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Football Outsiders: The 2nd Best Game of Brady’s Career

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Football Outsiders: The 2nd Best Game of Brady’s Career

Gronk #3 Tight End:

What a difference a week makes; after fumbling in the red zone and causing a fumbled kickoff against the Browns, Gronkowski had three touchdowns on five targets in Pittsburgh. Before Sunday, the Steelers had allowed just one passing touchdown to opposing tight ends in 57 targets, a 12-yard catch by Benjamin Watson in Week 6.

Benny #4 Running Back

Green-Ellis had one carry for 17 yards and two for 13 yards. That doesn’t sound like the makings of a great day, but consider that those are three of the four longest carries against the Steelers so far this season, and it looks a little better. The 17-yarder was Green-Ellis’s opening carry, and it was one of the rare times this year that the Steelers have been defeated at the line of scrimmage, with the Patriots doing a great job of sealing the alley outside to create an easy lane for Green-Ellis.

ProFootballFocus.com: Patriots – Steelers ReFocused

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ProFootballFocus.com: Patriots – Steelers ReFocused

Patriots: Performances of note

It was interesting to hear some praise thrown the way of RT Sebastian Vollmer (-4.4) as the game was coming to an end. He didn’t give up a sack, but he was the weakest link on a Patriots offensive line that for the most part held its own and then some. He gave up a quarterback hit and five quarterback pressures, while grading out the lowest of all NE linemen with his run blocking. After such an impressive rookie year, Vollmer has come back down to earth in 2010.

On defense, the Patriots got an exceptional performance from Mike Wright (+5.2). Playing exclusively in nickel formations, Wright was a menace to the Steelers’ interior and constantly prevented Ben Roethlisberger from stepping up where he wanted to go. He finished the day with five quarterback pressures to go along with his two sacks in what was possibly the best performance of his career.

(Mike D’s note – we’ve mentioned this quite a few times, the key to the Patriots getting better at pressuring the QB it had to come from the inside guys like Wright and Myron Pryor, not just our OLBs)

One guy who didn’t impress and really failed to take his opportunity was Shawn Crable (-3.0). Seeing extended time as a left end in nickel formations, Crable had 30 attempts to rush the passer and only managed two quarterback disruptions. Throw in some substandard work in run defense and it would be a surprise to see him continue to receive as much playing time with the other options the Pats have at that spot.

(Mike D’s note – WTF is this Crable baloney!! Can’t say my eyes didn’t agree with this though, when you’re one job is to rush the passer you need to rush the passer. Part of me thinks Crable’s height works against him as it’s easier for blockers to get leverage on him. Slowly starting to think Crable better start showing some more or he’s gonna be targeted for replacement)

Rookie report

The three-touchdown display of Rob Gronkowski (+2.3 pass rating) was a pleasant surprise after his troubles last week. Gronkowski was in for 90.41 percent of plays while by contrast Aaron Hernandez (-1.1) saw 15.07 percent of the snaps and managed to drop another pass. … Brandon Deaderick (-0.2) had a quiet game along with Brandon Spikes (-0.1) as the Patriots ran a lot of their nickel package. … Jermaine Cunningham (-0.1) ended the day with four quarterback pressures but was invisible in run support and gave away a penalty. … Devin McCourty hurt his day by giving up two penalties and a touchdown, despite adding two more pass breakups to his resume. … Sergio Brown (+0.2) saw a lot of action, and appears to have worked his way into the nickel defense lineup ahead ofJonathan Wilhite. … Punter Zoltan Mesko (+0.7) had a max hang time of 4.5 seconds on his five punts.

(Mike D’s note – need to rewatch the Sergio vs. Wilhite playing time)

Hate-Fueled Colts Scouting

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I don’t think I’ve put a bigger win behind me faster than I have this week. As soon as I posted all the glowing reviews of the Patriots demolition of the Steelers I had turned the page and was ready to finally see the Colts back in Foxboro.

First I watched some of the Colts – Bengals game from last weekend. Wasn’t that impressed. Sure, they still have Reggie Wayne and Peter Garkon (as my Dad called him and I will continue to call him). But outside of those targets Peyton Manning doesn’t have much to work with.

They’ll throw a lot of slip screens, and still like to run Jacob Tamme (who could barely walk after the game so keep an eye on that) with little underneath crossing routes. Really doesn’t seem like they have as many options on the table now. Their running game looked average at best.

The defense is small and fast as always, but if Carson Palmer didn’t suck the Bengals probably could’ve pulled this one out. Seems like the Colts are always vulnerable to a deep pass or two per game.

One side note, and reason why I really like the Pats this time around, are the new tight ends. With Crumpler and Gronkowski the undersized Colts defense is going to have a hard time. Looks like the Patriots should be able to out physical Indy for the first time in the last seix years.

When I took a gander at the Colts section in Football Outsiders 2010 almanac the overlying theme was that the Colts just managed to win when really they were not as good as their record was. I didn’t realize how many games last year the Colts were really very, very lucky to win. Fluke plays, strange bounces, and yes even gutsy calls by Hall of Fame coaches that didn’t work out, all played into the Colts starting 14-0.

No matter what their record is, or how they’ve won games, the Colts are dangerous as long as they have Peyton Manning. The loss of Dallas Clark and Jacob Tamme looms large. The Pats will have to take advantage.

I will get more in depth with some scouting as the week goes on. But right now all I can think about is seeing this face on Sunday:

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http://www.hulu.com/embed/ZLUMIah0rjdj-_b_d8DY6A

Patriots History Tuesdays: 2005 Pats vs. Colts

So you might wondering to yourself, ‘hey Mike D, how come you’re posting a video of a Patriots loss when we had all those impressive wins over the Colts earlier last decade?’. Well the answer is I’m fired up this week.

I’m sick and tired of hearing about Peyton Manning and the Colts. I’m sick and tired of losing games we should’ve won to the Colts. So much like Coach Belichick taking down the photos from the walls of Gillette Stadium, I’m not posting anything about the big wins over the Colts this week. 

This game in 2005 was the turning point in the Pats vs. Manning series, and since then the Pats have but one victory (2007). The RCA Dome, and later the LOSer Stadium, were houses of horrors for the Pats, but now the Colts finally return to Gillette Stadium.

But as this video proves Peyton Manning is capable of winning in Foxboro. The Pats will need their best effort of the season.

(Source: http://www.hulu.com/)

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-history-tuesdays-2005-pats-vs-colts-so/