RunTheBall

I’m really beginning to think Dorsey is the problem. Yeah, he’s learning on the job, I get it. He needs to turn it around starting tonight. We have enough offensive talent, he just needs to do a better job of scheming them open especially those not named Diggs. This offense was much more dynamic with Daboll calling the plays, and the ball was spread around to more players. Knox didn’t disappear because he sucks. Josh didn’t forget how to throw deep crossers or shorter passes over the middle. Singletary doesn’t bench himself after the first quarter. Dorsey is the issue. I’m not saying he can’t get better, I just hope he does real quick or the division is in jeopardy and we will be competing for a wild card spot.

New Englands LBs are thumpers. They are slow as hell an can’t move laterally at all. If Dorsey doesn’t devote a chunk of the game plan to exploiting this obvious mismatch we have here (Knox, McKenzie, Cook, Hines, even MIA Shakir) I’m going to go from “he’s learning on the job” to “he doesn’t know what he’s doing”. Even if you keep a guy in to chip Judon, you’ve still gotta put those statues in conflict. NE has a great pass rush. The screen game should make an appearance for once this season. Draws up the middle that Dorsey loves won’t be there, these LBs can stop the run. We need to pin and pull to the outside with Cook. I think he’s the guy who could really tee off this game. I think Josh’s legs on a few designed runs and when NE plays man will be huge. What I hope we don’t see is running Singletary into the gut of the defense for a quarter then giving up. A game-plan that has Josh holding the ball for 3 seconds hoping for someone to get open. Diggs not getting any targets until the second quarter.

Gabe is a victim of fan expectations like the team is as a whole right now. We wanted him to take the next step, he hasn’t done that yet. His drops in critical situations magnify the issue. I think he’s a serviceable #2 right now, would like him to make the leap to solid #2. He will never be a 1b receiver many here anticipated.

I hate Vrabel and the scumbag Titans. They have that Pats* stench on them. I'm glad they lost on a stupid meathead penalty. Burrow is meh

I totally agree. So we have to keep grinding W’s until we get as healthy as possible for the playoff push. Even Hyde isn’t off the table (although I’d be shocked if he played this year)

It’s good to have our destiny in our own hands. If we go out there and take care of business, we win the East and the #1 seed is in play. It’s going to be a dogfight until the end instead of the cake walk it looked like at the beginning of the season. That’s ok, a battle hardened team in the playoffs is what you need. We just have to get there.

Wilson is never seeing the field again for the Jets Although White just got receiver Wilson killed. Hospital ball

It's about time. Gardner tackled him the entire route

Gardner is on the NFLs no flag list. That guy holds and interferes constantly and never gets called. I don't get why he's a golden boy already

The Jets OC scheming up multiple wide open receivers with Mike friggin White. Dorsey better wake the F up, maybe have a play or 2 where Josh doesn't have to hit a window smaller than the Death Star chute. These guys aren't a bunch of pro bowlers and they are wide open.

That red zone pick was as much on Dorsey as it was on Josh. I could see that play coming from my couch, the Lions knee exactly what was coming. Josh could have thrown it a little higher but still, ask the Pats* how easy it is when you know what offensive plays are coming. Dorsey is too predictable right now.

IDK why if it’s just a torn meniscus they are talking about season ending knee surgery unless they are thinking of repairing it which is rare in this age group and takes months to heal. He could have a scope, get that trimmed and be back in a month. It can be as simply as a 15 minute procedure in skilled hands. In terms of Von playing, it’s mainly a pain tolerance thing but depends on how large the tear is. Think of the meniscus as a thin, smooth disk in between the upper and lower leg bones. Now it has a frayed edge that can get caught in the joint as the knee flexes and extends. If it’s small, it just may be a small click but every time it clicks the meniscus gets pinched and yanked which equals pain and inflammation. If it’s a large tear it can completely lock the joint which means urgent surgery to unlock it. Time will tell.

This is a Dorsey get right game in my opinion. He’s finally got a normal number of practice days to install a NE specific game plan and it’s time to start putting it together attacking their weaknesses and avoiding their strengths. I think NE’s LB’s are garbage. They are slow, not instinctive and can be easily manipulated. I expect to see a lot of short/intermediate stuff over the middle. If the Hoodie is stupid enough to play McKenzie man to man again just keep feeding him the ball on crossers. Get Cook and Hines out of the backfield into the middle. Get Knox down the seam. Their strength is in their D-line and their safeties so running to the edges and play-action are huge. Judon has been a beast this year, need to have a plan for him even though he usually blows against Buffalo. Barmore is out so the O-line should be able to hold up a bit assuming they are healthy. I’ve been getting lower and lower on Dorsey as the year has gone on despite the gaudy stats. I hope he proves me wrong and starts growing into this job. He’s relying on Josh to just make stuff up and make tight window throws on every play. He needs to evolve his scheme to take advantage of NE’s obvious defensive weaknesses. I expect to see a different game plan from The Hoodie this year and it’s going to be a tight game.

I’d be really surprised if Hyde decides to play this year. I’m involved in a lot of these neck surgeries. In a good surgeons hands they are delicate surgeries but not technically difficult. He must have only had 1 level fused because if he had more than one level the risk of re-injury by playing too soon is much greater and he wouldn’t even be thinking about it The rods and screws are put in there to hold the 2 neck bones in place before the bone graft heals and fuses. Once it fuses I think it’s pretty low risk for re-injury with only one level done. How long that takes is variable, but its more than a few months to really fuse and strengthen. Given that football is such a violent sport, I’d be surprised if he gets cleared to take those hits so soon.

No team in the history of the league has benefited from game altering calls in their benefit that the Pats*. I’m not talking just a holding call here or there, every team gets those for and against. I’m talking game changing plays at critical junctures - like 3rd down phantom defensive holds, end of game roughing calls against Tom, From Tuck rule to Brady Rule to Just Give It To ‘Em, to any play Gronk was involved with to phantom PI’s in the end zone on critical drives. I hope NE gets screwed every game with a horrible call against them for the next 18 years. They and the few fans that are left watching them deserve it.

Ya know what, I’d agree with you there on Elam and White in man coverage. What I’ve noticed over the last 4 weeks, and by no means am I some football guru I’m just a dude who’s watched every game for 40 years, is that they’ve played a lot more man recently and not very well. I don’t mind mixing it in, but I’d guess our ratio is close to 50-50. I think we are a better zone team, especially with Edmunds in the middle, and would like to see more like 70-30. I think Jackson is a liability in man coverage, Johnson has been smoked numerous times, and Benford is a natural zone corner. We’ve been decimated by injuries on the defense and I get that. I think when adversity hits you go to your tried and true defense and sprinkle in a blitz here or there to get some pressure since our front 4 has been lacking the last month too.

Matt Patricia out scheming Ken Dorsey as an OC. Who’d a thunk it?

I disagree. I think they’ve been getting torched in man. They need to go back to their bread and butter zone once Edmunds gets healthy.

Guys, we’ve got 2 things going on here with 17 one mental one physical. Mentally he got into a rut with with the Jets and Vikings. Bad decisions, not seeing the field, horrible throws. All QB’s go through this at some point, unfortunately he got the elbow injury at the same time against the Vikings. He had a graded 2 sprain of the UCL against the Vikings. I’d guess 75% of QBs sit at least a couple weeks with that injury, not Josh. That elbow is bothering him much more than he let’s on and it’s easy to see. He won’t be back to 100% for a few weeks barring re-injury. Mentally I think he’s back to a good spot but he knows he can’t rocket every throw into tight windows because of the elbow. I don’t think it’s indecisiveness, he’s seeing the field, he’s just not trusting the arm to get it there and doesn’t want to risk TOs given the last few weeks. Which brings me to Dorsey, who I think is the main problem. I know it’s his first year, I know the stats look good, but the eye test tells me he’s been figured out and has yet to adjust. Josh’s pick tonight I knew exactly what play was coming in that situation at that part of the field. He’s too predictable. He needs to adjust his game plan to a QB with a sore elbow and he hasn’t done so. Still gets away from the run, still nothing over the middle, still no Hines who should have feasted tonight.

This only happens because Dorsey is more predictable than my teenage girl telling me she will be home by 8. His play calling is a problem. I’m Joe Average Football Guy and seeing that formation at that time I knew exactly what was coming, so the Lions definitely did. Dorsey is a problem especially in the red zone. I don’t care what the stats say, Josh Allen is making him look better than his garbage play calls. The Lions LBs are absolutely atrocious in coverage and we had nothing over the middle yet again. Knox in the seam? Nope. McKenzie on a short option? Nope. Couple of dump offs to Cook which he botched, that was about it. Where was Hines? He should have feasted today.

This is great news and right on schedule. Where’s the guy who talked to Tre’s family? Where’s the guy with inside sources at OBD who said Tre had played his last game as a Bill? As always, TBD coming through with the absolute CLOWN takes. Tre has been read physically, looks like he’s got his head where it needs to be to get some reps. That’s 100% better than pressuring him to get in the game when he isn’t ready to trust the knee. Gotta give McD credit here, he let Tre come along at his own pace and didn’t force him in while letting him know he was needed.

The Lions LBs suck in coverage. This should be a Knox/McKenzie/Cook over the middle game with a complimentary play-action game for deep shots to Diggs/Gabe because their CBs suck too. I want to see Dorsey come up with a game plan that exploits the Lions defensive deficiencies which are all over the place.

I was speaking more to his early play on the field and I agree with your sentiment. Zack isn’t the natural leader Josh is and will never be. He can learn that, IDK if he’s got the head to turn around the on-field performance

Saleh didn’t have much of a choice after that press conference. He was going to lose the locker room, that is pretty obvious. If Zach wants to have a chance he needs to take a step back and get his head back on straight. We did the same thing with Josh but we got to blame it on an elbow injury. Josh came back a different QB after watching for a few games. IDK if Zack can do that, I doubt it, but except for against Buffalo (of course) he’s a disaster and looks as bad or worse than last year.

I don’t agree with this at all. Maybe new fans or fans who haven’t been through the previous ups and downs feel that way. I don’t think most do at all. Having been through more down years than up, I appreciate the opportunity for us to be a team that should compete for a SB but in no way do I expect it. Too many things have to go right for a team to make it a slam dunk expectation. Enjoy the ride for all that it is because it will come to an end. And if your ability to enjoy this team is dependent on them winning the Super Bowl you are going to miss out on a lot of good football experiences.