OLine/Blocking/Film Review and Notes

[RuntheDamnBall]

Nicely done. Good work, sir, it's appreciated.

[AKC]

Great stuff AKC!  It sounds like our line as potential.  Would you be comfortable if our 2006 oline consisted of Gandy-MW-Teague-Villereal-Peters?

500315[/snapback]

 

We'll find out Sunday whether MW looks like a fit at G, and it would be tough to project Peters out as a starter after one game against predominantly the very one-dimensional Ty Warren, a guy a little stiff to be playing DE in even in the 3-4. The great thing is that Peters has had a full 2 weeks to consider those reps he had against Willie McGinnest, a pass rusher who has mode a lot of OLinemen look bad. Peters seemed to win the day on a lot of plays with sheer athleticism versus good fundamental technique, and that won't hold up every week. It'

s great that he's an athlete, but he'll face some embarrasment sometime probably sooner rather than later as he's getting his footwork together- don't be surprised if it's by some 220 pound safety or uber-quick LB who beats him badly for a big play/plays.

 

Overall though, giving Gandy and Teague a player to work with should make the left side far better in pass pro and it's hard to imagine the run game not benefitting over that side also. IMO Sunday's going to tell us an awfu lot about our offseason strategy for the 2006 season- one way or the other.

[ganesh]

Wouldn't you think that the coaches see these problems and adjust accordingly.

 

Bottom line is you need the 11 players to EXECUTE their tasks to make the

play successful. The problem is (as you mentioned every single play) there

was one player who did not EXECUTE his task forcing the play to go bad.

 

When your players consistently don't EXECUTE the plays, the plays will fail

and we will lose the games.

 

This is where the better coaching staff excel and differ....They get their teams

to play the entire 60 minutes and the entire play until the whistle is blown. That

results in going 6-10 to 10-6

 

Our coaching staff just cannot get our players mentally ready to play a full

60 minutes.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

We'll find out Sunday whether MW looks like a fit at G, and it would be tough to project Peters out as a starter after one game against predominantly the very one-dimensional Ty Warren, a guy a little stiff to be playing DE in even in the 3-4. The great thing is that Peters has had a full 2 weeks to consider those reps he had against Willie McGinnest, a pass rusher who has mode a lot of OLinemen look bad. Peters seemed to win the day on a lot of plays with sheer athleticism versus good fundamental technique, and that won't hold up every week. It'

s great that he's an athlete, but he'll face some embarrasment sometime probably sooner rather than later as he's getting his footwork together- don't be surprised if it's by some 220 pound safety or uber-quick LB who beats him badly for a big play/plays.

 

Overall though, giving Gandy and Teague a player to work with should make the left side far better in pass pro and it's hard to imagine the run game not benefitting over that side also. IMO Sunday's going to tell us an awfu lot about our offseason strategy for the 2006 season- one way or the other.

500322[/snapback]

 

Many thanks AKC for some great work which I think benefits us all. You not only win the post-length title from me, but I am pleased to say I am not worthy to you in terms of content. I amj a weaker fan than you as I was so disgusted by the NE game (and also have been ouit of town for a work gig) that I simply have not been able to bring myself to put in the tape and revisit this debacle. As your cut on thins seems detailed and generally agrees with some of my thoughts (though they are heretical thoughts like the one Teague is not that bad really) I am pleased to take your word on the analysis and move on.

 

In general my comments on your observations are:

 

1. I'm not surprised at all that most fans ignore Campbell's TE work and think of him as a bad player. I think this is because the typical fan measures a player based on glitzy huigh profiles stuff like catches and do not make judgment on work in the trenches where I think most games are won or lost.

 

Overall, I think Campbell was a great pick-up by the Bills as we had no quality player at TE at the time and Campblee who was acquired for a minimal cost (a 7th round pick I think) stepped right in to start. The assessment of him right from the start was good blocker/no pass catching. However, he has always shown a good ability to block and has been gutsy a couple of times catching passes over the middle.

 

However, he has not been able to be a reciving threat on a consistent basis and actually took a step back with his ACL tear last year. I think he is a quality blocker and this is indicated strongly by WM rushing effectively with him as a blocker (and underlined by Henry even rushing effectively back in the pre-WM days with Campbell being a key part of runs to the right.

 

However. though he is not nearly as bad as many fans seem to feel, the Clements/MM O is still missing a receiving threat at TE and this is wny they have devoted significant resources (and an unusual amount for NFL teams where TE seems mostly to be an afterthought with teams searching for a player so they can forget about the position for the most part) to find their TE having used a 4th on Euhus last year and stepped it up to use a 3rd on Everett and despite the clear commitment to JMac using Peters still have trouble getting away from using him at TE and even throwing a TD to him.

 

I like Campbell as well and am pleased as puch this old man came back so quickly from an ACL injury requiring surgery while Euhus unfortunately seems to be earning the label of being injury prone. However, I do look forward to the day when we get to see a more full version of the Clements O with a TE who can at least acceptably block and also is a receiving threat.

 

2. Likewise is great to see some analysis which confirms good play by Teague. I think he has gotten a bad rap from folks most of the time he has been here and rather than cutting him I hope we resign him and actually may not be able to resign this FA because others may outbid us.

 

It is true that Teague too often ended up on his butt in 2002. However, rather than this happening because he was a bad player as the casual fan observed, i think that this happened because in his first year at center, he had problems mult-tasking. He could block the big DT, he could make the line calls, he could deliver quality snaps (particularly the shotgun) to Bledsoe, however, he had problems doing 2 or more of these things at the same time. When you add to this Kevin Killdrive became so pass-happy that opposing DTs and LBs could sell out completely to blitz and Teague would too often get steam rolled.

 

However, i think these are the good points regarding Teague:

 

1. He is an athletic player who moves well for an OL guy. Probably honed by his LT responsiblity for Denver he plays well in space and to some degree may be miscast as a C.

 

2. He recovers well from injury having comeback from an ACL tear in Denver and a nick which cost him 4 games or so for us last year without a lot of loss of his athleticism.

 

3. He plays multiple positions as I am comfortable with him as a tackle since he was not great but held his own at that position for Denver and should benefit from his C responsibilities in understanding the jobs of all the OL guys.

 

Its hard for the Bills right now as continuity on the OL is essential for this team. However, i think the good play we see from Preston does not mean to me that we can comfortably cut Teague, but that next year I am interested if Teague is resigned that out putting the best 5 players on the field potenetially means thinking about choosing among Gandy (not a bad year so far), Peters (shows a lot of promise) and Teague as our two tackles.

 

3. The Mike Williams thing has me confused actually. I think that JMac did not advocate MW as a guard right from the start as some have said in this thread. but actually raised this as a threat after MW showed up out of shape and not ready to play after he missed "voluntary" camp last year when the woman who raised him died.

 

The move to LG makes sense in the mode of putting the best 5 OL players on the field since Bennie Anderson is too inconsistent to be one of them and if we can resign Teague, i see three candidates for the 2 tackle spots even without MW. However, his contract which came with his #4 slot shows once again why the smart moveis to trade away your first round draft pick to get a Pro Bowler in addition to the CB you want (ala Clements in 2001), to get the QB you need o replace RJ (ala Bledsoe in 2002), when you make the pick using it on a contract friendly future consideration like WM and reading the market to still get the DE you need in the 2nd round (ala WM in 2003), and to trade it to get a QB who needs training particularly when there is no QB available in the first round in 2005 (ala JP).

 

The future is now so I am pissed, but I do like our OL prospects for next year.

[Fan in San Diego]

Thanks for the analysis !

Let's hope the OL move of MW to LG is the missing link in our OL woes !

[GG]

..... It's great that he's an athlete, but he'll face some embarrasment sometime probably sooner rather than later as he's getting his footwork together- don't be surprised if it's by some 220 pound safety or uber-quick LB who beats him badly for a big play/plays.

 

500322[/snapback]

 

Check out the infamous 4th down pass - the reason Holcomb had to hurry is that Peters was immediately beaten off the snap, which forced Holcomb to step up sooner than he needed and force the throw to Moulds. A split second longer would have allowed Holcomb to see a WIDE open Shaud over the middle.

[Typical TBD Guy]

Interesting observations, AKC.

 

I agree with a lot of what you said, particularly about our TE, Mark Campbell, who I think gets undeservedly bashed around here. He's a good blocker, and while he's no Tony Gonzalez in the passing game, he's not too bad either (see: 2003 season). The problem, as you alluded to, may be how the coaches have chosen to use him.

 

The only thing I disagree with is your evaluation of Trey Teague. He certainly showed up to play against the Patriots, but do you also think he has played as well in our previous 7 games? I don't for the most part, but that's just my opinion - one that admittedly could have been tainted by Bennie Anderson's lapses to the left and CV's injuries/absences to the right. Either way, I think Teague is gone next year and Preston is in the plans for a new 2006 line like this:

 

LT: 1st round draft pick

LG MW

C Preston

RG CV

RT Peters

backups: Gandy, Geisinger, another draft pick, another free agent (Teague if he wants to re-sign for cheap)

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Interesting observations, AKC.

 

I agree with a lot of what you said, particularly about our TE, Mark Campbell, who I think gets undeservedly bashed around here. He's a good blocker, and while he's no Tony Gonzalez in the passing game, he's not too bad either (see: 2003 season). The problem, as you alluded to, may be how the coaches have chosen to use him.

 

The only thing I disagree with is your evaluation of Trey Teague. He certainly showed up to play against the Patriots, but do you also think he has played as well in our previous 7 games? I don't for the most part, but that's just my opinion - one that admittedly could have been tainted by Bennie Anderson's lapses to the left and CV's injuries/absences to the right. Either way, I think Teague is gone next year and Preston is in the plans for a new 2006 line like this:

 

LT: 1st round draft pick

LG MW

C Preston

RG CV

RT Peters

backups: Gandy, Geisinger, another draft pick, another free agent (Teague if he wants to re-sign for cheap)

500381[/snapback]

 

 

I think Teague did show up in several regards:

 

1. The running attack has been quite good buoyed by McGahee- While WM obviously deserves many of the kudos himself (and clearly has not been perfect all the time) it would be incorrect to give him all the credit alone for his 6 good or better performances along with the couple of clinkers. It was quite obvious to see Teague's strong role against NE since the team was effective up the gut, but Teague has blocked effectively and made good line calls to help WM run effectively. Lest folks get too gooey over simply WM, Shaud Williams has also been relatively effective running chnage-up plays with Teague at center.

 

2. The pass blocking has not been good, but I think it would be incorect to see the primary problem here as a Teague issue- There are too many examples of poor performance which can be attributed directly to individual OL players (1 on 1 missed blocks in space, untimely penalties like false starts or illegal use of hands) where it would be a stretch to blame Teague.

 

3, The QB rating with Holcomb is so markdly different that the QB rating for JP that again one can more reasonably look elsewhere than C for the problems,

 

4. The Teague cap hit of $3.6 million is not unreasonable for a starting C in the NFL. He definitely is not great but his cost is not great either.

 

I would not advocate paying an arm and a leg to hold unto FA Teague, but he is player who can usefully be kept by us if the market price for him is right. I hope Preston steps up and can take the center position as it would free Teague up to compete with Gandy, Peters and Mike Williams for the two tackle slots.

[bills_fan]

AKC, thanks for a terrific post.

 

So, in your opinion, do you believe that Mike Gandy could be a viable LT beyond this season?

 

Also, great breakdown on Peters and Teague. I myself thought he'd be LT material. Apparently, I may be wrong. Perhaps Teague really does get an unfair rap on this board and from fans in general.

 

Anyway, I hope Everett turns out to be a good blocker and that he can replace Neufield.

 

Again, thanks for the great work.

[obie_wan]

Wouldn't you think that the coaches see these problems and adjust accordingly.

 

Bottom line is you need the 11 players to EXECUTE their tasks to make the

play successful.  The problem is (as you mentioned every single play) there

was one player who did not EXECUTE his task forcing the play to go bad.

 

When your players consistently don't EXECUTE the plays, the plays will fail

and we will lose the games.

 

This is where the better coaching staff excel and differ....They get their teams

to play the entire 60 minutes and the entire play until the whistle is blown. That

results in going 6-10 to 10-6

 

Our coaching staff just cannot get our players mentally ready to play a full

60 minutes.

500355[/snapback]

 

 

could be because we have an awful lot of really stupid players-that are mentally soft.

 

Could also be why Bennie and Fat Mike have such trouble figuring out who to block

[Dan Gross]

The future is now so I am pissed, but I do like our OL prospects for next year.

500360[/snapback]

 

Cliff's Notes version: Shame on you AKC for thinking you could out-FFS FFS....

[obie_wan]

AKC, thanks for a terrific post. 

 

So, in your opinion, do you believe that Mike Gandy could be a viable LT beyond this season?

 

Also, great breakdown on Peters and Teague.  I myself thought he'd be LT material.  Apparently, I may be wrong.  Perhaps Teague really does get an unfair rap on this board and from fans in general.

 

Anyway, I hope Everett turns out to be a good blocker and that he can replace Neufield. 

 

Again, thanks for the great work.

500540[/snapback]

 

Peters will be the LT eventually. He has the physical skills to handle elite pass rushers, but needs some experience.

 

the plan is probably for next year, which is why he pushed Fat Mike out of RT.

[ganesh]

Peters will be the LT eventually. He has the physical skills to handle elite pass rushers, but needs some experience.

 

the plan is probably for next year, which is why he pushed Fat Mike out of RT.

500563[/snapback]

 

If he is going to be the future LT, then why not play him at LT now...I don't

see the point of him playing RT and then moving to LT next year. The two

are different beasts.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

If he is going to be the future LT, then why not play him at LT now...I don't

see the point of him playing RT and then moving to LT next year.  The two

are different beasts.

Probably for the same reason the Bills are still playing Holcomb at QB: there is still a (remote) chance to win the division. And also because Big Mike is limited by his ankle injury and Gandy is healthy and playing well. My guess is that once the Bills are 3 games out of 1st place, they'll put JP in at QB, have Peters play LT, move Gandy to LG, and put Big Mike back at RT. We will probably also see Preston getting some reps at OG and C. At least that's how I see it. I just wish there were someone better at RT than Big Mike, whose days may be numbered.

[AKC]

Check out the infamous 4th down pass - the reason Holcomb had to hurry is that Peters was immediately beaten off the snap, which forced Holcomb to step up sooner than he needed and force the throw to Moulds.  A split second longer would have allowed Holcomb to see a WIDE open Shaud over the middle.

500371[/snapback]

 

You might want to wind that one back- what I see on that play is actually great technique for a Tackle- McGinnest jumps the snap and gets a great start but Peters rides him upfield and out of the play, just the way it’s taught to OTs at every level.

 

 

The only thing I disagree with is your evaluation of Trey Teague. He certainly showed up to play against the Patriots, but do you also think he has played as well in our previous 7 games? I don't for the most part, but that's just my opinion - one that admittedly could have been tainted by Bennie Anderson's lapses to the left and CV's injuries/absences to the right.

500381[/snapback]

 

I’ve spent as much time over his stint with us watching Teague as any Bill since he’s been put in a lot of difficult situations, and I’d say your response regarding the breakdowns to his left side and the injuries to an effort player on his right have been by far the biggest cause of the low-lights for Trey. The great thing about football is that this week we get to see whether I’m correct on TT and co.- I don’t expect MWilliams to be a liability to Trey and Villarial appears healthy again- I’d think we should look good running AND passing Sunday unless the Chiefs find a way to exploit Peter’s inexperience. He’ll face Hicks who is almost a hybrid of Warren and McGinnest, the two guys he dealt with well in NE. Hick’s is no stronger than Warren and he’s not as quick as McGinnest. That suggests to me Peters should have another good outing. The wild card might be Jared Allen on the other side, a tough assignment for any LT. Gandy walks away with a good game Sunday it'll be time for the team to print some of his jerseys up for resale.

 

 

So, in your opinion, do you believe that Mike Gandy could be a viable LT beyond this season?

500540[/snapback]

 

Everything I’ve seen from Mike Gandy suggests to me he’ll be a starting lineman in the NFL again next season for someone. If we keep building towards the power running team our geography rewards I won’t be disappointed at all to see him topping our depth chart at LT next season. His lack of great lateral footwork will allow some very quick guys to beat him on occasion, but I’ve seen the best at the position give up occasional plays. Gandy’s cost/value ratio is the best of any player on our OLine, it’s crazy AFAIC to focus there as long as that ratio holds. As mentioned above - he gets a very tough test in pass protection against Jared Allen this week, the kind of player who should reasonably be salivating at a SUnday across from MGandy.

 

 

You not only win the post-length title from me…..

500360[/snapback]

 

(Since you're fond of puzzles) I figure if I can coax you into a few more posts in the string we’ll set the all-time SSALOP record. ;-)

[Simon]

You might want to wind that one back- what I see on that play is actually great technique for a Tackle- McGinnest jumps the snap and gets a great start but Peters rides him upfield and out of the play, just the way it’s taught to OTs at every level.

I've never seen a replay so I might be worng here, but I remember dropping a mild f-bomb before Holcomb even got the ball to his ear because I thought for sure that Peters was going to get popped for holding. Those are the exact kind of downs where McGinnest often produces a game-changer and if Peters locked him out legally, then he gets a nod for single-handedly nullifying the Pats primary big-play guy on the biggest play of the game.

Cya

 

all-time single string average length of posts record?

[The Dean]

Had a chance to flip the NE tape in last night, some of my thoughts on the offensive side of the game:

 

There’s common NFL talk about an OLine “gelling” over time- the reality of this presumption is that overall it’s more important for the 3 guys in the middle; the Center and both Guards; to work a s a single unit. Much of the game, and specifically in pass protection, the OTs work on their own with the middle unit typically being responsible for 2 defenders and any inside blitz pickup. With Chris Villarial seemingly healthy after multiple early season problems it was easy to see in the NE game just how well he works with Trey Teague. There’s a McGahee draw from our own 4 that these two completely open up for a 12 yard gain on first down- one of the toughest places to block on the field withthe attention defenses give to holding the middle at that end. The two work very well in pass protection together on that right side and Villarial did a commendable job when matched up one-on-one against Vince Wilfork for much of the day. The good chemistry between these two players is the kind of thing great offensive lines have between their front 3.

 

It’s refreshing to see the team responding to the fact that on the other side of Teague we just don’t have the same, or for that matter any sign of decent chemistry. With any luck the Bennie Anderson experiment as a starter is over- Anderson is simply an incredibly inconsistent player who gives a decent effort on one down and is standing hands on hips before the whistle blows on the next. At his size Bennie should have been embarrassed to be pushed 3 yards back into Holcomb by Willie McGinnest coming on an inside stunt loop. It’s almost physiologically impossible for a guy with a 100 pound advantage PLUS ideal position to get flopped into his own QB. Benny doesn’t do a good job of using his hands and feet at the same time, it appears to me that mentally it’s simply too much for him to process and he ends up focusing on one or the other. He misses his pass blocking pickups either from a lack of vision, a lack of reaction or more likely a combination of both.

 

As bad as Anderson plays at times, he has a guy to his left who gets a lot of very unfair things said about him. Mike Gandy plays surprisingly sound football at the LT spot- his one big liability is he doesn’t have a natural slide like the big money LTs, but he does have good fundamental technique; on running downs he engages and gets his weight out well over his waist very effectively and keeps his feet moving, in pass protection he normally makes good decisions about where to set and then he is patient waiting for his assignment to commit before he punches or controls the defender with his arms. He rarely gives up on a play and always seems to be looking for a target on the second level if he’s moved downfield. The first play after the Patrick Pass fumble is the second play of the game where Gandy puts his man down on the field on his back, in this case McGahee takes off through the hole for 9 yards. As surprising as Gandy has been, it’s safe to assume he’ll be even more effective once we find something more than a bloated up warm body to play inside him.

 

Help at LG will also dramatically improve Teague’s undeserved reputation at Center. Trey Teague continues to be a superior NFL lineman in the open field and a major asset in the middle when he isn’t covering for injured or inept players to his sides. Look no further than the screen pass to McGahee on the second drive where Teague CONSUMES Mike Vrabel to open up the field for an 8 yard gain. There’s no doubt there are a few centers in the league you could plug into this team who would arguably be a better fit for a power running offense, at the same time we’ve been power running pretty effectively most of the season and the dimension a guy like TT offers in second level blocking expands dramatically what we can do with screen passes, misdirection plays, delayed runs and under routes.

 

Jason Peters- I must say it was impossible not to appreciate the circumstances of his start and the effectiveness with which he played. I will expand on the good things he did but there was one major disappointment- on the Parrish reverse Peter’s failure to get a chuck on Ty Warren blew the whole play up- Parrish’s speed was negated by a big body standing in his favored path, it’s impossible to say how far Parrish might have gone without Warren’s presence but it looks to me like it may have been a good gainer.

For the most part Peters was exceptionally effective against Warren. In fact watching how well he handled him one-on-one OI was surprised Belichick didn’t adjust to force him to play a quicker player before the Pat’s began lining up Willie McGinnest across from him occasionally beginning in the middle of the 2nd quarter. McGinnest gave Peters more of a challenge, and it made it clear that we wouldn’t want to see Peters playing at the other OT spot any time in the near future, but overall he held up incredibly well for a guy thrown into the lion’s den. I’m not someone who gets excited about the stunt plays like Peter's TD catch, but playing a game at the RT spot as effectively as he did has drawn me closer to becoming a Peter’s fan. It’ll be a can’t miss watching area of the field this weekend for me.

 

Among our TEs I remain surprised by negative comments on Mark Campbell. All the guy does is play better than average at the TE position week in and week out, doing everything asked of him and having very few lapses (like the one bad whiff he had in NE). While for the most part this guy is arguably a top 20-25 TE in the NFL, the fact that the Antonio Gates, Algee Crumplers and Tony Gonzalez’s get the press is simply because of the media and fan obsession with players handling the ball. Campbell has developed into a damn good football player, and if we had another TE who could block in the mix he’d see more balls come his way. The B word is that Ryan Nuefeld is wasting space on the other end of our line in our 2TE run set, and Ryan Nuefeld is simply awful. On another of his pathetic missed blocks this season he forces Holcomb to throw the ball away, beginning the “grounding” discussion that ends up a no call. On the play, Roosevelt Colvin- plastic hip and all- makes a foot fake that send Nuefeld fallingto the turf to give the rushing lane up.

 

Another play worth noting was the screen to Parrish- again the play is blown up, this time by a terrible Sam Aiken miss of tiny Ellis Hobbs. The balance of our team, from the OLine to our WRs, all have their assignments tied up. In fact Jason Peter’s has gotten downfield in position to spring Parrish for a major gainer, yet everything is blown up by Sam Aiken’s unbelievably poor shot at tying up an easy- and much smaller- target.

 

I’m honestly convinced that from what I saw in our second drive from Willis McGahee that even at 47 years of age I could still throw a more effective cross body block. Damien Shelton’s whiff leading to a Holcomb sack was negated by NE penalty, but his continued ineptitude in most pass blocking situations in my mind makes it fair to call out our Running Back’s Coach Eric Studesville-for too many years we’ve had unwilling or awful blocking from our running backs and it’s time someone did something about it. If these players need one day every week of working with McNally then let’s get it done. We have occasional offensive line breakdowns but the simple reality of this Bill’s team, like its most recent predecessors, is that THE weakest link in pass blocking for us is from our running backs. This must change if we are ever to take advantage of the speed WRs we’ve spent dearly for in our recent drafts.

 

OAN-I remember being confused during the live telecast by a Mike Patrick comment that McGahee “got back to the Line Of Scrimmage, Bruschi was in on the stop”. As it had appeared to me live, McGahee had just popped a first down up the middle of the Pat’s Defense. It all makes so much more sense now, realizing the idiots in the booth weren’t watching the football game at all.

499725[/snapback]

 

 

I can't believe I'm just seeing this thread now. WOW! Great freakin' job. I'll have to re-read it a few more times. Thanks

[AKC]

I've never seen a replay so I might be worng here, but I remember dropping a mild f-bomb before Holcomb even got the ball to his ear because I thought for sure that Peters was going to get popped for holding. Those are the exact kind of downs where McGinnest often produces a game-changer and if Peters locked him out legally, then he gets a nod for single-handedly nullifying the Pats primary big-play guy on the biggest play of the game.

Cya

 

all-time single string average length of posts record?

500678[/snapback]

 

I took another look at it- it looks clean unless he's got a handful of jersey and my resolution isn't good enough to tell.

[1959BillsFan]

I am a member of several Message Boards, but I have to say, this board is THE BEST with good football analysis. This thread, with AKC's analysis and other posters comments, is far and above everything I have ever seen.

 

Thank You.

[BB2004]

Had a chance to flip the NE tape in last night, some of my thoughts on the offensive side of the game:

 

There’s common NFL talk about an OLine “gelling” over time- the reality of this presumption is that overall it’s more important for the 3 guys in the middle; the Center and both Guards; to work a s a single unit. Much of the game, and specifically in pass protection, the OTs work on their own with the middle unit typically being responsible for 2 defenders and any inside blitz pickup. With Chris Villarial seemingly healthy after multiple early season problems it was easy to see in the NE game just how well he works with Trey Teague. There’s a McGahee draw from our own 4 that these two completely open up for a 12 yard gain on first down- one of the toughest places to block on the field withthe attention defenses give to holding the middle at that end. The two work very well in pass protection together on that right side and Villarial did a commendable job when matched up one-on-one against Vince Wilfork for much of the day. The good chemistry between these two players is the kind of thing great offensive lines have between their front 3.

 

It’s refreshing to see the team responding to the fact that on the other side of Teague we just don’t have the same, or for that matter any sign of decent chemistry. With any luck the Bennie Anderson experiment as a starter is over- Anderson is simply an incredibly inconsistent player who gives a decent effort on one down and is standing hands on hips before the whistle blows on the next. At his size Bennie should have been embarrassed to be pushed 3 yards back into Holcomb by Willie McGinnest coming on an inside stunt loop. It’s almost physiologically impossible for a guy with a 100 pound advantage PLUS ideal position to get flopped into his own QB. Benny doesn’t do a good job of using his hands and feet at the same time, it appears to me that mentally it’s simply too much for him to process and he ends up focusing on one or the other. He misses his pass blocking pickups either from a lack of vision, a lack of reaction or more likely a combination of both.

 

As bad as Anderson plays at times, he has a guy to his left who gets a lot of very unfair things said about him. Mike Gandy plays surprisingly sound football at the LT spot- his one big liability is he doesn’t have a natural slide like the big money LTs, but he does have good fundamental technique; on running downs he engages and gets his weight out well over his waist very effectively and keeps his feet moving, in pass protection he normally makes good decisions about where to set and then he is patient waiting for his assignment to commit before he punches or controls the defender with his arms. He rarely gives up on a play and always seems to be looking for a target on the second level if he’s moved downfield. The first play after the Patrick Pass fumble is the second play of the game where Gandy puts his man down on the field on his back, in this case McGahee takes off through the hole for 9 yards. As surprising as Gandy has been, it’s safe to assume he’ll be even more effective once we find something more than a bloated up warm body to play inside him.

 

Help at LG will also dramatically improve Teague’s undeserved reputation at Center. Trey Teague continues to be a superior NFL lineman in the open field and a major asset in the middle when he isn’t covering for injured or inept players to his sides. Look no further than the screen pass to McGahee on the second drive where Teague CONSUMES Mike Vrabel to open up the field for an 8 yard gain. There’s no doubt there are a few centers in the league you could plug into this team who would arguably be a better fit for a power running offense, at the same time we’ve been power running pretty effectively most of the season and the dimension a guy like TT offers in second level blocking expands dramatically what we can do with screen passes, misdirection plays, delayed runs and under routes.

 

Jason Peters- I must say it was impossible not to appreciate the circumstances of his start and the effectiveness with which he played. I will expand on the good things he did but there was one major disappointment- on the Parrish reverse Peter’s failure to get a chuck on Ty Warren blew the whole play up- Parrish’s speed was negated by a big body standing in his favored path, it’s impossible to say how far Parrish might have gone without Warren’s presence but it looks to me like it may have been a good gainer.

For the most part Peters was exceptionally effective against Warren. In fact watching how well he handled him one-on-one OI was surprised Belichick didn’t adjust to force him to play a quicker player before the Pat’s began lining up Willie McGinnest across from him occasionally beginning in the middle of the 2nd quarter. McGinnest gave Peters more of a challenge, and it made it clear that we wouldn’t want to see Peters playing at the other OT spot any time in the near future, but overall he held up incredibly well for a guy thrown into the lion’s den. I’m not someone who gets excited about the stunt plays like Peter's TD catch, but playing a game at the RT spot as effectively as he did has drawn me closer to becoming a Peter’s fan. It’ll be a can’t miss watching area of the field this weekend for me.

 

Among our TEs I remain surprised by negative comments on Mark Campbell. All the guy does is play better than average at the TE position week in and week out, doing everything asked of him and having very few lapses (like the one bad whiff he had in NE). While for the most part this guy is arguably a top 20-25 TE in the NFL, the fact that the Antonio Gates, Algee Crumplers and Tony Gonzalez’s get the press is simply because of the media and fan obsession with players handling the ball. Campbell has developed into a damn good football player, and if we had another TE who could block in the mix he’d see more balls come his way. The B word is that Ryan Nuefeld is wasting space on the other end of our line in our 2TE run set, and Ryan Nuefeld is simply awful. On another of his pathetic missed blocks this season he forces Holcomb to throw the ball away, beginning the “grounding” discussion that ends up a no call. On the play, Roosevelt Colvin- plastic hip and all- makes a foot fake that send Nuefeld fallingto the turf to give the rushing lane up.

 

Another play worth noting was the screen to Parrish- again the play is blown up, this time by a terrible Sam Aiken miss of tiny Ellis Hobbs. The balance of our team, from the OLine to our WRs, all have their assignments tied up. In fact Jason Peter’s has gotten downfield in position to spring Parrish for a major gainer, yet everything is blown up by Sam Aiken’s unbelievably poor shot at tying up an easy- and much smaller- target.

 

I’m honestly convinced that from what I saw in our second drive from Willis McGahee that even at 47 years of age I could still throw a more effective cross body block. Damien Shelton’s whiff leading to a Holcomb sack was negated by NE penalty, but his continued ineptitude in most pass blocking situations in my mind makes it fair to call out our Running Back’s Coach Eric Studesville-for too many years we’ve had unwilling or awful blocking from our running backs and it’s time someone did something about it. If these players need one day every week of working with McNally then let’s get it done. We have occasional offensive line breakdowns but the simple reality of this Bill’s team, like its most recent predecessors, is that THE weakest link in pass blocking for us is from our running backs. This must change if we are ever to take advantage of the speed WRs we’ve spent dearly for in our recent drafts.

 

OAN-I remember being confused during the live telecast by a Mike Patrick comment that McGahee “got back to the Line Of Scrimmage, Bruschi was in on the stop”. As it had appeared to me live, McGahee had just popped a first down up the middle of the Pat’s Defense. It all makes so much more sense now, realizing the idiots in the booth weren’t watching the football game at all.

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Outstanding post. I like what you mentioned about the RB's blocking. I don't think I caught that as much as the rest of our OL play.