NFL Week 6

[kingfc22]

Honey Badger gets bulldozed into the endzone and then after being driven back 5 yds he decides to throw the RB down. Too little too late.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the consensus on Brady? Is he still the same guy just with no weapons, or has he lost something due to age or injury?

I'm starting to wonder how much longer he is going to hang around if the Patriots continue to give him shitty receivers and a porous offensive line?

Three Super Bowl rings, a stamped ticket to the Hall-of-Fame and a supermodel wife. Does he want to be around for a rebuilding project? What does he have left to prove?

[ColtCrazy]

Brady's not 2007 Brady by any stretch, but I wouldn't count him out completely, even with crappy receivers. Outside of Denver, who else in the AFC would you trust to beat Brady/Belicheck in a playoff game? Chiefs? Colts? Bengals? Anyone else? Still wouldn't be surprised to see the Pats in at least the AFCCG.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Brady's not 2007 Brady by any stretch, but I wouldn't count him out completely, even with crappy receivers. Outside of Denver, who else in the AFC would you trust to beat Brady/Belicheck in a playoff game? Chiefs? Colts? Bengals? Anyone else? Still wouldn't be surprised to see the Pats in at least the AFCCG.

I'm not counting him out by any stretch.

But I think a time is coming soon where his heart may no longer be in the game.

[Lathum]

Edleman has to make that catch

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the consensus on Brady? Is he still the same guy just with no weapons, or has he lost something due to age or injury?

idk, he still seems pretty good.

[BillJasper]

That was a nice drive by Brady.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the consensus on Brady? Is he still the same guy just with no weapons, or has he lost something due to age or injury?

same guy

[tucker rocky]

NE pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

[bhlloy]

For all the talk of Payton as a gambler he went really conservative when he needed a first down to win the game twice. Not a good idea vs Brady.

[gstelmack]

THAT'S the Brady that's been missing this season.

[ColtCrazy]

And once again, history shows if you can't pressure Brady he will beat you. Nice job by Brady, but helped by horrible Saints D.

[tucker rocky]

The look on Rob Ryan's face is priceless.

[Julio Riddols]

Wow, Thompkins.. He has made some real big catches this year. I feel like he is the only new addition to the Pats receiving corps that will stick around very long.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

For all the talk of Payton as a gambler he went really conservative when he needed a first down to win the game twice. Not a good idea vs Brady.

Yep, game was gift wrapped for him. Does he not realize Saints aren't a rushing team? Spread the field and get the 1st down. I know the Pats are a good team, but their mystique sometimes gives opposing teams massive brain farts.

[cuervo72]

Rebuilding...right. 5-1, they're not rebuilding yet. Unfortunately.

[jeff061]

Between the pussy play calling when New England had to settle for a field goal, that 3rd and 20 and the 4 and out.... the Pats don't deserve it really, but I'll take it.

[Buccaneer]

I simply cannot believe how that game ended. I thought the game was over when Brady had four straight incompletions. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!

The look on Rob Ryan's face: Priceless

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the consensus on Brady? Is he still the same guy just with no weapons, or has he lost something due to age or injury?

Umm, in the conversation for greatest of all time?

[Jas_lov]

And the announcers said NE fans started to leave Gillette Stadium when there was still 3 minutes left in the game, down by just one point. Not only did the Patriots get the ball back once with a chance to get the game winning TD, they got it back twice. Nobody deserved to win.

[Lathum]

In fairness to the Pats fans leavi g early the Sox game starts soon many probably wanted to beat the traffic to get home for he start

[tucker rocky]

Originally Posted by tucker rocky

The look on Rob Ryan's face is priceless.

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I simply cannot believe how that game ended. I thought the game was over when Brady had four straight incompletions. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!

The look on Rob Ryan's face: Priceless

Priceless Rob Ryan.jpg

[Buccaneer]

tucker, you get the credit, didn't see your comment until after I posted mine.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

And the announcers said NE fans started to leave Gillette Stadium when there was still 3 minutes left in the game, down by just one point. Not only did the Patriots get the ball back once with a chance to get the game winning TD, they got it back twice. Nobody deserved to win.

They didn't deserve to win because fans left early? Makes sense.

[tucker rocky]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

tucker, you get the credit, didn't see your comment until after I posted mine.

It's all good.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Between the pussy play calling when New England had to settle for a field goal, that 3rd and 20 and the 4 and out.... the Pats don't deserve it really, but I'll take it.

This.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

And the announcers said NE fans started to leave Gillette Stadium when there was still 3 minutes left in the game, down by just one point. Not only did the Patriots get the ball back once with a chance to get the game winning TD, they got it back twice. Nobody deserved to win.

Give it a rest.

[Thomkal]

Rough game for my beloved Cards-Palmer throws more picks, Vernon Davis was unstoppable for most of the game, then Calais Campbell had to be carted off the field with a leg injury. And on top of that it's a short week as they get the Seahawks on Thursday. Really thought they were going to be blown out this game and next, but hung in there against SF for a long while. Probably won't be so lucky on Thursday. At least the game is at home.

Congrats you 49ers fans here

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the consensus on Brady? Is he still the same guy just with no weapons, or has he lost something due to age or injury?

General consensus is he hasn't been as accurate starting the 2nd half of last season, but I'm not sure how much of that is just selective memory. I do know for all the heat given to the WR's he's missed 3-4 throws a game badly (today it was the 3rd Q overthrow of Amendola behind the defense and the underthrow of Edelman on the 3rd to last play.) He's also been a little skittish since he came back from the ACL tear when teams get pressure up the middle, but that wasn't a problem today.

Overall, just drops him from one of the best ever level to top 5 in the game level.

Originally Posted by BillJasper

I'm starting to wonder how much longer he is going to hang around if the Patriots continue to give him shitty receivers and a porous offensive line?

Three Super Bowl rings, a stamped ticket to the Hall-of-Fame and a supermodel wife. Does he want to be around for a rebuilding project? What does he have left to prove?

What rebuilding project? (And fwiw the O-Line is generally regarded as above average.)

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Wow, Thompkins.. He has made some real big catches this year. I feel like he is the only new addition to the Pats receiving corps that will stick around very long.

They should just never throw Thompkins a ball that hits him in the numbers and he'll be great. Dobson has improved exponentially - based on the reports on his hands coming out of college (supposedly tops in the draft, 0 drops SR year) I'll chalk up most of his early season drops with adjusting to the pace of the game, and I think he'll be a solid one for the next few years.

Fwiw, I do agree that the "defenseless receiver" hit on Thompkins may be a foul by the letter of the law, but I don't see how else Jenkins was expected to hit him.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by tucker rocky

Attachment 4825

Thanks for this

[ColtCrazy]

I hate to say it, but looking at the Pats schedule, 13-3 is a realistic number. That just makes me sad. Not a fan of Sean Payton right now.

I think that's the league this year. Every good team seems inherently flawed. Even Denver had issues at times today.

[Shkspr]

So apparently the only person on Washington's special teams that can hit anyone is the coach.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

I hate to say it, but looking at the Pats schedule, 13-3 is a realistic number. That just makes me sad. Not a fan of Sean Payton right now.

I think that's the league this year. Every good team seems inherently flawed. Even Denver had issues at times today.

13-3 would be amazing.

[mckerney]

Not quite playing like he was last year yet, but this is the first time I've seen RGIII actually look comfortable and confident on the field this year.

[Julio Riddols]

I think Washington would have been better off PUPing Griffin and going with Cousins for the first 6 weeks. He just wasn't quite ready, but it does seem like he is coming back into form slowly.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

I think Washington would have been better off PUPing Griffin and going with Cousins for the first 6 weeks. He just wasn't quite ready, but it does seem like he is coming back into form slowly.

Given what we've seen on the field, this makes sense. However, if he had been just jogging and training these last several weeks - would he still need a few weeks of game-level work to get back into the swing of things? I have some sympathy or that argument, I think.

[Julio Riddols]

Yeah, he would probably take a game or two to get rolling.. I guess the overall give and take on the difference it makes at this point is really a push. The key takeaway for Washington fans is that it appears he will return to his old self eventually. I think the next thing they'll have to work on is to probably go back and fix whatever bad habits he has gotten into while recovering from this knee injury. He seems quite a bit off in his delivery this year even as it appears he is regaining his strength and explosiveness.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Rough game for my beloved Cards-Palmer throws more picks, Vernon Davis was unstoppable for most of the game, then Calais Campbell had to be carted off the field with a leg injury. And on top of that it's a short week as they get the Seahawks on Thursday. Really thought they were going to be blown out this game and next, but hung in there against SF for a long while. Probably won't be so lucky on Thursday. At least the game is at home.

Congrats you 49ers fans here

Palmer still doesn't know that his arm strength isn't what it used to be. I think he is in denial of his decline as a player. Seems like every pick he throws is an under throw or was late getting to the receiver. Ellington deserves to get like 80% of the playing time at RB too. He clearly seems like their most explosive back. If they address the offensive line aggressively this year maybe they can make it work with Palmer while they groom a young QB for a couple years.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

13-3 would be amazing.

I don't see how they don't win 12 or 13 games. They are still a step or two above the rest of the AFC East.

Besides the Broncos, is there a team in the AFC that you can point to and say that they are better than the Pats? Pretty sure the Pats should still be considered the 2nd, 3rd, or at worst 4th best team in the AFC.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Fwiw, I do agree that the "defenseless receiver" hit on Thompkins may be a foul by the letter of the law, but I don't see how else Jenkins was expected to hit him.

The answer is "he's not expected to hit him". You can play defense on the pass itself, trying to knock the ball away before he catches it. You can wrap him up and tackle him. But you're not allowed to unload on him to knock it away after he's caught it, because that's how receivers get hurt.

[Dutch]

Unbelievable...Bucs with 17 in first half. This is the most packed with opponent fans so far. Its almost 40% Eagles fans.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by fantom1979

I don't see how they don't win 12 or 13 games. They are still a step or two above the rest of the AFC East.

Besides the Broncos, is there a team in the AFC that you can point to and say that they are better than the Pats? Pretty sure the Pats should still be considered the 2nd, 3rd, or at worst 4th best team in the AFC.

I don't watch much AFC ball, but it seems like there are three teams in the AFC: Denver, New England and Cincinnati. Indianapolis, Baltimore and KC are probably your next tier.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

I'm starting to wonder how much longer he is going to hang around if the Patriots continue to give him shitty receivers and a porous offensive line?

Three Super Bowl rings, a stamped ticket to the Hall-of-Fame and a supermodel wife. Does he want to be around for a rebuilding project? What does he have left to prove?

I'm sorry, but this just isn't reality.

After the draft, the Patriots had 2 of the top 5 TE in football. They had Amendola and Edelman. (we can argue the decision to replace Welker, but nobody doubts the talent of Amendola and the Pats medical team obviously felt they could keep him healthy)

In addition, they had a 22 year old RB in Stevan Ridley who was coming off a 1,200 yard rushing campaign and could catch the ball out of the backfield.

As far as skill players go, at the time, you would have put that group right up with the Broncos group. (D. Thomas, Decker, Welker were studs, but nobody knew who J. Thomas was and Moreno wasn't even a lock to make the team, much less start)

The Patriots had the weapons for Tom Brady. The draft was over, FA was over, it was time to start mini camp. No sooner did that happen and the news of the Hernandez murder charges came about. Then an infection for Gronk and he's not going to start the season. Then Amendola gets hurt and Ridley loses his job due to fumbling and gets hurt himself. Now Ridley is back, but Amendola is hurt again and who knows when Gronk will play.

I'll bring the analogy back to the Broncos. J. Thomas, D. Thomas and Moreno all go down tomorrow. How good would they look exactly with only Welker and Decker as major weapons? Manning would still be great, but he would look mortal a lot of the time too. The Broncos would still win, because Manning, like Brady freaking wins games. But they wouldn't look all that good doing it either. And it wouldn't be the fault of the Broncos front office anymore than the Ryan Clady injury was.

As for my opinion, I think Brady looks worse. Far less accurate then he seemed to be in his prime. It's funny, the worst thing you can do against the guy is blitz. Keep him in the pocket and make him throw accurately and you have a better chance to beat him. If your DT's can get pressure up the middle and your outside guys don't let him slide left to right, he can be beat.

Still, we are talking about a guy going from otherworldly to just "top 5 or top 7" You give him too many chances, he'll kill you. Always has, always will. (ditto for Manning despite the garbage written about him)

[BillJasper]

Matt Flynn is getting another shot...

Bills plan to sign Matt Flynn today | ProFootballTalk

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by tucker rocky

The look on Rob Ryan's face is priceless.

I believe that's my favorite moment of the NFL season so far.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As for my opinion, I think Brady looks worse. Far less accurate then he seemed to be in his prime. It's funny, the worst thing you can do against the guy is blitz. Keep him in the pocket and make him throw accurately and you have a better chance to beat him. If your DT's can get pressure up the middle and your outside guys don't let him slide left to right, he can be beat.

Still, we are talking about a guy going from otherworldly to just "top 5 or top 7" You give him too many chances, he'll kill you. Always has, always will. (ditto for Manning despite the garbage written about him)

The other thing I forgot to mention about Brady this year is his accuracy on quick swing passes. Welker, Hernandez, and Woodhead when split wide were all very good at getting an extra 2-3 yards, but I swear Brady's throwing a lot more of those quick swings behind receivers or at their feet leading to 0-1 yard gains this year instead of the almost-guaranteed 5-7 yards they used to be. Which is the difference between 2nd/3rd and 10 and 2nd/3rd and 4, a huge difference.

Speaking of giving him too many chances, here's an article about NFL coaches conservatism in the "4-minute offense" Gutless NFL Coaches Fail Badly In Four-Minute Offense The numbers are staggering - 96% of 1st-down plays are runs, and you saw how it ended up killing the Saints yesterday as they really did not even attempt to go for a first down.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As for my opinion, I think Brady looks worse. Far less accurate then he seemed to be in his prime. It's funny, the worst thing you can do against the guy is blitz. Keep him in the pocket and make him throw accurately and you have a better chance to beat him. If your DT's can get pressure up the middle and your outside guys don't let him slide left to right, he can be beat.

He doesn't throw a good deep ball anymore. Still a great QB, just not where he was. Everyone is too caught up in blaming his wide receivers to notice he misses a lot of throws.

[Vince, Pt. II]

For all this talk about Brady looking bad, I've got a buddy who's a Jacksonville fan (he was super bitter about Joe Montana leaving SF, swore off football, decided to come back fresh when the expansion teams came in and he picked the Jags) and he says that Gabbert is getting pretty hosed by the team around him. Apparently four of his interceptions this year have hit his receivers in either the hands or chest.

He's not claiming Gabbert is anything more than mediocre, just that his numbers are not all that indicative of how well he has been playing.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

He doesn't throw a good deep ball anymore. Still a great QB, just not where he was. Everyone is too caught up in blaming his wide receivers to notice he misses a lot of throws.

With the exception of 2007(hello Moss) Brady has never thrown a good deep ball, ever, people forget that.

He's out of sync and not comfortable with his receivers and has been getting beat up the last 2 games. My armchair QB guess is he's over thinking everything, from where he thinks the receivers will be to where the pressure is coming from.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

The other thing I forgot to mention about Brady this year is his accuracy on quick swing passes. Welker, Hernandez, and Woodhead when split wide were all very good at getting an extra 2-3 yards, but I swear Brady's throwing a lot more of those quick swings behind receivers or at their feet leading to 0-1 yard gains this year instead of the almost-guaranteed 5-7 yards they used to be. Which is the difference between 2nd/3rd and 10 and 2nd/3rd and 4, a huge difference.

Speaking of giving him too many chances, here's an article about NFL coaches conservatism in the "4-minute offense" Gutless NFL Coaches Fail Badly In Four-Minute Offense The numbers are staggering - 96% of 1st-down plays are runs, and you saw how it ended up killing the Saints yesterday as they really did not even attempt to go for a first down.

That's what I mean about accuracy Bishop. Too many people view accuracy as completion percentage. Yeah, Brady is down this year in that, but it isn't what I'm talking about with accuracy.

If anyone remembers the first game of the year, I made a comment about how Flacco turned a 70 yard TD into a 12 yard first down with a poor pass. The metrics made the throw look good. 3rd and 8, 12 yard gain, yippeee, he's terrific. The throw was horrible. It took 7 points off the board.

I see Brady doing the same thing. Obviously, some of this is being out of sync with new guys. But some of it is just lost accuracy. The famous "drop" by Welker in the Super Bowl. It was a drop, it was also a horrific throw to a wide open WR. Brady seems to make a lot of those types of throws now. Guys don't get hit in stride, they reach back, they fall to their knees. . . the throws are a hair off target.

He's smart enough to know where he's supposed to go and his arm can't get it there with zip or accuracy anymore. (that duck of an INT yesterday was a horrible throw in a crucial situation)