The Game Ball Thread: Wk.12 vs Arizona

SeoulSoxFan

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A Scud Away from Hell
Another win against a quality opponent!

One game ball goes to the ST, from the great returns to the punting to the game-winning FG.

Another goes to the stout D. The goal-line stop was huge.

Game ball time!
 

Oppo

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Folk
The helmet to helmet hit on Cam (and Arz’s reaction)
 

SamK

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Folk, Bailey,
and Jennings for putting his blocking clinic. Anyone who has played at any level has dreamt of making that football play.
 

BusRaker

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Sweet Feet White
Bentley's / Winks Batted Balls
Special Teams
Arizona's game plan / coaching
 

JokersWildJIMED

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Horrible DL play last week followed up by quality play this week. Adam Butler gets the star of the game on defense. Bentley played well. Folk obviously is #1 and Bailey strong as usual. They need a QB. Period.
 

SMU_Sox

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Onwenu and Butler. Uche, Wino, Dugger, Bryant, and Guy all with honorable mentions. Same for Harris and Meyers on offense. Young guys are shelling out!!
 

SMU_Sox

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This needs some love. I guarantee you (but don’t hold me accountable) that BB will highlight one of those plays with the recap. ST is so important.

Bethel was aces today in particular.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Cross posting from the game thread. Not sure what to take away from this game. D played reasonably well. Special teams set up some short fields, and of course Folk had the winning kick. Cam sucks and the offense has no identity. Hard to see them stringing together wins with this roster.
 

SMU_Sox

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Hey guys just a note today that I saw live but Bryant is getting looks at safety. He was doing some split zone work. That’s an interesting development. I like Bryant. I think he’s an NFL caliber player or at least a quality backup. Bryant also crashed down hard against the run.

Jennings had a good game too from what I saw and that penalty was questionable. Again really loved the contributions from the young guys. That gives me a ton of hope going forward.
 

moretsyndrome

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Hopkins was targeted 7 times. 5 catches for 55 yards. A long of 16. All caveats about Murray not being himself aside, Pats lose if Hopkins has a representative game.

Gilmore
Bentley
Folk
 

CoffeeNerdness

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The defense played better than reasonably well. They held Murray to 170/0 TD/1 INT, top-5 receiver Hopkins to 5/55, and Kenyan Drake only had 3.5 yards per rush. That was the number 1 in total yards on offense team in the league coming into the game. Huge goal line stand and huge effort keeping AZ to a long field goal at the end of the game.
 

54thMA

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I missed the game, but was curious about the penalty and eventually found some video. Here it is for other slackers.
View: https://twitter.com/CoachHoenk/status/1333138184012754949
It's bang/bang play, but I wonder if he does not leave his feet there is no flag, not to mention the official who threw a flag at the top of the screen was basically behind the play vs in front of it, so his bad angle contributed to him throwing the flag. The other official if I am not mistaken threw a flag too; he basically had his back to the play and again, I think they were influenced by him leaving his feet.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Onwenu and Butler. Uche, Wino, Dugger, Bryant, and Guy all with honorable mentions. Same for Harris and Meyers on offense. Young guys are shelling out!!
Assuming they get at least a slightly above-average QB play, I feel really good about this team in 2021 with the young players developing + ton of cap room.
 

E5 Yaz

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It's bang/bang play, but I wonder if he does not leave his feet there is no flag, not to mention the official who threw a flag at the top of the screen was basically behind the play vs in front of it, so his bad angle contributed to him throwing the flag. The other official if I am not mistaken threw a flag too; he basically had his back to the play and again, I think they were influenced by him leaving his feet.
Three officials threw flags on the play
 

ZMart100

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I think it is a good football play. Here's the explanation the refs gave
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1333167187759128577

It seems like one of the right call under bad rules that periodically happens. It was a violation of the letter, but not the spirit which is to protect people out of the play.

It's not clear to me that initiating contact with hands would have been any better or safer for the defender. Jennings probably could have turned and chased Gunner to get in the way of the tackler, which I think is the preferred outcome. Personally I think the defender needs to bear some responsibility for being aware of the blocker. I'd prefer a rule change to allow that hit.
 

Silverdude2167

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I think it is a good football play. Here's the explanation the refs gave
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1333167187759128577

It seems like one of the right call under bad rules that periodically happens. It was a violation of the letter, but not the spirit which is to protect people out of the play.

It's not clear to me that initiating contact with hands would have been any better or safer for the defender. Jennings probably could have turned and chased Gunner to get in the way of the tackler, which I think is the preferred outcome. Personally I think the defender needs to bear some responsibility for being aware of the blocker. I'd prefer a rule change to allow that hit.
This seems like a good point and a real issue with the rule...it is insane that a penalty that is literally called the "blindside block penalty" was called when a blocker and defender probably made sustained eye contact for a second +...There was nothing blindside about the block and the only issue is the blocker was in front of the defender. I hate to introduce opinion into the interpretation of a penalty by a ref, but there is no way this should have been called and it has to be fixed.
 

m0ckduck

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This seems like a good point and a real issue with the rule...it is insane that a penalty that is literally called the "blindside block penalty" was called when a blocker and defender probably made sustained eye contact for a second +...There was nothing blindside about the block and the only issue is the blocker was in front of the defender. I hate to introduce opinion into the interpretation of a penalty by a ref, but there is no way this should have been called and it has to be fixed.
It was an annoying play in two respects: (1) the refs are all running along with the play, and so from their perspective, it seems like Jennings is “moving towards his own end zone” (as Winovitch says in his answer) although he had actually planted and stopped moving: (2) Jennings does the big “I’m blowing you up on this block” sell, which really forced the flag. Maybe no way to avoid it, but I think if he’sd even kept his arms by his side more, the flags would have stayed in pockets.
 

BaseballJones

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If Jennings had merely gotten in the way and even ran with Gunner, forcing the defender to kind of run Jennings over, there'd have been no call. Clearly it was because he turned and stood his ground firmly, which created the illusion of him turning and absolutely blowing up the defender. But it's hard to think like that in the moment.
 

gryoung

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Game Ball should go to Murray and Kingsbury.

Murray for being about 50% healthy (he clearly was avoiding the run if possible).
Kingsbury for pulling back on (protecting) using Murray as a runner.

Pats were fortunate to catch Arizona when they did.
 

BaseballJones

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Remaining schedule:

at Chargers - 3-8 but none of us would be surprised if Herbert went off against NE
at Rams - 7-4 and one of the better teams in the NFC, but we've seen this before with the Rams
at Dolphins - 7-4 but who knows who will be their QB in that one
vs Bills - 8-3 and NE should have beaten them the first time
vs Jets - 0-11 but easily could have beaten NE in their first matchup

I could see them going 4-1 to finish 9-7, and if they do that, assuming their loss is to the Bills, they'd be in good shape with a bunch of tiebreakers, and I'd see them quite possibly making the playoffs in that situation. I could also see them going 2-3 and finishing 7-9. I don't think they'll go 1-4, but it's also a possibility.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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3 in a row on the road, the first two being on the West Coast, the third being in Miami where the Pats never play well.

It's an extreme long shot to make the playoffs at this point, although they own tie breakers over Miami, Raiders and Ravens.

Yesterday, DL gets a game ball. Folk gets a game ball. Jake Bailey gets a game ball. The rushers did a GREAT job containing Murray from rushing, I was very impressed with that.
 

cshea

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In a 9-7 scenario I think the loss you want is the Rams not the Bills. That would give them an 8-4 conference record, with head to head tiebreakers over Miami, Vegas and Baltimore. That said, I think the Patriots likely need to run the table. Remaining Schedules:

5. Cleveland...8-3...@ Titans, Ravens, @ Giants, @ Jets, Steelers
6. Miami- 7-4...Bengals, Chiefs, Patriots, @ Raiders, @ Bills
7. Indy...7-4...@ Texans, @ Raiders, Texans, @ Steelers, Jaguars
8. Baltimore...6-4...@ Steelers, Cowboys, @ Browns, Jaguars, Giants, Bengals
9. Vegas...6-5...@ Jets, Colts, Chargers, Dolphins, Broncos
10. New England...5-6...@ Chargers, @ Rams, @ Dolphins, Bills, Jets

They all have reasonable pats to 9/10 wins. Miani has the most challenging remaining schedule. Baltimore is a bit of an unkown with the covid situation, but that could also hurt the Patriots. If the Ravens have a game canceled, then the head to head tiebreaker goes out the window and also Baltimore could be losing their toughest remaining game.I don't think much of the Browns, maybe they turn into a pumpkin, but they are 3 games ahead and have banked 8 wins already so getting to 10/11 doesn't seem too difficult. Vegas was a hair away from beating KC for the second time this season and followed it up by getting roasted by the Falcons so who knows with them.

The Patriots don't appear to be a team about to embark on a 5-0, 4-1 run. Excluding the San Fran game, they are 5-5 with a +1 point differential. I think that's pretty much who they are. They'll likely be in all the remaining games, but they are more likely to break even than pile up wins. My guess is they go 3-2 and finish at 8-8.
 

BigSoxFan

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In a 9-7 scenario I think the loss you want is the Rams not the Bills. That would give them an 8-4 conference record, with head to head tiebreakers over Miami, Vegas and Baltimore. That said, I think the Patriots likely need to run the table. Remaining Schedules:

5. Cleveland...8-3...@ Titans, Ravens, @ Giants, @ Jets, Steelers
6. Miami- 7-4...Bengals, Chiefs, Patriots, @ Raiders, @ Bills
7. Indy...7-4...@ Texans, @ Raiders, Texans, @ Steelers, Jaguars
8. Baltimore...6-4...@ Steelers, Cowboys, @ Browns, Jaguars, Giants, Bengals
9. Vegas...6-5...@ Jets, Colts, Chargers, Dolphins, Broncos
10. New England...5-6...@ Chargers, @ Rams, @ Dolphins, Bills, Jets

They all have reasonable pats to 9/10 wins. Miani has the most challenging remaining schedule. Baltimore is a bit of an unkown with the covid situation, but that could also hurt the Patriots. If the Ravens have a game canceled, then the head to head tiebreaker goes out the window and also Baltimore could be losing their toughest remaining game.I don't think much of the Browns, maybe they turn into a pumpkin, but they are 3 games ahead and have banked 8 wins already so getting to 10/11 doesn't seem too difficult. Vegas was a hair away from beating KC for the second time this season and followed it up by getting roasted by the Falcons so who knows with them.

The Patriots don't appear to be a team about to embark on a 5-0, 4-1 run. Excluding the San Fran game, they are 5-5 with a +1 point differential. I think that's pretty much who they are. They'll likely be in all the remaining games, but they are more likely to break even than pile up wins. My guess is they go 3-2 and finish at 8-8.
Really is too bad that they weren't able to pull out one of the SEA/BUF games and then puked all over themselves against Denver, which was possibly COVID-aided. This team going 4-1 down the stretch would be one of the more shocking developments of the Belichick era, IMO. The Chargers have a poor record but they are typically competitive most games and now they have Ekeler back. The Rams have a very tough defense and I really struggle to see how we'll score more than, say, 17 or so against them. The Dolphins have been playing well but that is a game we could potentially win if we show up. The Bills are obviously tough but we match up pretty well against them. And the Jets are the Jets.

I'm expecting a 2-3 finish with a couple annoyingly close losses that we can't pull out. 7-9 for the season, which seems about right. With a little better luck, it could have been 9 wins or so.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Everyone is gonna say it's the loss of Brady but no Hightower has been really hard to overcome. There's a reason they gave up a billion yards in SB 52, it's because Hightower was hurt.