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Re: An old man's observation's.....
I made a poll earlier in the off-season when I asked how many punts people thought the Pats would make. The Minimum I had listed was 40, because that is where the Colts were at....
9. You know when Bill says in his post game press conference that there are things that the Pats need to improve on for next week? Well here is my list.
a. To Lawrence Moroney. Hey buddy, with the new zone blocking schemes, its ONE cut and go. There was too much dancing even BEFORE you got to the LOS. Watch how Sammy Morris ran, and try and duplicate it. With this kind of offense it will be more important to get the sure 3-5 yards, than it will be to try and break the long ones. Maroney still seems tentative about cutting to his left. Most of his runs, he cut right.
We have other guys to make the big plays, you don't have to be one of them. If you hit the hole hard, believe me you will get more than your share of those big plays.
b. KO Coverage team - The Pats kicked off 7 times and 4 of those times Miller or Washington was able to get the ball past the 30 yard line. That's not good enough. On one of those the KO was only to the 10 so you get a pass on that one, but the other 3 weren't acceptable. I know the talent is there to do better because there were 3 times where you didn't allow the Jets to get to the 25. Lets be more consistent THIS week.
Miller had 1 KO return. Washington had 5. Miller's return started at the 5 and went for 26 yards. Washington's 1st started 2 yards in the endzone and he got to the 30 for a 32 yard return. Washington's 2nd went to the 23 yard line from the goal line for a 23 yard return. Washington's 3rd was way short, starting at the 14 and getting to the 30 for a 16 yard return. Washington's 4th started 3 yards in the endzone and went to the 18 for a 21 yard return. And Washington's last return started 3 yards in the endzone and made it to the 19 for a total of 22 yards. So, only 3 of the kicks went to the 30 or beyond... and only 2 of those, the 1st two of the game, were really anything bad. In terms of coverage. The Pats got a LOT better in their coverage. The last 4 returns averaged 20.5 yards. So, only 2 of the 7 kicks coverages were more than what we are used to seeing.
c. Asante Samuel - feeling the rust on those GL coverages, Zant? I guess so. The actual coverage wasn't that bad, but your timing when the ball was coming to Coles was off by just a hair and that cost you....and the Pats. Well they'll give you the check anyway, but you know in your heart, you didn't earn all of it. Just be better THIS week.
d. ZERO turnovers by the defense. Now IIRC the Pats are notoriously slow, for some reason, in getting TO's early in the year. I have no idea why? They will need 2 TO's next week IMHO, I hope they work on it.
e. Dante Stallworth - Learn the damned offense Dante, and maybe next week you'll be the guy with the 180 yd day. You can't get on the field without knowing where to go. Just asked Chad Jackson how that all worked out.
People keep saying that Jackson didn't know the offense, but there really is no support other than assumptions. People FORGET that BB tends to be pretty regimented with his rookies in how they progress. All one has to do is go back to Daniel Graham, Ben Watson and Ty Warren (amongst others) for proof of this. The Pats had Jackson working on his run blocking and his special teams work last year. Jackson's knee went on a special teams play against the Colts.
f. Sorry, but the run blocking will have to improve. The Pats will face a lot better DL's than the Jets in the future, and while today the running game was pretty effective, they won't get that kind of yardage against better DL's if they run block like that.
I tend to agree. However, Maroney didn't exactly help the run blocking look good either. I have to wonder if Minnesota had a zone blocking scheme. If they didn't, then Maroney is learning this as well. Something he didn't get to do much of last year after he got hurt. Also, I noticed Maroney not making any cuts to his left that would have opened up the right side of his ribcage to get hit first. Hopefully he gets by this because if he does, he'll be able to bust some HUGE ones. There were at least two plays that, had he bounced to the left, he had the whole left side open and would have busted a couple of really long ones.
10. Best job in the NFL for 2007...being the Punter for the NE Patriots.
I made a poll earlier in the off-season when I asked how many punts people thought the Pats would make. The Minimum I had listed was 40, because that is where the Colts were at....
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