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7-Things
For Sunday: Part III.
By
TOM
Greetings
Pats Fans,
First
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have sold almost 500 books in the past year. Thank you for your
support and patronage, both are greatly appreciated. I cannot tell
you how happy it made me when I read that report. So thank you Draft
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Pats
Win!
By
TOM
5.
Pats D Vs NO O-
Tough to know how this defense gets better. Their Achilles heel was
clearly visible against KC. Their D-ends just couldn't get a consistent
rush. And like Elvis, they left the building in the 2nd Half. They have to
get a better rush, and make Brees throw on the run.
Because
the Saints' offence can kill you in a second. "Coach Payton and Coach
Carmichael do a great job of mixing and matching personnel groups
in," Patricia said. "We see it quite a bit week in week out from
a lot of different offenses. I would say these guys do it quite a bit so
you'll see different groups out there whether it's multiple running backs
in the game or different wide receivers. They have a great wide receiver
corps: Ted Ginn who just got there, [Brandon] Coleman, Thomas. Guys that
can rotate in and out.
"You're
going to see a lot of different tight ends in the games. Obviously,
Fleener, who is in his second year there who's really starting to master
this offense and be very productive. Josh Hill, who's another guy that
will mix in there at the tight end position and really kind of does
everything for them and then obviously Hoo-man, who we've got a lot of
familiarity with, will be out there too. So the mixing and matching of
those skill players. Occasionally they'll throw an extra lineman in the
game, the fullback.
"So
the constant turning of that personnel is something they do an excellent
job with and really have mastered the ability to kind of work in and out
of those groups at a very quick pace. The pace of the offense here is very
fast. They do a good job of getting in and out of the huddle. You know,
then playing down there in their home stadium is where they're going to be
able to communicate the best so we're going to have to do a great job of
just really trying to get out there and play sound, play good fundamental
defense. I think that's what we're trying to get done and we're trying to
obviously play a heck of a lot better than we did last week and just go
out and try to make sure we're more improving in those areas."
They
have some bigger and tougher WRs now, like nothing we've seen from them
before. "He's a tough receiver, big, strong, strong hands, tough,
hard to tackle, a very physical receiver. Probably as physical as any
receiver we'll see," BB said about Michael Thomas. "Yeah, it's a
big group. Yeah, I mean, he's by far the most physical. Coleman's 230-
pounds. He's a big target. He's almost like a tight end. Fleener's a good
receiver at tight end." They are not the flash and dash offense of
old.
Brees
is getting older and slowing down a little, and so is their offense.
"We played them in my senior year in the Big House [at Michigan] and
we beat him. And then he's had a great career. He was a year younger than
me and came out and did a great job with San Diego and has done a great
job with New Orleans," Brady said about Brees. "I think so much
of him and his consistency [and] what he brings to the team. He's just a
great player and he has been a great player for a long time. He plays well
at home. They've got a good team. They do a good job with their offense
which means we have to do a real good job with our offense. Sometimes the
best defense is to keep your offense on the field. We're going to have to
do a good job of that because you don't want to give those guys a huge
time of possession advantage. We did that last time we were down there and
we got our butts kicked so we're going to have to do a much better
job."
The Defense has to step up this week and slow the Saints down. This game
is likely won by the team that punts the least. The defense has to make
some big stops on 3rd down.
6.
O-line-
They had their entire starting five on the O-line from last season, but it
sure didn't look like it. They were great in the 1st Half, but everything
fell apart in the 2nd Half. They even started giving up sacks late in the
4th. They have to go the full four quarters this week.
It
will be even harder on them with all the noise in the Dome. "We can
turn the music up just like we can turn it up for the offense. I mean,
look, practice is practice. It's the closest we can get to simulating a
game. It's not game conditions but it's as close as we can get. Players
that can perform in practice I think have a chance to perform in the
game," BB said about the noise. "It's still another level. It's
another step, but if you can't do it consistently in practice then it's
pretty unlikely it's going to happen consistently in a game. That's really
true of every positon on the field. I can't think of one that wouldn't
fall into that category. You do what you can do. You make it as realistic
as you can make it, or in some cases maybe you make it a little bit harder
where you can in some areas and then the game is the game. It's a
different speed. It's a different level." They didn't have their
O-line play one snap together in the Preseason.
That
decision really showed late in the 2nd Half. "I think we, obviously,
are familiar with all of the people we have. Now we have an opportunity to
work with them in regular season games and try to make improvement where
we can," McDaniels said. "There are some things that we did well
and there are some things that we didn't do well. So that's across the
board at every position with every player. It starts with me. I didn't do
a good enough job yesterday of putting us in position to do the things we
needed to do consistently enough." The O-line wore down instead of
wearing down the KC defense.
They
are going to have an easier time with this pathetic defense. "Even
though we've practiced with them a few times and played them in the
preseason, I'd say we don't know this team very well," McDaniel said.
"Hopefully, we do a good job of getting acclimated to them and
getting familiar with who we're playing against this week. They've got a
lot of new players, whether that's through the draft or free agency, in
each level of their defense. Certainly, they're aggressive.
"Coach
[Dennis] Allen calls an aggressive style of defense. You know they're
definitely going to pressure you with a lot of different people, different
variations, blitzes. They mix the coverages up pretty good. They've got
good team speed, they get to the ball, they play hard and they're going
to, obviously, be excited for their home opener. This is always a tough
place to play. So, it's going to be a big challenge for us to get familiar
with the people that we're going to be matched up against across the board
and really get used to their scheme and have a great week of practice and
try to go down there and put forth our best effort." They are more
familiar with this offense than any other.
This
will be a good game for the Pats O-line, which is half the Offense, to
find some much needed continuity, and that includes the whole offense.
"Certainly, there could be an element of nonverbal communication
that's necessary, but there's probably many people that go in the game
that they play a role that that's really not a huge factor in what they
need to be able to do," McDaniel said. "There's a difference
between communicating and then doing the right thing once the ball is
snapped and you've got to make a choice or what have you. So, I just think
all of those things, our team is continuing to work on those things. This
isn't just about one player, a new player, a person that's been here a
long time, a short time. I don't think you can ever relax because, I would
say, communication in general is a core fundamental that our offense needs
to be good at every level.
"If
you ever stop and think that you've got it all figured out, then you're
probably going to run into some problems. From the quarterback position to
the line, tight ends, skill players, backs, receivers, it's something that
we try to work on if it's necessary that week, and we'll continue to do
that every week and never really kind of relax and assume that we've got
it all handled and all understood. Because, again, those are some things
that, if you ever let up, could come back and really haunt you if that's
the case." Communication is paramount to the O-line.
If
the O-line dominates they win. If the O-line is good they have a better
than average chance. The whole offense had some continuity problems
Thursday night. If that was solved they win. If not it is going to be a
long season. The other concern is that the Pats were at home last week,
and will be on the Road this week, in a Dome. Road games in domes are
always the worst for offenses. The offense will struggle to hear Brady,
and they will have to go to all to sorts of silent counts that always help
the passrush.
7.
First Win By A Hair-
The Saints are one of those teams that BB really respects, from the Head
Coach to the last Special Teams player. So this is not an easy matchup.
But I gotta go win here. BB and Brady just don't lose two games in a row.
They always win after a big lose. Plus, I think Cooks explodes in this
game for over a hundred yards. He comes up big as he goes back to the team
that traded him.
The
Saints had the worst pass defense in the NFL last season. This is not KC's
defense. KC has a great defense, and the Saints were maybe the worst in
the NFL last season. This is the exact prescription that Brady and Cooks
need to get some chemistry going all over the field. I just like the match
up on Offense.
Now
the Match up on defense is not nearly as good. But the Pats have a ton
more talent at corner, and the Saints rush isn't any better than the Pats.
The Pats Corners have to step up this game and cause more problems than
the Saints' secondary. The D-line has to step up and stop Mark Ingram, who
averaged 5.1 YPC last season. I think they will.
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