Week 5 GDT - @ Buccaneers

[CP3MVP]

This was a weird game

[biggbrd]

Just finished watching, man that was a heartstopper at the end. Didn't need to be! Pretty easy to put this one on the O rather than the D, they had plenty of chances for more points. As everybody has mentioned, the O-line needs to play better if we want Brady to continue playing into the playoffs. 

I think Belichik needs to put on a mini-camp in the next 10 days on how to tackle, because half of our defense seems to have forgotten how to wrap up. Particularly disappointing to see that from Hightower, I guess I typically expect him to be better than that. He should probably teach them about roughing the passer while he's at it too. Man we gave up a lot of penalties. 

To my inexperienced eye, I thought the secondary played pretty well today. Particularly Chung, who had a few nice pass break-ups. Didn't hear much from Gilmore, which is a good thing considering how things have been going. Seemed like Butler played a better game too. Hopefully that trend continues; I think we all thought that this secondary could be pretty good before the season, hopefully we were right!

[Hunter2_1]

6 hours ago, tonyto36 said:

Who was the one who kept posting about the fake handoff-end around deep shot?

Not super deep, but definitely a nice chunk play payoff, because we have credibility that the endaround could actually be real.

Cooks made a really nice catch there.  

Lewis has looked very 2015-esque tonight.

[Hunter2_1]

5 hours ago, Calibucsfan said:

Thanks for shooting yourselves so much in the foot to keep us in it till the end and to keep it exciting for everyone.

Seriously you guys outplayed us so hard that I have no clue how it came down to the last play.

Good luck rest of the way.

You too, man. Likeable team. Don't let Newton win your division. 

[1ForTheThumb]

I thought this was your standard TNF football game. Some good, some bad, and some ugly. My overall take away was that the offense failed to meet my expectations, while the defense, on a short week, exceeded my expectations.

I'll start with the offense…

-To me, this was the worst called game McDaniels has had in quite some time. Maybe he was expecting to have Gronk and had to scrap the original game plan late. But there were a lot of calls that left me extremely frustrated and had me shaking my head.

-For instance, the running game. We were having great success running the ball. With Alexander, David, and Ward out, I thought the Patriots were going to attack the middle of the field. But I also thought with their defensive concerns, that they would pound the rock, control the TOP, and almost play keep away. Gillislee was consistently (or felt like it at least) getting 4-5 yards a carry. Easy. But we continued to spread them out and rely on the short passing game. 2^nd and 1, can't convert. 3^rd and 1? Let's spread them out, go out of shotgun, and throw the ball. That made my blood boil. Just stupid.

-Dion Lewis looks like he's gained that explosiveness back. He looked great last night. While he didn't have a huge role, his performance, and how he looked, is what I came away most excited about last night.

-I wasn't in the "OL is a concern crown" prior to this game. I am starting to worry. First 4 games I chalked it up to the Patriots playing some great fronts. The Bucs front is not good. Aside from McCoy, they don't have anyone. They had ONE sack going into last night. Yet it felt like Brady was constantly pressured. Not a good sign at all. Solder looks like a shell of himself. We need to run the ball more, establish the play action and keep Brady protected. He can't keep throwing the ball at this rate. He's going to get killed.

-I think Allen's days on this team are numbered. He has no role in the passing game. I think he played 50 snaps last night and didn't see a single target. Would I be fine with that if he was solid as a blocker? Yes. But last night he was awful. Still think letting Bennett walk was the biggest mistake of the off-season.

-Say this every week, but I really love this WR corps. Amendola continues to be tough, and Mr. reliable. Cooks is such a weapon, I want to see him continue to be more involved. Specifically, more of those short slants where he can get the ball in space and let his speed take over. The one deep throw to the sideline that he and Brady connected on was pretty. Hogan is a TD machine right now.

Defensively, you have to be pleased with their performance. With a short week to prepare, I was nervous we'd see much of the same we've seen to date. They stepped up last night.

-Two things stood out to me on this side of the ball last night.

1) Gilmore's performance and how they used him. Seemed like they kinda said "hey you got Evans. Don't worry about anything or anyone else. Just lock him down and play man". That's what it seemed like to the naked (broadcast) eye. And he did that. Evans is a monster and a nightmare of a match up. And he was quiet last night.

-The second being, Hightower's usage. He was used in a variety of roles, but it seemed, to me, when 3^rd down rolled around, they kicked him inside. I'd like to see him continue to play more inside.

-Flowers was a beast, no surprise there. Wise was good aside from his stupid, stupid, costly penalty. Butler flashed. Really think they need to acquire a player here. The overall talent just isn't there. Branch is in the dog house, maybe he rebounds from it a la Sheard last year, but they still need to add someone. I could see them making a move this week.

-Heck of the game from the safeties. McCourty was all over the field. Harmon almost had (two) picks and the one he closed on across the field was a great play. Chung was outstanding on Brate. The TD allowed was just a great play. The coverage was there.

-The penalties and bone headed plays were infuriating. I can't remember a Belichick team being this undisciplined. Wises was bone headed and unnecessary. Marsh's roughing the passer is in that category too. Don't even get me going about Brandon Bolden's offsides on ST's. That's his FOURTH ST penalty this season. He's been a critical ST player here over the years, but he's going to find himself unemployed real, real soon if he keeps this up.

-Already made my SG comment in here, but remember the kick at the end of the game when people say "But when was the last time he made a clutch kick!?". Unbelievable this guy never gets the credit he deserves.

-No injuries, Gronk gets to heal up, and 10 days to get this mess squared away (hopefully). Belichick always talks about how tough it is to get wins in this league. I'll take it.

[Hunter2_1]

@1ForTheThumb Indeed. I am taking this all day long. In Europe currently, so I couldn't watch (went to bed nervous) woke up and saw a bad scoreline but a win. Was ecstatic. That's all that matters.

And it's great that we have 10 days. I get the strong sense BB cherishes time to prepare more than anything else. 

Who does the game ball go to? Seen extended highlights, and maybe Chung? Or even Gillmore....? lol

[1ForTheThumb]

31 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said:

@1ForTheThumb Indeed. I am taking this all day long. In Europe currently, so I couldn't watch (went to bed nervous) woke up and saw a bad scoreline but a win. Was ecstatic. That's all that matters.

And it's great that we have 10 days. I get the strong sense BB cherishes time to prepare more than anything else. 

Who does the game ball go to? Seen extended highlights, and maybe Chung? Or even Gillmore....? lol

I'd give it to McCourty or Chung.

[bluemushrooms]

Unsure how I feel about Cassius Marsh