BackInDaDay

typical Bills.. we're sticking our tongues out, and they're jamming our coaching signals.

our team wasn''t prepared for the reigning champs - a fierce division rival - at home. sorry, but i have no idea why.

i once dislocated both shoulders - during a pick up game the day before my wife and i were taking our kids to Disney World.. each time, a teammate helped bang them back in place, and believe me.. i was praying my wife didn't find out!

if you're including me in the "bunch of people who watched on TV are judging us", you misunderstand my remarks. you did a good job describing what you saw transpire and commented that the Patriot players didn't respond as teammates and opponents alike, usually respond to players seriously injured during the course of play. all i suggested was that maybe the Patriots didn't think he was seriously injured. i know i didn't. the TV cameras were over him - and the TV audience got to watch him moving his extremities, grimacing a bit, and lifting his head and shoulders off the turf as he was being checked out. i certainly didn't think this was Kevin Everett serious. i thought Williams had the wind knocked out of him, and would eventually be helped to the bench. this is what it looked like on TV.. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000534408/Patriots-Tom-Brady-finds-Julian-Edelman-for-22-yard-TD

no - i was watching on tv. the description you gave was of a bench that wasn't displaying the usual concern teams usually do during these injury timeouts. my thought is, they didn't think it was that serious.

maybe they didn't think he was seriously injured.. was he?

shocked we didn't see the power formations in there.. and what was up with the conversion calls? Kujo was healthy enough to spell Henderson early (and that's the first time i ever saw an ref pull a NFL player), and he and Mulligan were our unbalanced personnel all summer.. i was doubly surprised not to see Roman go unbalance right down there! especially with that jet sweep coming back to the left that was Roman on the sideline, right?

i bet Belichick and his DC took a deep breath when Taylor broke that run on the first drive.. because if he was gonna be able to that with any consistency, their game plan had a major flaw. i'm thinking they reminded their inside 'pressure' to stay disciplined, and their scheme started working. how Roman didn't anticipate this, or have an adjustment ready. is strange. in his defense, maybe Belichick was ready for his adjustments without having to witness them get played out. i don't know.. but we looked unprepared - something i thought this team wouldn't be. yep.. that plays into it, but i don't know if we had any drive killers in next three series - could be wrong.. just don't recall them being an issue with the O edit - correction - other than that Mulligan play.. yikes, who does this kid know?

i won't be shocked if he's active for Miami - he's not the only guy in the locker room who's stiff and sore

ever see him in sandals?

that confusion started with his OC, after the first drive.. you don't learn anything in survival mode.. the coach has to settle things down and respond to the pressure his 'rookie' QB is getting. DCs borrow pieces to get 8 in the box, and that leaves them weak elsewhere. Roman ran more counter-measures in pre-season than i saw in this game. he failed his O the way Rex failed his D. not at all what many of us expected

Williams is not a good enough player to lose control of his game. like most D players, he does well when the plan fits the circumstance, and the circumstance is accounted for. he's young, and i hope he grows old enough in the game to understand that just being told you have sharper teeth, doesn't prepare you to be thrown to the wolves.

Pats were sending bodies into the A gaps - while working wide on our tackles for contain. this brought pressure up the middle while cutting off escape routes. On our first drive, Taylor ran past the pressure. i don't remember seeing that again. It'll be interesting to see exactly how Roman responded in our next few series. Did he try to trap some of that inside pressure? i don't know.. i do recall him trying to get outside contain with a couple WR screens that got hammered. i do know that i didn't see what i thought i would see.. some unbalanced jumbo formations, which i thought he used in situations like this to threaten the edge with size and numbers - forcing the Pats to pull that A gapping S or LB to help defend our strong side. i thought this could have neutralized the pressure on Tyrod - by running into our power, countering across the grain, and using run/pass options with both. the closest i saw to Jumbo, was when Mulligan drew an illegal from a straight TE formation.. there's a lot of work that needs to be done before facing Suh, and the fish.. we definitely have the personnel to force defenses to choose where and how they'll defend us.. but this game was like one big brain fart.

its early.. but yeah, i think the Pats idea was to run blitz, push the middle back to Tyrod, and contain when he broke wide. the run Taylor made during that 80 TD drive might have spooked Belichick, but they stayed with it. Roman did try to get it outside in the 2nd or 3rd drive.. but the Pats were ready and smothered those. what really surprised me were the spread formations on the failed conversions - figured GR would go unbalanced with a lotta beef and run straight at them, or pull is guard and run counter.. that jet sweep into waiting defenders was sad

games like these are why i don't gamble on the NFL.. i thought this would be a low scoring game because our D would do a good job limiting Brady's options, and Belichick would confuse and contain Taylor. i'd say our D took nothing away from them - while our O at least drew even. yes, Taylor made mistakes- but he also made plays. along with strong efforts from Shady and Watkins. I'm just very surprised and disappointed with our defensive game plan. it appears that Rex thought he was facing an attack that let it's QB sit in the pocket more than 3 seconds. This is not the way Brady plays. he looks for his mismatch at the los after reviewing the D personnel, and makes his decision where to go with the ball. i don't believe he even gives himself a progression of receivers to read through, at this point. today, when the play wasn't there within a couple seconds, he often threw the ball in the ground. i think the CBS announcer made mention of Brady describing this to him prior to the game. it didn't register what he (Gannon?) was saying, until i realized what i was seeing. So how did Rex not account for the quickness of this attack? why didn't he know that his pass rush could not be effective without disrupting Brady's timing.. and doing that would require his cover people to challenge Brady's receivers' release from the los? either complement the pass rush with aggressive coverages, or back men off, and play more short zone.. it looked to me like he was trying to have his cake and eat it, too - try to create a pass rush while playing variations of man under zones that might contain Brady's choices. 470 yards later, we saw how that worked out. not to be a total downer.. this is only the second game of the season, and the rest of the league now has two examples of how NOT to defend Brady this season. and keep in mind, these guys are champs because they have the coaches and personnel to adapt their games where other teams don't. we're still solid.. humbled.. but solid. shoot, this is the nature of Rex coached teams..

spot on.. he means well, but his eagerness to pile urgency onto games like these can be self-defeating.

low scoring game that comes down to QB's decision making. Brady will make the correct decision when Rex allows him choices. I'm rooting for our 'rookie' QB to do the same - but that's asking a lot. with a banged up McCoy, his task is made even tougher. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think he's ready for this, yet. Pats win 17 - 13.

Tyrod pick 6 - keep the damn hat

Fans drowning in creeks, falling from upper decks, and shooting themselves in the parking lot does spice up the game day experience.

tree little boids a sittin onda coib a boipin anda choipin anda eatin doity woims work on that, and get back to us for game 3

I disagree.. we need to dictate to them using our strength, and force them to adjust - then be ready for their adjustment

Like the 3 safeties, and brackting Gronk hi-lo with Rambo-Lawson, but I would make an effort to keep Hughes on the field and see if our front 4 can force Brady to make protection adjustments that would pull a potential receiver out of the loop- to help his O-line.. then we could answer with a blitzng Safety. There was an article somewhere on TBD about how the Pats have shortened their passing game.. I believe this is a response to the impact a strong pass rush has on their immobile QB. Quickness is the key to their passing game. Front Gronk with length (Lawson), jam Amendola, pick up Edelman immediately as he runs away from the formation.. these techniques will help disrupt the timing and may cause Brady to hesitate a split second more than he 's comfortable with.

i think the coverage Bandit had mentioned somewhere - LB low with a DB over the top - could be executed well with Lawson's length edit.. front him like a low post forward in b-ball example with ball on right hash - LB takes inside technique and forces him to run through him to get shallow inside, or he chips him and lets him get upfield while keeping inside position between TE and the QB. DB on top stays on top. contact comes hard - both high and low. make QB drop it in perfect. the thing is - you have to steal a DB to execute the double team. if Gronk's in the slot then Brady will option the DB to see where he gives help.. when fronting him with a LB, Brady knows the DB has to stay over the top, and his WR is in single coverage - so our CBs have to ball up when isolated

i'm not talking about jamming the outside man, or playing this tech with enough field for double moves.. this is a short field concept predicated on beginning the play in the wide man's path - should his intention be a quick slant, rub, or any other shallow inside route to the middle. if the man runs a short go or corner, the DB will drop back- keeping his man on his outside hip with eyes in the backfield. on a short field - especially in the red zone - speed isn't the advantage that position is. contest the inside, and use the sideline and the endline to help bracket the receiver.. maybe i'm not explaining this well.

DB's can't allow the inside track to their trailing teammate.. playing inside the outside man lets the DB pick him off, before he picks off the teammate. you can't let wide men run free to the middle - for what ever reason, at whatever depth - but on the snap, no way. contest everything you can without drawing a flag. oh, and good luck jamming Gronkowski.