New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

ELM327

Great sunday in store for legacy pats fans. We're playing the dolphins and then there;s a potential TBTB* vs NO airing it out fest.

TBTB= Tom Brady Tampa Bay!

el Fenomeno

Anybody get hold of that new book The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict? It's where that story re: Brady's thumb injury I posted above came from.

I'm only a third of the way through, they've just hired Belichick after the infamous NYJ napkin press conference.

The first third is heavily focused on Kraft and how he got hold of the Patriots, and the relationship with Bill Parcells.

It's a fantastic read, definitely the best Pats book I've read to date.

j8wk2feszrnpao

el Fenomeno wrote: »

Anybody get hold of that new book The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict? It's where that story re: Brady's thumb injury I posted above came from.

I'm only a third of the way through, they've just hired Belichick after the infamous NYJ napkin press conference.

The first third is heavily focused on Kraft and how he got hold of the Patriots, and the relationship with Bill Parcells.

It's a fantastic read, definitely the best Pats book I've read to date.

I've read quite a bit previously, not sure how much can be new.
Didn't like the 'thumb story'; it was a story without quoting who it's from or how correct it is.
I'll wait until Brady/Bill retires and they actually do a proper autobiography.

el Fenomeno

munstermagic11 wrote: »

I've read quite a bit previously, not sure how much can be new.
Didn't like the 'thumb story'; it was a story without quoting who it's from or how correct it is.
I'll wait until Brady/Bill retires and they actually do a proper autobiography.

Kraft, Belichick and Brady were all interviewed by Benedict for the book, so I wouldn't be too concerned about sources.

Masked Man

Unfortunately, Belichick gave him very little from the interviews. He is noticeably absent from the acknowledgement section!

The book is decent and worth a read. The years prior to Belichick are particularly good. I didn't get much from it after that.

I'm still counting on an autobiography/coaching manual/something from BB after retirement.

j8wk2feszrnpao

el Fenomeno wrote: »

Kraft, Belichick and Brady were all interviewed by Benedict for the book, so I wouldn't be too concerned about sources.

But as per the hand injury story, nobody is really quoted. So we have no idea how accurate it is. That's the problem I have. He may have spoken to Bill about his first press conference with the Pats, and got nothing about the hand injury. Same for Kraft/Brady. Until the trio actually do their tell all book(s), it's not the same (for me personally).

me89

munstermagic11 wrote: »

But as per the hand injury story, nobody is really quoted. So we have no idea how accurate it is. That's the problem I have. He may have spoken to Bill about his first press conference with the Pats, and got nothing about the hand injury. Same for Kraft/Brady. Until the trio actually do their tell all book(s), it's not the same (for me personally).

The hand injury story was from the doctor. Good podcast with the author here
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TjnpR142py2zJyd5cs2hO?si=UoHx4GrETL-Rx9QlA0pekQ

j8wk2feszrnpao

me89 wrote: »

The hand injury story was from the doctor. Good podcast with the author here
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TjnpR142py2zJyd5cs2hO?si=UoHx4GrETL-Rx9QlA0pekQ

I heard the podcast previously, and again it lacked stuff that interests me (less about the games/structures that defined the Legacy and more about how he prepped for interviews, non football stuff, etc) and I'm sure he interviewed the doctor, but the written piece was clearly elaborated on by the author. That's not for me personally. I just prefer to get the autobiography, when they are done and really ready to tell all (such as Butler in SB LII). Not knocking the book for anyone else (a lot of the stuff I'd heard previously), it's just overall not my thing.

el Fenomeno

Stidham inactive today. So much for that hype train

StringerBell

Didn't get to watch the first half, bar the missed field goal at the end, but it doesn't sound great offensively anyway. Dolphins had two turnovers and pat's only go to the half 7-3 up.

Stidham being inactive, is he a healthy scratch? I'd be interested to hear EE take on it as he seemed very high on him.

AbusesToilets

StringerBell wrote: »

Didn't get to watch the first half, bar the missed field goal at the end, but it doesn't sound great offensively anyway. Dolphins had two turnovers and pat's only go to the half 7-3 up.

Stidham being inactive, is he a healthy scratch? I'd be interested to hear EE take on it as he seemed very high on him.

Juggling him for Folk maybe?

Smacruairi

I'm happy enough with cam's efforts. We look far more unpredictable, especially with 3rd down. Defense looking good. I think we will pull away in the final q

Masked Man

Wonder if the Shula patches are reminding BB what he's playing for!

Smacruairi

That run is something we just haven't had in our locker for some time. I'm really excited for the season looking at Cam here,some nice passes in that drive too.

ScrubsfanChris

StringerBell wrote: »

Didn't get to watch the first half, bar the missed field goal at the end, but it doesn't sound great offensively anyway. Dolphins had two turnovers and pat's only go to the half 7-3 up.

Stidham being inactive, is he a healthy scratch? I'd be interested to hear EE take on it as he seemed very high on him.

Defence still as good as ever.
The offence played it very safe in the 1st half, only 8 pass attempts for Cam think, mostly ran the ball

paulie21

JJ Taylor looks like a decent find. Harry making catches

ScrubsfanChris

Ffs Harry

StringerBell

Great seeing cam use his legs so well, been impressed in general this second half but God damn man try to avoid contact a little more some times!

ScrubsfanChris

StringerBell wrote: »

Great seeing cam use his legs so well, been impressed in general this second half but God damn man try to avoid contact a little more some times!

Definitely alot of fans biggest fear. It's a whole new exciting dimension to the offence but the hits are the trade off.

Already took one big hit on that 2nd TD

Smacruairi

True, but he is there like a month, and has controlled the game well, keeping the chains moving. Once he gets the wrs in a tricky rhythm, we should be very very likely to make multiple big plays.staying healthy is key alright

AbusesToilets

Harry gonna get a bollocking for that fumble. Still.seems a bit tentative physically

StringerBell

The Newton era gets off to a pretty good winning start. When you consider how disjointed I was expecting the offence to be maybe I am overly impressed right now but there ya go! Defence came up with big plays too which is always encouraging early in the season.

First franchise in history to replace an MVP qb with another MVP qb apparently.

ScrubsfanChris

Alot of safe play calls which is to be expected especially with no pre season.
Encouragingly it looks like theres more to come.

Masked Man

Why was Cam fuming at the end?

Mr. Guappa

Looked pretty promising from what I saw. That said the Dolphins were still well in the game late in the 4th quarter - we left a lot of points on the field.

Strange that Josh Uche was a healthy scratch - thought he was tabbed for a sizeable role on D.

ScrubsfanChris

Masked Man wrote: »

Why was Cam fuming at the end?

Think something happened after the last play that the cameras didn't pick up.
He was all smiles just before the kneel down.

thomond2006

Delighted for Cam.

Masked Man

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Think something happened after the last play that the cameras didn't pick up.
He was all smiles just before the kneel down.

Yeah, I presume he felt that somebody took a cheap shot but I didn't see anything.

Doogs27

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Strange that Josh Uche was a healthy scratch - thought he was tabbed for a sizeable role on D.

I read on one of the sites that it may be down to having no preseason and trying to mesh into a complex defensive scheme. I guess we’ll see.

ELM327

Good opening performance from Cam. Missed a few reads but to be expected with no preseason and only there a few weeks.

BaronVon

Masked Man wrote: »

Yeah, I presume he felt that somebody took a cheap shot but I didn't see anything.

Someone tried to grab his chain apparently, and he was not too impresses.

I notice Edelman isn't in the base offence anymore, I wonder is that cos he was limited in practice recently, or is it a sign that he's getting old....?

StringerBell

I'd say it was to do with the game planning for that game more than anything else tbh.

AbusesToilets

Big test next week, Seahawks and Wilson were pretty sharp. I hope we see more out of the passing game, like formour TEs to get a bigger piece.

How good was Taylor(#42) when he came on? Barrelled through the line. Our run blocking looks like it could be returning to 2018 levels, which is a great sign.

ELM327

Taylor had a great impact for sure.
Lets see if he can do it against a team that's better against the run. From memory, MIA were awful last year

AbusesToilets

How is Seattle's run D? Wilson is going to test our secondary, the lack of LB is going to make containing him challenging. Hate playing against him, still have nightmares of SB49 and watching him put Collins and Nink on their arses.

eagle eye

I have to say I wasn't impressed at all by the offense last Sunday. Yes we got it done but we were playing a bad team.
Newton was very poor in the passing game and I don't like it one bit. If he can't check down quicker and get rid of the ball I think we'll be in big trouble against teams with a stout run defense.

I hope he looks better this Sunday but if not I hope we move away from him quickly.

el Fenomeno

eagle eye wrote: »

I have to say I wasn't impressed at all by the offense last Sunday. Yes we got it done but we were playing a bad team.
Newton was very poor in the passing game and I don't like it one bit. If he can't check down quicker and get rid of the ball I think we'll be in big trouble against teams with a stout run defense.

I hope he looks better this Sunday but if not I hope we move away from him quickly.

Is this you trying to justify your Stidham optimism?.

eagle eye

el Fenomeno wrote:

Is this you trying to justify your Stidham optimism?.

No, obviously I was wrong about Stidham if he couldn't win the job.

el Fenomeno

eagle eye wrote: »

No, obviously I was wrong about Stidham if he couldn't win the job.

That's fair enough, but I think we need to stick with Cam. Given what was available in-house (Stidham, Hoyer) and externally (other FAs, trade targets) he gives us the best chance to win.

We saw what a pocket passer could do in this offense last year, and the answer was not very much. Our receivers just dont get seperation, there was no real threat at tight end - it was ugly. Doesn't matter how many reads or how far into his progression Brady could get, there were just no open receivers to throw it to most of the time and we looked downright awful.

At least with Cam, we have another dimension in option plays and QB runs. And on passing plays, if he doesn't see anything with his first 2 or 3 reads, then he can just take off and is a real threat to make a first down every time. And it's not like he's some college mobile QB who can't pass the ball - defenses will have to respect his passing ability and not just go all-out against the run.

I'd rather roll with the latter this year, and I'm ready to embrace us being a run-first, clock chewing offence. It suits us better with our current personnel.

ELM327

When we went deep into the playoffs the season before last, it was hugely run biased. I think we have a great set to push that with Cam at QB. And I'm not his biggest fan to say the least!

AbusesToilets

ELM327 wrote: »

When we went deep into the playoffs the season before last, it was hugely run biased. I think we have a great set to push that with Cam at QB. And I'm not his biggest fan to say the least!

It's a completely different team from last year. All our run blockers were injured. I have a lot of confidence that the run game will be successful this year, but we need a better passing attack. I'd love if we managed to pry Robinson away from the Bears.

eagle eye

el Fenomeno wrote:

At least with Cam, we have another dimension in option plays and QB runs. And on passing plays, if he doesn't see anything with his first 2 or 3 reads, then he can just take off and is a real threat to make a first down every time. And it's not like he's some college mobile QB who can't pass the ball - defenses will have to respect his passing ability and not just go all-out against the run.

You see you saying we have 'another' dimension is not true because we don't have a passing one.
Can Newton a couple of years ago was a great player but the guy in New England has clearly regressed as a passer.
I hope it improves because a prime Cam with our coaching would be awesome.
If he can't get his passing game up to speed we are going to lose a lot of games.

StringerBell

I'd be inclined to give him more time in the offence before writing him off though. The injuries, no pre season, new offence, new playbook etc. It wasn't going to just catch fire straight away. He did some good things last week, he is obviously out best option at QB1 in house, BB rates him and he seems to have settled comfortably into a leadership role already. He isn't going to be going anywhere any time soon Id bet and other than some questionable attitude moments from him in the past (my own opinion) I am happy to see him lead the team out this season.

eagle eye

Well you could never question his leadership skills. He is a natural leader.

I'm just concerned, I want to see a good mix of running and passing. I think we'll struggle to win games if we aren't passing the ball well.

We played the worst team in the NFL in week 1 imo, I'm not going to get excited over a win there and I was unimpressed with Cam's performance.

AbusesToilets

eagle eye wrote: »

Well you could never question his leadership skills. He is a natural leader.

I'm just concerned, I want to see a good mix of running and passing. I think we'll struggle to win games if we aren't passing the ball well.

We played the worst team in the NFL in week 1 imo, I'm not going to get excited over a win there and I was unimpressed with Cam's performance.

We still have the same fundamental issue as last year, sub par receivers who can't get separation. Hoping the TEs can make a difference. Harry continues to unimpress, he's noticeably lacking in physicality for someone of his size

eagle eye

We have a possibility of winning this game on the final drive which is ongoing now.

I just felt I should post this in advance of what happens because it doesn't matter the result I have been very impressed by Cam tonight. I feel confident that we'll play in the postseason at the end of this season.

el Fenomeno

Poor clock management at the end. Let 10 seconds or so run off the clock for no reason before the Harry catch. Would have had another attempt or two had a timeout been called.

Valiant attempt but bottled the clock.

eagle eye

So we lost but we played great on offense for the most part. Cam was excellent apart from the pick, Julian was immense.
We almost completed the comeback and imo it was the right play call on the final play.

me89

Disappointed to lose but really happy with the performance.

I think it's time to move on from Sony, he just can't make anyone miss, hopefully Harris is healthy soon.

eagle eye

me89 wrote:

I think it's time to move on from Sony, he just can't make anyone miss, hopefully Harris is healthy soon.

It's looking that way for sure unfortunately.
There's some good ones out there unsigned like Devonta Freeman and Spencer Ware.