Patriots Planet Forums and Message Board

This is not a game thread.
I know very little about the Colts. I haven't seen them play at all. During the preseason there were some that picked them to win the South and be a contender for the AFC.
They did get Matt Ryan but that seems to not be working out. Taylor is supposed to be a beast of a running back and they were supposed to have one of the best OL in the NFL.
So, what has gone on with them. They lost to the Jags and tied the Texans, but beat the Chiefs.
Anyone know anything about the Colts?

Worth a separate thread. They posted this already. First up, Slater who has played the 2nd most games all time for the Patriots. And then Kraft on Bill.

View: https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1586896990138417153

After a terrible Miami game around 2002, we lost 30-0 or something like that where it was never that close, Belichick actually buried a game ball and moved the players on.

Time for us to move on, as well.

Patriots at Jets, CBS, 1:00. Can't Wait.

...6 stops!!!

Unbelevable D. First and only team in league history.to do this.

Fire Belichick.

View: https://twitter.com/MaizeCrusader/status/1577298584193613824

View: https://twitter.com/OptaSTATS/status/1576718548466302977

Through 4 games:
Most Points Scored: Detroit Lions (140)
Most Points Allowed: Detroit Lions (141)
They are on pace to be the 5th highest scoring offense in NFL history and they’re 1-3

This should be a fun "get right" game for the offense. The Patriots open up as a -2.5 favorite at home vs the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN25Bf6hmVQ

View: https://twitter.com/ZackCoxNESN/status/1575209134827372557

Harbaugh brings his team with a suspect defense and a dangerous, but predictable offense. In order for Pats to have the best chance the offense needs to take full advantage of the suspect defense. Defensively it will have to be of containing Lamar and pushing him to be a pocket passer. We all know he is elite running the ball and being able to have the threat to run, but he is about average as a pure passer.

View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1573425097616289792

I think the big (not so big anymore!) man deserves it. One of the best NTs to ever play the game.

View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1572999860579598340

View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1573000913316364289

So, watching football growing up there was always a lot of talk about your top-end DTs splitting double teams. It's impressive.

I've noticed we don't see it much anymore (and least on most teams) and I finally figured out why. If this is all old news, I apologize - I was mostly totally away from digging through film and X's and O's for a long stretch, and have only started to get back to it recently.

Anyway, what I've noticed is that somewhere along the way - and let me be totally clear, it may have been before I took my decade-or-so-break and I just never noticed - the prevailing wisdom of coaching DL shifted. Someone looked at the probability of splitting (or otherwise beating) a passpro double team and realized it was sucky. Then realized that there was a prospective benefit that was lost by trying to beat the double team that outweighed the low probability of QB pressure that came with success.

Look, any decent coach has always taught DL to get their hands up to make...

It can be hard to see what's going on behind what we see. I thought this was one of those rare examples of "pop -NFL analysis" that really brought something useful to the table.

Phil Perry comes to Matt Cassell with questions about two particular plays from the Raiders game in terms of what's going on with play selection and ability to audible at the line:

View: https://youtu.be/uUcVH8k579k

1. Warren Sharp is a NFL expert who writes a 500+ page NFL betting preview book every season.

2. John Carroll college roommates Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels (and before that their other college roommate Nick Caserio) preceded their departures with 8-years of draft class turds but also left the gift of a massive exploding Patriot salary cap bomb that hit this season. Good riddance to the 3 idiot college roommates. These 3 stooges rode TB12’s coattails for a long time, and then left before getting too obviously exposed.

Warren Sharp explains the Patriot salary cap bomb eloquently:

“Hunter Henry went from a $6.8 million cap hit in 2021 to $15 million this year.

Jonnu Smith went from a $5.6 million cap hit in 2021 to $13.7 million this year.

Matt Judon went from a $6.3 million cap hit in 2021 to $16.5 million this year.

Nelson Agholor went from a $6.9 million cap hit in 2021 to...

Some interesting players on this list:











[URL...

Patriots releases/departures/etc.​

So far...
TE Devin Asiasi: Waived | Player profile
CB Terrance Mitchell: Released | Player profile
LB Harvey Langi: Released |...

So...Hill, Waddle, and Gesicki should make life interesting. Both Hill & Waddle are just 5'10", so that helps out CB matchups, since height is our biggest weakness. I wonder what Miami will do with formation to get both on the field with a TE, since both are historically best out of the slot.

MJ should see the field a lot, and JJ should be there for the majority of snaps. Phillips, Dugger should be able to account for Gesicki. Mills has been excellent, but is kind of a style mismatch vs these WRs. He'll start and play plenty, of course, but might see fewer snaps than will typically be the case. Maybe?

If we're looking at rolling out 3 & 4 safety looks, as has been discussed, I'd expect to see them vs this offense. Phillips, Duggar, and Peppers allow you to gain coverage ability without sacrificing too much toughness or beef.

Normally I'd say run a lot of stuff to fluster Tua, but with all the youth and inexperience in our LBs and DBs, and how much those elements of...

1. Mac Jones has been lights out in August when he actually has time to throw. His poor throws or INTs in training camp have been due to the crappy OLine play, which keeps breaking down and giving up sacks or QB pressures.

2. The Patriots are absolutely stacked with pass catchers across Meyers, Bourne, Agholor, Devonte Parker, Henry, and Jonnu Smith. The RB group is also stacked with Harris and Stevenson. It’s all about the OLine for the offense. The offense will live or die this year by the OLine play.

3. Now onto the OLine. It was absolutely the right decision to move Trent Brown back to left tackle. Scar the guru played Trent Brown at LT before Scar retired, and Brown was a durable, elite Superbowl-winning left tackle for the Pats in 2018.

4. Wynn needs to be traded. Take the 4th rd pick (or 3rd) and just do it. He’s injury prone, eats up almost 11M in cap space, and was mediocre in 2021. Wynn is simply too undersized to play tackle, it’s probably why he keeps...

Disaster! It's common knowledge that these drafts were disasters.

2018:

• Isaiah Wynn
• Sony Michel
• Duke Dawson
• Ju'Whaun Bentley
• Braxton Berrios

Assuming Wynn doesn't disappear, and Dawson continues his resurrection, that's 5 legit NFLers. But 3-5 in any case.

2019:

• Chase Winovich
• Damian Harris
• Yodney Cajuste
• Jarrett Stidham
• Jake Bailey

Looks like Stidham will stick around the NFL for a journeyman backup career, and Winovich seems like he has a home. 5 legit NFLers.

2020:

• Kyle Dugger
• Josh Uche
• Anfernee Jennings
• Michael Onwenu
• Justin Herron

Still early, but it looks like Dugger & Onwenu are solid, Uche & Jennings likely. If they would only play Herron at LT, he seems to be a serviceable backup. 3 to 5 NFLers.

2021:

• Mac Jones
• Christian Barmore
• Rhamondre Stevenson
• Joshuah Bledsoe
• Tre Nixon

...and possibly Perkins and/or McGrone. 4-7 NFLers.

2022:
Still early...

That was quick.

...and PS, and injury stashes, and shadow roster.

A thread for roster projections, cut downs, and everyone's favorites: projected trades!

I can't remember a camp with more interesting roster questions and battles. Within position groups, and real, impactful questions about how many to keep at each position group.

Key questions beyond simple positional battles:

• Because of Montgomery, how many combined RB & WR? In theory it could be less, but if he's a key contributor/chess piece, does it end up meaning we keep more?
• It seems that there are a number of guys pushing the traditional ST Ninja core. Does Schooler push someone out? Do the tight positional battles squeeze out a "Teams only" guy for a guy who provides depth/high potential and can contribute on STs?
• 3 QBs on the 53? Would Zappe and/or Hoyer make it to PS?
• Up to 16 practice squad slots this year, and almost anyone can be on it. Plus, 2 can go from PS to game day roster each week, so it's useful to...

Mac the Knife has been voted to the Top 100 players on NFLN at #85
'Top 100 Players of 2022': Mac Jones | No. 85

Congrats to a true champion. Such an outstanding Patriot. I hope that he truly loves his retirement, and perhaps joins the coaching staff!