Vollmer was fantastic and deserves considerable praise for his excellent game. 
I would prefer he be our Left Tackle if
he continues to play at such a high level.  Kaiczur and Light could either be
the right tackle though I'm not sure how
matt would take to it nor how long he has left playing.  His contract is a left
tackle (higher priced) deal and that
makes it cap wise a little more challenging as well as the youth potential of
Kaiczur to play longer as  a Patriot.

My perfect world puts Light at Right Tackle for now with everyone being
comfortable with the shift...failing that I'd
error on the side of most riding Light's injury a little longer to be more
certain of the decision before Vollmer just
gets the job.

Go Pats!
Zip
----- Original Message -----
From: "Machado.Nicholas" <machado.nicholas@...>
To: <patriotzip@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 11:47 AM
Subject: [patriotzip] Pats not sustaining drives


> Wasn't too long ago that the Pats offense could sustain drives taking 8-12
> minutes regularly. Since Randy Moss came aboard that has changed and
> scoring drives often take just a few minutes with the long bombs down the
> field. The result is that the Pats defense is on the field way too much.
> Last night was a prime example. They scored 34 points, had drives that
> could have produced 14 more points at least yet the defense was walking on
> their tongues early in the fourth quarter. In the old days that much
> offense meant a well rested defense in the fourth. Don't get me wrong I
> like RM a lot but the way he is being used has changed the face of the Pats
> offense and the result is loses where there used to be wins in these big
> games.
>
> Nice to see Vollmer establish himself on the left side. He stood up well to
> a big test with Freeney. Here is a vote to plug Matt Light into Kaczur's spot.
>
> Harry
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



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07:43:00

With respect to the timeout before the 4th down play.  One of the
media blogs (Extra Points, I think) said that the TO was called
because some members of the punt team started running on the field
which caused some members of the offense to come off the field,
even though BB had already decided to go for it.  Apparently the
decision was not well-communicated to the troops.  Sigh.

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

Several things took place on our last possession and even I have some hindsight
so I thought I'd try to break down some
of my perspectives on the various situations and decisions.

I doubt folks will change opinions though hopefully most folk recognize the
difference from opinion to fact.  There are
convincing reasons for several different decisions along the way and ultimately
the only thing which matters for the
team is to get themselves as ready as possible going forward.  Tedy has some
strong opinions today on the insult to the
defense and ultimately the entire team needs to do all possible to make
themselves a better and more successful team
going forward.

Pats take the Ball on the 20 after a kickoff and strangely have the wrong
personell/play which causes a time-out to be
wasted.  This is bad situational football and very frustrating for a team which
has often demonstrated situational
football as a strength.  Sure there are factors like the speed of the Colts
score, the atmosphere and the key absence
of a few players and replacement of inexperience but all of this should have
been managed by the coaching and it had a
derisive impact on the game.

So what did they do with this situation?  On first and 10 with 2:23 they ran
Faulk out of the shotgun formation for no
gain.

This started the clock and first Indy to use their first time-out.  The shotgun
formation made it look like a pass
could be an option and given how Faulk had run against them in the first half it
had some merit.  It was straight up
the middle so unlikely to lose valuable yardage.  It let them see Indy's
formation for their next play in which at 2:18
and having time to chat during Indy's timeout they went to Welker on a WR screen
for 8 yards.  Again this was a high
percentage pass and got better than anticipated yardage for an Indianapolis team
which was selling out on the short
game because they knew a first down ended the game as much as a touchdown.


Colts use their second timeout and with 2:11 the Patriots can once again
evaluate their play and approach.  They run a
very similar play to Welker which is nearly picked off (might have helped us
ultimately to have that be a pick 6) and
featured Brady having immense pressure and very tight coverage at the line. 
This third down call wouldn't have totally
frustrated me beyond the execution errors except for the fact BB knew he would
go for it on fourth down from this
position as well.  If you know that then I wonder at the use of the shotgun
immensely - it buys Brady a precious moment
or two for a quick pass but it actually creates more freedom for the Colts. 
Mathis was getting good pressure and they
spread out their linebackers and line to be stronger against the slot receivers.
Here I would have lined up under
center under the hope of a QB sneak option to gain some if not all the critical
yards.  If the Colts stacked against it
they do so at the weakening of their outside coverage on slot receivers.  It
takes more time off the clock, probably to
the two minute warning if not burning a third and final Colts timeout...and that
if it doesn't get the first down and
effectively win the game.  Hindsight so let's go forward...

They decide to go and I know there are stats to argue all sorts of ways and
belief structures about who you insult by
going or not going.  Neither our offense or defense had inspired sufficient
confidence on the previous two possessions
each and either can take insult from the situation but ultimately Bellichick
chose his believed best percentage of
winning.  I could have been fine with either call really and I can understand
why folks with differing opinions feel
strongly either way - I do not.  My problem is that Brady walked off the field,
he was surprised by the decision in at
least that much and in that he wasn't ready to get the play and personell and
run the play.  Instead New England called
a time-out in part because of that lack of decision and or preparedness by the
coaches and by Brady.  This gave the
Colts time to rest and evaluate as well.  Now Bellichick pulls out his 'best
play' for this situation which begs the
question, why didn't you use your best play for the situation on third down? 
Accepting that curiosity we run from the
shotgun again which once again prevents Brady from even considerring the QB
sneak if they leave the middle too soft.
I'd at least have stressed lining up under center and dropping back to the
shotgun as needed if the play isn't there.
So Faulk runs just barely enough yardage but has a slight bobble just before
being hit.  Maybe angles or replays might
have given us some slack but we had no room to call for them and I personally
doubt the replays would have conclusively
changed anything there.  Still the larger question is why did the route of the
best play call for so little margin for
error?  Why did it target the right side where Mathis was having so much success
and thus tie up another blocker to
help and create some concern for the throwing lane?  Why was Moss' route
identical to help let extra defenders stay
right along that line and not have to give a little more slack and/or attention
to his form of a similar but more
separated route?

It's moot they made the choice and it was Colts ball.  This still left the
defense a chance to make a stop which they
didn't and worse still they took just enough time in doing such to not let the
offense have any reasonable chance at a
field goal because Peyton for all the annoying things wisely had his team take
their time in getting to the touchdown -
that is how (accurately) confident he was on the score.

Giving Addai 14 yards to the one was the effective nail and the coffin and
highlighted how worn down our D-line was
already with injuries and a long game with a particularly high paced and long
fourth quarter.  I would have played a
few things differently including the over-soft prevent in the fourth and the bad
call on Butler for a free 31 yards.
Ultimately though I'm comfortable we had a very talented battle in which our
team wa performing pretty well for much of
it and they did nothing to make me not proud of them nor of my appreciation for
such games.  I want to win and be the
best team - we were not but we were not so far from it that I think it's beyond
reach this very season

Go Pats!
Zip    There were many plays and choices we could have made differently and we
really can't know the results of them
but we know several results of significance.

According to various blog posts covering this morning's press
conference BB said he decided to go for it after the 3rd down
failure.  I know he has more coaching knowledge in his pinky
fingernail than I have, but I have to think you need to make
the GFI decision before the series starts and feed that into
your playcalling for the series.

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

I think this comment from elsewhere has it correctly:

      This is something that no-one's talking about. Belichick (or
      Pees) also deserves blame for another decision...the DEFENSIVE
      calls after Manning took over at the 30. You're up by 6, you have
      no timeouts, less than 2:00 to play. Ideally you want to stop a
      TD, but if you're going to give up a TD, you want to force the
      other team to get it quickly. Plus, you're D-line is gassed and
      unable to get any pressure, and missing their best pass
      rusher. So move those safeties up to the line, and BLITZ BLITZ
      BLITZ. Don't keep anyone back, unless they're supposed to jump
      routes, and instruct them not to tackle a receiver who does catch
      it unless they can force them out of bounds. The disadvantage of
      the blitz is that it risks giving up the "big play"--but this
      isn't that bad of an outcome... you would get the ball back down
      by 1 with plenty of time left. The advantage is that it forces
      the other team to at least do something quickly--and score or no
      score, you want them to do it quickly. Plus, it increases the
      chance of a game-winning turnover. Purds made the good point that
      Indy went all out to stop the first down on 4th-and-two...because
      a first down was just as bad as a TD. This is the reverse. NE
      should have gone all out to try to force a turnover or even an
      incompletion, because giving up a TD is only marginally worse,
      and is much better than giving up a short or medium gain.

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

Wasn't too long ago that the Pats offense could sustain drives taking 8-12
minutes regularly. Since Randy Moss came aboard that has changed and
scoring drives often take just a few minutes with the long bombs down the
field. The result is that the Pats defense is on the field way too much.
Last night was a prime example. They scored 34 points, had drives that
could have produced 14 more points at least yet the defense was walking on
their tongues early in the fourth quarter. In the old days that much
offense meant a well rested defense in the fourth. Don't get me wrong I
like RM a lot but the way he is being used has changed the face of the Pats
offense and the result is loses where there used to be wins in these big
games.

Nice to see Vollmer establish himself on the left side. He stood up well to
a big test with Freeney. Here is a vote to plug Matt Light into Kaczur's spot.

Harry

Knowing that he was going to go for it on 4th down, the 3rd-and-2
play should have been a run.  It would have eliminated the two
minute warning as a clock stoppage, may well have picked up the
first down on its own, and even if it didn't, the 4th down may
well have been 4th-and-1 or 4th-and-inches.

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

And another one:

http://smartfootball.com/game-management/belichicks-decision-to-go-for-it-on-4th\
-and-2-from-his-teams-own-29

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/defending-belichicks-fourth-down-d\
ecision/

As for people asking about why more prevent later in the game,
they did lose both Banta-Cain and Ninkovitch to injuries during
the game.  Maybe the loss of depth at LB and the loss of QB pressure
(esp from losing TBC) is why they went more to a prevent?

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

It's late and I'm off to bed but I agreed with the fourth and 2 call then...and
now.

Go Pats!
Zip
----- Original Message -----
From: "George" <patswingr@...>
To: <patriotzip@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 11:59 PM
Subject: [patriotzip] The Worst Single Game Coaching Job In The History of The
Patriots!


> Absolutely the worst coaching job that Bill Belichick has EVER done,
> anywhere, anytime. HOW THE F*** CAN YOU NOT PUNT THE BALL IN THAT
> SITUATION?!
>
> Not to mention the inability to stop the Colts on the TWO previous drives,
> when they scored TWO TDs over a period of 3 MINUTES AND 54 SECONDS!!
>
> It's been a very long time since I have said that I am ashamed of my team.
> But, right now, I am thoroughly ashamed of the Patriots! And I am absolutely
> LIVID at Bill Belichick!
> George
>
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



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19:50:00

packy001@... (Mark Morse) writes:

> I don't know why there wasn't a review by the officials upstairs on
> the spot of the ball. Faulk didn't bobble the ball as the official
> behind him called it. Thats why he made the placement behind the
> 1st down mark.

Because the ball was snapped before the 2 minute warning, only
the Pats or Colts could challenge it.  But because NE was out of
timeouts due to their incredibly stupid use of timeouts, they
were not allowed to challenege it.  Booth review only happens
for plays that begin with 2:00 on the clock or less.

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

Ultimately, BB will be criticized for the call to go fo it on 4th down. 
However, the Patriots prevent defense, prevented them from winning this game. 
The conservative play calling in the second half didn't help and Maromey's
fumble was huge.

I don't know why there wasn't a review by the officials upstairs on the spot of
the ball.  Faulk didn't bobble the ball as the official behind him called it. 
Thats why he made the placement behind the 1st down mark. 

 <font face="comic sans ms" color="#438059" size="5">Mark </font>

How can you not punt there?  Do you distrust your D that badly?
Not to mention the absolutely terrible clock and timeout management
that left you unable to challenge the call.  Big-time F for BB in
this one.

(Of course, if Faulk had caught in cleanly it would have been
a first down.  By juggling it a bit he didn't have possession
until he was driven back behind the sticks.)

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

 

The latest from NFL.com...

"The Patriots declared RB Sammy Morris out of Sunday night's game against the Colts after originally listing him as questionable with a knee injury.

The Patriots also placed rookie WR Brandon Tate (knee) on season-ending injured reserve and signed former Cowboys WR Isaiah Stanback from the practice squad."

fdb

--- In patriotzip@yahoogroups.com, Rich Carreiro <rlcarr@...> wrote:
>
> RB Sammy Morris, LT Matt Light, WR Julian Edelman, S Brandon Meriweather,
> ST Eric Alexander, and C Dan Koppen all practiced today.
>
> But will they play?
>
> --
> Rich Carreiro rlcarr@...
>

The latest from NFL.com...

"The Patriots declared RB Sammy Morris out of Sunday night's game against the
Colts after originally listing him as questionable with a knee injury.

The Patriots also placed rookie WR Brandon Tate (knee) on season-ending injured
reserve and signed former Cowboys WR Isaiah Stanback from the practice squad."

fdb


--- In patriotzip@yahoogroups.com, Rich Carreiro <rlcarr@...> wrote:
>
> RB Sammy Morris, LT Matt Light, WR Julian Edelman, S Brandon Meriweather,
> ST Eric Alexander, and C Dan Koppen all practiced today.
>
> But will they play?
>
> --
> Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...
>

RB Sammy Morris, LT Matt Light, WR Julian Edelman, S Brandon Meriweather,
ST Eric Alexander, and C Dan Koppen all practiced today.

But will they play?

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...

Wrong Borges actually has a decent Brady interview today:

http://bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1211592&forma\
t=text

--
Rich Carreiro                            rlcarr@...