Top 20? Wasn't he a collosal bust for Tampa and shipped off for a 5th? I mean, he had a nice pick six last week but c'mon.
He wasn't a bust. He actually had played well before his suspension. Schiano just didn't want him around his young team. The Pats have enough veteran presence that they feel they can keep him in line. On the field he is a good corner. The Pats gave a 4th.
I will be at this game so hopefully I can bring them some turkey day luck. They will need it. I think the way they win this is like how they should try to win every game with this squad, defense and making the best of the opportunities they are given. Number 1 priority is to try to hold Tom and co. to field goals early. If they get up by 2 td's the game is over. With Talib in their secondary they are looking a bit more dangerous but we still need to throw the ball down field in order to open up the run game. The pats try to control the time of possession so we need to do a good job of running the ball and keeping it out of Brady's hands. Obviously we need to win the turnover battle as well (easier said than done I know). The O line also needs to do its job. Not asking the world from them but try to get a little push in the running game and give Mark some time to actually throw the ball! All in all it will definitely be a tough one to win but we do have some momentum from the last game that should at least give Sanchez and the rest of the squad some MUCH needed confidence.
have you seen him play? he really is an outstanding all around corner. sure he has a ton of off field and charecter issues, but on the field there arent many better then him. he can play man single, he can play short in the cover 2, he can play the outer 3rd in cover 3 and has even moved to safety to play the inner third in cover 3 with tampa. he is a ball hawk who has a ton of picks and tackles for losses. he can play the run. he covers well. he is exceptional
Tale of the tape. For a defense first tam, the Jets numbers are pretty close to the "terrible" Pats defense, at least in these categories... A look at the Patriots in our weekly "stat check", while also bringing Thursday's opponent -- the New York Jets -- into the discusssion: Points scored This week: 1st (35.8) Last week: 1st (33.2) Jets: 23rd (20.2) Points against This week: 16th (22.5) Last week: Tied-15th (22.3) Jets: 21st (24.1) Third-down offense This week: 1st (72 of 141, 51.1 percent) Last week: 2nd (64 of 129, 49.6 percent) Jets: 16th (54 of 140, 38.6 percent) Third-down defense This week: 32nd (58 of 126, 46.0 percent) Last week: 31st (50 of 112, 44.6 percent) Jets: 30th (60 of 140, 42.9 percent) Turnover differential This week: 1st (Plus-20 -- 27 takeaways, 7 giveaways) Last week: 1st (Plus-16 -- 23 takeaways, 7 giveaways) Jets: Tied-13th (Plus-1, 18 takeaways, 17 giveaways) Red-zone offense (based on TD percentage) This week: 4th (32 of 49, 65.3 percent) Last week: 6th (28 of 43, 65.1 percent) Jets: Tied-23rd (15 of 32, 46.9 percent) Red-zone defense (based on TD percentage) This week: Tied-24th (17 of 29, 58.6 percent) Last week: Tied-19th (15 of 27, 55.6 percent) Jets: 30th (18 of 27, 66.7 percent)
Yes, I've seen him play plenty and I saw him get absolutely destroyed by Hakeem Nicks earlier this season. He's a good player, but nowhere near great or elite. Unfortunately we don't have a Top 20 WR who could take advantage of him.
Yes, Top 20. He was kicked out of Tampa Bay because of legal troubles. He will never shut down a top tier receiver, but he can take out almost anyone's #2 and some #1's, including ours. Hopefully his lack of knowledge of the system will help.
Hernandez is playing, but is still limited in practice. He is still hurting and is probably rushing back because of the injury to gronk. If Gronk was healthy they would have him sit until their next game giving him two weeks to get healthy. He won't be able to make sharp cuts just like in the last game he played against us. Bell and Landry have to have big games. I expect Rex to take some chances with blitzes since he doesn't have to worry about a safety covering gronk.
This. He's not an elite CB but he could be the best CB on the Pats roster. He got burnt several times on Sunday but at least he was near the player, playing the ball, at least he didn't automatically foul.
That's because Gronk is that head and shoulders above 99% of the other TEs in the league but Hernandez is very good too, just different.
Another big question mark is Chandler Jones...hurt his ankle against the colts, didn't play the second half, and has an up in the air status for Thursday. Could be a big loss on the defensive side of the ball. Losing a fast athletic edge rusher and run stopped when you have a poor secondary is a concern.
Yes. I would not be surprised if Jones doesn't play. That certainly makes a difference. One question that keeps coming up is why the Patriots don't blitz more and I think the answer has been they do when they think it will work. So against the Rams and Colts the blitz worked well. Against other teams not as much. Curiously, those games where the Patriots blitzed Sanchez a good deal they lost, those they blitzed lightly they won. That's not saying they were clean wins but it's an interesting stat. One would think that getting Sanchez uncomfortable in the pocket would do wonders but I guess we'll see.
He's not being rushed back. This is hardly a make or break game for the Pats, and they wouldn't risk getting him hurt again. If you notice, the Pats make half their roster limited every week. In fact, they have been overly cautious because he reinjured himself the last time he came back too quick. He was OK to play this past week but they sat him to give him more time.
Bullshit that this isn't a make or break game for them. First of all, they would hate losing to us and second, it is a big deal for the division. If we beat them and beat Buffalo again, all New England needs to do is lose to Miami twice. Far fetched, maybe, but very possible. With this league, there is never a sure shot at anything. This year has proved that exponentially. They are rushing Hernandez back because Gronk is out. This is a BIG game for them, but a HUGE game for us. They don't want us in the playoffs. A repeat of the last time could very well happen and they know that
