AKC

Had a chance to flip the NE tape in last night, some of my thoughts on the offensive side of the game: There’s common NFL talk about an OLine “gelling” over time- the reality of this presumption is that overall it’s more important for the 3 guys in the middle; the Center and both Guards; to work a s a single unit. Much of the game, and specifically in pass protection, the OTs work on their own with the middle unit typically being responsible for 2 defenders and any inside blitz pickup. With Chris Villarial seemingly healthy after multiple early season problems it was easy to see in the NE game just how well he works with Trey Teague. There’s a McGahee draw from our own 4 that these two completely open up for a 12 yard gain on first down- one of the toughest places to block on the field withthe attention defenses give to holding the middle at that end. The two work very well in pass protection together on that right side and Villarial did a commendable job when matched up one-on-one against Vince Wilfork for much of the day. The good chemistry between these two players is the kind of thing great offensive lines have between their front 3. It’s refreshing to see the team responding to the fact that on the other side of Teague we just don’t have the same, or for that matter any sign of decent chemistry. With any luck the Bennie Anderson experiment as a starter is over- Anderson is simply an incredibly inconsistent player who gives a decent effort on one down and is standing hands on hips before the whistle blows on the next. At his size Bennie should have been embarrassed to be pushed 3 yards back into Holcomb by Willie McGinnest coming on an inside stunt loop. It’s almost physiologically impossible for a guy with a 100 pound advantage PLUS ideal position to get flopped into his own QB. Benny doesn’t do a good job of using his hands and feet at the same time, it appears to me that mentally it’s simply too much for him to process and he ends up focusing on one or the other. He misses his pass blocking pickups either from a lack of vision, a lack of reaction or more likely a combination of both. As bad as Anderson plays at times, he has a guy to his left who gets a lot of very unfair things said about him. Mike Gandy plays surprisingly sound football at the LT spot- his one big liability is he doesn’t have a natural slide like the big money LTs, but he does have good fundamental technique; on running downs he engages and gets his weight out well over his waist very effectively and keeps his feet moving, in pass protection he normally makes good decisions about where to set and then he is patient waiting for his assignment to commit before he punches or controls the defender with his arms. He rarely gives up on a play and always seems to be looking for a target on the second level if he’s moved downfield. The first play after the Patrick Pass fumble is the second play of the game where Gandy puts his man down on the field on his back, in this case McGahee takes off through the hole for 9 yards. As surprising as Gandy has been, it’s safe to assume he’ll be even more effective once we find something more than a bloated up warm body to play inside him. Help at LG will also dramatically improve Teague’s undeserved reputation at Center. Trey Teague continues to be a superior NFL lineman in the open field and a major asset in the middle when he isn’t covering for injured or inept players to his sides. Look no further than the screen pass to McGahee on the second drive where Teague CONSUMES Mike Vrabel to open up the field for an 8 yard gain. There’s no doubt there are a few centers in the league you could plug into this team who would arguably be a better fit for a power running offense, at the same time we’ve been power running pretty effectively most of the season and the dimension a guy like TT offers in second level blocking expands dramatically what we can do with screen passes, misdirection plays, delayed runs and under routes. Jason Peters- I must say it was impossible not to appreciate the circumstances of his start and the effectiveness with which he played. I will expand on the good things he did but there was one major disappointment- on the Parrish reverse Peter’s failure to get a chuck on Ty Warren blew the whole play up- Parrish’s speed was negated by a big body standing in his favored path, it’s impossible to say how far Parrish might have gone without Warren’s presence but it looks to me like it may have been a good gainer. For the most part Peters was exceptionally effective against Warren. In fact watching how well he handled him one-on-one OI was surprised Belichick didn’t adjust to force him to play a quicker player before the Pat’s began lining up Willie McGinnest across from him occasionally beginning in the middle of the 2nd quarter. McGinnest gave Peters more of a challenge, and it made it clear that we wouldn’t want to see Peters playing at the other OT spot any time in the near future, but overall he held up incredibly well for a guy thrown into the lion’s den. I’m not someone who gets excited about the stunt plays like Peter's TD catch, but playing a game at the RT spot as effectively as he did has drawn me closer to becoming a Peter’s fan. It’ll be a can’t miss watching area of the field this weekend for me. Among our TEs I remain surprised by negative comments on Mark Campbell. All the guy does is play better than average at the TE position week in and week out, doing everything asked of him and having very few lapses (like the one bad whiff he had in NE). While for the most part this guy is arguably a top 20-25 TE in the NFL, the fact that the Antonio Gates, Algee Crumplers and Tony Gonzalez’s get the press is simply because of the media and fan obsession with players handling the ball. Campbell has developed into a damn good football player, and if we had another TE who could block in the mix he’d see more balls come his way. The B word is that Ryan Nuefeld is wasting space on the other end of our line in our 2TE run set, and Ryan Nuefeld is simply awful. On another of his pathetic missed blocks this season he forces Holcomb to throw the ball away, beginning the “grounding” discussion that ends up a no call. On the play, Roosevelt Colvin- plastic hip and all- makes a foot fake that send Nuefeld fallingto the turf to give the rushing lane up. Another play worth noting was the screen to Parrish- again the play is blown up, this time by a terrible Sam Aiken miss of tiny Ellis Hobbs. The balance of our team, from the OLine to our WRs, all have their assignments tied up. In fact Jason Peter’s has gotten downfield in position to spring Parrish for a major gainer, yet everything is blown up by Sam Aiken’s unbelievably poor shot at tying up an easy- and much smaller- target. I’m honestly convinced that from what I saw in our second drive from Willis McGahee that even at 47 years of age I could still throw a more effective cross body block. Damien Shelton’s whiff leading to a Holcomb sack was negated by NE penalty, but his continued ineptitude in most pass blocking situations in my mind makes it fair to call out our Running Back’s Coach Eric Studesville-for too many years we’ve had unwilling or awful blocking from our running backs and it’s time someone did something about it. If these players need one day every week of working with McNally then let’s get it done. We have occasional offensive line breakdowns but the simple reality of this Bill’s team, like its most recent predecessors, is that THE weakest link in pass blocking for us is from our running backs. This must change if we are ever to take advantage of the speed WRs we’ve spent dearly for in our recent drafts. OAN-I remember being confused during the live telecast by a Mike Patrick comment that McGahee “got back to the Line Of Scrimmage, Bruschi was in on the stop”. As it had appeared to me live, McGahee had just popped a first down up the middle of the Pat’s Defense. It all makes so much more sense now, realizing the idiots in the booth weren’t watching the football game at all.

It will be merely one more season if he refuses to recognize his miscalculations as to the importance of the first 3 players in the DT rotation. There's always holes to fill on a bottom 25 team but not a single thing would have gone further to have put us in first place today than had we addressed our lack of a 2nd starting quality DT in the offseason.

If I'm reading this right your premise suggests someone has crystal balls that allow them to tell the one promising 5th or later round QB from the 25 who will never start an NFL game?

With 54% going to the shameful broadcast by ESPN it wouldn't have been in the running anyway. The ABC response on the following Monday night broadcast, presumably to the media and consumer complaints lodged against ESPN within a day of the episode, shows the pressure the Networks are under to avoid stepping in sh-- like Theisman and Co. did. Part of this no doubt are internal concerns about ABC's upcoming promotion of Theisman into that Monday Night Football booth. Perhaps some further "campaigning" on the part of the league's fan base will convince ABC to kill the awful idea of advancing Theisman's pitiful broadcasting career.

Wish you could make it- with even the slightest luck the best stories will require a PM ;-)

Tell us agains how you don't actually get to watch the games because you're too cheap to buy DirecTV! Perfect Pat's fan- doesn't actually WATCH football, just buys what the local KMart has for jerseys.

Stop the presses! Hollywood Donahoe declares message board Trolls to be the true arbiters of maturity internet wide! Let no one say you won't dare to scale the weakest of limbs.................

What actions by a team, players or fans so far this season has earned itself the title of the most pathetic development?

While I can admit that it's possible to read the stats incorrectly, you on the other hand are forced to hide behind the fact that you have so little conviction in your research that you would refuse my bet- even when you'd have won it! I rest my case on the lilly-liveredness of the Pat's bandwagoneers on your refusal to stand behind your point when called out. And before you throw words like pompous and D-Bag around a Message Board, you might take a look around- it's a Bill's Message Board. I could choose to be a pompous D-bag by going to the Patsy boards and spending my time rubbing in how pathetic your team is this season, but that'd simply make me a pompous D-Bag like you!

You're inability to read stat sheets is immaterial to a conversation where you've insisted your false information is accurate. Bulger 2004 Splits ESPN

Like that Donovan McNabb lie you've been spreading over this forum for 2 months now? You'll see I exposed that lie in another string and proved you would continue lying even after given plenty of notice that you were being dishonest. You seem to prefer "Kicker's Dynastys" of 3 points or less. Anyway you cut it, only a fool calls 3 point wins "Dynastic".

Translation: "Why would I defend the things I say when I don't have any idea what I'm talking about"

The league leader for the uninformed and dishonest may have had 1.6 passes of over 40 yards per game last season, but anyone with any ability to honestly discuss football knows that even Marc Bulger threw for more deep balls than Donovan McNabb in 2004. But carry on your campaign of lies and ignorance, it goes far to exemplify the shame of being a bandwagoneer fan.

You Pat's fans LOVE to talk about the past! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, I've corrected your misuse of the word Dynasty before, perhaps you've already fogotten: The average margin of score for the Patriot's Super Bowls is MINUS 8 points- the 2nd worst among all NFL champions since the first Super Bowl. This supports the conclusion that the Pats are among the least convincing championship teams in the history of the sport, and no respectable student of the game would ever accept those anemic numbers as an indication of a "dynasty" when they in fact indicate just the opposite. The Pats have eked out these timid victories at a time when their NFC opponents are at their weakest in over 25 years Weak NFC. The fact is there is a tremendous chasm between being "barely good enough by your kicker's foot" and the huge leap from there to being an actual "Dynasty".

Soulless- Balless- Honorless- Thank you for confirming for everyone at The Stadium Wall all the things I have accused Pat's fans of being for all these many years! You are the icon of their contemporary fan base- no understanding of football, no grasp of developing a coherent position an any subject, merely a bandwagoneer willing to perpetuate false information even when being put on notice that you're full of crap and will be exposed.

You keep telling the same lie- accept my bet and I'll show the whole string just how full of stojan you are.

I'm guessing you're VERY familiar with "small sample sizes" ;-)

And like the fans at Gillete- the gutless representatives of the New Bruschi (We're not worthy!) (We're not worthy!) Patriots whimpering out of the stadium in embarrasment, you refuse to defend your own statement. You lied about McNabb- and you continue to defend your lie. Accept my bet and you will find the cleansing nature of my kidney fluids upon your forehead to have restorative benefits for the condition from which you suffer.

It's Official! 4 and 4 = .500, unless of course you're a moron

Still waiting for your answer..................... The bet is memorialized 2 posts above; I've claimed I can prove you're a liar, all you have to do is accept it to expose yourself!

You apparently believe that your own inability to consider the whole league when making a iditoic statement such as you've made absolves you somehow of being a dishonest idiot? I won't argue against your logic, in fact I'd bet you might get some to bite on your "I'm not dishonest, I'm merely an idiot" logic even on a Bills' message board. You obviously intend to continue perpetrating what I've pointed out is a lie: "They didn't". Why don't we do this little excercise: If I'm able to produce irrefutable evidence that proves you're lying by showing Donovan McNabb WAS NOT the league's most frequent downfield passer using throws of 40 yards or better as the measure, you'll begin a new topic declaring in the title "I lick the soles of AKC's shoes", and in the description "And I enjoy doing it" If I am unable to produce the evidence that proves you a dishonest piece of Troll garbage I'll do the same. Waiting for your answer.................................................

Actually the Indy D played plenty of attention to the screen past night on most downs, they had three guysont he side for the Watson screen/TD but NE got an extra blocker over there on that play. Around the league DCs are realizing that Brady has made a career of puffed up stats and QB rating throwing passes behind the LOS to the 10 yard line. With all the lovefest media garbage regarding him "throwing long" this season, he still is completing less than 30% of his passes over 20 yards.

The guy who's "carried" them to a .500 record?

Now that the Patsy Oline scheme is allowing a little bit of pressure, the vaunted Tom Brady is sure looking like a guy with some difficulties with "pocket presence"; coughing up fumbles, getting passes batted down and throwing the kinds of balls associated with Joey Herrington rather than any QB ever considered the "best ever". The funny thing is, the Pat's Oline scheme that max protects the middle on passing downs is still effective and gives Brady for more time than a lot of the QBs in the league, but that slight decline in PassPro is clearly interfering with the play of a QB used to getting all the time he wanted in the past. It's also funny how going from a dominant D to an average one has all of a sudden turned Brady into a .500 QB, a guy you can't seriously argue as a QB who can "carry a team on his back" like all the great ones. I'm also trying to track all those media love stories about how the Pats can "plug in any player and still win"- I can't seem to find ANY done since the first game of 2005! Could all of those who suggested the coordinator losses in NE might have a bigger impact on the Pats than generally assumed have been right? Since their primary personnel losses were on D, why are they so woefully underpowered on offense? Is the same media bandwagon that created the "grocery bagger" and then folded him up about to do the same thing with another system QB? Stay tuned 'til next week when the Perils of Robert Kraft's Empty Sky Box continue!