Review/Preview: 5 Things We Watched & 5 Things to Watch

Before I begin my “What we watched, what to watch piece”, I just want to ask a question, I know we’re all hopped up on outrage about the latest whatever, but seriously, can everyone chill the f— out?

In the last week, there’s been plenty of unnecessary spikes in blood pressure for Patriots fans.

First, it was the Dion and Vollmer news. Driving to work, I received texts that read simply: “Dion.” Then right after. “Vollmer.” I jumped on Twitter, nearly crashing my car, assuming both players had murder/suicided each other.

For perspective, read Mike’s piece. My take: Vollmer has been injured a lot in his professional career, so the team has prepared for this eventuality and likely think Cannon (under Scar) can fill in capably. And Dion Lewis was coming back from an ACL that he tore November 8th last year. While we’ve been spoiled by quicker returns (see Alien Gronk), it can take up to a year to return from ACL surgery and with a setback Lewis will be back within a calendar year.

Then there’s the absurd press conference hubbub to explain Brady’s absence over the last few days. Obviously there’s nothing to see here, but that doesn’t stop the Hucksters from hucking. The hucksters of Boston are numerous, but just as numerous are the smart objective and analytical takes that you can find on any number of sites, and certainly at Pats Propaganda with Mike and the rest of our crew. Just because we’re addicted, doesn’t mean we need to go buy the cheap stuff under the bridge.

Just a reminder, the Patriots made it to the AFCCG game last year (and nearly won) without either Lewis or Vollmer. Let’s all take our beta-blockers, a hit on the hookah and remember that Brady and Belichick nearly won a Super Bowl with Reche Caldwell as the primary weapon. Reche Caldwell!

Thanks for indulging: On to what we watched and what to watch…

Review

Last week I asked the following five questions here are the answers we got:

1. How disciplined is this Patriots team?
This remains an open question: Jeff Howe’s tweet:

Coaches didn’t like that Stork couldn’t harness the attitude on the field. https://t.co/GLEj46R694

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 24, 2016

This sheds light that there may be a concern about discipline within the organization, at the very least as it relates to Stork. With no TB 12 in the locker room for a month and several important players wanting to get paid, this will be an interesting question to monitor going into the season. But not one to overly freak out and speculate about.

2. Sun or shade for Flowers?
A: So much to like about this young player. Trey Flowers is a 3-down player in the front-7. In fact, he got a little winded on the Bears second long drive and that resulted in some bad plays, but that’s because he was the only man on the front line to play every snap of the 1st half. He got decent push on Bears LT Leno Jr.. Flowers set the edge well, had to be double-teamed and chipped by the TE (which completely disrupted him once) and batted a ball at the line, was pretty relentless and had a sack. A few times he overpursued, got sucked inside and knocked back a bit in the run game (like the Jeremy Langford TD). Those plays were after he was visibly gassed. Overall, he’s a really complete piece on the line. Flowers will be starting for a few weeks, which is likely why he is out there so much, to get his conditioning up (he looked much better on the subsequent series BTW, so he likely just needed the offense to sustain a short drive to get his wind back).

3. How’s Jimmy Garoppolo developing?
I wanted to look at three specific areas: identifying the matchups along the seams, his play-action sell and his decision-making.

a. As predicted his biggest completions came over the middle and along the seams, his primary targets being the TEs and Chris Hogan, he had a near miss on Derby for a ball thrown in front of Derby that was nearly a TD. If that’s Rob Gronkowski, could be 6. As an aside, AJ Derby looks like a real good depth piece right now at the “move” TE, as his ability to block is… a work in progress.

b. Garoppolo’s first PA pass attempt was blown-up before it started (though the play was negated by a Def. Holding penalty). His ability to hide the ball isn’t very good, pass rushers didn’t even acknowledge the fake, several times. Even on the big plays they hit on PA, he had pressure in his face because pass-rush didn’t brake for the action. This is a small thing, but if pass rushers don’t even hesitate to pursue the QB, they’re often unblocked and make Jimmy hit the turf. Jimmy doesn’t like to hit the turf.

c. The 2-minute drill was excellent! Not only making plays down the field and the seams, but the calm in the pocket, throwing the ball away when it wasn’t there with the ticking clock was perfect. He didn’t rush the play calls, he made sure things were set and then he executed. Taking the first time out, only after they’d gotten into field goal range with 54 seconds left on the game clock. Jimmy looks really poised.

4. I’m a broken record, but where do the rushing yards come from?
With the Lewis and Brown news after the game this is even more intriguing. Blount really looked much better (Bears run D?), he cut to the openings created in front of him. White looked good. Gaffney’s emerging as a decent piece of depth. Also I think that Develin looks like he’s going to be on the 53 man, he can pass block as well as the Tight Ends and slip out and make plays in the passing game. Can they stop running the ball against goal line, though?

5. Another week without news about extensions. Should we prepare for the worst?
Tick-Tock. We added Mingo, is there a chance this is Hightower/Sheard insurance?

Other Note: Stork looked bad on the 1st Pats drive of the second half. Lost on the play that broke up the drive, unsure where his assignment was. Not great for the guy who is paid to identify blocking assigments. Ted Karras was at center afterwards, so I’d expect he and Kline are our fill-in centers in the event of Andrews injury.

Preview

1. Do we see Brady or Garoppolo first?
Ugh, so predictable, but really I, like everyone, am interested to see if Brady gets the go first after missing last week with an overanalyzed owee on the finger. This QB controversy stuff seems absurd after one good drive, but that’s the Hucksters Hucking (hi, Dan, oh there you are Mike and Mazz!). But there is an up in the air question that we will get an answer for: Do they try to throw Jimmy G in the deep end and prepare him for the season or do they try to get Brady some game speed reps before the preseason is over? Competitors thrive while in competition, so bring it on. Get Brady fired up.

2. How does the front-7 defense contain Cam Newton and the Panthers rushing attack?
This is our first chance to see the starters against an elite rushing attack. The Patriots D gave Bears RB, Langford some holes to run through, but I’d argue that the first drive was largely a result of ticky tack penalties that extended the drive and the second was a result of a tired defense due to the 3 and out by the Garoppolo-led offense. Trey Flowers is going to be out there a lot and Chris Long on the other side. The Bears consistently ran away from Flowers, will be interesting to see how they stand up against the Panthers. Alan Branch and Terrence Knighton are going to have to plant their flags in front, soon.  Now. I hope we see Anthony Johnson (Great story by Kevin Duffy) out there in the first half, as he was disruptive against the Bears.

3. Can Belichick wipe “the other Jerra’s” grin from his face?
Despite our misgivings about how Robert and Jonathan played the Deflategate penalties, the Patriots have great ownership and to remind yourselves, just look across the field. “The other Jerra” is the kind of Southern Gentleman you read about in books, American history books, like civil war-era. A statue with two Panthers in front of his stadium stands to remind everyone why they attend Panthers games, I guess. Also he forced his cancer-ridden son to resign before he passed away. Also he famously ordered the owners to “take the league back”, presumably from the players who actually play the game. Also he questioned Peyton Manning’s understanding of concussions. Also he’s fleeced the state of North Carolina for funding the stadium where the statue of him stands. But according to ESPN, he’s the future of ownership in the NFL.

4. What’s our LB depth look like after the addition to Mingo?
My biggest concern going into the season, remains a pretty big concern. Bingo’s likely not ready to play much against Carolina, but it will be interesting to see when he does, where he’s lined up. He’s an edge player, so he’s not replacing Collins, as some have suggested. I’m not sure if he’s just a depth piece, but likely makes Collins, Hightower, McClellin, Mingo for our core LB core. With Mingo contributing on Special Teams, not sure if Freeny is the odd man out. Gugier-Hill, Humber, Roberts, Snyder all seem like long shots to make the 53.

5. The WR position. Where are we?
Nate Washington is gone. Edelman’s likely limited and not going to play. Hogan’s going to be fine. Mitchell should play. Amendola’s still out and who knows whether he’s on the team, unless he’s activated soon. Keshawn Martin’s practicing, but hasn’t really shown up yet. Lucien’s playing by college one-foot-in rules and seems like a practice squad guy at best. Garoppolo is going to continue to target Hogan and the TEs down the seams, but it’d be nice to see a full compliment at WR. Count me among the people that thought Dobson’s drop was not necessarily his fault on the first drive, but he needs to show up or he’s done (he’s likely done anyway).

And can we see Rob Gronkowski for a few series, please?