You give the grade

Flowers was a 4th rounder, he's made less than $3MM so far playing football, he should be going for every cent he can get. I really hope the Pats can convince him to stay but this might be his only shot at the big money. Maybe a McCourty/Hightower type situation where they let him test the market and ask him to give them a chance to counter before he signs.

YankeeRebel said:

So you're saying he won't be back?

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I am hoping he is, but he is playing for a good contract either in NE or elsewhere.

Rex Racer said:

The Rams are not a very good (23rd in the league) run defense and that seems odd since with such an explosive offense many teams were playing catch up football and passing a lot.

Edge NE

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A lot of that has to do with Suh, Donald and Brockers pinning their ears back. A simple kick out block and RBs have a lot of room to run. I can see NE exploiting this as well.

After a lot of that the Rams will know what to expect. It will come down to who executes better.

Belichick doesn't fight against an opposing player's strength. He finds a way to use it against him. Donald has 20.5 sacks and explodes of the line. He's excellent at anticiaptingthe QB count. I expect that Belichick will have Josh and Brady work with offense on an extended count to get Donald to jump. Once he called for a Off sides, he generally slows himself and has to try to use his speed.

Against the Chiefs, Brady was getting rid of the ball in 1.8 seconds. He was hardly touched in the entire game. He did the same against the Chargers and even Joey Bosa was amazed at how fast his release was.

I also expect the patriots to snap the ball on 'Set' before the defense can get in their stances. It's the count and release that throws the defense off and also gets the DBs to hold and interfere.

I watched the Pats/Chiefs game for the 3rd time since Sunday last night was really surprised that the officials let the Chiefs get away with so many illegal picks four and five yards beyond the line. They were doing it because the Pats were hiting the receivers immediately and disrupting their routes.

The Rams have small, fast WRs like Brandin Cooks (Saints/Pats) and Robert Woods (Bills). The Patriots D always frustrated Woods when he was in Buffalo and they know Brandin Cooks and how and what he can do. Watch for the Patriots to bump Cooks out of bounds and make him an illegal receiver.

One other very interesting thing is happening............The Patriots had film sessions on Monday. Conditioning practice on Tuesday. Full Pads for three hours yesterday. The Rams have not practiced at all. This confuses the hell out of me. Are they so confident in thhie ability to score and take an opponent out of their game that they don't think that they have to practice hard? Did the Saints beat them up so bad that they're resting players and healing people up? They go to Atlanta next week and we all know it's going to be 5-6 days of media bullshit and only two days of practice for two hours in the Dome. I wonder if BB will have the team practicing somewhere away from the media SportsHoopla and distractions?

BigKen said:

I wonder if BB will have the team practicing somewhere away from the media SportsHoopla and distractions?

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Oh, undoubtedly.

Georgia Tech would be my guess.

Today:

Rams run game vs Pats run game

YankeeRebel said:

Today:

Rams run game vs Pats run game

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I had to think about this as IMO its not as easy as it seems. But I gave the Edge to the Pats mainly because of how our RBs are used and the fact that we will use 3 RBs. White and Burkhead are both excellent pass catchers and JW get great YAC. Michel while he may not have the size runs like a big back with softer than usual hands.

Run game edge Pats.

YankeeRebel said:

I had to think about this as IMO its not as easy as it seems. But I gave the Edge to the Pats mainly because of how our RBs are used and the fact that we will use 3 RBs. White and Burkhead are both excellent pass catchers and JW get great YAC. Michel while he may not have the size runs like a big back with softer than usual hands.

Run game edge Pats.

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What does run game have to do with pass catching and yac? Are we reviewing run game or running backs?

Rams have better runners (strictly as runners...Gurley's better than Sony and Anderson's better than White or Rex, them's just facts), the OL's are about equal, but the Pats also have excellent run blockers at FB, TE, and WR. I'm giving a slight edge to the Rams here because of Gurley.

nefansince75 said:

What does run game have to do with pass catching and yac? Are we reviewing run game or running backs?

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Because RBs catch passes and run afterward, they historically do not stand there waiting to get hit

Now if we're talking run O vs. run D, there I think I like the Pats a little better...other than Suh and Donald I don't think they have anybody that poses a threat to slowing down the way the Pats have been running the ball lately. But their run O vs. the Pats run D should have an advantage, as well.

nefansince75 said:

What does run game have to do with pass catching and yac? Are we reviewing run game or running backs?

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Run game sets up the pass...fake a run a couple times then a screen pass to the RB and he grabs a big chunk of yards.

Today slight edge to NE. Based on the afermention three RBs but we need to include Develin in that piece as well.

The other factor something doesn't seem right with Gurley.

Today Pats WR core vs Rams WR core TEs included in this bunch.

Hmm...
Watkins and Cooks are both fast and quick with good hands.
Neither have the do or die attitude that Edelman does.
Patterson is tremendous once the ball is in his hands but he does not have the best hands for...you know...receiving.
Dorsett is Mr. Reliable when targeted and Hogan can bust some big plays when he is on his game.

I would give a slight edge to the Pats just due to versatility and killer instinct.

TE's...Gronk.

A bad Gronk wipes the slate clean for a good anyone else.

NE

GRONK

NUFF SAID

Minnesota averaged 22 points / game scored 31 against Rams,
Seattle 26 PPG scored 31 (twice)
Denver 20 PPG scored 20
GB 24 scored 27
KC 35 scored 51
SF 21 scored 32
Dallas 21 scored 22

The only time the defense played well it was against lesser teams. Half of their games the opponents beat their season average. I'm giving the Rams defense a C-

YankeeRebel said:

Today:

Rams run game vs Pats run game

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LA has the one big name in Girly and she a very versatile back and they have that old fat plow horse Anderson, but NE has a stable of versatile RB's and will use all 4 out of every formation imaginable.

Edge NE