SectionC3

That wasn’t even the “worst” missed connection to me yesterday. The quick slant from Barkley to Brown that Brown seemingly dropped might have gone for a touchdown. From my vantage point in the stadium it looked like Brown tried to stay on his feet to catch the ball because he recognized the acres of room around him. Irrespective of whether the ball was catchable a better throw there might have changed the game.

Gores man fell down on the play. Saw it live. Would have been a huge gain.

I think his time is short, too. Not impressive at all yesterday. The wheel route to White (where defender had to turn his back) was the only impressive throw. He might be nearing a point where he holds that team back, and he knows it. Along those lines, I can see why they took a swing at AB. I’m not impressed with their offensive weapons at all. I’m frustrated after yesterday but VERY optimistic. Bottom line: our offense was horrible in the first half, and if we got a few small breaks/better officiating that game goes to overtime and we stand a good chance of winning. Their D is stellar, but ours is every bit as good. The guard is starting to change, and it might happen faster than a lot of people think.

I’ll answer. Nothing. Aside from training well in the offseason. No situational awareness on the picks, looked like a tough but makeable catch in the end zone, otherwise no impact on the game. To draw a baseball analogy, he’s a .250 hitter with no power and no speed. It’s time to get some more speed on the field.

The one thing that concerns me is Allen’s ineffectiveness on the deep ball, which Belichick exploited yesterday. It occurred to me on the drive in this morning that a good amount of our deep shots last year came off of play action. Think the deep, Kubiak-style, throwback crosses to to Foster. I suspect Allen likes throwing that type of ball - it’s probably why we see the deep shots on the post this year, which have been begging to be intercepted the last couple of weeks. So, if Allen hits one or two of the 9/corner throws yesterday, it’s a different game. New England played a muddle of 10 men within five yards of the LOS for a good part of the game. It’s hard to run effectively and consistently against that front, so I don’t blame Daboll for not getting Gore another 10 carries. Bottom line, we had to threaten the deep ball yesterday to win, and Allen couldn’t do that. Hopefully this doesn’t become a trend. Three other points. 1. Zay Jones has to be on borrowed time. If Allen can’t go this week, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Thompson to IR, Jones to waivers, and Williams and Webb elevated. Barkley doesn’t have the arm strength to throw the outs and comebacks that Allen hits so well, so we’re going to have to hit a few slants (which will be bracketed all day long) and bucket throws next week. Barkley should have some chemistry with Williams if Barkley is running scout team in practice, and it might be a nice time to get the big body into the mix if Barkley has to play next week. 2. Normally I think this kind of conversation to be useless speculation, but I’m coming around to the idea of adding a higher end WR to the roster. Part of this is that I’m done with Zay Jones. But part of it is that it probably wouldn’t hurt to have a bit more speed to help with the deep shots. If Cincinnati loses tonight, then I would call about AJ Green. We have a championship-caliber defense and we just need a little more from the offense to potentially make this year a very interesting one. 3. It’s time for NFL teams to hire a rules coach. If FOX/CBS/etc. can have a retired referee in the booth, so can we. I’m not blaming McDermott for the challenges yesterday - for what it’s worth, I agreed with the challenges, and I thought he should have won at least the second one. What really aggravated me was interception where Jones touched the ball while out of bounds and before the interceptor established possession in bounds. I was in the stadium yesterday, and I haven’t seen the game, but I wonder if McDermott could have educated the referee on the issue with a little help from “upstairs.”

Not in the least. We lost the game because he was atrocious in the first half. And we couldn’t come back to win it because he got hurt.

How would he know about the freedom issue?

Short of calling a timeout dimarco couldn’t have done anything. Gunner has to follow his man in or bojo has to throw the uncovered gunner the ball.

Yes. Gunners were uncovered. They either have to collapse or punter has to throw the ball.

The bet here is that Bojo can’t throw the ball and that Belichick knows it.

This is what I think will happen. They’re going to rush their ends straight up the field and mix in some peculiar blitzes. Deep drop backs should be in our game plan this week to allow Allen the chance to get under the ends and use his feet. Agree w this too. Would also like to see some four wide with speed in the slot. We had a lot of luck with that late last year, and we haven’t seen it much yet this year. Should have two games plans this week - one for first half and one for second half. Mangini used that approach to beat the Pats a couple of times IIRC.

Under the circumstances it would have been the smart play to go for it on fourth and goal from inside the 1. Ample time/time outs to get the ball back following a three and out with relatively decent field position given the wind. Getting into field goal range following a punt would not have been a sure thing, but with that wind it would have been worth the risk. On a side note, one area where I think we could improve in the next wind game would be to use both intermediate and deep returners on punts into the wind. I believe Roberts couldn’t catch at least one punt into the wind that an intermediate returner easily would have fielded (and preserved field position).

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I don’t dispute that yesterday’s fiasco was the result of the new means of entry. In general, though, I wouldn’t complain about a long wait at security because sometimes that is a fact of life post-9/11 and convenience is secondary to safety.

Arrived at 12:28. Did not have that experience at gate 7. Not sure where you had a five minute line, but I’d like to go to that gate next time. We normally use gate 6, but lately (namely, last year) we found gate 7 to be a smoother entry. Not the case yesterday, and 6 looked like it was pretty clogged from what I could see, too.

I take it you didn’t stand in line for 40 minutes to enter the stadium yesterday. I’ll add one thing. I had an e-ticket for the Blue & Red scrimmage, and the ticket-takers had trouble with the scanners for that event. The explanation I was given was that it had something to do with the ability of the scanner to read the bar code on my iPhone (until a week or two ago, the newest and most advanced model). I ended up just walking into the scrimmage after the ticket-taker’s device failed. So perhaps that was part of the issue yesterday, too. Either way, the struggle to enter the stadium was absurd and completely avoidable. I’m not a complainer - I get that security is important and that sometimes unpublished threats demand caution, patience, and delay. But I’m thinking about talking to my ticket rep about yesterday. I’ve been to hundreds of games and that was the worst I’ve ever experienced trying to enter that stadium.

Me too. But unfortunately the folks in line at gate 7 had different plans. I’ve been a season ticket holder forever (late 80s), and yesterday was the worst entry experience I’ve ever had. Pittsburgh 04 was bad. Dallas MNF 07 was bad, particularly when a deputy sheriff made the brilliant decision to ride a horse through a crowd of hundreds of people packed shoulder-to-shoulder. But yesterday took an absurd amount of time, and it actually became dangerous when a fight broke out. I was worried about a stampede occurring, and I was very thankful I didn’t have my little guys with me. Internet has always been spotty there, even after the upgrades. I was fine in the stadium yesterday (not a fantasy football use, but switched on my AT&T TV app to check out one of the replay reviews). You’re absolutely right - if the NFL is going to push people to mobile tickets, it can’t have the circus that occurred yesterday.

I agree with this. The kid has a knack for rising to the occasion. It’s the little things with him that frequently go unnoticed. Like throwing Timmy Juron to the ground on the Ravens sideline in the late stages of a miserable game last year (which caused Juron to take a roughing penalty on Allen the next series). Like coming HARD on the keeper immediately before Gore scored yesterday. The kid wills the team to win. A lot of guys would have wilted yesterday after all that went wrong - Yeldon’s horrible fumble, Josh’s lazy fumble, and the pick. But the kid stood tall. He is a winner.

Agreed. Hughes was nibbling a bit at the end on the bend/dip, but we really didn’t get much heat on dalton. Credit to Frazier to sticking to the plan and rushing 4 on the last drive. He was right one with that one.

I was standing outside in line because gate 7 was a half 35-minute wait, but I assume we won the toss, took the ball, and the bengals took the ball to start the second half ...

Looks like he may have something in common with Nolan Ryan. Curious to learn the specifics of his injury.

Loved what Ford did. It shouldn’t happen all the time, but it was a sign that these guys care about each other. The bonds grow even tighter when something like that happens.

Reductio ad absudum. And, to address your hypothetical, the purchase of services such as those in question from an intermediary are much more directly supporting something that has a much more direct link with human trafficking. At bottom you and I have a difference of opinion that is grounded in our varying morals and values.

See the prior post. Those who paid for her services supported human trafficking.

It is human trafficking. Don’t confuse it with smuggling.