A Few Thoughts About the *Pats game, in no particular order

[sherpa]

Lots of stuff during this game, but the overwhelmingly obvious thing is that Zay Jones is a horrible receiver.

Simply impossible for him to get any separation, wins zero contested balls and makes zero catches unless the ball is in his wheelhouse.

Incapable of breaking up an int, which should be in any wideouts skill set.

 

If he was an NBA player he would have zero rebounds in his career.

I feel the same way about him as I did about Kelvin Benjamin his last few games as a Bill.

Can't wait until he is gone.

Edited September 29, 2019 by sherpa

[Virgil]

30 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

This was a tough game to write about.

 

Essentially, our young, inexperienced, talented QB had a horrible game and then got hurt against the best team in football. There were a couple of bright and not so bright spots along the way, but the above is what happened.

 

No need for fans to panic imo.

It really was.  I don’t want to be a moral victory person as real teams don’t have those.  
 

My tone changed a lot throughout the game, but we were only down 6 and in the game at the end.  That’s what matters most.  
 

I’m very worried about Josh’s ability to play in big boy games and his decision making after today.  I can’t write it off as just a bad game because he shows glimpses of it each week. 

[Fixxxer]

41 minutes ago, Azucho98 said:

Our run game was a threat...so what does Daboll do?  Run several empty backfield formations.   He didn't leave a back in there to help pass protect OR keep the threat of the run.  Not impressed with his game plan. 

 

I agree, we should have taken advantage of Gore being hot and run more play action plays.

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, sherpa said:

Lots of stuff during this game, but the overwhelmingly obvious thing is that Zay Jones is a horrible receiver.

Simply impossible for him to get any separation, wins zero contested balls and makes zero catches unless the ball is in his wheelhouse.

Incapable of breaking up an int, which should be in any wideouts skill set.

 

If he was an NBA player he would have zero rebounds in his career.

I feel the same way about him as I did about Kelvin Benjamin his last few games as a Bill.

Can't wait until he is gone.

In fairness, not many got separation today.  
 

If Josh doesn’t underthrow him on the deep ball, people are probably posting how Zay has finally arrived this season

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

In fairness, not many got separation today.  
 

If Josh doesn’t underthrow him on the deep ball, people are probably posting how Zay has finally arrived this season

Unlikely.

[Happy]

2 minutes ago, Virgil said:

It really was.  I don’t want to be a moral victory person as real teams don’t have those.  
 

My tone changed a lot throughout the game, but we were only down 6 and in the game at the end.  That’s what matters most.  
 

I’m very worried about Josh’s ability to play in big boy games and his decision making after today.  I can’t write it off as just a bad game because he shows glimpses of it each week. 

 

He's essentially still a rookie, this was his 15th NFL game, so he's still prone to mistakes.  That said, I have to believe that these mistakes will weigh on him and he'll learn.  This isn't the year we go deep in the playoffs.  I'll still take 10-6 and a wildcard spot.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Foster is a non-entity.  Get Duke into the mix, please.

[mjd1001]

I feel better about McDermott and the overall 'team managment' than before, but a little worse about the actually strategy implemented by the coordinatos (offense, Special teams)

I feel better about the D-unit, but a tad bit more concerned about Allen.

[Virgil]

Just now, Happy Gilmore said:

 

He's essentially still a rookie, this was his 15th NFL game, so he's still prone to mistakes.  That said, I have to believe that these mistakes will weigh on him and he'll learn.  This isn't the year we go deep in the playoffs.  I'll still take 10-6 and a wildcard spot.

He’s had a full offseason as a starter with the same offensive scheme.  While still young in his career, it’s the same mistake.  It’s not a coverage reading issue, it’s a bad habit he doesn’t seem to learn from.  
 

I can’t give him the full pass on it 

[Tiffany980]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

Talk about an emotional day.  You could see it on the field, on TSW, on social media.  This game felt like a mini-series with plot twists, theme changes, and was just an overall rollercoaster. 
 

To be clear, there is absolutely no way I can cover everything that happened in this game and I’m just going to cover the big things that stood out to me.  
 

1 - Allen - Allen played against a great defense today who has shut down opposing teams so far.  With that, Allen had a really bad game.  This is a game of defense, field position, and points were at a premium.  I don’t care what the completion percentage was or total yardage in this game.  I care about not hurting the team and taking care of the football.   Allen turned the ball over 4 times and was wildly inaccurate to me on deep throws, which he also took too often.   He under threw Zay that could’ve been a touchdown.  He also was off on the shorter passes outside of the scoring drive.   
 

Worst of all, I don’t know what it’s going to take to get him to stop throwing off his back foot into traffic.  Of all teams, not against the Pats man.  Granted, one of them should have been overturned, but he still overall hurt the team more than he helped.  
 

Again, I don’t care if he had more 3 and outs and they punted.  It’s the short field position that gave them a TD and field goal.  You just can’t make these mistakes and it seems to be getting worse.  Also, add in the sack that knocked us back 5 yards with the ensuing missed FG, and it’s another play that hurts us. 
 

2 - Gore - Great game by him today, eclipsing the 100 and breaking 15k yards for his career.  He definitely showed up today, showing great field vision and power.  I would have liked to have seen him utilized more. 
 

3 - Lee Smith - I know you can’t write a guy off based off one game, but 4 penalties in a defensive battle just isn’t okay. Between that and some dropped passes this season, I really hope to see Knox take more of his snaps.  Speaking of Knox, he came up big twice and I look forward to seeing more from him.  
 

4 - “I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what living is. The six inches in front of your face.”

 

5 - Overall defense - Another game where the stat box doesn’t tell the whole story.  If I told you we didn’t get a sack on Brady, you might think we got picked apart.  Quite the opposite.  Outside of the deep pass down the sideline to White, where we inexplicably only rushed 3, our defense was amazing.  I mean, absolutely amazing.  These guys never let up and Brady looked pedestrian.  The INT by Hyde was a beautiful play and they made this a game for us. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t reward them with a win, but you have to be inspired by how they played.  
 

6 - The Hit - I’m sorry, but personal fouls need to trump other penalties.  There’s just no way that hit shouldn’t be counteracted by a holding call.   On the stat sheet, the play never happened and it took out Allen.  In real speed, it’s hard to know true targeting. However, Allen was already wrapped up and he still took the shot.  Just add it to the list of reasons to hate those guys

 

7 - Daboll - This is hard for me because I’m not an Xs and Os guy.  It seems like the Pats ran the same defense they ran all season and what they did against us last year.  With that, it seems like we were completely unprepared for them today.  It’s not just getting shut down, it’s the way we were shut down.  We looked confused.  Also, where was McKenzie in this game and all the stretch/sweeps we’ve been running?  Then, we score via hurry up and then abandon it on the next drive.   The trick play was nice, and I don’t blame Yeldon there as it wasn’t an easy catch.  Overall, Daboll needs to be better in this game 

 

8 - Special Teams - Haven’t talked about these guys in a while.  That blocked punt for an INT proved to be the ball game.  That TD was the difference maker in points and probably changes future decisions.  The gunner came in free, which can’t happen.  Hausch’s miss also changed future decisions, even though it should’ve been 5 yards closer.  
 

Again, in a defensive battle like this, you need consistency, not a loss of 10 points. 

 

9 -  What If - There are so many things to talk about here.  Should they have taken the points on the short field goals vs going for it?  I say yes, besides the Allen TD. Allen on the field makes one yard seem like a given.  With Barkley, it’s different.  You never know what’s going to happen next based upon a decision, but in a defensive battle, I think you alway take the points.  We left 6 on the board that was the final difference maker, but then Allen did score.  Who knows. 
 

10 - McD - We lost 16-10 to a great team at home and could have won it on our last drive.  That’s the end result and that’s what you grade off of.  The challenges by McD hurt as we didn’t have any timeouts at the end.  Challenging offensive PI was tough for me and I think he needs to take his chances on more than 50/50 calls.  I get perspective, but neither were clear calls. 
 

While we didn’t win, you have to love how crap we make Brady look in these games.  I know there’s no morale victories and this sucks.  But these aren’t the same losses as the past decade.  If we have a turnover free offense, we win this game to me. 
 

Bonus:

-What happened to Ty on the last offensive play?   He left the edge unguarded 

-Let’s see how the league handles the hit on Allen

-How was that not intentional grounding by Brady?

 

 

Big day guys.  We beat the spread.  We gave up 3 points in the last 3 quarters. We didn’t blow up like in the past after a terrible first quarter.  Allen may be out next week and his continued poor choices have to make you hesitate.  But still 3-1 in a wide open season. 
 

Go Bills!

Allen is the issue... Even with the special team gaffe, it was Allen that cost you the game.

[Fixxxer]

1 minute ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

He's essentially still a rookie, this was his 15th NFL game, so he's still prone to mistakes.  That said, I have to believe that these mistakes will weigh on him and he'll learn.  This isn't the year we go deep in the playoffs.  I'll still take 10-6 and a wildcard spot.

 

This, though it's kind of worrisome that he keeps making the same mistake over and over. With the way the game was going, we needed one drive to win the game, just take care of the football.

[Big Turk]

I still cannot understand how nobody notices the punt gunner is completely uncovered and has nobody between him and the punt returner...why didnt they throw the ball out to him?  

 

Maybe Belichick knew Bojorquez is a terrible thrower and he likely wouldn't complete it anyways

[Reed83HOF]

Zay was terrible and he has no business on this team, at least try to make a play on the ball.

 

Ford sucked at RT again (4 weeks and counting) and we are still going with this dumb rotation. I am not sure he is going to get it either, his feet are like EJ's slow eyes.

 

Morse got blown up twice

 

We need a punter in the worst way. I'll take Moorman right now over him....

[Mark Vader]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

No.

 

Im saying he had plenty of time on several occasions and held the ball way too long.

 

 

I don't deny, that's why I wish he would have ran the ball whenever the pocket collapsed.

[fansince88]

54 minutes ago, fergie's ire said:

Well....that was a short life.

 

Did he get canned? He should have been.

[Freddie's Dead]

The biggest problem I have today is on a day where Zay failed to make a single play, WTF was McKittrick?  No jet sweeps, no passes to McKittrick, but passes to dropsy Zay, where he couldn't even be bothered to play defensive back at all.  We needed McKittrick in the worst way today.  We just didn't have enough playmakers on offense.

[NoSaint]

3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

He’s had a full offseason as a starter with the same offensive scheme.  While still young in his career, it’s the same mistake.  It’s not a coverage reading issue, it’s a bad habit he doesn’t seem to learn from.  
 

I can’t give him the full pass on it 

 

The back foot throws worry me a lot. It’s entirely too frequent and at this level relearning basics like that can be a challenge. He’s had some work out but in a tight game early you can’t do it. Save it for down 6 with 30 seconds to go, and hope you can pull a rabbit out of the hat that only a few others can. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

1 minute ago, Fixxxer said:

 

it's kind of worrisome that he keeps making the same mistake over and over.

And over and over and over.  That's truly worrisome, especially since he's supposedly had so much coaching and mentoring since he's been here.

[BillsVet]

51 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

I think the first few years of Josh's career you have to look at him differently than any other QB. He's going to make mistakes. He had a bad game today for sure. He made numerous mistakes. But stats are worthless when evaluating him. He needs to make plays and win games right now, not have no turnovers or QB ratings. I would have loved to see him in the game in the last four minutes. 

 

How many years do McBeane have before Josh arrives?  Not trying to be smart, but asking the question.  Everything in the NFL is about winning yesterday.  

[Happy]

2 minutes ago, Tiffany980 said:

Allen is the issue... Even with the special team gaffe, it was Allen that cost you the game.

 

Yes, we know...thanks.  Allen will eventually learn; he's the type of player that will take this kind of performance personally.  Josh knows he sucked and the defense played spectacularly and he let the team down; that will weigh on him.  I'm not concerned at this point.