Game Thread: Preseason Game #3 Pats vs Lions 8/25/2017

[BigKen]

This the dress rehearsal for the regular season. Brady and the first team offense should play for at least the first 2-1/2 quarters as will the first team defense.

Things to look for..........(1) Brady and Brandin Cooks chemistry. (2) Brady and Rob Gronkoski chemistry. Is the magic still there? (3) Brady and Julian Edelman's chemistry. Is the magic still here? (4) Cameron Fleming at left tackle. He's been damn good, can he keep it up now that the heat is being turned up? (5) Can the defense prevent those huge plays that have stabbed them in the first two games? (6) Will the Lions try to expose Malcolm Butler for the short guy he is? (7) Will the Patriots look like the Patriots that all of have envisioned since February 6th?

 

[SDGuy73]

(7) Will the Patriots look like the Patriots that all of have envisioned since February 6th?

No. It's preseason. Ask again in December.

 

[ohiopatsfan]

The two things I look for in this game are, first, how do our edge rushers look? That will go a long way toward deciding if BB needs to add a veteran to the roster and get him up to speed ASAP. Second, will Gillislee play at all and, if so, how does he look? If his hamstring is still bothering him, BB may need to put him on short term IR and come up with another power back. There has been some talk of Blount not making the Eagles final roster. While I think this possibility is very slim, he would be a good addition. I don't think LeShun Daniels is ready for prime time.

 

[YankeeRebel]

Things I am hoping for.

JG to get quality and quantity reps with the first team. I think that needs to happen.

DT Play I really like Valentine and I like the combo of Branch / Valentine I would like to see that.

DE play what pressure if any can we get.

Multi faceted run game. I really want to see how many way's this run game can be used, not sure that will be revealed but I sort of like what we have right now.

The TE race. Really not sure any of them have looked bad the battle for a 3rd TE spot could be interesting.

Jones returns

I would love to see Carr get more reps I was hesitant of him but he has done noting but impress me.

I would like to see the Texan cheerleaders again but that wont happen,.

 

[Old Lion]

Will be interesting to see JE and Gronk against the Lions new LBs. Also whether the O-line can hold up.

On Defense whether the DTs get any pressure. Lions Center is not 100% and not great when he is. Also, whether anyone can stay with the little speedy guys and defend the pass and as someone already mentioned if Butler can stay with either Marvin Jones or Kenny Golladay.

 

[SDGuy73]

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman left Friday night's game against the Lions on the first drive with a knee injury. The team later ruled he would not return.

The play occurred less than two minutes into the game. Edelman was running an in-breaking route, beat linebacker Jarrad Davis and caught the ball at Detroit's 29-yard line. Edelman then turned up the field and planted his right foot into the turf at the 17 to avoid safety Tavon Wilson and lunged forward. He immediately reached to the back of his right knee.

Edelman walked off the field limping but unassisted. After a few minutes of being looked at in a makeshift tent, he was taken by cart to the locker room.

Asked at halftime how Edelman was doing, Patriots coach Bill Belichick told CBS, "I don't know."

Edelman had three catches for 52 yards before the injury. The Patriots used Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola with Edelman out of the game.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

Looking like an ACL for JE....damn...I think Hogan is the next man up and maybe Carr makes this team.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

SO I just watched the game....Few things from me:

Offense:
-Sucks to lose JE11, but we kept on moving without Solder and MM being there.
-RB were great. Nice to see Gills out there and looks the part too.
-White is the best RB on this team IMO.
-Cooks has been quiet, but that's cool. 1st game he'll have like 190 an 3 TD's....
-2nd team OL sucked, but that is expected.

Defense:
-1st team looked solid all around. Det could not do anything until the 2nd unit came in, and Det needed their 1st team offense to score.
-Harris looks like he's been here for ever.
-Gillmore is going to shut guys down this yr.
-Butler still giving up TD's.
-DE is a problem right now. Shea Mc (no Wise) was lining up at DE with Flowers.
-No sign of Ealy with the 1st team.
-LB/DE depth could be an issue. BB needs to make a move at DE or LB (Brooks or Ellerby??) and that will depend on where he plays HT.
-Coleman has had prob the worse training camp I have ever seen.
-Cy Jones was the best CB in that second group and no dropped punts. Maybe his "fuck you" attitude will work.
-Richards needs to go and we need to get another S in here, after Harmon we are in trouble.
-I predict Ealy is either cut or traded this weekend. What a fucking terrible move by BB. Took a gamble and it failed miserably....I am convinced he would have gotten cut by Car this yr.

 

[Old Lion]

I think depth is an issue. The 2s and 3s have been beat all preseason. Jimmy G does not look great. The 1s looked ready though.

Losing Jules will hurt. Lions have a guy that ran with the 2s named Jace Billingsly. He is an Edelman type. Maybe a little bigger and more durable, but not as good hands. Might be worth going after.

 

[BigKen]

Julian Edelman.......No official diagnosis has been released. Edelman limped off the field and was carted to the locker room because the entry was on the opposite side of the field ant the far end and the medical staff didn't want him to walk. If you watch the play, JE stopped, and was going to pivot when his foot caught and didn't turn. As a result, the top of his leg came forward and jammed against the top of the knee. The exact same injury occurred to Dion Lewis in the Super Bowl just before the first half ended. The ligments generally do not tear with this type of injury, they get extended and are usually sprained. More than likely, if there are no tears, he will be out for about four weeks. He'll be back starting to practice in about 2 weeks. We'll have to wait until he's had X-Rays, MRI's and a CAT Scan. Last night, typical Edelman, "I'll Be relentless regardless of the diagnosis."

Jordan Richards......Started the game at Safety in place of Devin McCourty. Recovered the Detroit fumble in the first quarter. Made a couple of excellent pass defenses in the first quarter. We all know he's sucked up until last night. Not sure if he did enough, but I was impressed with the turn around from the first two games. If he plays like this against the Giants next week, he'll stick.

Kony Ealy.......................Did he dress last night??? His claim to fame is 3 sack in the Super Bowl loss to Denver. Was the OL just plain shitty or did he have the best game of his life, never to be repeated????

DJ Foster.................No way BB cuts him. This kid did everything and more. Speed and hands and determination when he was handed the ball. If I had to choose between him and Lewis, Lewis would be gone.

Dwayne Allen.......Totally missed a block that Thuney picked up and saved Brady. Missed another block against a LB that Brady had to hiccup and missed a pass to Cooks. Personally, I think he believes that he's locked in because of the trade. He doesn't know BB. I think he's gone and O'Shaunassy and Hollister stay behind Gronk.

Gronkowski......Used sparingly last night but was in to do some blocking in the first half. Made a nice catch. The official let the Lions pretty much maul him but had to call the outright outrageous holds.

Cameron Fleming.........Scar will be in his skivvies this week for not getting the left foot move fast enough to push the DE out. Hopefully Solder will be back at full speed.

Overall Offense..............When Brady goes No-Huddle, this offense will be nearly unstoppable. When defenses can't free substitute, they will be dead exhausted by halftime. Pats scored the first four times the had the ball.

Overall Defense............First team playing with four starters out, totally shut down the Lions. The cats had less than 100 yards total offense against the group that started and the 7 DB pass defense.

Summary..........This was the regular season dress rehearsal and the guys who will be starting looked really good.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

What a fucking terrible move by BB. Took a gamble and it failed miserably....I am convinced he would have gotten cut by Car this yr.

He only moved back about a half a dozen spots with the Ealy trade.

So too soon to tell if it was a failure or not.

 

[Southieinnc]

Julian Edelman.......No official diagnosis has been released. Edelman limped off the field and was carted to the locker room because the entry was on the opposite side of the field ant the far end and the medical staff didn't want him to walk. If you watch the play, JE stopped, and was going to pivot when his foot caught and didn't turn. As a result, the top of his leg came forward and jammed against the top of the knee. The exact same injury occurred to Dion Lewis in the Super Bowl just before the first half ended. The ligments generally do not tear with this type of injury, they get extended and are usually sprained. More than likely, if there are no tears, he will be out for about four weeks. He'll be back starting to practice in about 2 weeks. We'll have to wait until he's had X-Rays, MRI's and a CAT Scan. Last night, typical Edelman, "I'll Be relentless regardless of the diagnosis."

Jordan Richards......Started the game at Safety in place of Devin McCourty. Recovered the Detroit fumble in the first quarter. Made a couple of excellent pass defenses in the first quarter. We all know he's sucked up until last night. Not sure if he did enough, but I was impressed with the turn around from the first two games. If he plays like this against the Giants next week, he'll stick.

Kony Ealy.......................Did he dress last night??? His claim to fame is 3 sack in the Super Bowl loss to Denver. Was the OL just plain shitty or did he have the best game of his life, never to be repeated????

DJ Foster.................No way BB cuts him. This kid did everything and more. Speed and hands and determination when he was handed the ball. If I had to choose between him and Lewis, Lewis would be gone.

Dwayne Allen.......Totally missed a block that Thuney picked up and saved Brady. Missed another block against a LB that Brady had to hiccup and missed a pass to Cooks. Personally, I think he believes that he's locked in because of the trade. He doesn't know BB. I think he's gone and O'Shaunassy and Hollister stay behind Gronk.

Gronkowski......Used sparingly last night but was in to do some blocking in the first half. Made a nice catch. The official let the Lions pretty much maul him but had to call the outright outrageous holds.

Cameron Fleming.........Scar will be in his skivvies this week for not getting the left foot move fast enough to push the DE out. Hopefully Solder will be back at full speed.

Overall Offense..............When Brady goes No-Huddle, this offense will be nearly unstoppable. When defenses can't free substitute, they will be dead exhausted by halftime. Pats scored the first four times the had the ball.

Overall Defense............First team playing with four starters out, totally shut down the Lions. The cats had less than 100 yards total offense against the group that started and the 7 DB pass defense.

Summary..........This was the regular season dress rehearsal and the guys who will be starting looked really good.

Agree on most Ken.
Wow, interesting take on the tight ends.
Yes, 1st string looked very good but defense depth looked very bad.....

 

[SDGuy73]

We were all hoping for a sprain or something. No luck. Get well, Jules.

Pats' Edelman has ACL tear, source confirms

 

[BigKen]

What will be missed most is JE's ability to find that open spot, get to it and finish the catch by getting after the catch. And knowing instinctively where the first down marker always was.

Malcolm Mitchell, Austin Carr, Devin Lucien and Maye are the depth. Mitchell is a bit too big to do what JE does and is much better on the sideline. Of the remaining three of Carr, Lucien and Maye, Just being able to do 60% of what JE does will win them a roster spot.

 

[YankeeRebel]

What will be missed most is JE's ability to find that open spot, get to it and finish the catch by getting after the catch. And knowing instinctively where the first down marker always was.

Malcolm Mitchell, Austin Carr, Devin Lucien and Maye are the depth. Mitchell is a bit too big to do what JE does and is much better on the sideline. Of the remaining three of Carr, Lucien and Maye, Just being able to do 60% of what JE does will win them a roster spot.

I am thinking Amendola will play the slot hell even Cooks put Mitchell and Hogan on the edge Cooks can line up in the slot great potential for YAC

 

[Southieinnc]

Austin Carr is the best 1 for 1 replacement at slot.
He's caught everything thrown at him.....
Devin Lucien has a high ceiling but he has not looked real good in games.....

 

[YankeeRebel]

Austin Carr is the best 1 for 1 replacement at slot.
He's caught everything thrown at him.....
Devin Lucien has a high ceiling but he has not looked real good in games.....

He lacks exp in that offense at the moment. But I suspect he will get a lot of reps the next two weeks of closed practice

 

[Southieinnc]

He lacks exp in that offense at the moment. But I suspect he will get a lot of reps the next two weeks of closed practice

From Roto World:
Big Ten Receiver of the Year and third-team All-America honors. PFF College called Carr the best slot receiver in the nation in 2016, yet he was snubbed for a Combine invite. While it is concerning that Carr runs 4.62 and didn’t do much of anything until age 23 – when every defensive back he faced was younger than him – Carr has many traits that translate to slot success in the pros, including an impressive 6.70 three-cone time. From a profile standpoint, he reminds of ex-Colts WR Austin Collie. May 1 - 6:35 PM

 

[YankeeRebel]

From Roto World:
Big Ten Receiver of the Year and third-team All-America honors. PFF College called Carr the best slot receiver in the nation in 2016, yet he was snubbed for a Combine invite. While it is concerning that Carr runs 4.62 and didn’t do much of anything until age 23 – when every defensive back he faced was younger than him – Carr has many traits that translate to slot success in the pros, including an impressive 6.70 three-cone time. From a profile standpoint, he reminds of ex-Colts WR Austin Collie. May 1 - 6:35 PM

I thought this was the Pros

 

[Southieinnc]

I thought this was the Pros

It is "the Pro's"
My point is he showed what he had in college, and was quite successful. He was rated top slot receiver in college - last year and on arriving to "the Pro's" he has been performing at a very high level - just as he was billed to do.
Now that he has caught everything thrown at him, and in game conditions, he is the logical slot receiver and was likely to make the team even if Julian was not out.