happened, and he's not going to be given too many more chances to learn the importance that Bill places on "ball security".
 

joe dokes

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I give a collective ball to the LBs. In hindsight, it seems clear why BB was ready to move on from KVN and Collins and go with younger and cheaper. A year too soon, rather than a year too late. (We'll see next week. Wilson is not Fitzpatrick).
 

lexrageorge

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I give a collective ball to the LBs. In hindsight, it seems clear why BB was ready to move on from KVN and Collins and go with younger and cheaper. A year too soon, rather than a year too late. (We'll see next week. Wilson is not Fitzpatrick).
Collins faded terribly the final 8 games of the regular season and was essentially a non-factor by season's end, and that head butt was 100% inexcusable and is worthy of a benching. Neither player is the kind of player you want eating up cap space, especially when running a team that will have multiple holes to fill in future seasons.
 

DJnVa

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Snap counts showed Byrd and Harry played more snaps than Edelman, by a fair amount. They must have some faith in Harry's blocking, which I like.
 

Captaincoop

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I give a collective ball to the LBs. In hindsight, it seems clear why BB was ready to move on from KVN and Collins and go with younger and cheaper. A year too soon, rather than a year too late. (We'll see next week. Wilson is not Fitzpatrick).
Come to think of it, that was the first Pats game in a while where at no point was a frustrating lack of speed evident on D.
 

tims4wins

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BB was asked specifically about Wino, his response was along the lines of "he played well last year, but there were more experienced players in front of him... now he's one of the more experienced players". You could tell he had confidence in Wino. It's exciting.
 

Sille Skrub

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My game balls:

1) William Belichick: The Pats lead the NFL in optouts. It's early, but Bill just keeps plugging away. Same as it ever was.
2) Cam Newton: I was really worried about what CN had left in the tank. Cam came into a new situation and fit in seamlessly. If he stays healthy, this team is going to be really fun to watch this year.
3) Pats secondary - awesome awesome awesome
3a) Winovich

Honorable mention: N'Keal Harry. Yes, horrible and inexcusable gaffe with the fumble (which I'm guessing will never happen again). Otherwise, 5 receptions on 6 targets. Cam is showing this guy some love and working with him. Hopefully, he can continue to grow and find his way.
 

Saints Rest

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Snap counts showed Byrd and Harry played more snaps than Edelman, by a fair amount. They must have some faith in Harry's blocking, which I like.
I wonder if Edelman got dinged up, maybe not he late hit OOB, where it looked like he might have taken a helmet right on his forearm/elbow. I seem to recall hearing Romo say "No Edelman out there."
 

Saints Rest

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I give a collective ball to the LBs. In hindsight, it seems clear why BB was ready to move on from KVN and Collins and go with younger and cheaper. A year too soon, rather than a year too late. (We'll see next week. Wilson is not Fitzpatrick).
Maybe BB simply didn't want to have to relive Collins getting juked out of his shoes by Wilson again.