The Game Ball Thread: Wk. 7 vs NYJ
- Thread starter SeoulSoxFan
- Start date
HARRY!
Honestly, this has to be The Bolden Game. But I give one to the OL who gave up one sack, I believe, and really did a nice job keeping Mac upright.
Honestly, this has to be The Bolden Game. But I give one to the OL who gave up one sack, I believe, and really did a nice job keeping Mac upright.
Bourne was fantastic. Threw a TD, had a couple great catches, and had a few strong blocks as well. I also think this team is much stronger running the ball with Jakob in the game, and I know he doesn’t really show up on the stat sheet, but he has developed into a really effective run blocker. Great game to clear out the crap from the start of the season and now see if we can use it as a springboard to beat the Chargers.
Too numerous to name. Every Patriot skill position player except for Jones and Hoyer caught a pass. Four rushing TDs. Three passing TDs, including one (if you could call that wounded duck he threw a pass) from Kendrick Bourne. Mac ran to convert a third and 10. Brandon Bolden led the team in receptions and receiving yards (6 for 79 with a TD). 6 for 6 in the red zone with 5 TDs.
I think I'd just give it to the offense, but the defense also allowed only 13 points.
I think I'd just give it to the offense, but the defense also allowed only 13 points.
The entire team (apart from Jalen Mills). In every facet and every way they were better prepared, more physical, more talented, and more competitive.
The offense scored more than they have since 2012. Special teams was nearly perfect kicking and the early kickoff return set up the offense to go wild. The defense allowed 20 total points in two Division games against the same opponent -- don't care if that opponent is the Shelbyville Sharks, that's wildly impressive.
And yes, game ball to the Jets for being the Jets. But games like this don't come around all that often... unless we're playing the Jets.
EDIT: Seems like Belichick agrees:
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1452366677673484291?s=20
From Reiss: Happy coach: Bill Belichick is going up to every player on the Patriots sideline during this break and shaking each of their hands.
The offense scored more than they have since 2012. Special teams was nearly perfect kicking and the early kickoff return set up the offense to go wild. The defense allowed 20 total points in two Division games against the same opponent -- don't care if that opponent is the Shelbyville Sharks, that's wildly impressive.
And yes, game ball to the Jets for being the Jets. But games like this don't come around all that often... unless we're playing the Jets.
EDIT: Seems like Belichick agrees:
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1452366677673484291?s=20
From Reiss: Happy coach: Bill Belichick is going up to every player on the Patriots sideline during this break and shaking each of their hands.
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I had to double check that because I thought you must’ve messed something up. Holy shit
Funny how this thread gets 3-4 pages deep on game day when they lose and only 10 posts deep when they win.
The Pats won 500-0. Hard to generate engagement when it's a game that was over in the 2nd quarter.
I keep trying to check my expectations but game balls to the Jags, Jets, Niners and Bears player personnel departments. Mac Jones is perfect for this team.
And permanent game balls to Matt Judon. So nice to have a constant elite pass rusher.
And permanent game balls to Matt Judon. So nice to have a constant elite pass rusher.
It's nitpicking, but Folk missed an XP. His third missed XP as compared to only one missed FG.The entire team (apart from Jalen Mills). In every facet and every way they were better prepared, more physical, more talented, and more competitive.
The offense scored more than they have since 2012. Special teams was perfect kicking and the early kickoff return set up the offense to go wild. The defense allowed 20 total points in two Division games against the same opponent -- don't care if that opponent is the Shelbyville Sharks, that's wildly impressive.
And yes, game ball to the Jets for being the Jets. But games like this don't come around all that often... unless we're playing the Jets.
EDIT: Seems like Belichick agrees:
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1452366677673484291?s=20
From Reiss: Happy coach: Bill Belichick is going up to every player on the Patriots sideline during this break and shaking each of their hands.
I rarely watch the Patriots anymore…. I caught this game and last week. And I’m almost more impressed with their loss to the Cowboys than their victory over decomposing horse turds this week.
I realize they made some bad coaching calls and played boneheaded a few times. But the Cowboys are a top team right now. I was expecting a slaughter then.
I also expected only 35 points by the Patriots this week.
edit- basically I had no expectations for them to win more than 5 games this season but to start tightening up and playing tough lossesin the second half.
I think they’re already exceeding those and will make the playoffs next season.
I realize they made some bad coaching calls and played boneheaded a few times. But the Cowboys are a top team right now. I was expecting a slaughter then.
I also expected only 35 points by the Patriots this week.
edit- basically I had no expectations for them to win more than 5 games this season but to start tightening up and playing tough lossesin the second half.
I think they’re already exceeding those and will make the playoffs next season.
I think critical/negative posts get a lot more pushback which generates disagreements and arguments (and posting the same thing 3 times in slightly different ways) which drives post counts.
I'm not even sure what the implication is. People want to vent after a frustrating loss. Surprise, surprise.
Yeah losses engender a long list of things that are broken, things that we should change, and debate about those things.
After a dominant win, it's basically "keep doing what you're doing, boys".
Game balls to:
The running backs group. Hate that Stevenson didn’t play, but the others were fantastic. All of them.
Barmore showed up all day today, regardless of the stat sheet,
The OL for giving Mac some time.
Duggar had a nice game, and not just for the shoe-string pick.
That PS guy who got the sack at the end, thanks to Barmore.
Sneaky negative - a distressing amount of poor tackling in a game where the D gave up only 13 points.
The running backs group. Hate that Stevenson didn’t play, but the others were fantastic. All of them.
Barmore showed up all day today, regardless of the stat sheet,
The OL for giving Mac some time.
Duggar had a nice game, and not just for the shoe-string pick.
That PS guy who got the sack at the end, thanks to Barmore.
Sneaky negative - a distressing amount of poor tackling in a game where the D gave up only 13 points.
Plenty of guys deserve gameballs today, but the Patriots that stood out for me was Josh McDaniels. From jump, he could do no wrong. The run calls worked, the screens worked, the trick plays worked, he pushed every button. Mac's accuracy (Maccuracy?) seemed a little off today for much of the game and it didn't even matter because dudes were so open or they had the playcall to overcome a miss on the next play.
Thank you for mentioning Josh. He gets shit on after every loss. I think he’s probably one of the 5 most valuable guys in the organization along with BB, RK, JK, and Mac.
False. I’ve never seen a game ball thread get any posts after a loss /s
Echoing others, pretty much everyone other than Mills. Offense looked great, defense only gave up 13. Hard to complain about much of anything. Also, I’ve grown to really love Kendrick Bourne.
Listening to the radio on the way home from Gillette, I’m not sure what some people were expecting today. If the Pats had lost, epic catastrophe. A close to moderate win would have been a huge sign of concern. They were a wagon today. Scored on virtually every possession. Mac was on point. Run game dominated a pretty decent run D. If people aren’t happy with today’s win because it’s only the Jets, then the Pats were in a no-win situation this afternoon.
They absolutely demolished the Jets every possible way today. That’s what you want to see, and they did it.
They absolutely demolished the Jets every possible way today. That’s what you want to see, and they did it.
I don't think the Jets deserve to get to play their Superbowl 20 times a year though.
Yup. Can't do anything more than they did today. Sure, this could be the 2021 version of the Chargers demolition, only against an even worse team, but they faced an inferior opponent that lost their QB early and utterly destroyed them, playing a very clean game in the process. What else could they have done? Can't trade the Jets for a better team on the schedule. Now, I don't know if I'm any more sold on them than I was yesterday, but come on, this was a great performance.
You have to save some Super Bowls for the Dolphins. I’m assuming their current struggles could be Super Bowl hangover. That’s a problem when you play your Super Bowl the first game of the season.
Was Mac’s accuracy off or did we see some progression here. Seemed like he was more willing to take some shots and chances down the field instead of the check down. That may be growth.
Game ball to Damien Harris for sure -- his early runs just looked electric smashing through the Jets D-line.
Maccuracy was off a bit at times, but he also made a lot of nice throws, a handful on 3rd and longs, and many examples of giving his receivers room to make play, post-catch. Good, solid day. Nice to see him with time to throw.
After the first Jets win we did a goodly amount of grumbling because we left a lot of points on the field. Today they didn’t leave almost any. So that’s really encouraging.
I’m not a believer in moral victories in the NFL, but I’m hopeful that today’s result showed that the close losses to TB and Dallas were signals of a team that’s coming together for the second half of the season.
It absolutely is. He took a leap imo in the Dallas game, taking what's available downfield. This was more. I think that he's hitting more stuff post-snap that wasn't already obvious pre-snap. It's encouraging.
Both? He's been more aggressive the last couple weeks than the first couple, but I also thought his ball placement wasn't as sharp as it's been. Nothing that concerned me or anything, just some throws were a bit off.
What was with that one horrible near interception he threw early on? It was like he didn’t see the defender.
I wouldn’t give him too much credit. The Jets are really that bad. Same old play calling as usual, a lot of the same thing he’s been getting crap for, it’s just this week they played a Swiss cheese defense and they finally had a competent oline.
He’s really not. I really enjoyed the offense today but I found myself still questioning a lot of the calls. It took him 6 weeks to figure out how to use Jonnu Smith. And before I hear “well the oline played better so he didn’t have to block” they started the game getting the ball to Smith. Sorry, I’m really just unimpressed with his game planning. It was cool to see the cute plays work but most were unnecessary.
Agreed. He threw one terrible ball, one pretty bad one, and a bunch of really nice placement throws, including his first deep bucket, which was a work of art. A few gorgeous ones to Bolden, including one on his outside hip that would have been picked or at least batted down anywhere else. Most QBs have a wtf throw or two every Sunday.