I have to admit that I was surprised to see that Gronkowski's 40 time was much faster than Lewis's. I suppose I was wrong to ever doubt Gronkowski, but he always looks slow to me. He has an awkward running style, but I guess the stopwatch doesn't lie. That being said, I'm not sure what else you disagree with. Lewis is far, far bigger than Hernandez - I'm not disputing that Hernandez is a good player but at 6'1" and 240lbs he doesn't present any kind of a mismatch. He's built like a big receiver. Lewis is 6 inches taller and 35lbs heavier, guys that size who can run and catch are a completely different proposition. NE's tight ends are decent, but it's the scheme that helps them excel. They're classic examples of guys who wouldn't be half as effective on most of the other teams in the NFL, and equally there are a lot of tight ends in the league who would be just as dangerous if they played for New England.
With all due respect I LAUGH at your hypocrisy. How can you comment on the Pats giving up 400 yds of passing offense ON THE ROAD, when you OWN team gave up just SEVENTY yds less in 13 fewer attempts, For the record the ELITE Jet defense allowed 9.5 yd per pass attempt, which was a full yard MORE than what the Pats allowed.....and they did it with the advantage of a HOME game. So, James, before you cast aspersions on the Pats pass defense, you'd better be worried about your own. All those stars, All that money, and so little production. You should be pissed
I agree that Hernandez is more of a Dallas Clark/Chris Cooley type TE. But by the way the Pat line in certain formations they can dictate coverage by a LB or S on Hernadez. He generally is too athletic for LBs, and to big for S's. As teams start to adjust to him, it essentially opens up other areas of the field for others. What makes him so invaluable is that IF you don't make some adjustment to stop him, Brady will keep coming back to him. And fortunately for the Pats they have a QB good enough and with enough options, when you DO adjust to Hernadez, he will find the opening the Defense left, I also think you vastly underestimate the effectiveness of the Gronk. Within a couple of years he WILL be acknowledged as the best 2 way TE in the league. He pass blocks like a OT, he run blocks like a G, and he is a more than capable receiving threat, in the seam and in the red zone. At 67 AND decent speed he's a tough match up. Last year he had 10 TDs......as a ROOKIE (an amazing 16 between them) Against Miami the Pats ran 2 TEs 70% of the time on their way to over 500 yds passing and a running attack that AVERAGED 4.9 ypc. BTW - its not that I'm hyping the individual players (and if I did, I was missing my own point) , what I think is unique is the COMBINATION of the different skills they bring when they are no the field together. THAT is what made them so effective last season as rookies. Pats fans have always shook their heads at the number of picks BB has used on TEs over the year. My hypothesis is that as a defensive coach, he has always known the problems they could cause if he had to face a team with 2 TEs with the skills of Gronk and Hernandez. Lots of trial and error over the years until he hit the mother load in the 2010 draft. IMHO the true test of the effectiveness of the offense will be when some team schemes to stop the passing attack, WILL the running game be good enough to force them out of it. In the playoff game with the Jets, the Pats running game WASN'T good enough (or they didn't commit to it enough), to force the Jets out of their scheme. I'll be interested to see how the Pats do vs a team that sells out to stop the passing game. Can they win a game when Brady passes fewer than 25 times. Its almost like the reverse question for the Jets. Can the Jets win consistently when Sanchez is forced to throw MORE than 25 times a game.
Because Chad Henne = Tony Romo + Dez Bryant + Jason Witten + Miles Austin? The Cowboys will be on your schedule too. You should be able to determine then if they are exactly the same opponent. Good luck with that.
Cmon James, Your team was at HOME. For the season OPENER. On the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. In a game the coaches had all off season to plan for. Besides Bryant played at half speed for most of the last 3 quarters. (what a talent but BOY am I glad the Pats didn't draft him) BTW- I know its only one game, but the Jets better not sleep on Henne this year, he didn't look anything like the deer in the headlines guy we've seen the last 2 seasons. He's made a leap this season. He threw some great balls into tight spaces and too a lot of hits and stayed in there. I wouldn't automatically dismiss him as the Henne of old
Home? WTF? I guess you guys have the big home winning streak (not counting the one and out playoff things). Oh yeah, waving flags around before the game should always guarantee a home win too. Bryant, Witten and Austin have the same skill, size, speed, and weight even when they play on the road. WHo's your best corner? McCourty? This will be a riot. , If we had the choice of what game would be the easiest, I'd take the Dolphins on the road.
Never doubt the Gronk. :metal::metal: But seriously it's not so much that he's fast, but that Lewis is really slow. Hernandez is not a true tight end; he's much more a hybrid guy. Mismatches occur when you try to cover him with a LB. Having both of them on the field at the same time creates some unusual situations that Belichick and Brady have figured out how to take advantage of. It will be interesting to see how the careers of these guys evolve.
Dez Bryant was nowhere near full speed vs the Jets. That incapacity contributed to a key play in the Jets favor.
The Revis interception had nothing to do with Bryant being injured / tired / pre-menstrual / whatever, and everything to do with Tony Romo being a knob. Bryant could have been playing like Michael Irvin at his finest and it still wouldn't change the fact that Romo threw the ball straight at Revis.
Sad thing about this thread is it could have been written the past 2 seasons and we've done nothing to address the problem.
Well that's the truth, Johnny, but if Bryant makes more than a half hearted effort AFTER the Revis pick, the Jets would have started their drive on the -45 or 50 and the subsequent 1 yd Sanchez managed on the post pick drive, would have left the Jets out of FG range and subject to the vagaries of overtime. I can only hope that Bryant will be semi injured when the Pats play them, or has to miss the game because he has to go to court to pay some jeweler he owes. :wink:
Yes you did, but that doesn't make you right. Though you probably have a decent argument THIS year. By next year, it won't be a question
Jason Witten is one of the best, if not the THE best tight end in football. Gronkowski isn't anywhere near that.
