Folk was having another typically excellent season until Bailey got hurt
The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 18 @ Buffalo
- Thread starter SeoulSoxFan
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This is just an ignorant statement. Save the over the top hot takes for sports radio.
Yeah, even Romo said that was a good play call. They had four downs to work with, sadly Mac put his brain on ice by forcing the ball to Henry in the end zone on the next play.
Cam Achord. Raleigh Webb has been one of the worst ST players I’ve ever watched in my life. How he still had a job consistently surprised me. Defense and offense I thought won their respective days. They would have had probably 27 against a top 3 defense and limited the Bills to 21 on offense. They absolutely need a better/bigger outside corner next year though.
The thing I didn't like about the draw is that they gave it to Harris and not Stevenson. Harris looked less than 100% today, and while I think he is a terrific RB who complements Stevenson well, if you are looking for a back to break one on a draw play, Stevenson seems like the better choice. But in terms of the play call, it was OK.
In terms of my 3:
1. Folk. He is a great FG kicker but he cannot kick off. I wish that Pats had signed a guy who could do kickoffs.
2. The kickoff coverage unit in its entirety.
3. The ST coaching.
The defense held the high powered Buffalo offense to 21 points, and the offense scored 23. This was a winnable game if not for the ST disaster.
The special teams have been a disaster all year, They are last in most punting metrics. They run into the kicker, they allow punts to be blocked. And now it bit them again, who allows 2 kickoff returns in 2023 when all the rules make returning kickoffs harder? Christ this is the dumbest Pats team, since the Dick MacPherson days..
Special Teams- an Achilles heal all year costs them the game today. The returns, obviously, and the horrendous out of bounds squib kick. Achord needs to be gone tomorrow.
Overall, the same inconsistency that plagued them all year. Play well for stretches, then make crushing mistakes/give up big plays at the worst time.
Honorable mention to officiating, which was abysmally bad today. But not, IMO, an excuse for their performance. They’re just not close to being good enough right now to win these games against good teams.
Overall, the same inconsistency that plagued them all year. Play well for stretches, then make crushing mistakes/give up big plays at the worst time.
Honorable mention to officiating, which was abysmally bad today. But not, IMO, an excuse for their performance. They’re just not close to being good enough right now to win these games against good teams.
Gonna have to ding the grocery shopper here. I won't pretend to know the lineup of dudes who can punt the ball and are available for employment, but the continued rostering of Palardy is accepting that you are both ok with a mediocre to poor punter and not having a person who can kick the ball into or out of the end zone to force the touchback. You have to believe that there is someone out there who can punt as well or maybe even slightly worse than Palardy but can actually force touchbacks.
ST obviously
Bryant obviously
But Mac tried to do to much on the last 2 INTs, shots at the end zone that were bad decisions and bad throws. They were driving and looking good tied at 14 on the first one. The Bills offense doesn't even step on the field before they are suddenly up 4. The second INT all but killed their chances.
Bryant obviously
But Mac tried to do to much on the last 2 INTs, shots at the end zone that were bad decisions and bad throws. They were driving and looking good tied at 14 on the first one. The Bills offense doesn't even step on the field before they are suddenly up 4. The second INT all but killed their chances.
I don’t think there are too many punters who kick off other than in a pinch. It is weird to have a place kicker who cannot kick off. But once Bailey went down it was rough because you basically need two players to replace him competently. I am sure lots of rostered punters could do it as well as Folk, but probably not too many FAs..
Quick question.
If the Pats had released Myles Bryant, and just signed a kicker whose only job was to kickoff through the end zone, do the Pats win today's game?
I think it's better than 50/50.
You could make an argument also that not having a place kicker who can kick off potentially cost the Vikings game too.
If the Patriots had cut Folk when Bailey went on the IR and brought in whoever was the best kicker not playing but could kick off, they might be in the playoffs.
I think they need to release Folk. Three return TDs is three too many. Even if Bailey is fine next year, what if he gets hurt during a playoff game?
Tough call. Haven’t done corners yet. I watch every single UGA and SMU game and honestly Ringo has some issues. He isn’t an island corner yet. It’s mostly mental with route break anticipation but also physical with he isn’t the shiftiest guy. Harrison and guys like Harrison (Diggs, Jefferson) will best him in the NFL. Porter I just don’t know if he’s fast enough. Haven’t watched a lick of Gonzalez.
you?
When we watch film again, I''ll have a better opinion. Ringo's production hasn't matched his skills and I'm waiting on Porter's 40 at the combine but they are big press corners. I've seen a bit of Gonzalez and he has impressive physical gifts. I look forward to our film review. I learn more than I contribute
They literally have this guy, just on the practice squad, Tristan Vizcaino. https://www.patriots.com/team/players-roster/tristan-vizcaino/
It's a tough call though, sacrifice another utility player, or kick into the end zone repeatedly. I think they made the right call, but holy crap did it not work.
They went into this game with Jonathan Jones, McCourty, Peppers, Marcus Jones, Bryant, Dugger, Phillips and Tae Hayes active, I believe. Jack Jones obviously was suspended.
I don't give a shit if they throw Slater back there if they needed to, I hate Myles Bryant that much.
Laughing at the absurdity of the penalties that weren't called, or laughing at the complaints about it?
I think you could make the case that even if they played the game with a *worse* DB than Bryant, whether that's talent or knowing the system or both, then the odds are still 50/50. It's an interesting point about the value of a kicker who can kick it deep.
Edit: Also, how awesome would it be to have Slater back there, even if he fits the description of worse.
Sadly, the Defense would have given up TD's on their own too. That's a great offense they have there. Pats D did a great job holding them back, but give them two more possessions and the D would get a lot more tired than they were.
The Bills players could have bludgeoned the patriots whilst wielding a chain mace and a bo staff on that return and I think the refs would have looked the other way. I’m sure they probably figured the game would be called loosely and took advantage of that.
I'm really frustrated that Bailey couldn't figure out a way to help the team yesterday. Between shit performance when he was active, and somehow never making it off IR, he stole money from the Pats this season. [No, of course I don't know any specifics.]
Finding goats in the Bills game is shooting fish in a barrel, but I'll call out one unit that I thought performed well -- the WRs. Well, specifically Meyers, Bourne and Parker. If the Pats had (and took advantage of) the route-running and really good hands that group showed yesterday all season, I don't expect they'd have 9 losses. [Agholor remained a disappointment, and Thornton still has a LOT to work on.]
And the OL was miles better yesterday than it typically was earlier in the season.
Finding goats in the Bills game is shooting fish in a barrel, but I'll call out one unit that I thought performed well -- the WRs. Well, specifically Meyers, Bourne and Parker. If the Pats had (and took advantage of) the route-running and really good hands that group showed yesterday all season, I don't expect they'd have 9 losses. [Agholor remained a disappointment, and Thornton still has a LOT to work on.]
And the OL was miles better yesterday than it typically was earlier in the season.
Yesterday, goat is ST, first, second and last. I'm not as convinced about releasing Folk, but his inability to KO deep was something I was concerned about when Bailey first got hurt and it ended up biting them in the ass. By his 2nd or 3rd game as the regular KO, I was hoping for pop-ups to an upback at the 30, rather than "long" kicks to the 1. Or smashed grounders up the middle. Not having Schooler probably hurt yesterday, too.
If *any* team's punter or KO guy gets hurt *during* a playoff game, that team is in some trouble.
Is McDermott for real? BB did draft him once. He did not seem out of place.
3.2% missed tackle rate for the season is exceptional. It’s a shame the tackle he missed was that catastrophic. He’s an above average tackler who had his best year in that department.
I should note this is just on defense not STs. STs you don’t make enough tackles typically to have MT rates.
The presence of Parker has really bolstered that group, having to put their CB1 on him allowed better matchups for the rest of the group. Injuries happen though ...
Kudos for the team staying poised after that opening kickoff and keeping it interesting and especially for holding Allen to 16 yards on 9 "carries", although he was robbed of two drives by his return team Anyone remember if we were spying him? Whatever it was do it again next year.
Captain obvious goat selections with the ST fucktitude, lack of adapting to the refs having their flags sewn into their pockets, and BB the GM not fielding an adequate kicking squad for a virtual playoff game.
Yeah, no doubt. But it would be magnified for the Patriots. Like double. That's the problem with having one guy who does two jobs, neither of which has an adequate back up because of roster limits. It would be like if the long snapper had some other job for which all of the backups were essentially emergency backups. (Long snapper doesn't really work, but that's the general idea.)
WRT to Bailey, I was only half paying attention because Felger was involved, but last night, he, Ted Johnson and someone were discussing something about being able to void Bailey's final year due to the suspension (if it's upheld). Of course, they were insinuating that BB was trying to finagle this in some underhanded way, but I have no idea what they were talking about in detail. Did anyone else catch that, or have any idea what they could have meant?
He has a fully guaranteed salary for 2023, and a suspension voids the guarantee.
It appears that the Patriots sent both Bailey and Jack Jones to the suspended/reserve list instead of activating them. That appears to give them some very minor cap relief. It's a bit too complex for me, but apparently Bailey has filed a grievance. https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/1/6/23543099/new-england-patriots-move-jack-jones-jake-bailey-from-injured-reserve-to-suspended-list
Yeah, if we judged players by their one bad play in a game, we could be talking about how Malcolm Butler got beaten by Kearse for 33 to the 5 yard line at the end of that game.
Despite the mugging going on here, if Peppers reacts differently and cuts to his left instead of jumping into the hole like he did, pretty sure he makes the tackle.
The comically sad part is the real holding was on the second return at first glance, I hadn't seen this picture until after the game, didn't see it on the replay either, but it was hard to concentrate listening to Romo yammering "Oh Jim!!...................what a start!!...............this place is rocking!!".............does he ever stop talking, asking for a friend.