New England Patriots Discussion

[ryno626]

Some switch must have gotten flipped at halftime. Did I see that McCourty had an INT???

[ryno626]

I'm watching the gamecast right now, looks like Ridley has gotten a majority of the runs. How has he looked?

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by ryno626

Some switch must have gotten flipped at halftime. Did I see that McCourty had an INT???

It was on a Moore underthrow, but he actually made some nice plays on the ball today. Of course, that came with getting burned badly twice early...but yeah, better than usual effort for him.

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by ryno626

I'm watching the gamecast right now, looks like Ridley has gotten a majority of the runs. How has he looked?

Good and bad, mostly good. He's made things happen, but there were a few shades of Maroney near the goal line that he was lucky to have go his way. He was stuffed a few times as well. But he still might be our best runningback right now haha.

[ElectricEye]

It didn't really matter, but Ridley really needed to stay in at the end there. Rookie mistake.

[Nalej]

Anyone know anything on the Mankins injury?

[Razor]

I haven't watched the game yet since I've just finished unpacking my presents. Good haul this year too... But from what I can see McCourty was a disaster once again and the OL was a mess. How the hell did we win this game? Can't wait to watch the game tomorrow.

Anyways, merry Christmas guys.

[Nalej]

McCourty was hot and cold.
Some plays he showed glimpses of last year.
Other times, he reminded that last year is in the past.

[descendency]

Originally Posted by ryno626

Some switch must have gotten flipped at halftime. Did I see that McCourty had an INT???

He had like 3 PDs and an INT. And still managed to get burned badly 2-3 times.

So, he's improved.

[descendency]

24 points to the Dolphins when most of them came very quickly and the offense didn't do **** until the second half... not too bad.

The Dolphins are playing well right now. I think everyone is going to over-analyze that win and nitpick it. The Fins only scored 7 points in the second half.

[ElectricEye]

Not sure there's much room for over analysis when they kicked our asses for the first thirty minutes. We got bailed out by mistakes from a mediocre team for the second straight week. Taking anything from it, we stayed tough mentally...but aside from that it was a horror show. We came out completely flat on both sides of the ball, the coaching decisions we made in the first half worked horribly, and Brady looked awful for a good portion of the game. We absolutely can't play like that against good teams...and Miami beating a few other crappy teams doesn't tell me that they're worth trumpeting the virtues of.

[descendency]

This team still manages to get a few mistakes per game that the offense blow open.

I know they play poorly, but they still make critical plays.

[descendency]

Possible playoff games (best to worst):
Texans
Titans
Raiders
Bengals
Jets

I really feel most of those should be an automatic win. The Jets have the hardest road of all teams (3 of the 32 possible situations get them in and the most likely 16 [ie, Denver winning] give them only 1 chance to get it... win and basically have everyone else lose).

The Bengals are by far most likely second round matchup. So Andy Dalton should prepare to become the greatest playoff QB ever (his first two games will be against the sorry Texans and the awful Patriots D)

[Matthew Jones]

Merry Christmas guys!

[nepg]

I don't mind the Pats struggling a bit against the Dolphins. They flipped a switch and won the game. I'd like to see them put a solid effort together all-around against the Bills so they have good energy going into the BYE, but everything with this team is about showing up for the playoffs. They absolutely have to show up there. With this team, games in the regular season are fairly meaningless.

[Jvig43]

"It's probably not even legal for me to say it right now, so I won't. I'm not even going to censor it. Too many bleeps. But just know, we needed to come out and play better."

From BB, awesome. exactly what we wanna hear

[Matthew Jones]

Lately it seems like none of the defensive tackle/defensive end prospects are going to be good enough fits for Bill Belichick's taste. Brandon Thompson seems like the most likely first-round option because of his brute strength and ability to command double teams but Thompson also struggles to disengage while occupied by two blockers. Fletcher Cox has brute strength and versatility between 4-3 and 3-4 fronts but does not play with an effective pad level and is easily knocked off balance; Cox is dominated by double-teams. Jerel Worthy projects as a 4-3 defensive tackle who can anchor against the run and flashes elite quickness off the line of scrimmage but would most likely end up filling Albert Haynesworth's projected role with the team; is a rotational player worth a first-round pick? Devon Still is disruptive against the pass and can knife into the backfield but has serious medical concerns after tearing his ACL and MCL in 2007 and breaking his ankle in 2008; Still does not play with leverage against the run and only gave consistent effort in a "contract" year. Dontari Poe is a small-school prospect who has massive size but is very raw and his height prevents him from anchoring as well as expected from a man his size; Poe disappeared during a number of games this season. Does anyone else think New England is going to put off drafting a top five-technique prospect for another year?

[nepg]

Originally Posted by Jvig43

"It's probably not even legal for me to say it right now, so I won't. I'm not even going to censor it. Too many bleeps. But just know, we needed to come out and play better."

From BB, awesome. exactly what we wanna hear

Yeah, and that is why I think struggling against Miami was a good thing in the long-run. They still won, but now they should be motivated to improve in areas.

[Jvig43]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots

Not the best news, not the worst news. Mankins should be back for the playoffs, hopefully the sprained MCL wont hinder his play any at that point.

[AntoinCD]

Originally Posted by Jvig43

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots

Not the best news, not the worst news. Mankins should be back for the playoffs, hopefully the sprained MCL wont hinder his play any at that point.

Yeah shut him down this week and then have the bye. Buffalo aren't great up front anyway with Kyle Williams missing and Dareus still kinda hurting so hopefully he won't be too missed

[descendency]

lol. ESPN Boston has some of the dumbest writers on the block.

"Mayo missed 2 weeks and Spikes missed like 7..."

That's because MCL sprains come in 3 grades: 1, 2, and 3. If it were 3 - Mankins (and every other NFL player) would be on IR right now. If it were grade 2, he'd probably be IR'd as well because the best case scenario for return would probably be the Super Bowl week.

A reasonable grade 1 sprain can take a week to fully heal as long as you stay off of it and treat it properly. NE doesn't need to win this game to be in good position. Just a bye is helpful. The home field advantage stuff is just icing on the cake, worst case scenario.

[Nalej]

L.Polite signed. We finally have a true FB.
Lawfirm and Ridley behind him makes me smile.

[Nalej]

2011 Pro Bowlers


* Tom Brady
* Wes Welker
* Rob Gronkowski
* Logan Mankins
* Brian Waters
* Andre Carter
* Vince Wilfork
* Matthew Slater

[Jvig43]

No Hernandez? Last time I checked he was second for AFC TEs.

[Nalej]

A. Gates made it over him :(