The Game Goat Thread: Wk 13 vs Eagles

[Super Nomario]

If Brady had some of his weapons I might agree with this but when you don't get the onsides kick you are reasonably looking at Brady having to drive at least 80 yards for a TD to win the game with under 2min. Kicking it deep should ensure that Brady has to drive significantly less distance giving him more plays to work with.

Yeah, but if they run three times for 5 yards and then kick a 45-yard punt, you're getting it at the 30. For the Eagles' last punt of the night, Jones booted it 48 yards from his own 26 and the Pats had just a 3-yard return so they started at the 29. If Philly had a shaky punter or the Pats had a good return game, I might value the chance to have a decent PR more, but I think trading a little field position for a chance at the onside was a worthwhile gamble.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Yep---and this is because instead of teams rolling their defense towards guys like Gronk and Edelman, it's being rolled towards someone like LaFell. Instead of getting the #3 DB, he's getting more attention and better players in his area now. He can't beat them consistently. That's just not who he is. He's a good matchup when defenses are concentrating elsewhere. That's why Gronk and Edelman's health is of paramount importance. They dictate everything a defense does in their coverages.

Plus LaFell has flippers for hands.

 

[DJnVa]

Plus LaFell has flippers for hands.

"The ball is my friend."

 

[crystalline]

Cooper was the one who batted it out of bounds. And it's not an easy play to make to do that, you can see he is actually being upended pretty much as it is happening and there's a very good chance that it takes a weird bounce because of how it is tumbling and ends up back in the field of play. Furthermore, this play had zero effect on the outcome of the game.

There's a lot to be unhappy about on special teams - specifically the blocked punt and the punt return TD. But the pooch kick and this onside kick are both areas that were complete non-factors in the outcome, and I don't have a problem with a team doing creative things, in particular when you have an offense that has been inconsistent without a number of its weapons.

This is exactly right.
Punt block and punt return TDs were the biggest problems, by far. The decision on whether to kick the second onside deep seemed 50/50 to me. Especially because the Pats needed a TD not just a FG. Big upside if they recover, but small chance of success. And the way it turned out the Pats defense couldn't stop a first down and only the low probability fumble got Brady one last chance. I didn't have a problem with the two onsides.

Re: Ebner kicking the second onside-- the goal was to surprise the Eagles. Gostkowski was lined up to kick right. Ebner kicked left, to put pressure on the Eagles hands guys on the Pats' left. Not a bad call to have Ebner take it, and it almost worked.

Re: clock management at the end of the first half, it seemed to me the Pats were playing it both ways, which was fine. Run the clock a bit and see if you can convert a third down with a run. They did that, so stop the clock and try to take some shots downfield. Belichick usually plays the end of halves correctly, and I thought he did so here. The Pats had enough of a chance to score that it's worth playing the possession out, enough to counterbalance the unlikely chance of a fumble, INT or punt block.
The guy on the left of the line who doubleteamed one Eagle to leave one guy totally unblocked up the middle is perhaps the biggest single game goat.

Losses like this happen. The good news is that Brady is still intact. Fix the OL, take care of details on ST, and play tough until Gronk and Edelman are back. The biggest risk I see for the rest of the season is Brady getting injured behind this OL.

 

[Stitch01]

If you're honestly sad that we might "only" get the three seed you need to follow a different sport, simple as that.

Im coping by rationalizing that we're still in much better shape than when it looked like we'd be 11-0 with all the tiebreakers and no Gronk for the playoffs.

 

[TheoShmeo]

1. Offensive line. Brady is still under siege way too much, which in turn diminishes his effectiveness overall and makes him rush passes, etc. They did a better job with run blocking than they have been doing of late, however. I continue to think that they need to get Andrews and Stork on the field at the same time. Cannon looks pretty useless to me and it doesn't help that Vollmer had a bad game. I would send Stork back to tackle, bench Cannon, and use Andrews at center and then Mason and Kline at the guards. I know that Stork at tackle is radical but I find it hard to believe that he would not be more effective than Cannon there. His limited time at tackle looked better than anything we've seen from Cannon.

2. Judge/Belichick. As others have noted, the decision to Onside Ebner with the Pats starting to roll gave the Iggles life and was stupid. Judge should stop suggesting cutesy plays and Belichick should tell him to STFU. And the last onside was stupid too. Starting that last drive further up field would have been advantageous, and that was the time to put the game on the defense.

3. LaFell. No excuse for that drop. Amendola and Martin are right behind him, but that first one was the easiest of the three.

4. Receivers generally. How many times did Brady decide to eat the ball because they were covered?

5. Injury Bug. Excuses suck but if the Pats had Gronk and Edelman, that game looks entirely different.

 

[dynomite]

Oh please. They scored 14 garbage time points against a shitty 4-7 team at home. That shouldn't impress anyone.

That game fucking sucked and was pretty clear evidence they didn't prepare properly at all. And they've gone from having the inside track on the #1 seed and HFA to very possibly having to play on WC weekend. There are no silver linings to be found anywhere in that game, as it should be. It was a dumpster fire from beginning to end and put a huge dent in this team's postseason chances, because their playoff road very likely got exponentially more difficult.

And I'm so disgusted because they usually DON'T take teams lightly, they don't make such egregious unforced errors in coaching, and they usually make sure to take care of business as big favorites at home.

It was a terrible performance. That's inarguable. Let me just make a few points:

1) I really would counsel some patience with Gronk and Edelman (and Hightower) out. We aren't the same team without them, and all are going to return.

2) As for the bye, as someone else said, Week 16 features CIN @ DEN, so one of them cannot finish better than 13-3. If the Pats win out, they are still guaranteed a bye. Oh, and both the Bengals and Broncos still have to play the Steelers.

3) The biggest things they did wrong felt like momentary lapses or individual bad decisions. Brady making one particularly bad throw. Ebner or others blocking the wrong lane on a punt. Etc. Everything about the Patriot Way and Belichick's system is designed to do things right as often as possible. They won't be perfect, but over a large sample I still trust them to get things right more often than anyone else in the league.

4) Personally, I was impressed by the heart the team showed in the comeback. Most teams down by 21 points in the 4th quarter pack it in and look ahead to next week (see, e.g., the Colts last night). The Pats actually had a chance to tie the game at the end.

Of all (the relatively few) Pats losses in the past few years, I was least bothered by this one in real time. Unless you think the Pats are going to continue to give up 14 points on special teams or Brady is going to throw keep throwing goal line INTs, I wouldn't sweat this loss all that much.

Indeed, given how impressed Belichick obviously was with the team's resilience in Kansas City last year, I thought their furious comeback was heartening and may portend well in the postseason.

Overall: Give me a healthy Gronk, Edelman, and Hightower, and I take this team on any field against anyone in the league.

 

[Al Zarilla]

The drop kick was in the first half and had no bearing on the final outcome.

Bad on me. I only had Redzone yesterday and they never showed the dropkick. Still an unnecessary piece of tomfoolery and FWIW (not much according to a lot of people here) every Eagle I saw interviewed after the game said it did fire them up. Having seen the replay, the possibility of it working stinks because it's most likely harder for a guy to precisely place a dropkick than a regular onside kick. Try it sometime.

 

[Shelterdog]

1. Offensive line. Brady is still under siege way too much, which in turn diminishes his effectiveness overall and makes him rush passes, etc. They did a better job with run blocking than they have been doing of late, however. I continue to think that they need to get Andrews and Stork on the field at the same time. Cannon looks pretty useless to me and it doesn't help that Vollmer had a bad game. I would send Stork back to tackle, bench Cannon, and use Andrews at center and then Mason and Kline at the guards. I know that Stork at tackle is radical but I find it hard to believe that he would not be more effective than Cannon there. His limited time at tackle looked better than anything we've seen from Cannon.
.

I haven't rewatched it yet but I thought Cannon was actually halfway decent yesterday (and probably our second best linemen after Stork who was good). Vollmer, Kline and Mason got torched repeatedly; the left side of the line was coming undone all day long, and Cox just killed everybody (but especially Mason).

I don't have a good feeling about Kline coming back, which makes me even more inclined to keep Stork in the middle.

EDIT: According to the game charting by Kyed here are the pressure stats for the oline (which are truly ugly)

Sebastian Vollmer: two sacks, two QB hits, five hurries
Josh Kline: sack, four QB hits, hurry
Marcus Cannon: two QB hits, three hurries
Tre’ Jackson: two QB hits, two hurries
Shaq Mason: QB hit, hurry
Bryan Stork: QB hit, hurry
Tom Brady: sack

His number for Cannon and Jackson are worse than I remember (his numbers for Mason are much better than I remember--but its completely possible I mixed up some of guard's miscues). Vollmer and Kline are the biggest problems.

 

[jablo1312]

I don't think there's any guarantee that the Eagles would've run 3 times had they had they ball on their own 20 to start their last possession (before kneel-downs). They didn't run on 3rd and 11 when they could've pinned the Pats inside their own 15 with 2 minutes left. In fact, Kelly called a pass play on 1st down after the recovered onside kick- Bradford rolled out and was clearly told to look for the open receiver and throw it if he was open, and just hit the turf for a minimal loss if not. I'm not convinced the Eagles approach that series differently if the Pats kicked deep.Either way, the defense needed to make a stop. And unfortunately, they couldn't on 3rd and 11. I get the field position argument, but giving yourself a chance to possess the ball, even a ~15% one, is meaningful. If you kick deep and stop, you get the ball probably around your own 35-40 yard line; if you go onsides and then get a stop, you're probably looking at the closer to the 10-15 (with a chance at the 20). Is that difference in field position worth a pretty small chance at getting the ball? I see arguments both ways, though I suspect that the numbers would probably support kicking deep. Still, not an obvious call one way or the other to me.

 

[patinorange]

The drop kick definitely changed the game. I'm not sure how anyone who has played the game doesn't understand that. We were all giddy with Bill's field position chess match against the inexperienced Bronco's QB. Then they give that stiff Bradford a short field. There certainly is something to firing up the other team. A drop kick? Please.

The historically great kicker is sitting on the bench and the team sits on the ball at the end of the half against a defense that has given up 45 points in the last two games. Very strange. The blocked punt was a cherry on top of that shit sandwich.

La Fell would have to come a long way to be considered an average receiver, and Chandler is awful. If Gronk and Jules come back relatively healthy, I think that they still go the Super Bowl. The only positive? No major injuries.

 

[Stitch01]

Bad on me. I only had Redzone yesterday and they never showed the dropkick. Still an unnecessary piece of tomfoolery and FWIW (not much according to a lot of people here) every Eagle I saw interviewed after the game said it did fire them up. Having seen the replay, the possibility of it working stinks because it's most likely harder for a guy to precisely place a dropkick than a regular onside kick. Try it sometime.

Matthews was real vocal about it. He was so fired up he fumbled the ball the next time he touched it.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Bad on me. I only had Redzone yesterday and they never showed the dropkick. Still an unnecessary piece of tomfoolery and FWIW (not much according to a lot of people here) every Eagle I saw interviewed after the game said it did fire them up. Having seen the replay, the possibility of it working stinks because it's most likely harder for a guy to precisely place a dropkick than a regular onside kick. Try it sometime.

Can we stop with this bs about how this fired the entire Eagles team up?

Jordan Matthews had one comment and used the word disrespectful. He found it disrespectful, apparently, that the Patriots were going for their throats. :

“I don’t think anything surprises you with the Patriots,” receiver Jordan Matthews said. “I mean, they ran like a triple reverse pass to Tom Brady, so nothing can really surprise you. But in a sense it is kind of like, man, you know, that’s disrespectful. They’re trying to go ahead and get the ball back that quickly so they can put points on us. We’ve got men in our locker room too.

“I remember [Jason Kelce] just looking like, ‘OK, alright, let’s go score now.’ When a team’s trying to do that and trying to impose their will on us, the way they were trying to, it was important for us to go out and score that next drive. And we were able to go do that.”

Here is Ertz :

“They were pulling out all the stops,” said tight end Zach Ertz, who caught the touchdown pass at the tail end of the ensuing drive. “They have a lot of respect for us. Ultimately, it didn’t really work for them. [Ajirotutu] made a great play recovering the ball. It was kind of a surprise but we kind of expected the unexpected against these guys.”

I can't find any other quotes regarding the Eagles reaction to the kick. The kick did give them a shorter field but if the Patriots don't have a punt blocked for a TD they lead at the half 14-7. If Brady doesn't throw the pick six the Pats are up 17-7. To focus on the dropkick seems to really miss the bigger points of of special teams failures in the punting game as well as having zero wide receivers that can get separation. The oline is then forced to block longer and Brady is ultimately getting hit/sacked/chucking the ball.

 

[DJnVa]

So is it disrespectful or respectful?

 

[jablo1312]

I hope the Pats play the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Glad to know the only thing that makes them want to try is a pooch onside kick. Next time we'll keep kicking deep and they'll keep going 3 and out because that apparently doesn't bother them. Was Darren Sproles pissed about it too and decided to take his anger out on the punt coverage unit?

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Have to find a third quote to break the tie. Matthews does reference Jason Kelce but we don't have Jason on record coming down on one side or the other.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

I give McD a ton of leeway generally and think he is an excellent coordinator. I rarely fret about individual play calls. But for the life of me I don't understand why they haven't thrown this one out of the playbook, or at least tweaked it to maybe a play action pass or something. .

I generally like McD, but I feel a lot like this the last couple years - there seem to be a handful of plays that the Patriots run a lot - and don't seem to ever work.

My pet peeve is the 'attempted bomb' after a big play/turnover - the most common result seems to be a turnover - followed by an incomplete that isn't even remotely close to anyone - and I can't really remember more than once or twice that it has actually worked - seems to mostly just be a big momentum killer.

Brady is a fantastic quarterback, but his biggest weakness is clearly his deep accuracy - and McDaniels doesn't seem to get that. I know you have to throw bombs occasionally to keep the defense honest, but right after a big turnover/gain isn't the time to be worry about that.



Was a really strange game - the Patriots were clearly the better team, but they gameplanned like they were an underdog - lots of risky, high variance play-calling - and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.

The pick-6 was just a terrible play on Brady's part - the receiver was well covered and the throw should have gone to someone else. It's likely an incomplete even if thrown more accurately. Just a complete fail on his part.

 

[Stitch01]

I don't think the deep ball is the first option on many of these plays.

 

[JokersWildJIMED]

Not sure about the lack of challenge flags, especially on the key tip pass by Collins? that should have negated a PI and potential Harmon interception. Also, the refs were highly favorable to the Pats in the first quarter, but that advantage went away after that...bad miss of illegal procedure on the RT on the key 3rd down completion near the two minute warning...did not matter that much after the fumble later, but still a bad miss.
Edit...just noticed a NESN blurb...officials missed 8 Eagle procedure penalties...it certainly seemed that the tackles were anticipating the snap

 

[dcmissle]

So is it disrespectful or respectful?

From the get, all of the motivational stuff with the Eagles was nonsense. They always were going to play hard because their livelihoods depend on it -- and, by the way, they are in the race in a crappy division.

But beyond that, after a full week of "they quit on their coach", they were probably were as riled up as they were going to get, if you attach weight to this stuff which we probably shouldn't.

 

[BoredViewer]

I think criticism of the drop kick is misguided.

The result was PHI ball at the 41, instead of the 20... +21 yards... by way of backup WR diving on to a short-hopped kick. I'd bet 75% of the time that ball squirts out and the Pats are in good shape to recover.

The real problem was the D allowing a 3rd and 10 conversion... followed by consecutive plays of 11 and 16 yds, then a TD on 3rd down.

 

[pedroia'sboys]

Enough with the kick they lost 20 yards, didn't change any "momentum" christ. They obviously saw something on tape that they thought they could exploit. People who keep saying arrogance are driving me fucking batty. Stupid maybe but arrogant you'really just playing into the media's narrative of Belichick.

The way the defense has played without Hightower makes me believe he should be the first priority to sign over collins/Jones.

The offense- it's amazing what losing Edelman has done to the whole unit. I'd be curious to see stats on how long Brady has been holding the ball since Edelman went down. He isn't Welker, he's a legitimate top 10 receiver in the league. System player my ass.


Just find a way to win in Houston and will be fine.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Not sure about the lack of challenge flags, especially on the key tip pass by Collins? that should have negated a PI and potential Harmon interception. Also, the refs were highly favorable to the Pats in the first quarter, but that advantage went away after that...bad miss of illegal procedure on the RT on the key 3rd down completion near the two minute warning...did not matter that much after the fumble later, but still a bad miss.
Edit...just noticed a NESN blurb...officials missed 8 Eagle procedure penalties...it certainly seemed that the tackles were anticipating the snap

Yeah, I thought I saw the Eagles LT and RT take turns moving before the snap on multiple occasions.

Addendum: Was in the car for the beginning of the first quarter, and Zolak was yelling that the Eagles LT was getting away with lining up off the line of scrimmage. Job as a LT is certainly easier if you can cheat back a step or two and then move before the snap as well.

 

[amarshal2]

Not sure about the lack of challenge flags, especially on the key tip pass by Collins? that should have negated a PI and potential Harmon interception. Also, the refs were highly favorable to the Pats in the first quarter, but that advantage went away after that...bad miss of illegal procedure on the RT on the key 3rd down completion near the two minute warning...did not matter that much after the fumble later, but still a bad miss.
Edit...just noticed a NESN blurb...officials missed 8 Eagle procedure penalties...it certainly seemed that the tackles were anticipating the snap

It looked to me like there was a false start on half the plays by the Eagles -- but I was streaming. That could have something to do with the lack of production by the D-line.

 

[pedroia'sboys]

I generally like McD, but I feel a lot like this the last couple years - there seem to be a handful of plays that the Patriots run a lot - and don't seem to ever work.

My pet peeve is the 'attempted bomb' after a big play/turnover - the most common result seems to be a turnover - followed by an incomplete that isn't even remotely close to anyone - and I can't really remember more than once or twice that it has actually worked - seems to mostly just be a big momentum killer.

Brady is a fantastic quarterback, but his biggest weakness is clearly his deep accuracy - and McDaniels doesn't seem to get that. I know you have to throw bombs occasionally to keep the defense honest, but right after a big turnover/gain isn't the time to be worry about that.



Was a really strange game - the Patriots were clearly the better team, but they gameplanned like they were an underdog - lots of risky, high variance play-calling - and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.

The pick-6 was just a terrible play on Brady's part - the receiver was well covered and the throw should have gone to someone else. It's likely an incomplete even if thrown more accurately. Just a complete fail on his part.

I think it's overblown, give Brady OBJ and his accuracy would be just fine. He's throwing long passes to Brandon freaking Lafell.

 

[TheoShmeo]

Enough with the kick they lost 20 yards, didn't change any "momentum" christ. They obviously saw something on tape that they thought they could exploit. People who keep saying arrogance are driving me fucking batty. Stupid maybe but arrogant you'really just playing into the media's narrative of Belichick.

The way the defense has played without Hightower makes me believe he should be the first priority to sign over collins/Jones.

The offense- it's amazing what losing Edelman has done to the whole unit. I'd be curious to see stats on how long Brady has been holding the ball since Edelman went down. He isn't Welker, he's a legitimate top 10 receiver in the league. System player my ass.


Just find a way to win in Houston and will be fine.

To me, the different adjectives are irrelevant. Call it misguided, stupid, arrogant...it doesn't matter all that much. To be clear, I don't think it's actually about arrogance; they're trying to win a game the best way they know how.

But respectfully, I do think it gave the Eagles some life. The Pats had just scored 14 points in a relatively short period of time, and following that up with a kick that had a low probability of succeeding that enabled the Eagles to start their next drive at the 41 instead of the 15-25 seemed unnecessary. I like the idea of a Sam Bradford lead offense having to go the length of the field in such circumstances. I like whatever added noise comes from playing closer to the end zone. And I do think that some of the Eagles players took the attempted dagger shot as a slight, and that it fired them up. Or it might have. Those things can't be quantified but it's believable to me that the Ebner kick provided some in game motivational boost for the Eagles. Football is an emotional sport and we've all read for years players comment that something the opposition did during a game stoked their competitive juices somewhat.

But whether it was just giving them the extra 20 or so yards/field position or the less tangible stuff that might have aided the Eagles or a combination of both, I saw no reason to not play it straight there.

Make no mistake, that decision was just but one factor in a terrible loss. There are a lot of other things that happened yesterday and before yesterday that factored in, obviously.

 

[ElcaballitoMVP]

It looked to me like there was a false start on half the plays by the Eagles -- but I was streaming. That could have something to do with the lack of production by the D-line.

A link to the plays in question. Some are pretty close, but I can't believe some of those weren't called. Not why they lost, but it certainly doesn't help when your best defensive lineman has to play against a guy who gets a head start on every play.

 

[tims4wins]

On the drop kick play, I mean, the Eagles could have returned the kickoff 100 yards for a score. Given the way the Pats special teams played who knows. Obviously BB respected the Eagles special teams. The outcome of that play was probably in the bottom 1% of possible plays and it wasnt even that bad. I bet something like 70% of the time if they run that same play the ball bounces back inside the 30 and the Eagles just fall on the ball with no return. You have to remember that the play isn't solely designed as an onsides attempt, it is also designed to not give up a return. And given the overall special teams performance, clearly that wasn't a bad thought. IMO we have spent way too much time discussing something that wasn't in the top 10, 20, or maybe even 50 most important plays in the game.

 

[tims4wins]

A link to the plays in question. Some are pretty close, but I can't believe some of those weren't called. Not why they lost, but it certainly doesn't help when your best defensive lineman has to play against a guy who gets a head start on every play.

Noticed this literally the first two snaps of the game

 

[DJnVa]

Enough with the kick they lost 20 yards, didn't change any "momentum" christ. They obviously saw something on tape that they thought they could exploit.

I'd love to see the tape of the Eagles struggling previously with rugby style dropkicks.

 

[IdiotKicker]

The way the defense has played without Hightower makes me believe he should be the first priority to sign over collins/Jones.

This is a defense that gave up 248 total yards and 14 points yesterday. They gave up only 15 first downs. The problem was not the defense. It was the inconsistency of the offense for about 40 minutes of the game, combined with two touchdowns on horrendous special teams plays and a shitty pick six. I know it's cool to say that everything sucked after a loss, but this was a game where a few really terrible plays likely color your opinion more than what actually happened.

 

[TheMoralBully]

The defense did its job last night and wasn't a goat, but the decline in QB pressure and sack rate could hurt them against better teams. Around the mid point of the season they were comfortably #2 and had around a 2% better adj. sack rate than last year. Over the last few weeks they've declined and have been more in line with last years rate. It would be nice to see them get that going again since we know they're capable, especially with it being hard to say what level the offense is going to get back to.

 

[dynomite]

This is a defense that gave up 248 total yards and 14 points yesterday. They gave up only 15 first downs. The problem was not the defense. It was the inconsistency of the offense for about 40 minutes of the game, combined with two touchdowns on horrendous special teams plays and a shitty pick six. I know it's cool to say that everything sucked after a loss, but this was a game where a few really terrible plays likely color your opinion more than what actually happened.

Thank you.

The offense scored 28 and the defense allowed 14. Most days you win games where that happens.

It sucks to lose, but they're 10-2 and in the driver's seat for a bye. I'll take it.

 

[Curtis Pride]

On the drop kick play, I mean, the Eagles could have returned the kickoff 100 yards for a score. Given the way the Pats special teams played who knows. Obviously BB respected the Eagles special teams. The outcome of that play was probably in the bottom 1% of possible plays and it wasnt even that bad. I bet something like 70% of the time if they run that same play the ball bounces back inside the 30 and the Eagles just fall on the ball with no return. You have to remember that the play isn't solely designed as an onsides attempt, it is also designed to not give up a return. And given the overall special teams performance, clearly that wasn't a bad thought. IMO we have spent way too much time discussing something that wasn't in the top 10, 20, or maybe even 50 most important plays in the game.

I wonder if losing Matthew Slater is what precipitated the drop kick.

 

[Super Nomario]

The defense did its job last night and wasn't a goat, but the decline in QB pressure and sack rate could hurt them against better teams. Around the mid point of the season they were comfortably #2 and had around a 2% better adj. sack rate than last year. Over the last few weeks they've declined and have been more in line with last years rate. It would be nice to see them get that going again since we know they're capable, especially with it being hard to say what level the offense is going to get back to.

To be fair, Bradford only attempted one pass officially classified as deep (> 15 yards downfield). It's tough to get much pass rush under those circumstances.

 

[nattysez]

Not

Noticed this literally the first two snaps of the game

I honestly thought I was losing my mind when those false starts weren't being called. A lot of them were not close, and I couldn't figure out what was going on.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

I honestly thought I was losing my mind when those false starts weren't being called. A lot of them were not close, and I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Look at the 3rd and 12 (11?) on the last drive. The RT jumps a full second early. Unreal.

edit: just noticed it was in the link above.

I'm not sure how all these were missed. It was frequent throughout the game. You see false starts being called all the time for way less than this. The tackles are 1 yard behind where they lined up before the ball is snapped.

 

[DJnVa]

Seen on twitter today: more than half of the times Brady has been hit this season have come in the last 3 games. That needs to get fixed.

 

[djbayko]

Second onside was pretty borderline. Id lean towards kicking it deep, but I can see arguments both ways.

Anyone have stats on the Patriots' onside recovery rate? I know it must be a small sample size, and my memory is likely biased by placing emphasis on the successful outcomes, but it seems to me that they've been pretty good at it over the years. I wonder if Bellichick thinks their coaching in this area gives them an edge and if that factored into the decision.

 

[tims4wins]

Anyone have stats on the Patriots' onside recovery rate? I know it must be a small sample size, and my memory is likely biased by placing emphasis on the successful outcomes, but it seems to me that they've been pretty good at it over the years. I wonder if Bellichick thinks their coaching in this area gives them an edge and if that factored into the decision.

Well before the Cleveland game in 2013 (where Gronk tore his ACL), they hadn't recovered an onside kick since 1994. But between 2013, the Washington game, and yesterday, they have had some limited recent success.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Seen on twitter today: more than half of the times Brady has been hit this season have come in the last 3 games. That needs to get fixed.

Adding credence to the line of thought that he doesn't have receivers who can separate

 

[NickEsasky]

Vollmer has just been a different guy since returning from the concussion. He's allowing a ton of pressure and has had a few bad penalties too. Hopefully as the weeks go on his play improves, especially if Kline is out for an period of time as he has been our best offensive lineman the last few weeks.

 

[TheMoralBully]

To be fair, Bradford only attempted one pass officially classified as deep (> 15 yards downfield). It's tough to get much pass rush under those circumstances.

Yeah, I meant to qualify that with Bradford not dropping back too often yesterday, and almost all of those being shorter passes. Still, I think it has been trending downward for a few weeks now. Hopefully having both Hightower and Collins back together is going to fix a lot of that since the two of them are both so effective with those a and b gap blitzes.

 

[timelysarcasm]

Fire them all!

Seriously though, I'm feeling fairly even-tempered about this loss. The goats are obvious:

1) Special Teams. Just terrible. The unit has been solid for most of the year, so I don't expect that crap again.
2) Stone hands: LaFell and Chandler. Also terrible. The (very) few times they get separation, they can't catch a cold. How are you a receiver in the NFL and your problem is dropped balls? I have no faith in either of these guys catching anything thrown to them. If you think Brady was trying to throw that ball away (INT in end zone), I would like to sell you some stock in Yellow Pages.

The offensive line is still problematic, but more problematic is the fact that receivers just weren't getting open. This is the JV squad and it shows. When Brady has to hold the ball, bad things happen. Including him forcing the ball to his one good player (Amendola).

Positives: I love the fight shown by the team there at the end. They almost pulled it off, and Jamie Collins came up with a HUGE clutch forced fumble. He's such a force out there. Down 21 with 7 minutes to go, I really liked what I saw.

Getting Gronk and Edelman back will be huge and have a trickle down effect of making the OL look better because Brady can once again get the ball out quicker. The offense will be able to put pressure on other teams again, and keep our defense off the field. Hightower can help with the run and everything else amazing that he does, and all will be well again. It's mainly about hanging on until the reserves come. Thankfully we built a decent lead and the schedule isn't terrible coming up. With Gronk, Amendola, Edelman, Hightower, Easley, etc. I am not worried about this team.

 

[j44thor]

Vollmer has just been a different guy since returning from the concussion. He's allowing a ton of pressure and has had a few bad penalties too. Hopefully as the weeks go on his play improves, especially if Kline is out for an period of time as he has been our best offensive lineman the last few weeks.

I thought Kline has been our worst OL the last few weeks. He was very solid early this season but Derek Wolfe used him as a his personal turnstile last week and yesterday he was both confused (stunt that lead to first sack) and physically overmatched quite a bit. No one on the interior has done much of anything since the Giants game. Really odd because earlier this year they were arguably the strength of the team and now they are clearly a weakness.

 

[Super Nomario]

I thought Kline has been our worst OL the last few weeks. He was very solid early this season but Derek Wolfe used him as a his personal turnstile last week and yesterday he was both confused (stunt that lead to first sack) and physically overmatched quite a bit. No one on the interior has done much of anything since the Giants game. Really odd because earlier this year they were arguably the strength of the team and now they are clearly a weakness.

Ryan Hannable got into the reason for this: http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/12/07/stopwatch-tom-brady-forced-into-longest-snap-to-throw-time-of-season-vs-eagles/

By our count, Brady took an average of 2.63 seconds from snap-to-throw, his highest average of the season. Furthermore, Brady had 16 plays which took more than three seconds, something very uncharacteristic for the Patriots offense. Brady has averaged over 2.2 seconds from snap-to-throw in four straight games, which comes following the first eight games where he only had one game averaging over 2.2 seconds.

Basically, the OL has been shaky all season. You can tell the coaching staff doesn't trust the OL by how little they run the ball against decent DLs and how often they settle for screens or draws on 3rd-and-long. Without Lewis, Edelman, and Gronkowski, they've lost all three of their receivers who can reliably get open against man-to-man coverage. That hurts the quick passing game, and now that Brady has to hold the ball longer it's harder to compensate for the poor OL. A lot of their big plays last night relied on Brady extending the play.

 

[nazz45]

Fire them all!
If you think Brady was trying to throw that ball away (INT in end zone), I would like to sell you some stock in Yellow Pages.

Regardless of his intent and LaFell's read of the coverage, Brady's decision was terrible. His first read was taken away on the post-wheel and he should have dumped it off to Blount. Whether LaFell's cuts under or goes over the top does not matter - he's bracketed high/low. Maybe he can break up the INT if he heads to the pylon.

 

[Super Nomario]

Regardless of his intent and LaFell's read of the coverage, Brady's decision was terrible. His first read was taken away on the post-wheel and he should have dumped it off to Blount. Whether LaFell's cuts under or goes over the top does not matter - he's bracketed high/low. Maybe he can break up the INT if he heads to the pylon.

Looks like the checkdown is covered, too. Probably should have thrown it away.

 

[dynomite]

Looks like the checkdown is covered, too. Probably should have thrown it away.

In his post game presser Brady claimed that's what he was trying to do and didn't get enough air under it. It certainly didn't look like he was trying to throw it away, but it's certainly possible.

 

[Super Nomario]

In his post game presser Brady claimed that's what he was trying to do and didn't get enough air under it. It certainly didn't look like he was trying to throw it away, but it's certainly possible.

I've never seen anyone try to throw a pass away like that; that would be super-weird. I'm not sure what he expected LaFell to do - as nazz45 notes, there wasn't really anywhere he could go to get open, so it probably doesn't matter. Maybe Brady thought he could get a DPI or LaFell would haul in a jump ball? I don't know.