43-21 and on to the Bye Week

[PatsFan2003]

we still got the 2nd half of the season to go.....with Miami and buff sneaking-up.....,....the division is our #1-priority.

Yeah but now we know they are capable of playing good football. I'm sure there will still be some surprises.

Miami and Buffalo are still only one game behind.

 

[BigKen]

There are 5 things that happened in the Denver game that we need to continue to watch. If these five things remain as significantly good as they were against the Broncos, the Patriots should finish at 14-2 or at worst 13-3.


1. Special Teams......Kick and punt coverage was exceptional. Johnathan Casallis the LB picked up this week in a trade with Tampa Bay had three ST tackles and was outstanding on the two defensive plays he was in. Putting Edelman back for punt returns goes without saying. Special Teams can make or break a game..
2. Defensive Line. Against the Broncos, no one noticed what Patricia and Belichick did. For 95% of all of the Bronco snaps, the D-Line was Wilfork occupying two or three of Denvers O-Line. The Defensive Ends were Ninkovich and Ayers. Collins and Hightower were switching with Ayers and Ninkocvich on different offensive sets. It worked by disguising who was in coverage and who might be blitzing.........end result? Ninkovich INT and Ayers sack of Manning on 4th down. Defensive line set of the future??
3. Secondary. Revis got burned a bit early and then Patricia set them man to man instead of the floating zone. Result? Revis did not give up another catch. Early, Brtowner took J. Thomas away from ManningMalcom Butler replaced Dennard who was a healthy scratch and may have earned a permanent spot. Manning threw for 438 yards but only got two into the end zone.
4. Rob Gronkowski. Nobody can match up with him one on one. Teams will have a very tough time double teaming him because it will allow both Edelman and LaFell to have single coverage. Gronk is also getting some leeway from official when he pushes away. What's stopping it from being called offensive pass interference is that he not catching the passes until he's two steps from the defender and most of the time the defenders are holding him.
5. Tom Brady. It appears that Brady has settled in and is comfortable with his receivers. He seems to know their moves. Against the Broncos he had a couple of passes that seemed to be thrown to no one, but watching TB after the throw, there was some serious ass chewing which indicate that receivers were not where they should have been. This Tom Brady is deadly to any opponent.


Other positives.......Tim Wright and his blocking on special teams. Logan Ryan and Karl Arrington as the 5th and 6th DBs underneath. McCourty as the deep wolf and Chung as the rover. Chung was outstanding in coverage and tackling all day.


Negatives....The offensive line is making way too many mistakes. Brady was only sacked once but he was hurried 16 times and hit 10. Solder has got to find a way to move and push the dge rusher so far outside that he's not a threat. Brock has got to figure out a way to take out the NT and not allow him to get any penetration.

 

[lasvegasb/tcha$$]

Aint gonna lie,i wrote them the fuck off,even canceled going to see them in san diego

 

[Southieinnc]

EXCEPT for NEhomer who gets to toss around a big old I-told-you-so!!!

That said, I'm bracing for a possible....I said "possible" let down coming off the bye week against the Colts. I would prefer that they got right back on the field this week.

What I said before the denver gams:

"Patriots defense can beat any pass-only defense"