Yup. When the Pats were really good (past tense), they didn't always blow the doors off of bad teams. But they almost always found a way to beat them.
Now we're the team that finds a way to lose those games. Ergo, we are a bad team.
The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 6 vs Dallas
- Thread starter SeoulSoxFan
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Now we're the team that finds a way to lose those games. Ergo, we are a bad team.
I would really like to see a breakdown of that 3rd and 25 play to Lamb. I get they were playing some sort of a zone but you had 2 guys covering Cedrick Wilson deep and only 1 guy covering the most explosive WR on the Cowboys. Somebody must have missed an assignment or maybe Cowboys just ran a really good play. I dunno.
View: https://twitter.com/PhilAPerry/status/1450089159109054468
Here's a good look. the back clears Hightower (who gets a shitty chip then leaves him for a guy coming 20 yards to pick him up, the wheel route was probably open too), two crossers beneath Lamb's route clear out space, and the deep post froze the safety. It's good play design. Maybe you could have chanced the deep post without help? Mostly it's just a team with a lot of dangerous pass-catchers and a good O-line putting you in a position where no matter what they'll get a mismatch in single coverage because you can't get pressure and you have talent disadvantages in multiple coverage situations with only 1 safety to help.
If you could do it again, I would guess you have High drop into coverage, because he got no pass rush at all after the chip, because he's slow.
Thanks. Definitely a good play design but why is JCJ not stapled to Lamb on that play? I don't understand why Mills gets that assignment. Our best DB ended up guarding nobody and helping out, I think Dugger, who had Schultz covered well and the help of the sideline.
So looking through some twitter, it looks like... they were showing zone to try to confuse. DAL likes to run the shallow cross on 3rd and long, have done it a bunch. They put JCJ on Cooper, to cover if he goes downfield, but he's supposed to hand off the crossing route if they run that, which he does, then he's in zone to help out. Mills is doing the same I think on the other side. Basically they put JCJ on Cooper, which is a fair move, he's arguably the best DAL WR. Lamb beats Mills and Dak makes a good throw. I don't have a major issue with the coverage in the secondary. Mostly just pick your poison there. The worst play was the LBs. Hightower chipped poorly then got no pass-rush, KVN was way behind the RB, that was honestly more open than Lamb.
I guess my comment to this is that Cooper is dealing with a hammy injury and isn't nearly as explosive as CeeDee is right now. They tried going to Cooper deep a few times and got nothing out of it earlier in the game. I would much rather have had JCJ on CeeDee but oh well. Agree with your points on the LBs. They are seemingly trailing every coverage play this year. And it's killing us. Dak had all the time in the world on the most crucial play of the game.
I really don't watch the Patriots anymore- I haven't since the Red Sox got rid of Betts- but I did catch this at a very Pro-Cowboys bar and I was actually impressed. The Cowboys are very good and a young Patriots team lead by a rookie hung in with them. It hurts that there were a few plays that turned Patriots momentum into Cowboys momentum and yeah... the OL is terrible. I'm still taking this game as a positive and something to build on. They're basically playing at exactly the level I thought they'd be... possibly a smidge better even.
But I get that the hardcore fans are pissed about the overall team and don't see a strong future here. But again... after Betts was shipped out, I don't really care anymore.
But I get that the hardcore fans are pissed about the overall team and don't see a strong future here. But again... after Betts was shipped out, I don't really care anymore.
WTF does Betts have to do with this, or is it just a shot at SJH and others?
I actually meant Brady but Betts seemed to force it's way through my typing fingers.... but sure... I'll leave it there as a "shot". My brain is shot after the weekend.
Agreed. The DL (especially on the interior) is turning into a real strength of the team. LBs are by far the biggest weakness -- Hightower and Van Noy are over the hill, and Bentley is just meh. DBs are a mix, with JC Jackson playing more and more like a shutdown corner, but depth is very thin, especially given how banged up they were yesterday.
Basically they are an average defense, which will make plays from time to time but won't hold up against elite offenses.
Yup. You don't have to squint very hard to see a pretty decent defense if we had better, faster LBs. Judon is a force off of the edge and Barmore is really emerging on the interior DL. I'm very excited about where he might be by the end of the year. Wise has been pretty active and Guy has been his typical reliable self and Godchaux looks ok, I think. JCJ is playing well and Jones has been dependable. Dugger is now looking more comfortable and Phillips is steady. The problem for this defense, as much as it pains me, is due to the play Jalen Mills and 3 guys who I've been so fond of the past several years:
Hightower
McCourty
Van Noy
These guys were all stalwarts on title teams but they've all basically aged in dog years and now are not only not making plays but they're actively hurting the team. They've all basically reached the 2002 Lawyer Milloy/2008 Bruschi/2015 Mayo stage of their careers and it sucks to see.
Seconding this one. Lots of talk about wasted and underperforming high draft picks over the last few years, this guy takes the fucking cake. Michel and Wynn have had plenty of games where they at least looked like competent NFL players, Harry hasn't for one minute looked like he belongs on the field with the rest of the team. The fact that he had 0 targets in an OT game and that isn't even the reason he's a goat says it all.
McCourty is way too deep as the play develops and at the snap really. They say eyesight goes first and I wonder if he’s just not registering the game as quickly as he did. He’s lined up like it’s a hail mary.
Harry did draw the 15-yard retaliation penalty against Dallas during the Pats TD drive. That's about all I can say about him that's positive.
You don't have to squint at all -- you just have to rewind two weeks to the TB game. That was a legit strong performance. But Dallas exposed their shortcomings in a way that Tampa didn't. And if Bill/Steve don't figure out a way to revamp the pass defense then it's going to be a long season.
But all this talk about "good defense" or "bad defense" misses the mark entirely. They're an average defense. They'll have some good games and some bad games. They've got some strengths and some weaknesses. They'll keep you in the game but won't be able to carry the team by themselves. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, I guess my point is that they’re a couple players away from having an above average defense, which is the source of my frustration. We have the greatest mind in football and it doesn’t mean squat because we are short on talent. I know this is a problem that basically everyone faces but before the season I was assuming we’d have Gilmore and non-cooked LBs/DMC so my expectations were probably unrealistic.
True, that was a win-win play for us. 15 yards AND Harry got punched in the face.
Of course Agholor has already been mentioned, but sharing this image to highlight the play we should have won the game on. Despite all that’s gone wrong, if he makes this one play everyone’s mood is different today.
View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1450187580306305030?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1450187580306305030?s=21
The image kind of hides the deep safety, but at worst he's getting to the 40 and at best it's ballgame
Yeah I thought that might be a TD live, I expect Agholor dropped that because he knew the same and was trying to turn his attention upfield just a bit prematurely.
Mills has outside leverage and gives Lamb too much of a cushion but that play design was brilliant. They ran routes to open the middle for Lamb’s dig route. Like the Athletic guys said: they knew the defensive coverage rules and how they would defend it and Dak had all time to wait for Lamb to get 20 yards up field and then make his in-cut. The only way you stop that is if Mills is tighter in coverage and recovers in time to contest the catch. Again though with outside leverage against a dog that’s a tall task. They designed the play so that by the time Lamb cuts both safeties have to take other routes. There is no inside help.
Edit: you also could have stopped it with pressure before Lamb is open but they have pressured opposing QBs at a sub-par rate 3 weeks in a row now. High and KVN aren’t doing it. I know Uche can be a liability against the run but they need his pressure. This isn’t an elite secondary. They need more pass rush.
Edit: you also could have stopped it with pressure before Lamb is open but they have pressured opposing QBs at a sub-par rate 3 weeks in a row now. High and KVN aren’t doing it. I know Uche can be a liability against the run but they need his pressure. This isn’t an elite secondary. They need more pass rush.
Good point SMU. The lack of a pass rush on that play was critical. He had all day to throw, and when you give good QBs all day to throw to great WRs...usually that's a win for the offense.