In-Depth O-Line Pass Pro Analysis: Who Choked Most in Pats Game?

[sonorajim]

How did Schofield secure his starting job before camp opened?

Winning a SB.

IMO Harbaugh & Martindale kicked Lynn & Whis' butts wk 16. Belichick made it look like NFL HOFers vs Little Sisters of the Poor.
It wasn't just the quality of the players. The quality of the training & gameplan were night & day different between LAC v Bal and NE on those days.
On the + side LAC's offense did rally vs Bal in the playoffs.
BB could have taken that Chargers team & crushed his Pats lead by the Chargers coaches. The OL v DL matchups were NOT that dramatically different, individual talent wise.
It should have been educational. We'll see.
Lynn will never be BB but he & his staff can do a better job in yr 3.

I vote Lynn for biggest choker vs Pats.

[jubei]

Pats O scoring TDs on their first 4 possessions or something like that?! D gameplan was no gameplan at all.

[Formula 21]

The Bolts didn't follow my gameplan.

Hit Brady early.
Hit Brady late.
Hit Brady really late.
And hit him again after that.


It would have worked as well as what they did, and maybe better.

[Topcat]

Winning a SB.

IMO Harbaugh & Martindale kicked Lynn & Whis' butts wk 16. Belichick made it look like NFL HOFers vs Little Sisters of the Poor.
It wasn't just the quality of the players. The quality of the training & gameplan were night & day different between LAC v Bal and NE on those days.
On the + side LAC's offense did rally vs Bal in the playoffs.
BB could have taken that Chargers team & crushed his Pats lead by the Chargers coaches. The OL v DL matchups were NOT that dramatically different, individual talent wise.
It should have been educational. We'll see.
Lynn will never be BB but he & his staff can do a better job in yr 3.

I vote Lynn for biggest choker vs Pats.

Good points, Jim. On defense, even missing all those LB's, for crying out loud, we at LEAST could have blitzed Derwin and King more often. And on offense, our playcalling was kind of vanilla...we did score some points later on, but Whiz should have dialed up some more creative plays early on to put us on the scoreboard instead of playing catch-up.

[Steve]

Good points, Jim. On defense, even missing all those LB's, for crying out loud, we at LEAST could have blitzed Derwin and King more often. And on offense, our playcalling was kind of vanilla...we did score some points later on, but Whiz should have dialed up some more creative plays early on to put us on the scoreboard instead of playing catch-up.

If we couldn't get the PAts blocked on simple plays, what good would calling fewer vanilla plays do? Get hit for bigger losses? If you cannot run the basic stuff, I am not sure what else you think the offense can do.

There is no defending his performance (or any of the OL vs NE), but why is everyone putting so much emphasis on NE? Everyone played like shit. It happens. Hasn't everyone had a bad day at work before? When you are on national TV, the game becomes quicksand pretty quickly.

As far as this season, NE and LAC are not the same teams as last year. The Pats can't go back to the same offense and run the ball up the gut, and expect that Dwayne Allen, Trent Brown and Gronk will outmuscle us on the line. None plays for NE. NE lost Trent Brown (LT), Malcolm Brown (DT), Gronk (TE), Allen (TE), Eric Rowe (CB), Trey Flowers (DE), Paterson (WR/RB), Chris Hogan (WR), Waddle (OT), Clayborn (DE). Two of their top FA signings designed to offset their losses, Seferian-Jenkins (TE) and Veldaheer (OT) are both gone already, and the season hasn't started yet. They did add Jamie Collins (LB), and Mike Pennel (DE), but they don't really offset the losses. I'm not saying NE won't be in the hunt next year, just fixatign on what went wrong in what was a long, emotional week, where the team was emotionally and physically spent is not going to get us that win.

The fixation most Chargers fans has on the NE game reminds me a lot of generals trying to fight the last war. They are well prepared to beat the old enemy, but unprepared for the war that is coming up. We got caught in quicksand. One thing goes wrong, then another and another. PLayers each try and try and make that big play to get us back in and they make things worse by making stupid mistakes, after mistake. The more they fight, the more they sink. Quicksand.