I just got done watching the first half of last night's game on DVR. God, I love DVR for football!!! Instant replay at the touch of a button, whenever you want it.
I was stuck with the Philly broadcast, and their focus was on Eagles players. I was constantly rewinding to see who did what, because the Philly announcers didn't say any Patriots' names except Brady, Moss, Maroney, and the guys who scored the TD's. Networks beware: just because Herm Edwards is available, that doesn't mean you have to hire him and put him in the booth!
I gotta give Herm credit for this peach, though (I'm paraphrasing):
Quote:
"You don't have a play (that you can call) for 3rd and 27. So many times, fans will ask me, 'Why did you throw a screen? Why did you run a draw?' It's because there's really not much you can do on 3rd and 27, except hope somebody falls down. Just pick up what yards you can, what the defense will give you, then punt."
My thoughts on the first half (presuming the second half was a scrub-fest):
--My God, Tom Brady is the greatest QB ever, ainec. First action he sees in a year, and he's in mid-season form. 10-15, and I can remember at least three drops that hit receivers right in the hands (Galloway on the goal line, Moss on a quick screen that had YAC written all over it, and Moss again on a short out), plus the beautiful, perfectly thrown long pass to Moss that resulted in the big PI penalty.
--The only thing that concerned me even slightly was the INT. The ball was well underthrown, and the idiot Philly announcers were saying, "Brady was throwing it to a spot, expecting Moss to be there, and he wasn't." Which isn't close to what happened at all.
As soon as it left his hand, I thought, "That's ugly, off his back foot." The throw was to his left, and replay showed pressure coming from pass rushers up the middle and from his left,
where he needs to step with his front foot to make this throw. The last time he stepped up in such circumstances, his front leg was maimed and he was out for the year. The coolest, calmest, most confident QB ever was anything BUT confident in that delivery, which is why a DB got a gimme INT on a pop-fly.
Again, it only concerns me slightly because being a little gun-shy there is perfectly understandable, and I have every confidence that he'll be able to overcome it.
--Either the Philly OL is one of the worst in the league, or we've got the most relentless pass rush since the Fearsome Foursome. McNabb and Feeley were constantly flushed out of the pocket when we
didn't blitz, and when we did blitz, it was even uglier. It's gonna be hard to keep Tully Banta-Cain on the bench. Lack of a pass rush was probably our biggest weakness last year (hit the road, Vrabel!). I hope they keep this up against other OL's.
--McNabb is so great at making something out of nothing. The trouble is, he makes nothing out of something about 10x as often. Watching him react to a blitz, and comparing that to Brady, is hilarious. Brady finds wide-open receivers, and finds them quickly, and gets them the ball; McNabb overthrows guys who are covered. Maybe it's because one guy has confidence in his OL, and one guy doesn't, and if that's the case, this criticism is unfair; but McNabb's been in this league 100 years now, I'm sure he's had at least one decent OL over that time.
--LOL at the Philly announcers, again, this time for whining that Belichick kept his starters in for the entire half. "Belichick is playing to win. He obviously remembers that we went up to Foxborough last pre-season and beat them up pretty good..." Yeah, keep telling yourself that he gives a **** about you. I'm sure it has nothing to do with getting work for a QB who hasn't played in a year, and has host of new WRs/TEs.
--I didn't see, nor hear any mention of, Welker and Bruschi. What's up with them?