We scored more than the opponent! We beat a well coached division opponent in their house in a hotly contested game! We beat the Pats in Foxborough! We're in first place!
QB - could it have been better? Yeah it could. QB could have handled pressure better still. QB could have made some other throws, not thrown that heave that ended up getting picked. But it was a pretty good effort overall. There was a lot of pressure throughout the game, some bad play designs, and still the QB challenged all levels of coverage and made some throws downfield that forced the defense to play honest off coverage that opened up the easy completions on slants and things that were needed to seal the game.
RBs - They did well with their opportunities. No complaints.
WRS - the difference in the game. How amazing was it to see an explosive DVP after he pretty much played 90 percent of last year on one leg. When DVP has that explosion in his step, which we all know just hasn't been there so many times due to his hamstring issues, he's a game changing player. Waddle, I mean he showed some of the same stuff as DVP. The athletic plays were impressive, and as advertised, but catching a contested ball downfield showed me that he is capable of being more than Albert Wilson. And props to Wilson for challenging them downfield too. The difference in the game may have been that athletic lunge for the end zone by Waddle which only guys with elite physical talent can do - shows you the small differences that elite talent can make in a game.
TE's - None of them including Gesicki were a focal point of the passing game. I'm ok with Gesicki not dominating every game from the TE position, but I do wish that ball being juggled that ended up intercepted would have been brought in.
Offensive line - Can't really say it was an impressive effort, but at the same time I know it could have been worse. We're gonna be compensating for these guys all year long, and that will be most felt on third and long, which was a disaster on all but one play I can remember - and Waddle still dropped that pass.
Defense - not gonna separate into units. It was bend but don't break, and while I know that won't impress some, the reality is that the opponent had a good gameplan, the QB was decisive and accurate, and they got the ball out quickly to receivers on most plays. But when the field was compressed and the lanes were narrow, the opponent only got into the end zone with the help of a penalty that was correct but still a hard one to see and matter of circumstance more than anything. This defense was HUNGRY for the football all game, contesting catches where possible and trying to come up with the ball when the chance was there. In the end, they CREATED two turnovers and provided opportunities for even more.
ST - did what they were supposed to.
Other thoughts-
I like Brissett doing sneaks, he's a big guy, Tua is a small guy, and I've never like the idea of your QB taking hits from all sides no matter how big they are. I just hated that silly sequence before half where we got the penalty.
The play design early was good, and then tailed off exactly like you'd expect from inexperience coordinators. I like that they found a way to push the ball downfield, and the QB was able to get easy quick completions with off coverage - not sure if that was play call, RPO, or hot route. But man, the third and longs are very concerning. It's not just that we weren't converting them with a weak offensive line - it's that pretty much from the get go the receivers weren't really heading to open space, so when the protection predictably broke down the QB didn't really have an outlet to just get rid of the ball and live another day. Only one time did I see the QB fail to get the rid of the ball to an open guy underneath - other than that, I just didn't see any chances to get rid of the ball at all before having to attempt to bail on the pocket, possibly taking a sack or having to abruptly try to get rid of the ball. That was a huge difference in why Mac Jones was able to avoid sacks while Tua wasn't - there just weren't the same opportunities to safely get rid of the ball in our offense, while Mac almost always had a receiver immediately open that he could hit with impunity if pressure came.
Defense - we subtracted talent in the offseason, and while for some that may not seem a big deal if the role players did well last year, but when the unit has less talent overall, guys who have bigger roles will have to try and impact the game with less fresh legs than before, and the guys giving them a spell may not be as good. This team had a lot of success with guys like Van Ginkle rotating in and impacting the game, and at least until someone like Phillips emerges, we don't have those same chess pieces to rotate in with fresh legs - at least in the front 7.
QB - could it have been better? Yeah it could. QB could have handled pressure better still. QB could have made some other throws, not thrown that heave that ended up getting picked. But it was a pretty good effort overall. There was a lot of pressure throughout the game, some bad play designs, and still the QB challenged all levels of coverage and made some throws downfield that forced the defense to play honest off coverage that opened up the easy completions on slants and things that were needed to seal the game.
RBs - They did well with their opportunities. No complaints.
WRS - the difference in the game. How amazing was it to see an explosive DVP after he pretty much played 90 percent of last year on one leg. When DVP has that explosion in his step, which we all know just hasn't been there so many times due to his hamstring issues, he's a game changing player. Waddle, I mean he showed some of the same stuff as DVP. The athletic plays were impressive, and as advertised, but catching a contested ball downfield showed me that he is capable of being more than Albert Wilson. And props to Wilson for challenging them downfield too. The difference in the game may have been that athletic lunge for the end zone by Waddle which only guys with elite physical talent can do - shows you the small differences that elite talent can make in a game.
TE's - None of them including Gesicki were a focal point of the passing game. I'm ok with Gesicki not dominating every game from the TE position, but I do wish that ball being juggled that ended up intercepted would have been brought in.
Offensive line - Can't really say it was an impressive effort, but at the same time I know it could have been worse. We're gonna be compensating for these guys all year long, and that will be most felt on third and long, which was a disaster on all but one play I can remember - and Waddle still dropped that pass.
Defense - not gonna separate into units. It was bend but don't break, and while I know that won't impress some, the reality is that the opponent had a good gameplan, the QB was decisive and accurate, and they got the ball out quickly to receivers on most plays. But when the field was compressed and the lanes were narrow, the opponent only got into the end zone with the help of a penalty that was correct but still a hard one to see and matter of circumstance more than anything. This defense was HUNGRY for the football all game, contesting catches where possible and trying to come up with the ball when the chance was there. In the end, they CREATED two turnovers and provided opportunities for even more.
ST - did what they were supposed to.
Other thoughts-
I like Brissett doing sneaks, he's a big guy, Tua is a small guy, and I've never like the idea of your QB taking hits from all sides no matter how big they are. I just hated that silly sequence before half where we got the penalty.
The play design early was good, and then tailed off exactly like you'd expect from inexperience coordinators. I like that they found a way to push the ball downfield, and the QB was able to get easy quick completions with off coverage - not sure if that was play call, RPO, or hot route. But man, the third and longs are very concerning. It's not just that we weren't converting them with a weak offensive line - it's that pretty much from the get go the receivers weren't really heading to open space, so when the protection predictably broke down the QB didn't really have an outlet to just get rid of the ball and live another day. Only one time did I see the QB fail to get the rid of the ball to an open guy underneath - other than that, I just didn't see any chances to get rid of the ball at all before having to attempt to bail on the pocket, possibly taking a sack or having to abruptly try to get rid of the ball. That was a huge difference in why Mac Jones was able to avoid sacks while Tua wasn't - there just weren't the same opportunities to safely get rid of the ball in our offense, while Mac almost always had a receiver immediately open that he could hit with impunity if pressure came.
Defense - we subtracted talent in the offseason, and while for some that may not seem a big deal if the role players did well last year, but when the unit has less talent overall, guys who have bigger roles will have to try and impact the game with less fresh legs than before, and the guys giving them a spell may not be as good. This team had a lot of success with guys like Van Ginkle rotating in and impacting the game, and at least until someone like Phillips emerges, we don't have those same chess pieces to rotate in with fresh legs - at least in the front 7.
