tonyto36 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Down: Stephon Gilmore - He had two blown coverages for big yards (one of which for a touchdown), a third IIRC, that is debatable if it was his fault or not but likely was. He also had two back breaking hands to the face calls. Yes they were a bit ticky tack, but he shouldn't have put himself in a position where they could even call that, especially given that the play didn't even go towards him- he was completely out of the play. The second one was especially egregious because at that point he already knew they were calling that. I don't recall him ever getting flat out beat, it just seems like he's way over his head with the playbook. In Buffalo he did a ton of press man and I wonder now if things were dumbed down there for him to just following one guy. Malcolm Butler - It's been a massively disappointing season so far this guy. He came into the season with the rep of a top 10 CB, but has played like garbage. He's been tripped up by routes, out run by speed, out jumped and out muscled. He hasn't made any huge mental errors like Gilmore but it's arguably even worse because those mental errors seem like they'd be easier to clean up than just being flat out beat like Butler has. Last year against particular matchups he'd be "hidden" on a lesser WR while Logan and a safety took the #1 and it seems more and more like that wasn't because they just trusted Butler with the lesser guy, they didn't think he could handle some guys. Funchess ate Butler alive and whenever Cam saw Butler on him in man coverage he went right at him, including a game ending first down conversion on a whip route. Even with Funchess out the previous play with an injury, on a game deciding play Cam went right to him and at Butler. Malcolm Brown - Another huge disappointment. He wasn't great last year, but he showed enough I hoped this year he'd become a bonafide starter. Instead, Branch hasn't been dominant in the middle for him and Brown has suffered for it. He's been pushed around in the run game and as a pass rusher been a zero. Teams are now seemingly game planning to dedicate one on one blocking to Brown and offer help elsewhere. I think our DL is close to being good enough, but having a huge zero in the middle of it which allows them to cheat off and help elsewhere is killing the line, especially flowers who is regularly getting double teams now. HM: Harris, Rowe, J. Jones, Cannon, McDaniels Up: Danny Amendola - Again comes up big with some huge clutch plays. 4th down TD, and a couple big 3rd down conversions. It seems like the Patriots have committed to using him in those "clutch" situations and not just slotting him in the Edelman role, which I think is a good long-term plan. Even still, his targets are definitely up from last year and all his catches seem to be in traffic which is a credit to his hands for coming through, but I worry about him getting popped and being out for significant amounts of time. James White - Another high volume day for the RB. He was a reliable safety valve that the Panthers had always account for. There was even a designed fake screen to him that the Panthers bit on that he played well. There were a couple times where I remember him getting the ball short of the first down mark and making a man or two miss to convert. As quickly gone from scrub we wanted off the team to go-to guy for Brady. It still feels like McDaniels hasn't done as much putting him in the slot in the spread against a LB and putting him on slants/wheel routes that he could and despite the high target count, I personally think he could be utilized a bit more. He could help a lot with our apparent inability to make any quick+short passes. Interior OL - against a very disruptive and strong DT front, they gave up only one sack and fairly consistently provided Tom to step up in the pocket + gave push for the RBs to run. This is one of those games in the past where the opponents would just routinely get up the middle to Brady and we'd score 13 points and get blown out. Credit to them for an overall very good performance. HM: Brady, Solder, Gillislee, Lewis, Flowers, Gostkowski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurtry86 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Down - entire secondary. Without knowing the coverage calls, it's tough to tell who is blowing the coverages but every guy in that unit had a bad day. Stupid (albeit very marginal) penalties on Chung and Gilmore, awful tackling by Rowe, Butler allowing frequent separation from a bad WR, McCourty, the supposed "QB" in the secondary isn't getting his teammates on the same page. Disaster all around again for the most talented position group on D. Malcom Brown/Alan Branch - another week of awful play on the interior line. No pressure in the pass game and washed out in the run and on screen passes. McDaniels - bashing the OC might seem odd after the offense, yet again, dropped a bunch of points on a good D but the long developing pass routes are frustrating with the lack of pass protection. You have shift and quick weapons - Cooks, Dorsett, White, Lewis - where have all the quick hitters and quick screens gone? Also don't like the abandonment of the run game Dishonorable mention -Joe Cardona, Joe Judge, Steve Belichick, Josh Boyer and Matt Patricia Up Amendola - Mr. Reliability. Gronkowski - another week of good blocking and good health. Gostkowski - made every kick he was asked to and that 58 yarder was impressive Honorable mention - White, Gillislee, Wise, Hightower, Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurtry86 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Nitpicking on James White - yesterday was his worst day of blocking in a while, he was beaten a few times. He also needs to develop a better sense of where he is in relation to the first down market. Too often, he's catching the ball a yard short and having to fight for the first. He needs to extend those routes just a bit to ensure the first down Overall, a solid day from him but not his best game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyto36 Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 That's true, but at least one or two of those were because he was just a dumpoff and not supposed to go too far upfield and get caught up in coverage. As for the quick hitter bit, I wonder if McDaniels just thinks Cooks/Dorsett are more straight line speed guys and/or don't have the chemistry/trust of Brady to make good decisions quickly in tight quarters. Hopefully that is another thing that will develop as the season progresses. It's been weird because traditionally against defensive fronts like Houston/Carolina, we would have gone spread and had tons of quick short passes but those passes and concepts seem completely absent this year. I like that we have the ability to push it downfield more this year than the past several years, but we're doing it at a rate that seems too high. I read that over Bradys career and even in 2007 where it felt like bombs-away, we were only going 20+ yards downfield about 10% of the time and it's up to 20% this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Third Rider Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 According Jeff Howe here is the breakdown for coverage; Coverage stats: Butler: 5/8 55yds, TD, INT, 2PBU Gilmore: 2/2 53yds, TD, 2 flags Rowe: 3/4 35yds Chung: 2/2 40yds DMC: 1/2 24yds Roberts: 3/3 47yds, TD Van Noy: 2/2 34yds Brown: 0/1 (defended screen pass) yeah that looks pretty disgusting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurtry86 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 I expect Tampa to pick on Butler. He was 5/8 and two of those non-catches were horrible throws (the INT and the one the WR knocked away from Butler) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ForTheThumb Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 11 hours ago, mcmurtry86 said: I expect Tampa to pick on Butler. He was 5/8 and two of those non-catches were horrible throws (the INT and the one the WR knocked away from Butler) I'm having nightmares already about Desean Jackson being wide open downfield. Not to mention, Mike Evans is a monster. It's a tough match up for our secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2_1 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Down; Chung's snaps. Gone from 97, to 78 down to 54! What's happening there? Brining Harmon forward more often. More of an option in pass defense (theoretically) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurtry86 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Unless he's battling an injury, I'd guess it's matchup based. Houston and Carolina didn't have good TE or run heavy attacks so Harmon is a better fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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