Pat's Game thoughts

[82CardsGrad]

Was at the game. Huge and very LOUD crowd. Electricity was high! Yet somehow, the Cards couldn't seem to rise to the occasion.
Overall, they looked slow and often confused on both sides of the ball. I was so surprised to see the defense constantly not set while the Pat's offense came to the line. There were guys constantly pointing and screaming at each other as if they had no clue where to be lined up! Crazy...
Specifics:

- Our defense 100% cost us this game. Embarrassing that we allowed a first time starter, missing two tackles and Gronk, to dominate us they way Jimmy G did. No excuse to allow that and all the MASSIVE 3rd down conversions.

- Badger, playing with the knee brace, is not anywhere close to his normal self. He looked slow and tentative all night.

- We better hope and pray that Brandon Williams is somehow able to learn from this and the many other torchings he's about to experience!

- Our pass rush STILL sucks. Jimmy G had all kinds of time in the pocket and when we blitzed, we were never able to get home... Just pathetic.

- Tony Jefferson played lights out! Great, great game for #22!

- Michael Floyd has never been and never will be a viable #1 WR in the NFL.

- John Brown isn't right... at all.

- David Johnson... Just Wow!

- I thought Hump did a fine job in his first start. But why is it that when the Pats blitzed, they almost always got home or at least got the hit on Carson, and we rarely laid a finger on Jimmy G???

- Fitz.... Just WOW!!

- Bad snap... Cat still should've made the damn kick.

- Drew Butler simply sucks. Kills us!

- Kick Return team is flat out laughable...

I don't know... I hope my gut is wrong... But from all I saw last night, the team and the spirit and the flow all seemed oddly off. Perhaps the team will grow and come together during the season - I HOPE! But that crap last night didn't feel right on so many important levels. Like I said, I hope this team grows and improves from this point forward, but right now, I would say the odds shifted bigtime in favor of a frustrating season about to be unleashed upon us... [emoji30]

 

[Russ Smith]

Agreed on John Brown he was mainly a decoy last night and with them taking away the deep stuff he was completely ineffective. He just started practicing full speed and it showed. And with JJ Nelson going out our really deep WR group was effectively 3 guys last night, Fitz, Floyd and Jaron Brown.

Catanzaro says don't blame the snapper blame me I missed it but he's being nice, it was obvious he had to slow up because of the snap and that screwed everything up.

A huge disappointment to me is with 3 talented RB's we only found a way to use one of them. Ellington did nothing except that one nice catch and run, and Chris Johnson barely played. I'm not saying don't use DJ he's awesome, but if you're going to have 3 guys like that on the roster you gotta find a way to use them. Too bad Chris is not a better receiver because we did play AE and DJ together some. With Brown and Nelson not doing anything we could have used CJ's speed.

Agreed on HB too you could see him somewhat limping as he ran. He's not 100% yet.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

Agree with all your points.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Agree completely with Jefferson... dude was bringing it with an attitude!

 

[Shane]

Agreed on John Brown he was mainly a decoy last night and with them taking away the deep stuff he was completely ineffective. He just started practicing full speed and it showed. And with JJ Nelson going out our really deep WR group was effectively 3 guys last night, Fitz, Floyd and Jaron Brown.

Catanzaro says don't blame the snapper blame me I missed it but he's being nice, it was obvious he had to slow up because of the snap and that screwed everything up.

A huge disappointment to me is with 3 talented RB's we only found a way to use one of them. Ellington did nothing except that one nice catch and run, and Chris Johnson barely played. I'm not saying don't use DJ he's awesome, but if you're going to have 3 guys like that on the roster you gotta find a way to use them. Too bad Chris is not a better receiver because we did play AE and DJ together some. With Brown and Nelson not doing anything we could have used CJ's speed.

Agreed on HB too you could see him somewhat limping as he ran. He's not 100% yet.

Come on Russ??? Your really going to complain about playing DJ too much? That kid is special and he should only be coming off the field for a breather here and there.... CJ and Ellington are just a luxury just in case of injury...

 

[Russ Smith]

Come on Russ??? Your really going to complain about playing DJ too much? That kid is special and he should only be coming off the field for a breather here and there.... CJ and Ellington are just a luxury just in case of injury...

Huh? how did you take that from what I said? What I said was if you're going to have 3 RB's like that you have to find a way to use them other wise it makes no sense to have them all on the roster. 2 yes, all 3 no. We only had 19 total runs 2 by Palmer, 16 by DJ, and 1 by CJ. That is we threw the ball too much. And the only wrinkle was putting DJ and AE in together and it really only worked once.

So far Ellington is playing more than CJ because of ST and receiving, and did very little which is why I said I wish CJ was a better receiver so it could be him, not AE playing with DJ. They have to find a way to use all 3 guys even if use means trade one of them.

 

[BigRedRage]

Come on Russ??? Your really going to complain about playing DJ too much? That kid is special and he should only be coming off the field for a breather here and there.... CJ and Ellington are just a luxury just in case of injury...

He looked great all night long too, if he was being stifled it would make sense to bring someone else in. Also, if we had a lead, you would likely see more running and more rotations.

 

[Shane]

Huh? how did you take that from what I said? What I said was if you're going to have 3 RB's like that you have to find a way to use them other wise it makes no sense to have them all on the roster. 2 yes, all 3 no. We only had 19 total runs 2 by Palmer, 16 by DJ, and 1 by CJ. That is we threw the ball too much. And the only wrinkle was putting DJ and AE in together and it really only worked once.

So far Ellington is playing more than CJ because of ST and receiving, and did very little which is why I said I wish CJ was a better receiver so it could be him, not AE playing with DJ. They have to find a way to use all 3 guys even if use means trade one of them.

I don't know Russ that sounds like some big-time nitpicking for something that wasn't even an issue… You don't have to use them? And having the Depth there hasn't hurt the team? Sure if you can trade him you would but you have to have the right deal… Just because you're on the roster doesn't mean they should be playing especially with David and Johnson holding the number one role.

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't know Russ that sounds like some big-time nitpicking for something that wasn't even an issue… You don't have to use them? And having the Depth there hasn't hurt the team? Sure if you can trade him you would but you have to have the right deal… Just because you're on the roster doesn't mean they should be playing especially with David and Johnson holding the number one role.

We scored 21 points Shane. The offense wasn't that good and a big part of that IMO was we didn't run the ball often enough we were fixated on trying to go downfield.

Those 3 guys combined for 17 carries, that's bad, they need more carries. Yes the defense struggled, yes Brandon Williams struggled but with 3 RB's that have all fairly recently been #1 NFL RB's that just makes me wonder why do we have so much RB depth and so little CB or OL depth? I actually expected Ellington to be traded I'm very surprised he's on the roster. I was fine with bringing back CJ veteran guy, ran well before he got hurt last year but I don't yet see that we've been able to figure out how to use all 3.

It worked last year when DJ was the swing guy because he's so versatile, but now that he's rightfully the starter, it is puzzling to have both AE and CJ if we're not going to use them. Yes if someone gets hurt then we're glad we have depth there but with some of the holes we have it's puzzling we have 3 such RB's. RB is one of the easier positions to fill in the NFL.

I don't know why you think I'm bashing David Johnson I'm not, I'm saying with Brown ineffective and Nelson hurt there was very little explosive play last night and that is where the 3 RB's could have been used better.

 

[Shane]

I 1000% agree that we didn't run the ball enough… But we could've run the ball 25 to 30 times and still David Johnson should've gotten 90% of the Carries...

I don't know why you're acting surprised though that's who Bruce Arians is he is pass happy coach… He is never going to change that's the coach that he is and the offense he likes to run. There is a reason he was let go from Pittsburgh and it wasn't because he like to run the ball. That guy is in his mid to late 60s and he isn't going to change all of a sudden.so you should probably get used to it.

I get that you wanted more runs but touches from the other running backs doesn't improve our chances just because they're touching it even if he included more runs I'd rather see David Johnson get the majority of them .

 

[MrYeahBut]

Not so sure about Ellington, but I think they'll use CJ when the situation warrants it. With Johnson playing
so well, why did they really need CJ last night?

 

[Russ Smith]

I 1000% agree that we didn't run the ball enough… But we could've run the ball 25 to 30 times and still David Johnson should've gotten 90% of the Carries...

I don't know why you're acting surprised though that's who Bruce Arians is he is pass happy coach… He is never going to change that's the coach that he is and the offense he likes to run. There is a reason he was let go from Pittsburgh and it wasn't because he like to run the ball. That guy is in his mid to late 60s and he isn't going to change all of a sudden.so you should probably get used to it.

I get that you wanted more runs but touches from the other running backs doesn't improve our chances just because they're touching it even if he included more runs I'd rather see David Johnson get the majority of them .

Again I'm not sure why you think I am taking a shot at David johnson? He had 20 touches last night, 16 runs 4 catches. Ellington had 2 catches, CJ had 1 run. So of the 23 non ST's touches by the Cards RB's last night, David had 20 of them. I don't think we can argue he didn't get a high enough % of the touches. The problem is the RB's didn't get enough touches in a game where NE was scheming to take away the deeper shots. When we were spreading DJ out as a WR, I would have liked to see us have CJ in there at RB. Then we could have actually had a threat to run the ball while still trying to get DJ isolated in a mismatch, with AE in there NE could just ignore the run.

I know Arians is a pass happy coach I guess it bothers me that we put up only 21 points in large part because he refused to adjust the offense to the situation. Brown wasn't nearly 100%, nelson got hurt, Pats playing to take away the deeper stuff means you have to run the ball and take the underneath stuff.

I haven't even talked about TE's, Gresham had 4 catches that was it. For all the talk that Arians likes to play 2 TE's I didn't see it much. I saw Niklas in there once but he was in the backfield blocking.

This was a winnable game, the defense had some obvious personnel issues that were tough to overcome, the offense should be good enough to overcome that but they didn't play the way we should have to win that game IMO.

 

[Harry]

I completely agree with Russ. They should have run more. I agree John Brown wasn't right. They should have played Jaron. Also they could have slotted DJ or split him out and put CJ in the backfield.

 

[Russ Smith]

Not so sure about Ellington, but I think they'll use CJ when the situation warrants it. With Johnson playing
so well, why did they really need CJ last night?

Because with Brown doing nothing and Nelson hurt we had no speed and that allowed NE to defend us the way they did.

In the 2nd half we started putting DJ out at WR now and then, sometimes with Ellington sometimes with no RB. They were trying to get him in mismatches but IMO that would have been a good time to put CJ at RB so that you had the threat of actually running it. NE saw that and just said ok they're going to throw it.

I know the defense was bad last night but 21 points from the offense in that matchup was not good either, I thought we did a very poor job of using our personnel.

 

[D-Dogg]

Ellington should have been traded for a decent CB.

 

[Shane]

Ellington should have been traded for a decent CB.

Great thinking do you know who our suitors were? For third string running back who hasn't stayed healthy his whole career ???

 

[MadCardDisease]

Catanzaro says don't blame the snapper blame me I missed it but he's being nice, it was obvious he had to slow up because of the snap and that screwed everything up.

My seats had a perfect look at that last kick. As soon as I saw that low snap I knew Cat would miss it. To be honest I was surprised that the holder was able to get it in place for Cat to kick it. That miss goes on the rookie long snapper.

 

[Bodha]

- Was on snapper, not kicker. Snap was source of everything that happened thereafter.

- Tyrann was stiff legged all night. Like hes afraid to bend his knees

- Bucannon had his worst game as a pro. Far too many missed tackles

- Humphries did very well for his 1st time

- Shipley also deserves some recognition

- John Brown isn't ready to contribute after missed practice time

- Golden + Chandler look like a dynamite combo

- everyone in the NFL is a pro. Doesn't matter if the Patriots were shorthanded. Max Hall beat NO in NO once. We missed a FG and lost. We wouldn't be freaking out right now had he made it.

Lastly keep this in mind: Chargers blew a 21-3 lead in the 2nd half. THEY have problems. We do not.

 

[Shane]

Lastly keep this in mind: Chargers blew a 21-3 lead in the 2nd half. THEY have problems. We do not.

Oh we've got problems.. Are they fixable? Maybe. Only time will tell but o debt our issues is to stick your head in the sand... We won a game with Mac Hall yes.. At home... With QB being the only glaring weakness or position missing... Not 6 like the Pats... Including both starting OT's.. Pats or pros or not that's embarrassing..

 

[Russ Smith]

My seats had a perfect look at that last kick. As soon as I saw that low snap I knew Cat would miss it. To be honest I was surprised that the holder was able to get it in place for Cat to kick it. That miss goes on the rookie long snapper.

yeah Butler had to actually pin the ball on the ground adn then flip it up so the timing was all whacked out.

The hold and the 4 yard loss on the screen killed us there, I suspect if we were 10 yards closer when kicking that the snapper might not have screwed up but I guess you never know.

 

[Cheesebeef]

i remember earier in the off-season when i was told that bringing back a Freeney or Powers was a "luxury"... no, having a back-up RB to probably the most talented back in the league making 3 million dollars is a luxury... especially with a capable backup behind him and another capable backup being cut (Williams). you can never have enough pass rushers/CBs... those guys are never a luxury and not having those guys last night hurt us.

Reality is that CJ shouldn't see the field that much. When you have a Masrhall Faulk-esque talent, you keep him on the field at all times and build your offense around him. i think DJ is that special.

 

[D-Dogg]

Great thinking do you know who our suitors were? For third string running back who hasn't stayed healthy his whole career ???

Anything, anyone. We aren't going to be using him.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Stats show this game to be virtually even... which the score indicated.
Cards got 2 turnovers, but Pats had an 8 min TOP edge... that's the difference.
Could get them off the field on 3rd down.

 

[Cards_Campos]

I agree on a lot of this.... Williams i thought wasn't as bad as we perceived... First pass you can see he thought there was help...2nd one was good Coverage...and Garappolo made a great pass.... Our punter is awful.... And Carolina getting Lee was an amazing trade.. But there has to be a guy who can punt somewhere out there.... In fact I would hold a punting tryout For anyone!! I mean anyone to try out.... There is a high school Punter( I know not eligible ) in high school here that can punt 50 yards.... Hell I would pay 1 of the Australian rules football players more money to punt.... CJ needs 5-6 carries a game because he is so different than DJ.... Arians who I love and love the passing attack... Has to adjust.... Because I promise you... More teams are going to use the New Enkgand style defense... Saying all this... Every game I'm the NFL comes down to 2 plays or so.... We didn't get them.... And also... Id rather being playing well late than early!! Last 2 years we have dominated at first and tailed off.... Maybe that is why we look the way we do... We lost to New England not Atlanta.... Scrubs or not... Belichick could make the 49ers playoff caliber.

 

[Bodha]

Oh we've got problems.. Are they fixable? Maybe. Only time will tell but o debt our issues is to stick your head in the sand... We won a game with Mac Hall yes.. At home... With QB being the only glaring weakness or position missing... Not 6 like the Pats... Including both starting OT's.. Pats or pros or not that's embarrassing..

We missed a FG. 1 snap. Patriots didn't kick our heads in.

This over the top sky is falling reaction around here is ridiculous.