The Game Ball Thread: Wk 14 at Texans

[SeoulSoxFan]

Oh, it's the Game BALL Thread again. Nice to type that after a couple of frustrating weeks.

My weekly game balls go to:

• Gronk: the All-Planet TE made a surprising appearance and although his snaps were limited, he made the best of them (also, a hearty thanks to the Gronk family for "letting" him play)
• Sheard: he out-JJ'd Watt tonight, with 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. What a game.

With the win, NE clinches a playoff spot. Also back to being the 1st seed baby!

 

[DeadlySplitter]

Sheard
White
Gronk
Martin
Allen

Great team effort

 

[Hector Salamanca]

Sheard was a monster.

 

[amarshal2]

It's not easy to think of times a single Pats defensive player earned the game ball more than tonight. Sheard is a monster. It's crazy to me that he gets fewer snaps than Nink and Jones.

Lots of guys played really well on D. Hicks. Ryan. Brown played well.

 

[Ale Xander]

Sheard, a great purchase off Nordstrom Rack

Akeem hicks, a great purchase from Marshalls

And Tebucky Joneson, a great pickup from the Salvation Army

 

[NWsoxophile]

Sheard
Bolden
Gronk

 

[mwonow]

• Sheard for sure, but Nink, Hicks and their D-line mates all deserve mention here
• Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler
• BB and his coaching staff

 

[Tony C]

Gronk and Sheard and...

-Hicks played like a beast on the line, give him a game ball as a stand in for other DL guys (Nink and Branch)
-Butler -- one bad play, but was terrific most of the night
-Mayo -- he's actually been good, just great to see that improvement.

 

[serotonin]

But seriously, the entire defense looked awfully good. Sheard and Hicks in particular.

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

Whole defense was great tonight. Liked how Bolden filled in for Blount. Amazing to see Gronk appear.

 

[Manzivino]

Logan Ryan - in Hopkins' back pocket all game.

Sheard - pressure for days

Hicks - killed a guy with a trident

Gronk - limited snaps, full game impact

 

[Al Zarilla]

Brady. Keeps things calm when message board heads are losing theirs.

 

[Devizier]

Sheard
Ryan
Butler
Gronk

Down:
Martin and punt returning, generally. Amendola fielded some risky fair catches.

 

[Oppo]

Sheard, Butler, and Gronk

The awful: punt muff, refs, al michaels

 

[bankshot1]

give poor Brian Hoyer a ball

he was losing his all night

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Gronk says the defense was awesome. Also says the knee is "feeling good".

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Sheard says it was good to "get that nasty taste out of your mouth".

 

[eddiew112]

Sheard
Hicks
Mayo
McDaniels

 

[AbbyNoho]

Allen has been so huge in winning field position battles.

 

[Dahabenzapple2]

Dingy .....Dungy incoherent

 

[Dahabenzapple2]

Game Balls:

Sheard GRONK Ryan Mayo

 

[AardsmaToZupcic]

Everyone except Keshawn Martin and this guy

 

[scotian1]

Have to agree with the NBC choices of Gronk and Sheard. 87 was simply game changing tonight.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Ryan. Butler for overcoming a tough play to come back and break up a TD at a big spot that I think would have made it a one-score game.

Shorts, Hopkins, and Washington are a pretty good crew. Covering them and getting pressure was just on the coaches. Patricia.

Special teams really responded in a big way, even with the muff.

 

[pokey_reese]

I want to give this one to the whole defense. Outside of a few big pass plays at the end, and that one 38-yard run, the defense really didn't let Houston get anything going tonight. Really phenomenal job, especially considering all of the injuries.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Honorary game ball to BB the GM for:

• Getting Akiem Hicks for Hooman
• Getting Leonard Johnson for nothing

And:

• Jumping on Sheard as a F.A.
• Trusting Butler as a #1 corner

 

[Jungleland]

Interested to see how often he was in single on him but Logan shut down one of the very best receivers in the league the entire night, one big late play aside. It's easier with the front seven playing so well but the massive leap forward that he, Butler, and Chung have taken this season can't be overstated.

 

[SoxinSeattle]

Shame. Martin was having a game until the muff.

D line all night long. Unbelievable.

 

[Van Everyman]

Everyone except Keshawn Martin and this guy

Martin had a great game until the fumble and was a big part of the points in the first half. I just might keep him off the special teams unit if Amendola can go.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

The front seven is so deep you would never guess a massively important piece of it was sidelined tonight. If all or most of that crew is healthy come January I'm not picking anybody over the Pats.

Some protection issues but the gameplan was good. Felt like they got back to the bread and butter short passing game. I'm sure having the GOAT tight end out there opens things up a bit.

 

[GBrushTWood]

- The whole defense won this game tonight. The sequence in the 3rd quarter after the Keshawn Martin muffed punt was where the game was won IMO (20-6 at that point with Texans in the red zone). They got screwed by the refs on the DeAndre Hopkins fumble (really puzzling call). Then Butler saved a touchdown and Houston ended up turning it over on downs. The special teams fumble and refs could have easily fucked us, but the defense made a stand and saved the game IMO.

- I thought Blount ran well before he got hurt. Averaged a little over 5 yards a carry. Even though it looks like he's running in blocks of cement, he got the job done. Have to hope his hip injury isn't serious.

- Credit to McDaniels and Belichick for a strong offensive gameplan. They established the running game, took an early lead, and pretty much dominated the game. They also didn't let Watt beat them.

- Logan Ryan played real strong on DeAndre Hopkins.

Offensive line played a bit better, but there's a lot of room for improvement with them. Still too many sacks on Brady.

The big issue coming out of this game is the health of McCourty, Blount, and Easley. They're pretty deep at safety and defensive tackle. Losing McCourty would be big...hopefully he's OK.

 

[Reardon's Beard]

Great defensive effort overall. Not game changers below necessarily, but I do think these guys stepped up:

Johnson: could be that missing nickle that can actually play and make a difference. Given the development of Butler and Ryan, I think I like that three CB core as long as we got DMC healthy with Chung.

White: continues to show good hands and worthy of the 3D RB mantle.

Hicks: beasting all night.

 

[nothumb]

My game ball goes to Brian Hoyer's acupuncturist if she can keep a couple of our guys on the field between now and January.

Other than that, big ups to pretty much the whole D but especially Sheard, Hicks, Ryan.

Obviously Gronk. Also gotta give some love to White on offense, maybe not game-ball level but I felt like it was another step forward for him today.

On the downside, Martin's fumble was pretty bad, Lafell continues to be unreliable, injuries are bullshit.

By his standards I thought Collins was a little quiet today. His blitzes have not seemed to get home as much since he's been back, though he has looked good in coverage. Not a bad game by any stretch but I am looking forward to Hightower being back and seeing them play off each other.

 

[bankshot1]

The D took a huge amount of pressure from Offense/O-line Brady that is still struggling to figure it out..

outside of Malcolm's biting on that pass in the 1st qtr, the D played about a flawless game.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Houston's right tackle deserves a game ball, Nink and Sheard owned him all night.

 

[DJnVa]

Sheard says it was good to "get that nasty taste out of your mouth".

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Leonard Johnson, everyone:

@jeffphowe Leonard Johnson: "I did some great things in practice when guys were wondering, ‘Who is this guy?’ It just feels good."

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Too much LaFell negativity. Yeah, the drops are bad and his routes aren't exactly transcendant. But he had five catches on 8 targets on a night where Brady completed only 22 balls. I think three or four of those were for first downs. Not dominant, but he also caught a TD on a great route that got called back only due to a very technical penalty. That he hasn't stepped up to dominate while there have been injuries is a bummer, but he was a useful player in a good, controlled offensive game.

 

[Tony C]

aside from his dancing skills, Johnson was really solid in coverage -- been desperate for a 3rd CB, and based on one game promising (against Brian Hoyer, so....not going to take that to the bank).

 

[DJnVa]

So what was the deal with Collinsworth tonight? It seems that he forgot to study.

On the play where Martin was in motion and took the handoff he said something about how the Pats keep coming up with new things, but isn't that the play that Edelman has run a number of times?

And later he made a point of talking about how Butler's role is to take the #2 WR and it's been that way since the opening week. Did I hallucinate the Butler vs. Odell Beckham Jr. matchup? What was Collinsworth talking about?

 

[soxhop411]

“@Trags: Just asked Gronk about 45 yard pass in first quarter. Said he lost it in lights and then ”reappeared“.”

 

[E5 Yaz]

What's funny is that Martin was having a noticeable impact (great route on the TD) before ...

 

[Kliq]

Everyone on defense. The pass rush was great and the secondary won nearly every 50/50 ball that was in the air. I thought the o-line did a good job containing Watt, although he obviously was not 100% for this game.

Oh, and can't forget about the real MVP, Khalil Mack.

 

[Hendu for Kutch]

Everyone on defense. The pass rush was great and the secondary won nearly every 50/50 ball that was in the air..

Quick back of the napkin math says that the Texans had 189 total yards of offense. 3 big plays accounted for 126 of those.

That means the other 49 plays the Texans ran accounted for 63 yards. Let that roll around in your head for a bit.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Oh, and can't forget about the real MVP, Khalil Mack.

This reminds me of something odd during the telecast. Michaels mentioned Mack's sacks today and Collinsworth reacted as though he hadn't heard about it. I mean, he's got to know Oakland beat the Broncos, so even a cursory look at the game story would have mentioned Mack. I mean, those guys are prepping, so they can't see everything; but you'd think something that significant that happened in a game with a huge bearing on the game they're about to telecast would have been in his notes.

Some research intern screwed up, or Collinsworth just didn't read his prep

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Yup, the entire defense was beastly tonight. Sheard, Ryan, Hicks, Collins, Butler and Leonard Johnson were balling all night long. And the kicking game needs some love too with Gostkowski hitting two 40+ yarders and Allen, who had a busy night, had a three of his six punts go inside the 20 and one 54 yarder too.

Finally, the coaching staff gets love for patching together everything against a rival coaching staff and some players who undoubtedly have the most institutional knowledge of the Patriots of any team in the NFL. Yet they couldn't do much with it.

 

[jimbobim]

1a) Ryan - Outstanding effort neutralizing Hopkins even if he had help.
1b) Sheard- Everywhere and dominant.
3) Gronk - Should be given MVP consideration IMHO.
4) Brady- Clinical and once he gets Edelman back think the load will be lessened on the D.

 

[BigSoxFan]

Honorary game ball to BB the GM for:

• Getting Akiem Hicks for Hooman
• Getting Leonard Johnson for nothing

And:

• Jumping on Sheard as a F.A.
• Trusting Butler as a #1 corner

I'd also add getting Alan Branch on the cheap and actually getting something out of him. Seahawks, Cardinals, and Bills fans must be pissed. He's been a revelation to me.

 

[djbayko]

Leonard Johnson, everyone:

@jeffphowe Leonard Johnson: "I did some great things in practice when guys were wondering, ‘Who is this guy?’ It just feels good."

It would have been perfect if he talked in the third person.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

So what was the deal with Collinsworth tonight? It seems that he forgot to study.

On the play where Martin was in motion and took the handoff he said something about how the Pats keep coming up with new things, but isn't that the play that Edelman has run a number of times?

Was that when he said the pats like being "as multiple as possible"?