11/25 Eagles @ New England "Into the belly of the Beast" sunday night special

[Notorious_BIG]

That's why a good running game scares the defensive line into watching the lanes. No runner...no need to fill gaps and wait.

2 rushes in the first half alone...one a QB scramble...the other was a 1 yard goal line plunge....

That's crazy tactics....

though it was highly interesting to watch and hear one of the best QB's in history run a no huddle offense for an entire half

hearing all the commands
watching his(Brady's) eyes scan the defensive movements and make audible amendments to the play
you'd see him use a fraction of a second to look at the scoreboard to track the play clock
bark some more commands as the defense moved around(philly often stuffed the line of scrimmage with backers and such,only to retreat back into pass coverage on the snap)

it really was a beautiful thing to watch as it blended everything that makes the NFL so damn interesting

all the way from the mgmt decisions to draft the guy who's going to eventually be responsible for those audibles
the head coach and staff that designs the plays and the portfolio of plays aka "the playbook"

in this era I believe there's a premium to be placed on a QBs intellect and in game decision processing
as defense's are so sophisticated now and the players are so fast and stronger
I'm not sayin' the players are faster than say 20-40 years ago
but they are stronger across the board(due to advances in bodybuilding knowledge and "supplements")

so now with 225lb cornerbacks and free safeties you can employ them as linebackers if need be

in the NFL you're only as strong as your weakest link
new englands weakest link is their aging linebackers

and in the NFL because each player is basically a corporation of himself
every play is important
and you see teams make dramatic improvements in 4 weeks
that's because their youngest players(i.e. the early 20s guys) are striving for that cash
they learn PDQ in this league or they're out

wouldn't surprise me to see the rams win 3 of their last 4 games

 

[Notorious_BIG]

new england's problem is they have no way to improve
their weak link is their old linebackers(I think only Thomas is considered young by NFL standards)
they cant draft mid-season to address those old backers
they're stuck
while say the Jets and Miami are full of hungry young players that are improving

extremely bad judgment decision by belichick to run up the score
and to be so brazen as to be public about it

he's going to get his comeuppance
it started sunday night

 

[patsfan1379]

Not sure the linebackers are the weakest links. I think honestly their CBs and safeties are what's holding them back. Inside slants for modest yardage just out of a LBs zone is what is hurting them most. As seen in last night's Eagles game.

 

[Spartacus]

Not sure the linebackers are the weakest links. I think honestly their CBs and safeties are what's holding them back. Inside slants for modest yardage just out of a LBs zone is what is hurting them most. As seen in last night's Eagles game.

maybe I'm not up on the latest
hell I'm not even sure what "cover 2" is and everyone's talkin' about cover two this cover two that

but my old school thinking is the backers are responsible for mid -field and the under 10 yard shit to the sides
while the corners cover well... the corners-from 5 yards to deep
the safeties provide help to the corners on the corner
and help in the center

on passing downs backers are either blitzing or dropping to pass coverage
relatively close pass coverage
i.e. you dont want your backer tasked with covering a fleet reciever far down field
which is the sort of mismatch offensive coordinators strive for

so maybe I stand to be corrected
but I figure all those 10-30 yard pass completions feeley was connecting on in the middle of the field
I see that as a backer weakness
also to to get an effective pass rush you have to bring a backer or two,three

did they sack feeley at all sunday night?
I believe brady got sacked at least twice

 

[Pat_McCrotch]

I despise Marino, always have.

O-v-e-r-r-a-t-e-d

Oer rated and holds most of the records being broken after what 10-15 years?