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- Nov 14, 2006
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Some quick thoughts (Note I am going to focus mostly on the positives since plenty of people are focusing on the negatives):
-The o-line had an up and down night. Sometimes they were very solid (on the TD drive in the second quarter) and others they were downright horrible. I would assume with Mankins regaining his legs, Vollmer back, and probably Waters back that this all will be moot when the season starts.
- Solder seems to be improving his technique. He seems to use his arm length more, keeping his center of gravity low, and moving less stiff. I think with the real starting o-line and some scheming, he should be ok. Maybe not as effective as Light, but not a liability.
- Chandler Jones seems to be unblockable. The guy at times treats his blocker like rag dolls. Even double teams don't stop him. I think one thing he needs to work on though is improving his angles to the QB. There were several times that he pressured Freeman, but if he took a better angle it would have been a sack. Granted one or two might have been a sack with a less mobile QB. One thing I am surprised about him is how well be holds up against the run. He had two tackles in that area - one for a loss and the other for an 1 yard gain. He set the edge very well.
- Spikes look to be picking up from his solid Super Bowl appearance. The guy brings a mean streak to the defense (which should be supported by Hightower when he improves).
- Branch has shown his job isn't in jeopardy. He will be solid as a #3 or #4 WR. Stallworth is gone especially with the addition of Demps. Stallworth is just ok with the 2s and 3s.
- Hernandez might have surpassed Gronk as Brady's #2 option after Welker except in the red zone. He seems to be all over the field. Now I will temper this a bit by stating that Gronk was asked to block a lot last night.
- I wish they didn't go with a vanilla zone defense most of the night. I would have liked to see a more agressive defense like the one that Tampa threw at the Pats. I am hoping that Belichick and Patricia are only doing the soft zone to evaluate players and not as a strategy for the year. I think the Pats' front seven is strong enough to apply pressure on the front end that will allow the Pats take the training wheels off the secondary.
-The o-line had an up and down night. Sometimes they were very solid (on the TD drive in the second quarter) and others they were downright horrible. I would assume with Mankins regaining his legs, Vollmer back, and probably Waters back that this all will be moot when the season starts.
- Solder seems to be improving his technique. He seems to use his arm length more, keeping his center of gravity low, and moving less stiff. I think with the real starting o-line and some scheming, he should be ok. Maybe not as effective as Light, but not a liability.
- Chandler Jones seems to be unblockable. The guy at times treats his blocker like rag dolls. Even double teams don't stop him. I think one thing he needs to work on though is improving his angles to the QB. There were several times that he pressured Freeman, but if he took a better angle it would have been a sack. Granted one or two might have been a sack with a less mobile QB. One thing I am surprised about him is how well be holds up against the run. He had two tackles in that area - one for a loss and the other for an 1 yard gain. He set the edge very well.
- Spikes look to be picking up from his solid Super Bowl appearance. The guy brings a mean streak to the defense (which should be supported by Hightower when he improves).
- Branch has shown his job isn't in jeopardy. He will be solid as a #3 or #4 WR. Stallworth is gone especially with the addition of Demps. Stallworth is just ok with the 2s and 3s.
- Hernandez might have surpassed Gronk as Brady's #2 option after Welker except in the red zone. He seems to be all over the field. Now I will temper this a bit by stating that Gronk was asked to block a lot last night.
- I wish they didn't go with a vanilla zone defense most of the night. I would have liked to see a more agressive defense like the one that Tampa threw at the Pats. I am hoping that Belichick and Patricia are only doing the soft zone to evaluate players and not as a strategy for the year. I think the Pats' front seven is strong enough to apply pressure on the front end that will allow the Pats take the training wheels off the secondary.