another entry

Too Close for Comfort

The Patriots win a much too close game against the Houston Texans, 34-31 I apologize. I treated this game way too casually. I did think we would win this game, and I did think it would be on the easier side of things, but I was joking about this team being a high school team. Obviously the Texans read all my articles and took my harsh words to heart. Ben Tate and the Texans came out of the gate ready to play and took full advantage of the Patriots taking a quick 10-0 lead and then leading 17-7 at the half. Patriots only score in the first half was an awesome catch by Rob Gronkowski. Really that was the only good play for the Patriots in the first half. As it has become a custom here, the Pats came out of the half hot and ready to play. The Pats matched the Texans score for score as Tom Brady became more comfortable in the pocket and spread the ball around, moving up and down the field with ease. This game quickly became a shootout and Case Keenum and Ben Tate kept the Texans in the game taking advantage of another poor performance by the Pats D. Stephen Gostowski kicked a 53 yard field goal late to take the lead 34-31 late in the forth. The Texans had a 4th and 13 to try to keep their hopes alive but the D-line finally got pressure on Keenum and forced him to throw an incomplete pass, ending the game. This was an ugly game for the Patriots. After a huge win against the Broncos, the Pats came out flat and the defense let the Texans, a team that ranks near the bottom in points per game, score at will all game long. Prepare for some harsh words. STATS: HIGHLIGHTS STEPHEN GOSTOWSKI This was the game of the other guys! After missing a 55 yard field goal in the first half, Gostowski came back to kick two 53 yard field goals in the 4th quarter. His last field goal gave the Patriots the lead with 3:15 left in the game. This was a highlight of an otherwise lowlight filled game. At times Gostowski has missed his share of critical field goals and ending last year, I was thinking it was time to get a new kicker. But without him today, the Patriots don’t get a lead and may not win the game. Good to see we’ve got a clutch kicker going into the playoffs. JAMES DEVELIN Who? Like I said, the game of the other guys. James Develin is our fullback and after having a career game, I had to show the man some love. Develin ended the game with 2 carries for 4 yards and a catch for 12 yards. So why the highlight? Because he scored a rushing touchdown like this: That is 100% effort, and in a game where there wasn’t much to be happy about, Develin’s touchdown was just so awesome and so great that it has to get mentioned and featured. Both Julian Edelman and Gronk had great games, but thats starting to become expected of them. I know they probably deserve their own highlight but I am really just not happy with the way this game went. And most all of these feelings can be put upon the defense, which is a wonderful segue to…. LOWLIGHTS RUN DEFENSE This is just starting to get ridiculous. While at times the run D did look strong, including a huge stop on 3rd and 1, for the most part Tate had his way with us. In fact the only way the Texans scored was on the ground. The Patriots headed into the Houston game ranked 31st in the league against the run and amazingly, Houston's 121 yards are actually lower than the Pats season average of 139.7 yards a game. Well I guess its the little things that cheer you up… Tate had 102 rushing yard and 3 TDs. For two of those TDs he just walked into the end zone. I wont go into too much detail about what we need to fix, simply because I’ve said it enough, but we need to find something that works against the run because we will not be able to make it deep into the playoffs with the way this defense is playing. Also the Keenum run was pretty depressing to see work, but that is more just terrific play calling and execution. We had all of our linebackers to the left of the field, leaving the right wide open. The Texans wideouts did a good job blocking and the only Patriots defender in reach was Aqib Talib, who was being blocked by an offensive line man. I think Talib loses that matchup 9 out 9 times. COVERING ANDRE JOHNSON Nothing makes Bill Belichick happier than taking away the other teams best player and making them beat you with someone else. It has worked all year long and it worked this week. Belichick focused his defense on running back Adrian Foster, and Foster had no touches for no yards. But BIll seemingly forgot that a) Foster is injured and b) Andre Johnson is a really really fucking good receiver, no matter who is throwing him the football. Johnson ended the game with 8 receptions and 121 yards and while he didn’t score a touchdown, almost every reception he had was a big play. That is not shutting down the other teams best player. Not in the slightest. The Patriots seemed to be running a zone for most of the game, which would lead to cornerbacks passing off Johnson to linebackers or just huge holes due to miscommunication. In the first drive, Johnson cut across the field and got behind the defender and caught a 29 strike from Keenum. Do you know who that defender was? Brandon Spikes. Spikes can’t cover a goddamn lineman, let alone one of the best receivers in the NFL. What worries me about this is that maybe Talib is not as healthy as we think, and playing zone helped mask that since Talib wasn’t directly responsible for Johnson. Obviously injuries have been hurting the secondary and a zone is not the worst idea to play when your second best corner is out and your best corner is recovering from injury. But injuries are just an excuse and even in a zone, the zone can be focused on one receiver and for some reason that person was not Andre Johnson. Also, since we are talking about the cornerback group, Kyle Arrington, quick question, what the holy hell were you looking at on that pass to DeAndre Hopkins? Seriously! This has happened way way way too often to Arrington to justify keeping him on the outside. I understand that McCourty also messed up big time and needed to stay back since he was the only safety, but Arrington had great coverage on Hopkins, then just slows down. What was that!? I don’t know how or why, but it seems every game he will give up a big play in coverage. With Logan Ryan starting to emerge as a strong corner, I would hope that Bill makes the change and starts Ryan on the outside and keeps Arrington in the slot. I like Arrington in the slot, just not outside. THE FIRST HALF For the second week in a row the Patriots came out flat and relied on a second half rally to win them the game. Yes, this is exciting and gives me a heart attack, why not just start playing well at the beginning of the game? It’s never too early to start looking ahead to the playoffs (especially when you’re in the AFC Easy) and in the playoffs, all the teams get better. There will come a time when the Patriots will face a team that if they go down 17-7, or 24-0 last week, to, they won’t be able to come back from that. The Pats need to figure out a way to come out strong in the first half and keep it going through an entire 60 minute game. So far we’ve pieced together a few good 30 minute games, but that doesn’t matter come January and February. Obviously it is easy to come away from today’s win and think that all hope is lost and scratch all Super Bowl hopes that had been rejuvenated after last weeks win. I am 100% accountable of this. But let us take a deep breath Patriots Nation and remember that a win is a win. We are 9 and 3 and play the Browns, Ravens, Dolphins and Bills in our remaining games. That is not a bad way to end the season. Right now the Chiefs are beating the Broncos, which would open up the top seed in the AFC. (Update: Chiefs lost. Poopy) Yes that game was utter crap. But we still won it, and hopefully we can get better from it, because if we don’t, then we are screwed. Leave a comment with your thoughts, and as always, never leave the couch. Unless it’s an emergency.