Game Ball - Francis/Gronk
First round bye! First round bye! Everything worked out that was meant to be. We all knew deep down that KC wouldn't beat Denver, but ChuckStrong coming through against Houston was fun to watch. Andrew Luck is the real deal, and Houston is really showing some warts. Best of all, we took care of business in a big way.
28-0 is a big win anyway you want to slice it. Ridley, Woodhead, Vereen, and Bolden all had success because of great O-line play. Brady was only sack once, and hit twice. The execution up front was much better than the last few weeks, on offense and defense. The Patriots sacked Tannehill 7 times, and pressured him into an INT. The charge was led by Justin Francis, who had 3 on 3 big hits.
Francis had 3 sacks, but that's pretty much all he did. However, I got to award a game ball to a defensive player after a shutout. We're going to need more minutes out of Francis with the Ninkovich injury, and he really stepped up once Nink went down. The undrafted rookie had 0 career sacks before this week, but now he's the next man up. He proved to me that he can compete on the inside and outside, and he is ready to move on from practice player of the week to game ball recipient.
Overall, this was a great team effort.Truly, the stats point to Brady and Welker as the big contributors. However, by the standards we have set for them, the numbers are just below the expectation. Brady completed 61% of his passes for 284 yards and 2 TDs, and Welker grabbed 8 balls for 94 yards. In my opinion, this is an opportunity to reward the guys who played above their level.
Gronkowski did not play up to our expectations of 100% healthy Gronk, but it was great to see him back out there. He only had 2 catches for 42 yards, but he ran his classic bread-and-butter plays with success. He is definitely limited in blocking and catching, but nobody benefits from this bye week more than Gronk. He is not healthy right now, but he still managed to get a TD.
The way I see it, Gronkowski is like the oil in the joints of The Patriots offense. He makes everything flow better because of the ways that he affects a defense. Brady has more space to work with when Gronk is in the game. He did just enough to warn the AFC that he's back. Most of all, the team did enough to earn an extra week off. With 20 guys on the injury report, there's plenty of guys that will relish the chance to put their feet up. Big Win! I feel primed for something Super...
28-0 is a big win anyway you want to slice it. Ridley, Woodhead, Vereen, and Bolden all had success because of great O-line play. Brady was only sack once, and hit twice. The execution up front was much better than the last few weeks, on offense and defense. The Patriots sacked Tannehill 7 times, and pressured him into an INT. The charge was led by Justin Francis, who had 3 on 3 big hits.Francis had 3 sacks, but that's pretty much all he did. However, I got to award a game ball to a defensive player after a shutout. We're going to need more minutes out of Francis with the Ninkovich injury, and he really stepped up once Nink went down. The undrafted rookie had 0 career sacks before this week, but now he's the next man up. He proved to me that he can compete on the inside and outside, and he is ready to move on from practice player of the week to game ball recipient.
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| He's back, but still needs a bye week |
Overall, this was a great team effort.Truly, the stats point to Brady and Welker as the big contributors. However, by the standards we have set for them, the numbers are just below the expectation. Brady completed 61% of his passes for 284 yards and 2 TDs, and Welker grabbed 8 balls for 94 yards. In my opinion, this is an opportunity to reward the guys who played above their level.
The way I see it, Gronkowski is like the oil in the joints of The Patriots offense. He makes everything flow better because of the ways that he affects a defense. Brady has more space to work with when Gronk is in the game. He did just enough to warn the AFC that he's back. Most of all, the team did enough to earn an extra week off. With 20 guys on the injury report, there's plenty of guys that will relish the chance to put their feet up. Big Win! I feel primed for something Super...
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