--- THE OFFICIAL NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS THREAD --- OFFSEASON THREAD

[DeadsetAce]

not really a must win at all but we need to bounce back strong.

bill has cooks and hogan slated to be back up punt returners today....ummm, why??? get dion lewis or rex back there. you know, a position that we're deeper at

 

[DeadsetAce]

i bet our defense is going to be play super conservative. lot of bend don't break, give up the easy 5-10 yard plays and prevent anything deep. going to be frustrating if that's the case, but understandable since Alex Smith dropped bombs on us

 

[7th Chamber]

Agreed on the game not being a must win necessarily. Butler didn't warm up with the starters; in guessing he's playing nickel against Ginn?

I'm worried about the defense due to lack of depth and talent and I'm worried about the offense due to being shallow at WR. Let's see if the coaches can make this work though.

 

[DeadsetAce]

yeah looks like Rowe on Thomas and Butler in the slot on Ginn

i know Brees is gonna light it up. i just hope our offense is much more in sync and can out do them. i remember that 2009 MNF game in the dome versus NO and that was painful to watch

 

[7th Chamber]

/@):&!; Ghost

 

[green rhino123]

so far, so decent

 

[ricerocket1]

Gronk....

 

[7th Chamber]

Gronk....

 

[green rhino123]

Gronk gotta suck it up! It's only Game 2!

 

[7th Chamber]

It was his groin. Hopefully it isn't anything serious; it didn't seem like it.

 

[green rhino123]

Champs Byke

 

[ggarvinxx3]

Good game fellas, hopefully Gronk is well man

 

[7th Chamber]

I was really surprised in what we saw from the defense. I was expecting Brees to slice us up, and while they did get big plays, the defense was bend but don't break like DSA mentioned. Wise getting a couple sacks and pressures was good to see as well. Overall, I thought it was a good performance for the defense, especially without Hightower.

I think most of us knew the offense would be fine, but the injuries keep piling up. Even if no one misses any time from yesterday, having to deal with this much this early sucks. And with Gronk, we need him out there at this point, especially without Edelman.

 

[DeadsetAce]

yesterday was good to see. i really liked what i saw all things considered.

offense dominated a defense they should have dominated. brady looked great and got EVERYONE involved. offensive line gave up a little more pressure than i expected but they held it together and brady moved around in the pocket to make the plays we needed. great seeing dorsett contribute, too. the defense did well enough with hightower. they got KILLED on pick plays and rub routes which i'm sure BB will have them coached up on. but outside of that, pretty damn good effort. like 7th Chamber said, Wise has been great. love what he's done early on. and how about jonathan jones making some great plays breaking up passes and tackling. great to get that additional support from a fringe DB.

the bad news though was the injuries. gronk the huge concern. and then hogan looking gimpy. dorsett got nicked up a bit. hopefully amendola is back soon cause we are getting thin at receiver/TE really quickly.

 

[DeadsetAce]

 

[7th Chamber]

DeadsetAce Those plays made by Jones were huge. I believe one pass break up was for a TD as well.

 

[DeadsetAce]

^ yup! was thinking of those exact 3 plays. huge for us


and rapoport reporting that:



that's only "source" info and not official, but at least it's promising

 

[7th Chamber]

This sequence going into halftime was phenomenal.

 

[7th Chamber]

I'm trying not to worry about the Gronk injury and that report is good for me right now

The fact that trainers didn't look at anything specifically while he was on the sideline, him not having to leave the field and just riding the bike were all good signs to me.

 

[DeadsetAce]

This sequence going into halftime was phenomenal.

i was amazed that worked so smooth

then i read that they actually practice that. of course they ****ing do

 

[DeadsetAce]

Bedard today....

the Pats are phasing out Butler. starts with rejecting contract offers. then using guys in certain situations only and trying new guys (Rowe) out. something to watch. we saw it with Welker (sorta) and the big one was Jamie Collins

 

[7th Chamber]

I heard that as well; not sure how to feel about it. I've felt like Butler is one of those pieces on defense that we need to be a championship team, but this is very in line with what the Patriots have done before. If they do move Butler, they were saying not to expect anything big in return; maybe a mid-round draft pick at best. Callers were wanting a deal for Cole Beasley though.

 

[7th Chamber]

 

[DeadsetAce]

some light at the end of the tunnel:

 

[DeadsetAce]

so looks like Gronk didn't really practice. hopefully just precautionary.

on the Texans side, Kevin Johnson potentially being out would be big