The Hoodie
Let's make it 5!
That was an extremely thrilling win which came down to the wire. We saw a lot from this game but we all definitely did make some incorrect predictions/assumptions about the game (for the most part). Some of us went into this game thinking we'd blow them out just because Aarod was out, but others remained true to GB's talent. Maybe I was wrong for thinking we'd have a comfortable lead against this team.
Anyway, here are some notes from me personally that I saw, and I'm sure all of you did too:
1) Tackling: Tackling was absoutely horrific. John Kuhn especially looked tremendous because guys didn't tackle him throughout the entire game. GB tackling wasn't too good either. This wasn't a good game for tackling at all.
2) The defense is remincient of the defense of earlier on in the season: yes, true, this was against the great offense of the the Packers, but there's no reason why we need to have safties bumping into CBs to cause a TD. McCourty got beat on that play, but the ball was juggled and if he made a hit the ball would have come out. Meriweather messed this play up pretty badly and probably was ripped a new one. The late game INT was good redemtpion, but TBC negated this penalty by ripping his hands into the OL's facemask. The defense were giving up big plays in very goofy manners. The pressure was good early on but waned down, but they showed up at the end, giving them credit. It's just these bonehead plays we get that we need to rid ourselves of. It is a young defense, but there's not reason why, this late in the season, we give up plays on silly mistakes. A side note, it was great to see McCourty and Gerrard Warren out there.
3) Offense couldn't do much: also goes without saying here. We definitely did put points on the board, but the offense were getting 3 and outs in moments of the game where the defense was already gassed. The Packers defense defintely deserves much credit as well. We need a better performance by the offense, which I think we will.
4) Penalties: those penalties were absoutely draining. The penalty on the INT, that would have won the game earlier, was off a silly play to TBC. Some penatlties were ridiclous but some were justified. The team overll just needs to clean up their play.
5) Better awareness is needed: I'm sure the Patriots, along with most of us, thought it was unusual that GB was deferring and putting the D against TB and the boys. This alone should have people have the thought in the back of their minds that an onside kick was coming. I'm not about to blame this team for not knowing it was coming, but it's something that should always be on the mind.
6) The last drive: was all inexperience kicking in. It was a thrilling finish and the defense did a great job at disrupting them when it really mattered. The sack by Dane Fletcher helped us a lot and the pressure at the end was also great. It was a good showing by a defense that was depleted by the play of Matt Flynn and the RBs of the Packers.
7) Dan Connolly. That's all I need to say. The greatest thing was that he had better ball security than anyone who played on the Jaguars today.
In conclusion, I think this was honestly one of their more mediocre efforts throughout, but they came when they needed to. As one poster said in the game thread, the game went perfectly for a team who had played like crap for the duration of the game. It was kind of like we half-assed this entire game and still won--something we failed to do against Cleveland. This win is good, but will be humbling, I hope. Belichick won't forget this game as he prepares for Buffalo next week, who nearly beat us when they had us around before.
Lets soak the glories of defeat, but there's not too much to be proud of. I'm not proud of much, but I am proud of the W. GB is a talented team, but we're capable of playing much better than this. That was a good game to watch in the end and that ending was as thrilling as that fiasco in the Meadowlands earlier on. Lets take the win and move on and prepare against Buffalo. We'll get that #1 seed with a win next week. Lets show the league why we're the #1 team in the NFL, even though we didn't play like it this week.
Thanks for reading.
Anyway, here are some notes from me personally that I saw, and I'm sure all of you did too:
1) Tackling: Tackling was absoutely horrific. John Kuhn especially looked tremendous because guys didn't tackle him throughout the entire game. GB tackling wasn't too good either. This wasn't a good game for tackling at all.
2) The defense is remincient of the defense of earlier on in the season: yes, true, this was against the great offense of the the Packers, but there's no reason why we need to have safties bumping into CBs to cause a TD. McCourty got beat on that play, but the ball was juggled and if he made a hit the ball would have come out. Meriweather messed this play up pretty badly and probably was ripped a new one. The late game INT was good redemtpion, but TBC negated this penalty by ripping his hands into the OL's facemask. The defense were giving up big plays in very goofy manners. The pressure was good early on but waned down, but they showed up at the end, giving them credit. It's just these bonehead plays we get that we need to rid ourselves of. It is a young defense, but there's not reason why, this late in the season, we give up plays on silly mistakes. A side note, it was great to see McCourty and Gerrard Warren out there.
3) Offense couldn't do much: also goes without saying here. We definitely did put points on the board, but the offense were getting 3 and outs in moments of the game where the defense was already gassed. The Packers defense defintely deserves much credit as well. We need a better performance by the offense, which I think we will.
4) Penalties: those penalties were absoutely draining. The penalty on the INT, that would have won the game earlier, was off a silly play to TBC. Some penatlties were ridiclous but some were justified. The team overll just needs to clean up their play.
5) Better awareness is needed: I'm sure the Patriots, along with most of us, thought it was unusual that GB was deferring and putting the D against TB and the boys. This alone should have people have the thought in the back of their minds that an onside kick was coming. I'm not about to blame this team for not knowing it was coming, but it's something that should always be on the mind.
6) The last drive: was all inexperience kicking in. It was a thrilling finish and the defense did a great job at disrupting them when it really mattered. The sack by Dane Fletcher helped us a lot and the pressure at the end was also great. It was a good showing by a defense that was depleted by the play of Matt Flynn and the RBs of the Packers.
7) Dan Connolly. That's all I need to say. The greatest thing was that he had better ball security than anyone who played on the Jaguars today.
In conclusion, I think this was honestly one of their more mediocre efforts throughout, but they came when they needed to. As one poster said in the game thread, the game went perfectly for a team who had played like crap for the duration of the game. It was kind of like we half-assed this entire game and still won--something we failed to do against Cleveland. This win is good, but will be humbling, I hope. Belichick won't forget this game as he prepares for Buffalo next week, who nearly beat us when they had us around before.
Lets soak the glories of defeat, but there's not too much to be proud of. I'm not proud of much, but I am proud of the W. GB is a talented team, but we're capable of playing much better than this. That was a good game to watch in the end and that ending was as thrilling as that fiasco in the Meadowlands earlier on. Lets take the win and move on and prepare against Buffalo. We'll get that #1 seed with a win next week. Lets show the league why we're the #1 team in the NFL, even though we didn't play like it this week.
Thanks for reading.
