Harris looked great. On that blitz/sack down the middle, I couldn't believe how a simple scheme of mis-guiding the OL on which gap you're going to attack and then changing direction at the last minute, could provide so much pressure on the QB. I laugh now because Ryan has the innovation on D to come up with great schemes and Mangini lacked that. Mangini's idea of a blitz would be to telegraph where all your blitzes were coming from by bull-rushing the OL in front of you. No wonder he was very 'calculating' when he sent blitzes. God he sucked.
We've seen this numerous times in 2 preseason games - guys getting to the QB untouched. It's going to be fun watching this defense all season.
We have to play Brady twice and Chad twice, the only way not to get picked apart by those guys is to knock them on their ass and take them out of their comfort zone. Hopefully we have the right defense now to get that done.
Yea - the Pats offense is tough though. They're probably the best screen team in the league, so if you're sending guys at Brady you better have the screen covered too.
Last time they had Brady they went 16-0. We let him stand there all day in the opener and with Moss on the field you just can't do it, I don't care if we have Revis covering him or not. And Welker, too many weapons, Brady has to be pushed around.
That bubble screen is a killer when Welker gets the ball in his hands. I hope we come prepared for that and/or we find a scheme against it. Leonhard might be fast enough to stuff it if he gets a good read on it.
So me and the wifey are watchin the game...not to excited. Then she says "There he goes" I said "who?" Her reply - "Isn't #30 the guy you always complain about?" LMFAO! Even at the 1st preseason game the seasons behind me were already reminding me about Coleman. I used to scream about how much he got beat on the crossing route every week. Funny what people remember.. :lol:
Man, you know what really pissed me off? Early in the Ravens' first drive last night, Coleman makes an excellent coverage play across the middle. I look at my chick and I'm like 'Was that guy wearing number 30??' Yes. So I'm like 'Man, maybe Coleman is turning a corner.' That little SOB makes a liar out of me every time.
The secondary is a hit or miss proposition unless you're an all-pro. Our guy #34, I'm bad with all these names, made a nice INT and then got roasted up the sideline on 2nd and 23 when we had them pinned back deep.
Rhodes was the best last night and then Lowery and Sheppard looked like the best of the rest. Harris is back to his rookie form which makes this a formidable unit.
Shep gave up one play, but from the look on his face, i think he was expecting Safety help from Rhodes or Leonhard. He broke up a nice fade route pass to a 6'4" WR. Lowery is getting picked on. Made some plays yesterday but did give up a few. Not too shabby since he def stepped up his game from the 1st pre-season showing. He did cause a TO that led to a TD and he tackles, he makes sure to wrap up his player and bring him to the ground. I just wish he was a bit quicker. He could eventually make up some ground for his lack of quickness if he becomes religious about the CB position. So I think he should be fine down the line.
I think Harris has looked good since he got here. If he can stay healthy, he's going to have a huge impact on this team.
For what it's worth, the NYJ were the only team to hold Brady and Moss to zero TD's in a game that year.
This was something I was really surprised with on Monday. Pouha looks like he actually has some fight in him, which was a concern of mine. At least we will be able to get Jenks some rest during the season without a precipitous dropoff.
True. The weather helped, but for some reason the Jets play the Pats a lot tougher in Foxboro than at home.