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Both of the Saints starting CBs are out again. Not sure if Graham is playing. He was injured in practice this week.
Should be a fun first quarter. Interesting to see how both 1st unit defenses will perform.
Both of the Saints starting CBs are out again. Not sure if Graham is playing. He was injured in practice this week.
From what I've read out of Pats camp, Steve Gregory has been a great presence for the secondary as a leader, but their corners are still getting torched in man coverage and don't seem ready at all. I expect Brees to dominated the 1-2 drives he's on the field.
For all the early picks used by Belichick in the secondary recently and the secondary still sucks, he might wanna reconsider the way he's evaluating/developing talent at the position.
Great to have the NFL back tbh
Sucks Bree's is already out. The passing game was quiet. Brees had a lot of time. Couldnt find anyone open.
Pats O-line looks very shaky. Will Smith never has that good of a pass rush.
Lots of holding calls on both sides.
Nate Solder and Dan Connolly are the only starters from last year who arent injured/retired/contemplating retirement. The line will be much better if Mankins is ready for the season and Waters comes back. If not then it's gonna be horrible the first few weeks.
Belichick compounds the problem too by moving Connolly from C to G so he can have Dan Koppen's veteran savvy on the field when Dan Koppen shouldn't be on an NFL roster and Connolly is too weak to be effective at guard.
Saints front 4 playing great.
I like how they're not blitzing at all compared to what Williams does. I think Williams undermined the front four/pass rush with his excessive blitzing.
Chase Daniel doing what he does best... shows some promise, and then throws the pick
Most fans were so quick to jump on our CBs for giving up big plays, but when Williams didn't blitz 8 guys and left them out to dry, they actually made some plays. Williams.
I totally agree. They were always left out to dry.
Disaster performance so far by Martez Wilson on special teams.
Donte Stallworth, murderer
Ryan Mallett is better than that scrub 2nd string QB that the Pats put in after Brady
Is Graham playing?
No he sat out. He hurt his back in practice this week.
DoK, how's Vereen looking?
Ya, I read about that - did they say it was serious?
It's nothing serious, just precautionary to hold him out.
So here's what I gather from that game-
- Ridley and Vereen will provide a more explosive running game than BJGE did, question is whether or not they fumble more and if McDaniels will give them the carries.
- Chandler Jones and Hightower will be instant contributors from day 1 and the front 7 as a whole looks like it's finally got the talent. Belichick has the personnel to mix and match 3-4 and 4-3 like he wants, but imo they still don't have the speed at linebacker or the size at DE to consistently run a 4-3. The personnel still seems much more equipped for a 3-4. The x-factors for the front 7 are imo how much of a presence Kyle Love/Fanene/Brace/Deaderick can be next to Wilfork, how much edge pressure the trio of Jones/Ninkovich/Cunningham gets, and how good es/Mayo/Hightower are in coverage. Andre Carter should still be resigned as a proven edge rusher in BB's 4-3.
- The secondary isn't where it needs to be but at least we're seeing roles carved out early on rather than last year's personnel mismash. I'd like to see Dowling overtake Arrington at right corner sometime during the season as Arrington struggles a lot on the outside and plays much better as the nickel. McCourty, Arrington, Dowling, Chung, Gregory and Wilson have emerged as the 6 core players at the position when last year everyone collectively looked like . Denard imo is the 4th best corner on the team and shouldn't get cut in favor someone like Marquice Cole or Barrett just because he isn't as good on ST. The team is well equipped speed for ST and doesn't need to waste roster spots on it over guys who might contribute in the secondary.
- Brady looks plenty comfortable throwing to Lloyd which means Lloyd should be fine. When receivers really flop in New England Brady never looks comfortable at all throwing them the ball. He'll still be a distant 4th option unless he stops running so many deep routes.
- As expected, an offensive line made up of 2nd stringers sucked, but there are still reasons for concern at tackle. Assuming Mankins comes back healthy and Waters does come back, Connolly should only be at C, Koppen should be cut, and Marcus Cannon should be moved to G since he isn't a tackle and groomed as Waters' replacement. That makes the interior O-line fine with Wendell and Cannon as versatile backups. At tackle, Solder is gonna have growing pains but he can't be as ty as yesterday. They need to find a solid backup at tackle given Vollmer's health and I don't think they have one on the roster.
If the starting O-line of Solder/Mankins/Connolly/Waters/Vollmer can get healthy and settled in by week 6-7 and if the top 6 secondary players all stay relatively healthy and gel well, the Patriots are easily the best team in the AFC.
Glad to hear that. As far as the O-line, I have faith that Dante will get them in order before the beginning of the season.
If Vollmer, Mankins and Waters are all back before the season then it's one of the best lines in the NFL. I would have liked Matt Light to stick around for 1 more year before Solder became the full time left tackle but soldifying the interior line is the more important issue imo. Brady can deal with edge pressure.
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