In theory Davis has the speed to keep up with Gronk, but I don't necessarily trust Davis in coverage, which is why you need Pryor to double him.
If you double Gronk you leave somebody else open. If you take a big man out of the game to give you an extra defender to cover Gronk then Brady goes no huddle and runs it at you until something stops the clock and allows you to make a substitution. Rex's solution was to have a big man in tight to chop Gronk and set the edge against the run. I'll be very interested to see what Rodgers and Bowles solution is. One great thing about being in the aftermath of Rex is that he left a lot of his toys for the new guy to play with. It'll be fun to see what they do.
Edilemen is playing through a busted finger right now....... Hopefully it gets worse and he won't play.......
He'll play. Everybody who is a starter in New England plays through whatever they have too. Once they go off the field there's no guarantee they're getting back on unless they're Brady or Gronk.
This is why Bowles has heavily focused on getting a safety who can play as a hybrid linebacker. This is why the Jets have Dion Bailey. The theory is he could play like a linebacker or a safety depending on the offensive configuration. I expect him to be a significant part of the gameplan.
It's a logic-based prediction, you jackass. The Pats are steamrolling everyone this year, we don't have a pure pass-rusher who can consistently get to Brady, and we have Fitzpatrick lining up on the other side of him. In Foxborough.
Marshall is going to make Butler his bitch. If we can keep fitz upright we are going to be in this game all the way
The Pats have not faced a D like ours yet. This is going to be a very different challenge for them. Also, they have not seen a RB like Ivory or a big, physical WR like Marshall. We are going to present them with a lot of new challenges. That said, they should definitely be favored by 6-7 until we prove we can hang with them. Let's see how Bowles gets this team prepared. This will also probably be one of the bigger games of Fitz's career, I can't recall him ever playing in a game where there would be a bigger spotlight on that game. It is imperative that we establish Ivory early because I don't want to have Fitz feel like he needs to match Brady or start taking crazy chances beyond his skillset. We have to play from ahead in this game, in my opinion. Get an early lead and make the Pats doubt themselves a bit.
I hope I'm wrong, but I can't remember anyone getting concussed -- since the protocol -- and being cleared the very next week. It's like an automatic deactive the next week. The NFL just isn't playing around with this stuff anymore. We need some breaks. We need a tip-pick, a sack-strip, a FG block, some lucky bounces. More than one. And we need to hit Brady hard at least once in the first two defensive drives. If both of those things happen, we can def win. Otherwise, it's a monumental task. But losing next week isn't a disaster.
I don't like this matchup. The Pats offense is predicated on making pass rushes irrelevant by picking defenses apart with masterful quick passes committed by their HoF QB. Press, zone, 3-4, 4-3, who cares, Brady will find a way to find Julian Edelman or Gronk open in stride with room to spare after the catch. I wish I was smart enough to know HOW these guys get open time after time, but I know the talent behind center makes it all possible in the first place. Much as I despise him Brady is the quickest thinking QB in the game with a fast as hell release, his instincts and savy are off the charts insane at this point. They might be the only offense that could ever make our D look silly all game, we'll have to be one step ahead of whatever possible move they'll pull of to get their receivers open will be, and we'll have to establish our dominance quickly. The only way I see us winning is if we're on our A-game early on on both sides of the ball. That means finding a way to score with our own unstoppable multifaceted offensive attack against their inferior overall D and thus FORCING McDaniels to whip out a certain set of plays to create a comeback and become more predictable with his play calling. Skrine or no we should be able to get at least a FEW stops so long as we place our defense in position to succeed. That means sustaining longer offensive drives even if we don't score. that means NO TURNOVERS, especially in our own end. We have to control the game from start to finish, we have to execute, and we cannot afford to give them opportunities because of turnovers. That sounds stupidly obvious and full of platitudes, but its true. give an inch and they'll take a mile, this is the kind of game that will wind up being decided by a coin toss. The moment we're playing catchup is the moment we're dead.
Ok guys it's officially no longer "awfully early." LET'S DO THIS SHIT!!!! Undefeated quest ends in T-Minus 6 days 17 hours!!!
Spread at 9? Little high, not much respect. I bet that comes down a little, our D is too good right now to be 9 point dogs to anyone.
