The Return of the Super Long Thoughts

[Oswlek]

Admit it. You missed it. Damn skippy.

As always, here are my semi-lucid impressions from yesterday.

* We'll start with the obvious: Brady looked good other than the int, Edelman is now in control of a roster spot. Moss could probably sit out the rest of the PS.

* I have been Maroney's biggest backer and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with yesterday's performance. He was a bit more hesitant than I thought he would be and there were a couple plays that I felt he displayed a lack of vision. One in particular stood out. It was a play that was clearly designed to be off LT and Maroney did the right thing by patiently waiting for the blocking to develop, which never really happened. While he was waiting, a good sized cut back lane to his right opened up and I thought he could get 4-5 yards out of it, but instead he continued to wait and ultimately ran into the pile.

On the flip side, he had another really good play in a similar situation. A pile up occured so he bounced to the side (I can't remember whether it was right or left) and then immediately cut back upfield when a lane appeared. This was a terrific play that only went on the books for 4 yards.

All told, he still has work, but it is hard to get a real read on it considering how lousy the run blocking was. He certainly wasn't as bad as people are making him out to be.

* On the OL, I thought NE's pass protection was quite good. Philly has a solid pass rush but I don't recall Brady getting hit a single time. The run blocking was another story. Until deep into the game when BJGE was playing with the 3rd string, I didn't see a single decent hole with the exception of Faulk's 9 yard scamper. Philly really manhandled NE on the LOS when NE was trying to run.

* I have to say, I was really impressed with Ninkovich. I was expecting NE's deep CB unit to be noticably strong once all the backups came in, but it was Ninkovich that looked like the best defender on the field. He was extremely athletic with a nice burst off the edge and seemed to be in on every tackle.

* I was impressed with Pryor as well. He looked very quick and even Philly's top unit had a hard time when he was out there. He didn't dominate, but he looked like he belonged.

* On the flip side Alexander is playing himself off the team. I don't know how he did on STs but his LB play was about the worst I've seen out of him. He displayed poor ball awareness in coverage and seemed to be late to every tackle. I noticed him milling around the area of fallen men after arriving a bit too late a lot.

* Did it seem to anyone else that Mayo let up 20 extra yac yards due to trying to rip the ball out all the time. I know he wants to create more big plays, but sometimes you just want to get the guy down.

* Galloway's miss was reminiscent of the 1st preseason non-catch. I'm sure there is more to the story that what we saw tonight, but I didn't see anything close to what I expected from him.

* I was disappointed with the defense as a unit. At one point, Philly only had 6 points but they never really had any trouble moving the ball. I suppose a case could be made that NE stepped up and made plays once Philly got into FG range, but I don't have such a rosey view, particularly in light of Philly later converting a couple TDs. The pass rush still is a bit too inconsistent, Philly was able to run nearly at will and there were open receivers all over the place. I expected more.

* Another disappointment for me was Wheatley. With a year in the system and some promising play from last year, he should have looked like one of the better players in the second half and instead he played like a UDFA barely holding onto his roster spot.

* Chung was definitely a high point (thankfully since I have a lot invested in him ) both as a physical pressence in the secondary and the FG unit. He blocked one and applied very good pressure on the miss.

* Sanders had a couple nice open field tackles. Both times the guy was stopped dead with one being a nice little pop.

* Both Wendell and Vollmer performed well in the handful of plays I singled them out. Wendell actually displayed some really quick feet getting back into position on one play that he was initially beaten. Despite having to make up some ground his man still didn't get anywhere near the QB.

* I was down on the defense and the OL run blocking, but the special teams coverage units were the worst part by far. Whether it was spacing, timing or tackling, every returner was able to get past several guys before going down, typically in embarrasing fashion. The new coach has a lot of work to do.

* Slater's returns left me . The guy seems to just burst out immediately after catching the ball but yet never gets past the 25. There were a couple that I watched the blocking form and how quickly Slater began and couldn't help but get excited thinking a return to the 35+ was likely, and then it was over with him on he ground at the 22 yard line. Weird.

* Walter has a lot of work to do. He displayed very little pocket awareness. There were a couple plays that the pocket clearly shifted and had he stepped up and to the side he would have had another couple seconds. Instead he either stayed there or even moved slightly into the pressure. He is green and needs more time, but if that was good enough to leap over KOC that doesn't bode well for the backups this year.

Overall, it just seemed that Philly was bit more fired up and more physical than NE was. If NE really is planning on playing a lot of 4-3 this year they have a long way to go to get to where a think they can be. A few guys I was hoping to check out but could never quite do it were Brace, Crable, Ohrnberger, Nunn, Woods and Lewis so please fill me in if you can on them.

Football is back!

[Muse]

Hell ya, I NEVER watch preseason games, and last night I did, I was desperate I admit it

[mikiemo83]

nice to have you back being your windy self - great stuff once again

[BizarroAnnihilus]

Originally Posted by Oswlek

* Walter has a lot of work to do. He displayed very little pocket awareness. There were a couple plays that the pocket clearly shifted and had he stepped up and to the side he would have had another couple seconds. Instead he either stayed there or even moved slightly into the pressure. He is green and needs more time, but if that was good enough to leap over KOC that doesn't bode well for the backups this year.

Annihilus was thinking that maybe coach already knows what he's got in KOC and wanted to see what Walter would do with his opportunity. It will be interesting to see if Walter is the #2 again next week.

Good stuff, as always!

[tehrick67]

Originally Posted by Oswlek

* Slater's returns left me . The guy seems to just burst out immediately after catching the ball but yet never gets past the 25. There were a couple that as I watched the blocking form and how quickly Slater began I could help but get excited thinking a return to the 35+ was likely, and then it was over with him on he ground at the 22 yard line. Weird.

Twice last night I found myself thinking, 'oh shit, big return'. One he made it to the 30 and the other the 22..

I was like, WTF

Good stuff per usual

[Claremonster]

I likey teh football.


And thanks, good read as always

[bideau]

Originally Posted by Annihilus

Annihilus was thinking that maybe coach already knows what he's got in KOC and wanted to see what Walter would do with his opportunity. It will be interesting to see if Walter is the #2 again next week.

Good stuff, as always!

^^ This ^^

In past preseasons, BB has alternated the 2nd QB in. If there is indeed a competition for the backup, each QB will be given a chance to be the next one in after TFB.

Great stuff Oswlek

[AllWorldTE]

Thanks. I'm going to keep this stuff in mind when I re-watch the game.

[Oswlek]

One other thing I forgot, Dave Thomas looked suprisingly adept at blocking as a fullback. The few times I watched him closely, he beat his man soundly.

[HSanders]

Originally Posted by Oswlek

On the flip side, he had another really good play in a similar situation. A pile up occured so he bounced to the side (I can't remember whether it was right or left) and then immediately cut back upfield when a lane appeared. This was a terrific play that only went on the books for 4 yards.

I think it was when they were headed left to right on the TV screen offensively and LoMo cut more to the right. This is the same run I was talking about in praise for LoMo in the other thread I think. It's one of my fave things about a runner. When a guy looks like he should get nothing and gets even a short gain strictly because he finds the teeniest of openings and fights for it. Sammy M. is good for those 24-7-365.
A lot of what you said I agree with but of course you have all the good details on it (as in the run blocking and the defense being disappointing) while it was a mere impression to me.
Great stuff Oswlek, I always look forward to your takes.

[Box_O_Rocks]

First, the defense: This was an experimental game, I wasn't happy with what they were doing, but Pees & Pepper seem to be exploring options with the D-line. It was like looking into a mad scientist's laboratory and trying to make sense of his latest brain storm...fuggetaboutit, just wait for the final report.

To sum up what I've said about Maroney in several places: #1 RB with a lock.

I'll be watching more for your question on Mayo with YAC, but drawing impressions from memory - when he could stick'em, they stuck, when he was cleaning up behind the others and it was a drag down job only, he tried to strip...but I'll look closer now.

Sanders was his typical assignment "√" self. He made plays, they just weren't big flashy plays, but he was were he needed to be to clean-up for the guys up front. "Do your job."

Ninkovich caught my eye on the opening KO. Having just written the note on Sanders, I noticed him doing the same kind of thing I just wrote for Sanders, he was were he was supposed to be doing what he was supposed to be doing, I'll look for him in the second half.

Wheatley note from opening KO, he was the Safety on that play and was ready, willing, and able if Edelman hadn't stacked, shed, and stuck so well. I'll be watching for his CB play.

Slater - his first return, for 27 yds, was decently blocked, but he never really had a good lane, he gets a passing grade. A jitterbug like Welker or Edelman or even Hobbs/Maroney might have made more out of it, but it was a solid effort...I'm not sure Edelman has a good feel for lead blocking yet, which may be a factor as I watch for the later returns.

Joey and Tommy really need to put in a few extra minutes alone each practice.

[Oswlek]

One other thing that I should have said before. Kevin Faulk had two of the best pass pro blocks a RB can have. On one he slid over from the left and stoned a blitzing LB coming on Tommy's right. On another he stood up a guy with about 60 lbs on him and a full head of steam. He is really something.

[Wandering Athol]

Couple of thoughts:
1) I have no real reason to state this outside of that it would fit the template: Galloway will be this preseason's surprise cut.
2) Now that I'm firmly planted in Raider Nation, talking with Oakland fans that actually know their stuff (the few and proud), I'm thinking Walter may be much better than we realize. Seems he never had a real shot to succeed with the Raiders during his time with the club. My peeps believe he and Burgess will flourish in the Silver & Blue.

[PatsDVD]

Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

To sum up what I've said about Maroney in several places: #1 RB with a lock.

Haven't caught up with what you said about Maroney, but I thought overall the running game sucked last night. I think it was more the O-line though. Didn't matter who the backs were, the O-line was terrible in run blocking. They played a very good game pass blocking, but the O-line got no push on running plays.

The 4th and 1 on the Pats' own 30 was extremely disappointing. I like that BB went for it in preseason (and I suspect he saw the same thing I did and wanted to test his line), but the line didn't come through. I know at the time the backups were playing, but even in the 1st half, the starters weren't getting a lot of push on running plays.

Overall, though, I think it's not a big deal because they're going to throw more often than not.

PatsDVD

[norwoodla]

I'm still hoping Maroney can get it into gear, I'm starting to get worried though.