Greetings from somewhere over America! It was quite the whirlwind weekend for me, but a hard-fought Patriots win (and time with family) made it all worth it.
Our seats were in the low 300s and I was reminded how much I enjoy watching football from up above. I was also reminded how much easier it is to track personnel when you’re at the game and can see who comes on and who comes off.
The Jets are rightly getting a lot of respect out there and they deserve it. They did almost everything you need to do to beat New England at home. Just one turnover that resulted in only three points. Clutch third down plays. They were just a few plays away.
The pressure here was on the Patriots to hold serve at home. They did. Now the Jets need to build off this loss and stay on the Pats heels. That second-to-last game of the season in New York might mean something.
But enough about the Jets, ON TO THE POSITS!
The headline on defense is third down with a sub-heading about the red zone. It’s not complicated. They executed exactly what they had to on early downs – they shut down Chris Ivory (17c, 41yds). But on the third-and-longs Fitzpatrick wasn’t throwing picks, he was throwing to open receivers.
For the offense it’s all about the drops. Like all sane Patriots fans, I give LaFell a pass. I might’ve starting going to Dobson around drop number four, but we all LaFell in love with him for a reason – he’s good. He just needs to get up to game speed.
This is what the NFL has decided they wanted and the Patriots are giving it to them – the ability to completely ignore the running game. It’s not just the “mobile” quarterbacks that are leading their teams in rushing! Handing off just five times in the game was a sign of respect for the Jets’ run defense. Belichick won’t run into a brick wall.
I’m sure there were some hiccups but gotta tip the cap to the offensive line, especially Cameron Fleming who is hanging in there strong. That was no easy feat against the Jets.
It seemed to me like the Patriots defense were playing mostly the Cover-1 Robber they played with Revis and Browner last year. I for one am glad they stuck with this aggressive coverage. You have to in today’s NFL.
Rookie cornerback Justin Coleman is another player who has hung in tough after being thrust into action. He really fits the mold and seems to be making progress each week.
They really missed Jabaal Sheard’s presence on third down. After what we saw out of Miami yesterday it would be good to have him back on Thursday.
Gotta give Tom Brady his due. Never want to take that guy for granted. But such a tough, gritty performance by 12. This game felt a lot like last Super Bowl, with Brady suddenly clicking on fire in fourth quarter.
The Seahawks SB comparison sticks with the third-and-17 the Pats converted on the drive to take the lead. The game was in the balance right there and once again Brady-to-Edelman came through.
Didn’t even realize that Gronk caught that many balls – 11/108/1. Lot of them felt like dumpoffs that only went 3-4 yards.Pryor was doing a good job on Gronk before he got hurt. Then things opened up.
James White left me wanting a little more but had a bit of elusiveness like Lewis. But clearly Lewis is better and now I wonder how things would look if we never found him.
One of my big keys was having Dont’a Hightower
for this one and he showed why he was needed. I can’t wait to watch him a little closer on the re-watch. Him and Collins are in their third year playing together and are just a lethal pairing that covers the physicality-athleticism spectrum.
Danny Amendola
, I’m ready to extend him right now. His cap hit next year at $6.8 million is too big, and it would only be a $2.7 hit to cut. But what an amazing cog he has become. Over and over again he’s come up with clutch catches in big spots. Acrobatic catches. If there’s a way to tack on a couple years, spread his cap hit out a bit I say keep him around!
Quick turn around on the Dolphins, will get into the immediately. But from the sounds of it there won’t be much time to geel good about beating the Jets, this Miami team is coming in confident.
