Random Bye Week thoughts

Share this page

grog

grog

Chief Instigation Officer
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
10,954
Reaction score
1,295
Points
113
Location
Muncie, Indiana
Some thoughts on the Pats heading into the bye week:

  • We have an amazing set of defensive backs. I think this is the strength of the defense
  • Our DLine is playing far better than I expected with the loss of Flowers.
  • Would like to see more of Winovich in second half of season. Seems like he is on a pitch count
  • Linebackers are super solid
  • Run defense is slightly bothersome. We need to get the lead in games and force teams to pass
  • WR group is much better now that we have Sanu. I think he will be a huge factor for the rest of the season
  • K'Neal Harry could really make this group special if he can get on the field.
  • TEs are terrible. We've gone from one of the best to absolute trash.
  • Oline is poor - unexpected retirement and injuries/illness to Andrews and Wynn, etc have really hurt.
  • OL getting better hinges on a guy with 5 quarters of actual NFL playing time experience. Yikes. Hope Wynn can live up to the expectation
  • I think our RBs are the strength of this offense this year. People are down on Michele, but he can't run through a wall. Someone needs to make some holes
  • James White is amazing - can do it all.
  • Damien Harris is a mystery. Wonder what is holding him back? Pass protection, blocking, ball security?
  • Tom Brady looks as good as ever to me. He just needs the weapons around him to step up their game
  • Our current place kicker is perfect on the year. 4/4
  • Coaching seems to be the same as every year. Conservative play calling in beginning of season and slowly opening up the playbook
  • Baltimore, Houston, KC all play us in regular season games. How great is that to have first had experience against these likely playoff opponents?
  • Future looks bright. We may lose another game or two, it's not the end of the world. Just keep learning and improving. We need to peak in January, not now.
 
Good post, Pats will be fine. They don't play the top dog #6 seeded Colts this year, so they catch a break there. But yes, tough schedule coming up. :D :D :D
 
grog said:
Damien Harris is a mystery. Wonder what is holding him back? Pass protection, blocking, ball security?
Click to expand...
They treated Vereen and White the same way. Unless there's some injuries we're probably not going to really see him until next year. Burkhead will probably get the heave-ho after this season I'm guessing.
 
This is a week for self scouting, another 2 weeks to get Harry up to speed, get Wynn back in shape (he actually has 3 weeks), rest some bruises.

They still have plenty of challenges ahead of them, nothing has been won yet and the 1st round bye is far from wrapped up. They can easily go from 1 to a wild card if they don't take care of business in the next 4 weeks (@Phi, Dal, @Hou, KC).
 
Hogfarmer said:
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef/2019

Good info here. Take a hard look at that very last column and let that sink in.
Click to expand...


If it wasn't obvious enough already, the Patriots and 49ers are scary.
EIrZHKkWwAIWbrv
 
Great post, Grogs.

I'll chip in with a couple of my own without repeating yours. Except for one.

* James White is total money. He does everything right, is our 3rd down man, runs a lot better than he used to and is a phenom catching the ball and getting the most out of a play. Pray that he stays healthy because we can't afford to lose him.

* With apologies to Winovich, Jake Bailey has been our best rookie and his occasional "short kickoffs" are under orders, imo. His rep was as a big-leg boomer, but he's done a solid job on directional punting and pinning people deep. After a rough start he seems to be holding on FGs the way it's supposed to be. He's a weapon and field position is helping the D.

* You know your D backfield has been playing well when the worst thing you can think of to complain about is JC Jackson getting beat a few times and drawing a couple of flags.

* The most remarkable thing about our D the first half of the season for me is the sacks and pressures and I don't think we've shown all the cards yet.

* How much does a decent blocking fullback with a neck roll cost? Not much, right? Couldn't we have found one before the trade deadline? God, we miss Develin.

* Brady's stats look fairly ordinary, but I think he is having one of his best years even if he is operating in survival mode half the time. If we can figure out a way to get him an extra half second to throw during the stretch run then the offense will start clicking on all cylinders. Please, let Wynn return to health and the lineup. That'll be a start.

* Gronk said that if Tom asked him to return then he'd do it. I'd appreciate it if during the bye somebody noted Brady's day planner with "Beg Gronk to unretire" as soon as possible. That'd be another boost. Week 10, baby. That's when the news will drop.
 
Hawg73 said:
Great post, Grogs.

I'll chip in with a couple of my own without repeating yours. Except for one.

* James White is total money. He does everything right, is our 3rd down man, runs a lot better than he used to and is a phenom catching the ball and getting the most out of a play. Pray that he stays healthy because we can't afford to lose him.

* With apologies to Winovich, Jake Bailey has been our best rookie and his occasional "short kickoffs" are under orders, imo. His rep was as a big-leg boomer, but he's done a solid job on directional punting and pinning people deep. After a rough start he seems to be holding on FGs the way it's supposed to be. He's a weapon and field position is helping the D.

* You know your D backfield has been playing well when the worst thing you can think of to complain about is JC Jackson getting beat a few times and drawing a couple of flags.

* The most remarkable thing about our D the first half of the season for me is the sacks and pressures and I don't think we've shown all the cards yet.

* How much does a decent blocking fullback with a neck roll cost? Not much, right? Couldn't we have found one before the trade deadline? God, we miss Develin.

* Brady's stats look fairly ordinary, but I think he is having one of his best years even if he is operating in survival mode half the time. If we can figure out a way to get him an extra half second to throw during the stretch run then the offense will start clicking on all cylinders. Please, let Wynn return to health and the lineup. That'll be a start.

* Gronk said that if Tom asked him to return then he'd do it. I'd appreciate it if during the bye somebody noted Brady's day planner with "Beg Gronk to unretire" as soon as possible. That'd be another boost. Week 10, baby. That's when the news will drop.
Click to expand...

There’s more than 250 D1 teams. Only a handful of Pro teams even roster FBs.

Why are these guys fvcking unicorns?!?!
 
Dwight Schrute said:
There’s more than 250 D1 teams. Only a handful of Pro teams even roster FBs.

Why are these guys fvcking unicorns?!?!
Click to expand...

I wonder if it's not hard to find one, but it is hard to get them up to speed on our playbook and all reads and nuances required to do the job effectively. How long did it take Develin to pick it up? To me, it appears they didn't even try to replace him because of this. Maybe not, just a wild as guess.
 
Hawg73 said:
* James White is total money. He does everything right, is our 3rd down man, runs a lot better than he used to and is a phenom catching the ball and getting the most out of a play. Pray that he stays healthy because we can't afford to lose him.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more. Which is why I cringed when he was the clear featured back late in the Baltimore game. They've got to get someone else going in order to keep White healthy and use him effectively.

Hawg73 said:
* How much does a decent blocking fullback with a neck roll cost? Not much, right? Couldn't we have found one before the trade deadline? God, we miss Develin.
Click to expand...
They are on the engangered species list. Perhaps some unemployed nose tackle is up for giving the position a shot?
 
3 Point Stan said:
Couldn't agree more. Which is why I cringed when he was the clear featured back late in the Baltimore game. They've got to get someone else going in order to keep White healthy and use him effectively.


They are on the engangered species list. Perhaps some unemployed nose tackle is up for giving the position a shot?
Click to expand...

Middle linebackers arent far off from a fullback...they're similar.
 
Big/Sky/Fly said:
Middle linebackers arent far off from a fullback...they're similar.
Click to expand...

Bill and Josh have been using Roberts a LB and some other big players at FB since Develin went down.
 
johnlocke said:
Bill and Josh have been using Roberts a LB and some other big players at FB since Develin went down.
Click to expand...

Yup

---------- Post added at 10:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 AM ----------

Bentley would be a good fullback imo...
 
Things for Josh & BB to work on:

The Patriots are 0-6 when trailing at the end of the third quarter since the start of last season -- tied for worst in NFL; League Avg: .170.
The Patriots are 1-9 (.100) when trailing at the end of the first half since the start of the 2016 season -- 5th worst in NFL; League Avg: .195.

Julian Edelman has been targeted 17 times with 13 receptions in the red zone this year, tied for most among WRs. He has 4 TDs. James White has 12 targets with 11 receptions and 1 TD. Mohamed Sanu already has 6 targets with 5 receptions and 2 TDs. Good pickup by BB. Let's add some plays for Meyers and Harry now.
 
The Pats are back on the practice field today. Time to prepare for a challenging 4 week stretch.
 
Pats won the bye week. Thanks Cleveland, Tennessee, and Miami!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top