Pats - Denver Post-Game Discussion

[The Gr8est]

Gr8 win for the Pats. Time to start the anal exam on it.

First, aside from being a big win, today was huge in the Pats quest for bye and the elimination of unworthy douchebag teams.

Texans lost, Rats lost, GB lost and leaves the Pats' records intact, Bengals won, Raiders lost improving Pats pick. As things stand now Chargers are looking good against the Ravens and are leading 10-7 with 7:38 left in the half.

Now on to observations from the Pats-Denver:

BJGE had 2 receptions for 32 yards. That has always been a knock on BJGE; that he was not a good receiver. Have the Pats been working on developing his ability here? That would help make him more valuable and the Pats offense less predictable.

Hopefully now the Tebow talk will die down to a normal level. I WILL say that he impressed me some today. He is a tough runner to bring down and his passing mechanics seem improved. The jury is still out but he is making strides.

What a huge game for Hernandez. Gronk was quiet, or as quiet as a Gronk! can be, and I suspect the Broncos made it a goal to limit him, but when you take one weapon away it just leaves more opportunities for the other guy. What a huge asset our TEs are.

Huge loss of Andre Carter, looks to be out for the year. It will be hard to replace him. Mark Anderson came up huge today and we need that to continue. Let's hope that Eric Moore can provide a similar boost to what he gave us last year late in the season.

I thought Tiquan Underwood made two very nice hands catches today, even though one was OB. He is coming along, and we could use his production.

On the other hand Ochcinco gets his first TD and then on his next opportunity misses an opportunity for a big play or TD as he again fails to be on the same page with Brady. That play where Brady threw it deep while Ocho stayed short is likely a TD if that was Branch; not looking promising for the Ochocinco experiment.

I like having Edelman returning kickoffs now as well as punts. He can be a bit scary with judgment on catches on punts, but he is fearless and can make people miss. Put someone else back there whenever ball security is paramount, but he's a potential big play as a kick returner.

I hate to say it because Chung can be a useful player when he is in there, but he just can't stay healthy and is taking forever getting back. We may need to be looking for someone who can play his role more reliably. As I recall, he injured his foot when he was running in the open field and wasn't touched.

Once again we got to see just what BB sees in Slater. Nice one armed tackle on a punt return and just a demon overall on special teams.

Stevn Ridley looked good today. 11 for 65 with a nifty 24 yard run thrown in. Now if we can get Vereen healthy we might develop a running game that defense will ned to be concerned with.

Once again, Rob Ninkovich shows that he is a player who you can win championships with as a starter. He isn't going to be a Pro-Bowler, but he is heady and has a non-stop motor.

There are more observations I could make but that's enough to get things started.

 

[bmooney54]

It was "miraculous" that Tebow was in the grasp several times and escaped. Wrapping up will likely be in focus. It was a slow start, but the Pats rolled along toward the end of the 1st. I thought it was a great win. I, like most, was nervous when the clock said "miracle time." It is terrible to lose Carter. Did Ellis play/ contribute?

 

[Newbologist]

I thought Brady had Ocho open another time deep but decided to go to Gronk who was triple covered.

The biggest thing was the resiliency the team, especially the defense showed in fighting back after a terrible 1st quarter where they were taken behind the woodshed.

 

[Newbologist]

One other thing I noticed Brace was in quite a bit after carter went down and made some good plays and collapsed the interior of the pocket quite nicely.

 

[The Gr8est]

It was "miraculous" that Tebow was in the grasp several times and escaped. Wrapping up will likely be in focus. It was a slow start, but the Pats rolled along toward the end of the 1st. I thought it was a great win. I, like most, was nervous when the clock said "miracle time." It is terrible to lose Carter. Did Ellis play/ contribute?

I don't think so, and sadly, your mention of him reminded me how little I have even thought about him recently.

He might be a candidate for removal if we need a roster spot.

 

[Beaglebay]

I think BB schemed to sacrifice Gronk in order to use AHern in his place. What a luxury to be able to do so :bang:

Carter injury has me Hope his surgery is successful.

Brady gronkspiked before Gronk saw his first porn star. Shall we roll the bradyspike film????

BoB will henceforth be referred to as "Teapot".

NE crushed the Orange and kicked the Donkeys in the @$$, just as I knew they would. Hope this means NE is beginning to peak. Perfect timing.

Hope Chad gets what he deserves tonight

 

[The Gr8est]

I think BB schemed to sacrifice Gronk in order to use AHern in his place. What a luxury to be able to do so :bang:

Carter

Brady gronkspiked before Gronk saw his first porn star. Shall we roll the bradyspike film????

BoB will henceforth be referred to as "Teapot".

NE crushed the Orange and kicked the Donkeys in the @$$, just as I knew they would. Hope this means NE is beginning to peak. Perfect timing.

Hope Chad gets what he deserves tonight

That's mean! Why do you want to see him cut?

 

[PatsFan09]

Man.

I went into Boston with my wife and a close friend; I had promised my friend several years ago that I would take her to see The Nutcracker. The current version is in its last year, so I had to get tickets. This was the only day that that tickets were available.

Before the performance started we went to my friend's restaurant and sat at the bar for a drink. The game had started, and I saw Brady throw the TD pass to Ocho.

I then almost lost my dinner watching that putrid defensive "attempt" as the Broncos drove down effortlessly to regain the lead.

Carter then went down on the next defensive drive, and we had to leave for the performance. I was definitely upset about the way the game was going.

But man, was I happy to turn on the cell during the intermission and saw a 34 to 16 lead. Made for a much more enjoyable evening.

 

[The Hoodie]

The 1st quarter, defensively was very, very tough to watch. We learned quickly that the run defense would pick up from where they left off last week as they ran over 160 in the 1st quarter alone. There were plenty of uncalled holds, but regardless it was pathetic defense. The 1st drive was one of the more pathetic drives I've seen out of this defense and the Broncos looked far more energetic and enthused about playing than the defense did.

The defense was fine after that, and I think they might have used the Carter injury as the fire lit under them. The two straight forced fumbles were big and the recoveries were just as big. Anderson did a great job from Carter's side rushing the passer and collecting/causing fumbles. Other than a couple of plays where I think he should have rushed the edge instead of bullrushing, he had a solid game. The defense who looked terrible in the prior quarter was looking better, and they were good in the 2nd half, allowing the one TD. The frustrating thing in the 2nd half was the many 3rd and longs that Denver converted, to the missed sacks on Tebow. The tackling was mediocre for the most part and they cost us very early in the game. I am glad that they were able to finish on the big 29 yard sack, however.

This game it was a little more obvious that the CBs are losing confidence in the safeties especially on one particular play where McCourty thought he had help behind him and let his man run free, inadvertently. The plays after that, if you noticed, saw McCourty try very hard to not flack up probably because he was not happy with the lack of safety help. The LBs weren't excellent, especially Ninkovich who was having a very tough game. He made some plays but not his best performance. I didn't even notice Dane Fletcher and Mayo was decent. So, overall the defense improved in the later half of the game after a pedestrian first quarter.

On offense, it was probably the first game in a while that the offense, for the most part, played for 4 quarters and was more consistent than we've seen in prior games. They would have horrible 1st quarters and then show up at the end of the 2nd, but it was good to know that they understood the importance of scoring early and often against a team known for 4th quarter comebacks. Overall, Brady was terrific, despite some bad throws/decisions (the Gronk throw in triple coverage, the Welker throw, etc), and thankfully he made more good throws than bad. It was great to see Chad get his first TD as he showed good speed to get away from the DB. Underwood was fine too, making a good catch on the sidelines but only able to keep 1 foot in. Hernandez was on fire and the defense was far too disciplined to leave whatever gameplan they had against Gronk to stop
Aaron.

The run game was ok for the most part. I still strongly disagree with Faulk being out there a whole lot, and disagree with running to the outside with BJGE. He has proven that he doesn't have the agility to make the decisive cuts, and when I saw Ridley go out and do it, it was like he was saying to him "this is how you do this". Wish we could have run the ball more in the 1st half but I can't complain.

STs were good today, but I still wish Edelman would call a fair catch. And please, stop playing Slater at safety!

In conclusion, the Denver team made far too many stupid mistakes that the Patriots capitalized on. I was confident that the game was finished for sure after the last Patriots TD and was glad at the final score. I asked for a blow out win, and I definitely got it. The media will never stop the Tebow fiasco, but hopefully this will slow it down.

Overall a good day of football. GB's streak is finished, the Jets get embarrassed and the Pats win. Good day.

 

[The Hoodie]

Answering the post about Ellis, he played but was largely unnoticed. Moore had the better game.

 

[Beaglebay]

BB and the NE coaches choreographed their own version of 'the nutcracker'.

 

[SkiptoMyLou]

I was very impressed with Moore down the stretch where he did a good job simulating the Carter role. A bit a silver lining after a huge loss in Carter.

Loved TFBs intensity in the game, and the fact that the Pats made very few mistakes compared to last week's game in a tough environment.

Ahern is a stud. With all the attention on Gronk (which is warranted, obviously), I forget how good Ahern is. The goal has to be to keep both long term. If a team focuses too much on one, the other can make them look silly. Love that.

Although Chad got his touchdown off a blown coverage, it's very telling that he's just not a guy Brady trusts. Several times there were miscues after the TD, and after that TB just decided to not look his way despite being open. Even Underwood was getting snaps over him.

The secondary looked a lot more disciplined after the first half. They covered well, forcing Tebow to scramble around. The D-line with a great job of not letting Tebow run freely as much as the first half, too.

As much flack as the defense gets this year, and they're probably not as good as last year's was at this point, I think the biggest difference between them is that this year's team can actually make adjustments when they're down. That, hopefully, is a sign that this team can make a run all the way to February.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the Broncos' D. I think a good team can tear them apart.

Woodhead and Ridley were huge. BJGE is a solid back, but his speed just doesn't cut it. He can rarely get to the second level. His sure-handedness makes him an asset, but it looks like his 1000 yard rushing season won't be repeated anytime soon.

Anyway, I think this was a win to get excited about. Bring on the Dolphins!

 

[MaineMan]

Denver was being allowed to hold blatantly in Q1. Kind of amazing that, except for Tebow's miracle escapes, a lot of their ground game's steam evaporated after the holding was reduced (though not entirely eliminated).

A lot of the running around Tebow was doing in the second half was when the secondary was in man and sticking to their assignments like glue. Coverage was generally excellent after Q1. Yes, Brown and McCourty got crossed up on one long one (and, on the very next play, Mayo boneheadedly released Ball to go after Tebow who immediately threw to Ball for a 35 (?) yard gain down to the one. OTOH, at least three times that I saw, Tebow tried to hit the receiver in front of McCourty, but McCourty was on top of the guy.

Anderson really stepped up with pressure, aided in no small part by both Ninko and Deaderick. Ninko didn't get home, but was relentless in pursuit. Both he and Deaderick had sure sacks in Q4 that were prevented by holds that weren't flagged. A slightly less mobile QB (or less laissez-faire officiating crew) and the Pats might have had 10 sacks today.

Brady targeted 9 different guys today and 1/3 of his 33 attempts went toward players not named Welker, Gronkowski or Hernandez. That's a significant change from the targeting pattern up to this point. I like it. The offense also produced more rushing attempts than passing attempts and produced 141 rushing yards. First time this season with more runs than passes, I think. The game @OAK in wk-4 was next closest with a 50/50 split producing 183 rushing yards.

Not a flawless effort, but damn good overall.

 

[king of kings]

I thought it was funny. Tebow magic happened in the first quarter .Then came crashing down to earth for the rest of the game. Except for one drive in the 4th quarter.

 

[Beaglebay]

I've said before, and still believe, that this year's defense is 3-4 well-executed plays per game away from being dominating. NE may be fielding 'JAGS', but they are intelligent, coachable and competitive JAGS.

This game will be the impetus for NE's playoff run

 

[Peachhead]

Instead of giving guys 0.5 sack credit. There was one sack in the 2nd half where four guys could have gotten credit .25 sack each.

Also, on one sack of Brady does anyone have a theory why Dumervil wasn't even blocked.

 

[The Gr8est]

I thought it was funny. Tebow magic happened in the first quarter .Then came crashing down to earth for the rest of the game. Except for one drive in the 4th quarter.

I think some of the problem early was that the Broncos and their fans were super-hyped up at home and started with the momentum. Of course, they can't keep up that intensity the whole game, and the Pats took advantage of the intensity lull, to take the lead and make it a moot point.

 

[king of kings]

I've said before, and still believe, that this year's defense is 3-4 well-executed plays per game away from being dominating. NE may be fielding 'JAGS', but they are intelligent, coachable and competitive JAGS.

This game will be the impetus for NE's playoff run

I believe it when I see it. Yes they only allowed 7 points after the first quarter. I will be happy if this is a good defense in the playoffs. This was the first time in 2 weeks. Where the team did not have a chance to win it on there final drive.

 

[Beaglebay]

I think some of the problem early was that the Broncos and their fans were super-hyped up at home and started with the momentum. Of course, they can't keep up that intensity the whole game, and the Pats took advantage of the intensity lull, to take the lead and make it a moot point.

Adrenaline kills inferior, undisciplined teams

 

[king of kings]

I think some of the problem early was that the Broncos and their fans were super-hyped up at home and started with the momentum. Of course, they can't keep up that intensity the whole game, and the Pats took advantage of the intensity lull, to take the lead and make it a moot point.

3 staright turnovers when denver had the ball. helped out big time. Brady and the offense did what they do best score some points.