Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 8: Pats vs. St. Louis
Things to consider while wondering: Would it have killed Fox to give us just one shot of the cheerleaders in their Halloween costumes? Just one lousy shot?
*The Patriots hierarchy goes like this:
6. Good player
5. Pro Bowler
4. Great player
3. Legend
2. Patriots Hall of Famer
1. Troy Brown
Yesterday was another game where Kevin Faulk moved up the rankings. He'd made enough plays in enough big games to move into 3., is probably in 2., and is fast approaching 1. I assumed Brown retired the trophy of "Most Beloved Over Achieving Versatile Everyman Who Personified the Patriots" but they better not send it to the engraver just yet.
*What never ceases to amaze me about Faulk is his ability to get through the line, even at 5'8". I can see how he does it on draw plays when they spread the defense into pass formations and create space. But he was doing it yesterday as a lead back. Even on obvious running downs he was hitting holes and getting yardage on inside jabs. It's like he uses his lack of size as an advantage to get through the line or something. He could run through clothes lines covered in wet bed sheets and stay dry.
*A lot has been made the last two weeks about how Jim Haslett has changed the atmosphere in St. Louis since he took over and is encouraging his troops to relax and have fun. Swell. But he might check to see if he CC'd a copy of the email to Marc Bulger. Because he wasn't having a lick of fun. All game long he had the face of a guy watching a cop write him a ticket.
*Adalius Thomas was the best player on the field yesterday. It wasn't even close. He was immovable against the run and on the pass rush came after Bulger like Keith Olbermann going after a conservative, self-employed plumber.
*Space Mountain on school vacation week doesn't have a line as long as the one looking to bash the Patriots secondary right now. But it seems to me their struggles are more X's and O's than lack of ability. They simply are not a good man coverage team, but when they play the zones and Cover-2 to take away the long pass, they're more than adequate. On Donnie Avery's 69 yard TD catch, the Rams came out in an I showing run, and moved the FB to H-back with the strong side right. Whether it was the run look that had the Pats in man or what, I don't know. But that left Ellis Hobbs alone on Avery and the kid made a nice double move to get open. That's exactly the kind of play the Pats usual Cover-2 limits the damage on.
*Interestingly enough, Hobbs wasn't out to take the subsequent kick off. I'm pretty sure he was on the sidelines getting doused with fire extinguishers.
*I'd love to know what the reason was for the Pats to switch sides between Mike Vrabel and Thomas. They've done it before for a series or two, most notably the Super Bowl That Shall Not Be Named, where they opened with Vrabel right and Thomas left but then switched back. But yesterday it was all game long. Did the coaches see something that led them to think Thomas could do things against Alex Barron and Richie Incognito that he couldn't against Orlando Pace? Did they see some sort of baseball-like righty/lefty matchup? He bull rushed Barron for a sack with 9 minutes to go in the half, two plays later forced Bulger into Richard Seymour, and in last minute of the half beat Barron off the edge for another sack. Whether the coaches saw something that told them Thomas would have Barron's number, it worked.
*Of course, this is Massachusetts, and when it comes to chasing Bulgers, we wrote the book.
*I love when the Pats play some bottom feeder team because the network back bench announcers are way more entertaining than the first teamers ever were. I don't know who JC Pearson is, but he didn't disappoint. My favorite moment was when Deltha O'Neal went down and JC went on and on about his ankle, how he rolled his ankle, isolated the replay to show us the exact moment he hurt his ankle like Kevin Costner pointing out the moment of impact on the Zapruder film. And five minutes later the Pats announced O'Neal was out with a head injury. In fairness, JC was only off by 5 feet 11 inches. He must suck at "Operation." JC = Just Clueless.
*The talk of St. Louis' "resurgence" and all that is premature, but they've got the pieces in place for a decent team. Oshiomagho Atogwe is one of the underrated Safties in the league. Scott Linehan should've gotten fired just for cutting Fakhir Brown, who had blanket coverage on Moss to force Atogwe's pick. Josh Craft showed really good cover skills on Moss as well. They're D is built the way Haslett likes them, with a big front that clogs the middle as opposed to outside containment, and smallish, quick LB's to pursue and finish plays. And Avery will go in the 2nd round of every fantasy draft in the country next year.
*But Avery has got to work on his robot to retire it for good. That was just awful. Then again, I grew up watching Freddie Tubbs, so maybe my standards are impossibly high.
*I will gladly endure a thousand "Frank TV" promos if it means I never have to hear that "Saved by Zero" ad ever again. That goddamned earworm chewed it's way into my brain and I can't get it out.
*Matt Light schooled Chris Long. Until Long beat him with that quick twitch inside move for the sack, the kid was invisible.
*I hate to break this to the numbskulls who were starting the Kevin O'Connell talk two weeks ago, but Matt Cassel is improving in all areas, especially when it comes to sensing pressure. He had no chance on the Long sack, but on the very next play he made a great step up move into pocket when Victor Adenyanju beat Mark LaVoir. He continues to limit his mistakes. Neither INT was his fault. In the 3rd qtr, he had three passes dropped by Welker, Faulk and Moss, the best hands on the team.
*And for all that, Chris Rose says "Cassel has struggled in this half." Really? What else can we expect from a guy who thinks Tom Arnold is hilarious.
*The sneaky best find on the Patriots team this year is Gary Guyton. An undrafted rookie who blew by guys like Victor Hobson to not only make the roster, but he's getting significant playing time, mostly subbing out Tedy Bruschi on passing downs. He not only has the schemes figured out, he's got the quickness to make up for it when he's a step slow to react to the reads.
*Guyton seems to be in the middle of the formation every time the Pats go deep into their exotic defensive looks. On 3rd & 4, they stacked front with Richard Seymour at NT, Mike Wright at strongside DT and Thomas in a stance outside of him. The entire weakside standing until pre-snap when Vrabel put his hand down. They rushed the four down linemen and had Guyton stay at the line to spy Bulger. And this time the man coverage worked as Bulger had to rush his throw and Jerod Mayo had TE Daniel Fells all the way. Incomplete.
*The fight for stupidity superiority between Rose and Pearson was an epic battle and it raged right to the end of the game. Not to be outdone by Rose's "struggle" comment, Pearson fired back with "Matt Cassel needs to make more plays with his arm." Good strategy. It's best to leave the left foot quarterbacking to Christy Brown.
*This was my first exposure to Fox hottie Nischelle Turner. And I must say I like her spirit. As dumb as the other two sounded, she was not to be outdone in the stupid comment department. Right after the half she spoke of the "craw in Bill Belichick's side." I didn't know what it meant then, I don't know now, but I know a future Dumbass Sideline Legend in the making when I see one. Nice sweater though.
*Richard Seymour was great. I know there's something more I wanted to say about him, but "Saved by Zero" knocked it out of my head.
*One thing I'd like to see out of Cassel more than anything is more passes to the TE's and Jabar Gaffney. Not so much because they can't move the ball by sticking to the best WR combo in football, but because it will be a sign that Cassel is going through his progressions faster and reading the defenses quicker. I still think he's kind of locked in on two options, but it's coming.
*The Emmit Smith quote of the week speaks to something I'd like to see Cassel improve upon: He gets the ball over to their third read than most quarterback can.
*One interesting moment came a couple of plays after Moss whiffed on his block on a bubble screen to Welker. They sent Faulk out wide and tried again, only this time they had Sam Aiken in the slot alongside him. Aiken not only threw a nice block to take Brown out of the play, the two mixed it up with a little extracurricular after the whistle. We've not seen much of Aiken except on Special Teams, but it looks like he's got some fight in him and that's why he made the roster.
*I've said before that I think Hobbs takes too much flak. But after getting caught from behind by Josh Brown, he should've been hung up on a hook in his locker by his wedgie.
*I'm looking forward to the NFL Supervisor of Referee Excuses coming on with Rich Eisen this week and explaining how they can blow the whistle with Cassel standing there on his feet, holding the ball. Why not just blow the play dead prior to the snap? And where was the quick whistle when two Pats were DP-ing Eli Manning in the You Know What Bowl?
*Funny how they flagged Incognito for that False Start penalty. Not that he didn't move; I'm just surprised the officials recognized him. See, his name is "Incog..." oh, forget it. "Saved by Zeee-ro..."
*The only thing funnier than watching Belichick blow a gasket over that play was seeing Haslett scream over the spot of the ball when the Rams punt went out of bounds. So you can guage the intersection of a vertical plane with a 50 foot high parabola? Thanks for the input, Coach Pythagorus.
*The official scorer has changed the Dante Hall catch off of Sanders' facemask from an interception to a "team rebound."
*Granted St. Louis isn't the '85 Bears. But the Pats were without a legit No. 1 or No. 2 RB, at one point down to James Sanders, a Brandon Meriweather and two rookie CB's and came from behind to win. And I give Cassel a lot of credit for the way he handled himself. Even when the protection broke down and his receivers went all Chad Jackson on him, he stayed poised. While Bulger was making his pissy face, Cassel had a look about him that said "Maybe I'll wi-i-in. Saved by Zeee-ro..." Dammit!