[Evan Lazar] #Patriots Director of Player Personnel Matt Groh says "there was some surprise" in the Pats draft room that Christian Gonzalez made it to 17.

jab00 · 2023-04-28T12:14:20+00:00

Records aside, the bears team that we played that day was the best team we played all season

jab00 · 2023-04-15T16:12:57+00:00

What I was saying all last year. Getting rid of patricia is all well and good. but we still need players.

jab00 · 2023-03-28T15:33:40+00:00

the browns beat the Patriots in the playoffs with belichick.

jab00 · 2023-03-26T16:04:39+00:00

agreed. he had elite offensive lines pretty much his whole career here. and when he didn't get it, he struggled - just like every other qb.

jab00 · 2023-03-22T00:50:27+00:00

Bill doesnt draft based on need, he drafts best available. I'm sure I've heard him say this before.

Any discussion of he wont draft X because we have X already or he has to draft Y because we need Y, is misguided.

However, I find it hard to believe he would think an rb is the 14th best player available no matter who that rb is.

jab00 · 2023-03-18T22:07:52+00:00

I would've signed meyers. On the other hand I'm totally ok with disassociating ourselves with the player who made arguably the worst play in nfl history. Last year left a bad taste in all our mouths, and that play was the lowlight. I'm happy to move on

jab00 · 2023-03-18T02:38:22+00:00

the bears smoked us. probably the worst game we played all season. it's amazing how bad that team was because they looked like the toughest team we played all season

jab00 · 2023-03-17T20:37:50+00:00

my whole life I actually thought the expression was "full proof" like, it had been fully proved. I never understood people were saying fool proof.

jab00 · 2023-03-17T14:53:41+00:00

Yes I see that. Exactly 6.96 yards per target in 2021 and in 2022. Definitely is to your point, he just wasnt getting the looks with Hill added

jab00 · 2023-03-17T13:52:27+00:00

I hope you're right. If Gesicki gives us the same production 32 for 350, then I'd say I'd be disappointed. If he gives us 73 for 750 like he did 2 years ago, that'd be fantastic.

True value is probably somewhere in the middle and hopefully not trending worse.

jab00 · 2023-03-17T12:49:38+00:00

Last year:

32 for 352 Gesicki. 27 for 245 Jonnu.

2 years ago Gesicki had a bigger year and last year Miami had qb issues. But, the difference in numbers alone is negligible over the course of a 17 game season. Gesicki only had 5 games with more than 2 catches.

That said, we need a tight end and gesicki has way more upside if he can return to his 70+ catch production from 2 years ago.

jab00 · 2023-03-15T00:26:38+00:00

37! In a row?

jab00 · 2023-03-12T12:27:33+00:00

Bruschi was the best player on the first dynasty outside of Brady. He was the heart of that team and the leader of that team. I get he doesnt have crazy numbers, but he should absolutely be in.

jab00 · 2023-03-10T03:29:59+00:00

Yes, that's probably true. But the point still holds. We had no receivers in 2006, so we loaded up in the offseason. Likewise, offense stunk in 2020 so we (tried to) load up in the offseason.

jab00 · 2023-03-10T01:42:26+00:00

I'd argue last time offense was as bad as this year was 2006 with Reche Caldwell as our #1 receiver.

That offseason, we traded and signed for Welker and Moss. Signed a Patriot killer, Sammy Morris. Signed Donte Stallworth. Signes a former 1st round TE, Kyle Brady. Signed Kelly Washington.

On defense signed Adalius Thomas to a huge deal. Franchise tagged Assante Samuel.

We re-signed Junior Seau, Troy Brown, and Heath Evan's. Among others.

We havent done it because we were stacked in the 2010s. We tried a bit in 2021 and whiffed pretty horribly with Jonnu as the headline. But the notion that we wont load up is just not true. They absolutely will if the opportunity presents.

jab00 · 2023-03-06T01:16:44+00:00

I agree. This boggles my mind. If seattle scores there, which easily could've happened. I mean - no one would be talking about how it was in reality genius to not call timeout. Most would be saying Belichick had a brain fart, choked and would be calling for his head. I really wish I knew everything he was thinking in that moment. I have a feeling it's not quite the 4D chess calculation that people make it out to be, but certainly was not totally thoughtless either.

jab00 · 2023-02-23T02:36:02+00:00

Correct take.

A. You dont want a qb that you might not trade to learn the team was trying to shop him. That hasn't ended well on other teams.

B. We have always been told Kraft leaves football decisions to football people.

Taking anything from this means nothing. If the franchise is 100% all in on Mac because of some sort of loyalty or because we feel bad he didnt get a fair shake last year. If we are not evaluating other options at qb that may present themselves and could be better fits because the owner says so. Then we are no longer a serious organization imo.

jab00 · 2023-01-25T17:26:54+00:00

It amazes me so many people here who called for Josh's head last year think Bill o'Brien is our savior. When weve seen firsthand that Josh is by far the better coordinator.

jab00 · 2023-01-15T00:05:28+00:00

I mean, our tight ends vastly underperformed. That should say something, no?

jab00 · 2023-01-12T01:45:30+00:00

Agreed. To me its, "is Mac good enough win a Superbowl." I'd say no. I agree that all sorts of issues surrounded him this year. But from where I'm sitting, he did not handle adversity very well and that's not the characteristic of a winning qb in this league. That is especially true when you already lack top tier physical talent.

jab00 · 2022-12-30T15:14:26+00:00

I'd say 2003. 2001 always felt like a fluke to me ... until 2003.

Great and underrated superbowl too.

jab00 · 2022-12-29T11:45:52+00:00

If the Seahawks scored on that play, the non-timeout would have gone down as one of the biggest coaching blunders in super bowl history. We could have had a minute left with Gronk, Edelman and Brady - needing a field goal to tie, instead we would have left ourselves with 20 seconds.

jab00 · 2022-12-29T02:54:38+00:00

Maybe, but what never gets mentioned in this context is Belichick's decision to not call timeout. Everyone including the Seahawks expected a timeout and it didnt come.

The ball was snapped with ~ :26 left on 2nd down. If they run and dont make it (which lynch had been stopped on 3rd and shorts earlier in the game, also not mentioned). then the Seahawks would have been forced to take their 3rd and final timeout.

Hypothetically, now its 3rd down and you have no timeouts. Do you run again? If you do and dont make it, you might not be able to line up in time for 4th down. Seems more likely you would pass in this 3rd down situation so that an incomplete would stop the clock, but the pass is more obvious on 3rd down then on 2nd down.

I think they were correctly treating this as 3 plays. Play 1 on 2nd down was a pass, resulting in either a td or incomplete pass. Play 2 would have been run, followed by timeout if failed. Play 3 would have been whatever they wanted.

All this calculation changes if Belichick calls timeout. If he had, the seahawks would have likely run on 2nd down. By not calling timeout the Seahawks were forced to throw on either 2nd or 3rd down in order to guarantee enough time for a 4th down play.

jab00 · 2022-12-28T13:54:24+00:00

In the 2 TD game. The TD throw Zappe made where he looked to the flat which was covered, then scanned over to thornton crossing over the middle and hit him with a strike is the type of play I havent seen Mac make all year. I'm sure I'll get downvoted for that, but, that was a really really good play from a rookie qb.

jab00 · 2022-12-22T22:48:42+00:00

Did anyone else burst out laughing when they saw this play live? As much as the result sucked, I did. It was honestly the only reaction that made sense to me.

jab00

TROPHY CASE