Archive for the ‘New England’ Category

Rodney Harrison’s important to Pats

Patriots record, 2003-2006
With: 42-8 (.840)
W/O: 17-8 (.680)

NFL | 2006 | Playoffs | New York Jets at New England Patriots - Preview

Stats:
• NYJ was 6-2 away this season (more below)
• NE was 5-3 at home this season, losing to the Jets at home on Nov 12th.
• Mangini: First career playoff as head coach
• Belichick: 11-2 playoff record
• Pennington: 2-2 playoff record
• Brady: 10-1 playoff record
• Pennington completed 63.4% of passes and had a 79.4 rating on the road, both down from his season averages
• Brady completed 61.4% of passes and had a 77.4 rating at home, the low passer rating is due to the 9 INTs he threw there vs only 3 on the road this season
• NYJ ranked 4th best in 3rd down efficiency on offense, 10th best on defense
• NE ranked 7th best in 3rd down efficiency on offense, 8th best on defense
Summary
As is normal in the NFL playoffs, this game will certainly be won in the trenchs. Both teams have smart quarterbacks and average weapons, but the plays will be made along each sides’ front seven.

The Jets’ offensive line has all the talent to be one of the league’s best. Rookies D’Brickeshaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold have been as good as advertised in their first year - and each will have to best at their best against Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork.

A review of the Football Outsiders’ OLine and DLine stats should some interesting numbers.

The Jets’ revolving door at running back has resulted in some inconsistent numbers, but the line is doing their job it seems as they rank 2nd best in the league in percentage of plays stuffed at the line (19%). Their run tendencies show they run heavily over their guards and up the middle and few wide end runs. Cedric Houston is a solid between the tackles runner and Leon Washington has surprising power for a back of his size, speed, and quickness.

New England’s defense ranked 7th in the league in average yards allowed per rush (3.9 yards). Their strengths were over right tackle (2.84 yards) and around left end (3.30 yards). Up the middle, teams averaged 4.15 yards per rush against NE. That ranked 12th best in the NFL.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets’ run defense has been a real problem spot this season. They give up an average of 4.65 yards per carry but have given up a surprisingly low number of 10+ yard runs (tanked 8th in the NFL). Their stuff ranked is 28th, which combined with the 10+ number proves that the problem with the run defense is the line play and not the linebackers.

The Jets gave up 5.12 yards per carry around left end, 5.30 ypc off left tackle, 5.67 ypc off right tackle and 4.54 ypc around right end. That’ll be a problem for them because the Patriots run a lot of plays wide and off tackle. In fact, the stats show they run about half of their plays off tackle or wider. The strength of their run game goes to the left side, which is where the Jets have given up the most yardage so expect to see plenty of Dillon and Maroney plowing through blocks from Matt Light and Logan Mankins.

One final PFW note from this week about the Jets’ excellence when playing on the road this season:

We hear that a lot of the credit for the Jets’ 6-2 road record this season — the second-best mark in franchise history behind the 7-1 away record the team posted in 2001 — goes to the way head coach Eric Mangini has treated games away from home. Word is Mangini has done an excellent job preparing the players during the week leading up to an away game by simulating conditions they may face, including practicing in the elements or running plays with simulated crowd noise blaring from speakers along the sideline. We also hear Mangini does a great job of preserving the team’s pregame routines, taking the same approach to preparing for road games as he does at home. The players have adapted well and have been relatively composed and disciplined on the road this season, save for the 41-0 blowout loss at Jacksonville in Week Five. Most impressive of all, Mangini’s troops won all three road games against AFC East foes, which should serve the team well in the postseason.

NFL | 2006 | Week 13 - Detroit Lions / New England Patriots

21-28 at NE

It’s hard to say that Mike Martz is an offensive genius anymore, he’s just too predictable to be a genius. But his style of play calling proved to be effective against this Patriots’ defense that has struggled at times this season.

Here’s the Lions’ play calling and result in their week 13 game against New England:

First down rushing: 11 for 30 yards
First down passing: 10/18 for 148 yards, 2 INT, 3 sacks for -11 yards

Second down rushing: 8 for 41 yards
Second down passing: 8/12 for 83 yards, TD, INT, 2 sacls for -11 yards

Third down rushing: 3 for 3 yards
Third down passing: 5/11 for 88 yards

And the second half stats, in particular, show that the Lions really found their grove by throwing on early downs:

First down passing - second half: 7/11 for 111 yards, INT, 2 sacks for -8 yards
Second down passing - second half: 3/4 for 23 yards, 2 sacks for -11 yards

The 284 yards the Lions put up on New England were the third most this season surrendered by the Patriots and the third most thrown for by the Lions this season. Kitna’s raw total of 314 yards passing was also his third 300+ game of the season.

2006 | Week 2 - New England Patriots

24-17 at NYJ

Targets stats only this week.

CATCHES / TARGETS:
Brown - 4/8
Watson - 3/6
Caldwell - 2/5
Jackson - 2/3
Faulk - 2/3
Thomas - 1/2
Garbiel - 0/2
Graham - 1/1

2006 | Week 1 - New England Patriots

19-17 vs BUF

Targets/Catches:
Watson - 3/6
Caldwell - 2/4
Brown - 2/3
Graham - 1/3
Dillon - 2/2
Faulk - 1/2
Maroney - 0/1

2006 Misc Football Previews - AFC

INDEX

Much of last year’s preview throught the AFC still holds true for this season. The Bengals, for example, return almost exactly the same offense they’ve put out onto the field the last two full seasons. That kind of continuity will continue to reap huge rewards for Cincinnati, and their defense is just average enough that they’ll win a lot of games, but give up a lot of points too. One thing on Carson Palmer, there’s no way he’s 100%. I’ve watched him run in both of the preseason games he’s played in and it’s good to see him up and running this offense. But Palmer is a very good quarterback outside of the pocket, throwing on the run and buying time on the edge. I don’t know if we’ll see a lot of that early in the season. And I don’t think it’ll effect his throwing too much. There’s no better fantasy quarterback in football than Carson Palmer. (Last Season)

For New England, Josh McDaniels begins his 2nd year as the Pats’ OC and 6th season with the organization. Running the ball was New England’s main weakness on offense last season; leading to the first round selection of RB Laurence Maroney. This preseason, Maroney has looked like a future star running back. It’s not believed that his recent knee injury is significant. I think what Maroney has shown in the last few weeks is a glimpse of what is to come. Corey Dillon turns 32 in late October, and although he said that he can still carry a large role, Maroney is the guy.

Another Patriot worth a fantasy look is tight end Ben Watson. He’s entering his third season, and is not only the Pats most reliable receiver at this point, but he was used heavily in the preseason and looked ready to have a breakout season. Normally, Tom Brady’s receivers don’t make for good fantasy options because the ball gets spread around so much in New England, but since we’re talking about tight end numbers, Watson should have a relatively good season for his position.

Turning in an impressive preseason performance for New England has been WR Bam Childress. The former OSU Buckeye is listed at 5′11 185, but he’s probably more like 5′9 175 and can get thrown around on the field. Still, he’s played tough in the games I’ve seen him in, has good enough hands and is able to adjust the ball pretty well. I expect Brady to connect with Childress out of the slot a number of times this season. Fantasy teams in really deep leagues could steal Bam off of free agency.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, there’s no place to go but down. Way too much off season drama to deal with. This is exactly how and why teams don’t repeat. They’ll be lucky if they finish above .500. A September 1 trade for former Patriot Patrick Cobbs is worth noting, however. Cobbs is a 5-9, 205 pound back who showed a great burst through the hole this preseason. His running style and short, powerful build leads me to believe he may get a chance to be a short yardage back for Pittsburgh. Other than that, I wouldn’t touch any Steeler player this season.

The same goes for the Tennessee Titans. Apparently, after seven seasons in the NFL, the Titans just now realized that they didn’t want to put up with Billy Volek’s ego and have decided to throw him overboard. The Titans will probably go 4-12 as a result of their mess of a preseason and the whole thing will end up costing Jeff Fisher his job. Oh, and Vince Young will never be as great an NFL quarterback as Jay Cutler or Matt Leinart.

In San Diego, Phillip Rivers is going to make some mistakes, but he’s still a solid QB who can put the ball into tight spots and this is still a good enough offense to make the playoffs. I’m also very impressed with the depth the Chargers have put together at wide receiver. Eric Parker looks like he can be a solid #2 man, while Kassim Osgood’s size and speed combo makes defenses take notice as a third option. Rashuan Woods and Vincent Jackson are both former high draft picks who are still learning the position but have the physical skills to be NFL good players. And it even looks like the 6′5 Malcom Floyd made enough plays in the preseason to keep a job. He could develop into a contributor as well. The Chargers still lack a true #1 WR, but Keenan McCardell is a good 1B kind of wide out and with Antonio Gates playing the de facto role of 1A while defenses focus on he and LT in the backfield, the Chargers have enough players to make this offense work.

One other thing about the Chargers, since Clinton Portis injured his shoulder and ruined my hopes for a huge season (see below), I think of the remaining top 3 RBs available, LT is the guy to have over LJ and Alexander (read the Seattle post for more on Alexander). LJ has to deal with a retired left tackle, a departed offensive coordinator, and Herm Edwards. LT, on the other hand, only has a new QB to deal with, and that may actually lead to a better statistical season for him. But the biggest reason, is the insurance you can get when you draft LT. There may not be another backup running back in the league right now that is better than Michael Turner. The guy is a smallish, but is all power, speed, and vision.

2005 NFL Playoffs - Divisional Playoffs

Divisional Weekend

This is a strange weekend of playoff football. Normally, I’d want to look at as much into these games that I could. But something about this week of preparation was different. I really see both the Seahawks and the Colts as special teams this year, and there’s realy such little chance that either one of them will not be playing for a conference championship next week.

Then there’s the Carolina / Bears game that is so evenly matched, it’s almost impossible to find an edge between the two teams. The Bears quarterback has played so few downs in the NFL, no one really knows what to think of him. And I believe that is what will do the Panthers in.

Divisional Round home teams are 15-5 since 2000.

Gil Brandt has more of these kinds of facts:

Under the current playoff format, the top seed in the NFC never has lost its divisional round game: 15-0. The first seed in the AFC is 10-5 in this round.

Overall, the NFC teams that have had a bye are 27-3 in this round; AFC teams coming off the bye are 22-8.

Since 2000, the team that scores first in NFC divisional round games is 9-1; the team that scores first in the AFC is 7-3.

And finally:

Since 2000, there have been eight instances when teams that faced each other once in the regular season played a rematch in the divisional playoffs. In those games, the teams that won the regular-season meetings are a combined 8-0 in the playoff rematch. (Note: This does not include three times when teams squared off twice in the regular season and then a third time in the playoffs.)

So for Saturday’s game, a couple of quotes from this week caught my attention:

Shaun Alexander, on their Week 4 loss in Washington:

We realized what it takes to beat good teams…I think after that we changed some things that are going to make us better for the long haul. That was an eye-opner game for us, and from then on we swtiched some things and changed some things to make us better.

And Deion Branch, when asked on how he’s approached facing a talented Broncos’ secondary:

The Colts did a great job this with in giving us an extensive game plan.

The Patriots are 6-0 when rematching within the same year against an opponent they previously lost to. That said, I don’t think the Patriots aren’t going to be able to run the ball very well. Denver will be able to play the run with 7 and road teams in the playoffs don’t win road games by throwing the ball 40 times.

Tom Brady’s home passer rating this season was 103.6. On the road, it was 83.6. He threw 2 INTs at home all season and 12 INTs on the road.

Week 18 Notes

Playoff related notes:


• The Colts are concerned about Corey Simon’s health and weight. Don’t look for him to be 100%, at least for the Steelers game.
• Tom Brady feels his offense has a lot of room to improve, despite their blowout win over Jacksonville.
• A good note here from Len Pasquarelli:

  For a second consecutive week, Washington’s regular cycle will be disrupted, since the Redskins play a second straight Saturday contest. Plus, the Redskins will have to make a long flight to the Pacific Northwest, never an easy trip. Seattle won all eight games this season at Qwest Field and the Seahawks are now 24-10 at home since the stadium opened in 2002. The home field, from a scoring standout, has been worth about a touchdown more per game for the Seahawks. Seattle lost its only playoff game at Qwest Field, losing last year to the Rams.

• John Clayton does his research too:

  Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau did have an impact on the Colts’ offense. Even though he didn’t beat the Colts, he frustrated them at times. After giving up 10 points in the first two possessions, the Steelers’ defense settled into a nickel approach that used only two defensive linemen. This may be a small lineup, but it gives the Steelers more speed and more coverage options than they normally have in the 3-4. Several times during the game, Manning struggled to find open receivers down field. Occasionally, he came to the bench frustrated. Reggie Wayne came to the sidelines upset that he couldn’t get the ball. Even though the Colts dominated in a 19-point win, the Colts couldn’t put the ball in the end zone, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns on a number of drives. The Colts had 59 offensive plays in that game. They had 366 total yards, but only 286 yards after their 80-yard touchdown pass. The Colts have one of the most efficient offenses in years. The Colts usually get 10 possessions which Manning turns into four touchdown drives. But the Steelers played them well in the red zone. The Colts have had an extra week to look at what happened and try to find ways to beat the Steelers.

• “It had yet to be determined at this writing whether or not the Seahawks would start Kelly Herndon or Andre Dyson at left corner against the Redskins this Saturday, but we hear the team was leaning toward Herndon, who recovered enough from a late-season knee injury to see action in Week 17 but did not start.” (PFW)
• “We hear that Patriots RB Corey Dillon’s leg injuries have limited his effectiveness to such a degree that it has led New England to use its spread offense — with scatback Kevin Faulk as the lone running back — more often.” (PFW)

Non-playoff related notes:


• Gary Kubiak would be a great fit in Houston as their next head coach. I noted back in late October that what little success the Texans’ offense was having earlier in the year, it was when running plays similar to the style that Denver has used with Plummer. Dominick Davis would be a great fit in the Shanahan/Kubiak scheme that has been in place in Denver over the last few seasons. And even if the Texans end up with Reggie Bush, his versatility is a perfect fit for this modified Denver style offense. And, of course, there’s David Carr; a QB who possesses similar outside the pocket skills as Jake Plummer. One of the other things that Denver has done well is evaluate and train their offensive linemen; something that the Texans are in desperate need of. Kubiak in Houston just looks like a real good fit.
• “While there’s no doubt junior USC RB Lendale White earned himself some money with a stellar Rose Bowl performance (20 carries for 124 yards and three TDs) should he decide to declare his eligibility for the draft, we hear there are still some real concerns about his character that could have a bearing on where he’s picked” (PFW)

2005 Playoffs - Jacksonville at New England - Part III: Jags vs 3-4

Wild Card Weekend

Jacksonville played 4 teams this year who play primarily a 3-4 defense: PIT, HOU (twice), CLE, and SF.
I left out the Jets because 1) their scheme varies 2) I don’t have game film from week 3 to look back on and 3) there’s enough teams on this list drafting in the top 5.



	3rd DOWNS	RUSHING	PASSING	SACKED	RED ZONE
@PIT	7/19	35-93	19/35-153-1	3-24	2/3
HOU	6/12	27-98	19/25-214-0	2-4	3/3
@CLE	5/13	36-135	11/20-102-1	3-14	2/4
SF	6/17	35-134	21/40-202-0	2-14	1/3
@HOU	5/11	33-172	18/31-276-0	3-16	4/5
TOTALS	29/72	166-632	88/151-947-2	13-72	12/18
AVERAGE	40.3%	33-126 (3.8ypc)	18/30-189-0.4	2.6-14.4	66.7%



When you take out the two games vs Houston, I really think you can get a good idea of what to expect from Jacksonville against the Pats’ defense.

They will look to run the ball 30-35 times and average less than 3.5 yards a carry. And Leftwich will probably throw about 30 passess and complete just over half of them. He’s probably going to throw 1 INT and it’ll be very interesting to see what portion of the field he throws it on.

The game against Cleveland looks telling because it came against a similarly coached defense (Crennel), but remember that Greg Jones and David Garrard both started that game.

Nonetheless, it’s really hard to imagine the Jags scoring more than 20 points against the Pats. My guess is they get 13.

2005 Playoffs - Jacksonville at New England - Part II: Jags’ Red Zone

Wild Card Weekend

Jacksonville went 6-2 on the road this year. Here’s who they’ve played when away from home:



OPPONENT	OVERALL	HOME RECORD
IND	14-2	7-1
NYJ	4-12	4-4
PIT	11-5	5-3
STL	5-10	3-5
TEN	4-12	3-5
ARZ	5-11	3-5
CLE	6-10	4-4
HOU	2-14	2-6


So in their 6 away wins, Jacksonville’s opponents were a combined 32-64 (.333) on the season.
In their 8 total away games, Jacksonville’s opponents held an overall record of 51-76 (.402)

And the 11-5 Pittsburgh team they beat in Pennsylvania was with Tommy Maddux at QB; and it took an OT INT for the Jags to win.

Let’s look into this further. As mentioned in this game’s previous post, the Jags ability to score in the red zone will directly factor in whether or not they can take down the defending champs.

In these above mentioned 8 away games this season, here’s a table of how many TDs the Jags scored on trips inside their opponents’ twenty yard line:



OPP	RZ
BAL	1/4
IND	2/5
PIT	2/3
CIN	1/2
DEN	0/0
IND	0/1
SEA	1/3


Overall, in 8 road games this season, Jacksonville went 7/18 (38.8%) inside the red zone.
They were 29/49 (59.2%) on the season, and 22/31 (70.9%) at home inside the red zone.

Coming up next, the Jags vs 3-4 defenses.

2005 Playoffs - Jacksonville at New England - Part I: Leftwich

Wild Card Weekend

The Jaguars enter this game having won 8 out of their last 9 games; losing only to the Colts in week 13. QB David Garrard has led them to their last 5 wins and there is a chance he will be asked to start again this week.

But on Tuesday, Byron Leftwich was listed as ‘probable’ on the team’s injury report and he “took nearly all of the snaps in practice.”

How healthy is he? How rusty will he be on Saturday night?

“We’re going to find out. I’m not looking that rusty in practice. I’m hitting everything. My goal this week is to make it through without a setback,” Leftwich said.

Jacksonville last faced New England in 2003, when the Jags traveled to Foxboro to face the Pats in week 15 on what was described as a “snowy Sunday.”

In that game, Leftwich went 21/40 for 288 with 1 TD and 2 INT. This was Jack Del Rio’s first season as head coach, and the Jags ran Fred Taylor just 16 times in that game.

Leftwich threw two fourth quarter INTs near midfield and the Pats scored 14 points in that final quarter to go up by 21 before a late Kevin Johnson TD catch cut the Pats’ lead to 14.

The Jags were 0/3 in the red zone that day. They settled for field goals twice on the Pats 5 yard line and missed another FG from New England’s 16.

As it did that December day over two years ago, red zone efficiency is something that will play a huge role in this weekend’s game and it will be the feature of my next post.

Week 10 - New England Patriots

23-16 at Miami

Yes, Heath Evans looked good and this can be some crazy league at times.
(Side note: Someone should show the tape of Evans running in this game to Jamal Lewis so he can understand what ‘full speed’ looks like out of a big man).

Tom Brady fell victim to staring down his receiver on his first INT. On his second, it was not such a great throw to not such a great route (Watson). But the big TE made up for that on his second TD catch. What a great job he did to get both feet in bounds.

I’m surprised Bill Belichick went for two so early in the fourth quarter. He gets a lot of praise for being a genius, but that was not a smart move. When the Pats scored again with two minutes left to take the lead, they had to go for two just to make up for missing their previous conversion. They made it, but it was a lot of grief for a net of zero. And it very easily could have cost them the game, as Dolphins had the ball on the Pats’ 5 with a minute left.

Ted Bruschi continues to get more comfortable in the game. It didn’t take long.

Brady continues to struggle in Miami and if the Dolphins had anywhere close to the pass defense they’ve had in recent years, the Pats lose this game. There were 83 total passes thrown in this game,

TARGETS(catches):
Branch -10(5)
Brown- 8(3)
Watson- 5(3)
Evans- 4(3)
Dwight- 3(3)
Johnson- 3(2)
Fauria- 3(2)

Saturday Football

Filling out the rest of week six, below. I’m borrowing today’s NCAA picks from a fellow named Keg. He’s doing much better than my 23-30 this season. And if he finishes 0-4 today, I’ll kindly apologize for passing on my curse to him and I’ll pledge never do it again.



New York Jets TARGETS(catches): McCareins- 11(5) Coles- 7(4) Martin- 2(2) Chrebet- 1(1) Baker- 1(0) Dreesen- 1(0) Buffalo Bills: TARGETS(catches): Moulds- 9(7) Evans- 6(3) McGahee- 4(3) Campbell- 3(2) Reed- 1(1) Smith- 1(1) Peters- 1(1)

St Louis Rams: TARGETS(catches): Holt- 8(6) Jackson- 6(5) Curtis- 5(3) Faulk- 4(4) Looker- 2(2) Manumaluena- 2(1) Cleeland- (2) Indianapolis Colts: TARGETS(catches): Wayne- 10(7) Harrison- 7(4) Stokely- 5(4) Clark- 4(3) James- 4(3) Rhodes- 2(1)

New England Patriots: TARGETS(catches): Givens- 13(7) Branch- 12(7) Pass- 7(6) Dwight- 5(1) Watson- 4(1) Johnson- 1(0) Zereoue- 1(1) Graham- ??? Denver Broncos: TARGETS(catches): Smith- 7(6) Lelie- 4(3) Putzier- 4(3) Bell- 4(3) Johnson- 2(1) Adams- 1(0) Alexander- 1(1)

Wednesday Football

Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons lost this game purely because they have more weaknesses than the Patriots do. And while people are speculating whether or not Atlanta is better off with Matt Schaub or another traditional drop back passer (just because Schaub threw for 300+ yards) know that what Michael Vick does when he’s on the field not only compliments the run game, but he also helps mask how poor the Falcons receivers really are. I mean, I really like Brian Finneran, but he should not be the most dependable pass catcher on any Super Bowl caliber team. And that’s not to say that Matt Schaub is not a good quarterback, we found that out during his rookie season that he is, but I don’t know if he can make all the throws yet. Schaub missed a number of deep passes on Sunday that championship quarterbacks, like tom Brady, make.

Michael Jenkins had a terrible game in particular. He dropped a few, and failed to fight for the ball on a number of other occasions. Dez White dropped a few too, and he almost didn’t get credit for his touchdown catch because it fell to the ground too. For the season, Brian Finneran is now one target behind Jenkins for the lead among Falcons WRs, and again, Finneran has been terrific.

The Pats game was decided late by three plays in particular. With 8 minutes left and the Falcons driving near midfield, a line judge called Schaub out of bounds two yards before the first down even though Schaub was clearly more than a foot in bounds. The Falcons punted, and while they did soon get the ball back and score a tying touchdown, but New England was left with just enough time to win. And on that game winning drive, the Pats were facing 1st and 25 from their own 20. Kerney was call off-sides even though he was drawn by a false start and then on the very next play Allen Rossum interfered with Deion Branch on a ball that he didn’t need to interfere with and the Pats got a free first down. Game over.
TARGETS(catches):
Jenkins- 10(3)
Crumpler- 9(6)
Finneran- 6(5)
DWhite- 3(1)
RWhite- 3(0)
Dunn- 2(2)
Griffith- 1(1)

New England Patriots
This Patriots’ offense is just rolling. Brady’s 54 yard TD pass to Bethel Johnson was especially nice. He threw it off his back foot, with two Falcons in his face and hit Johnson with a perfect rainbow that fell perfectly into the receivers arms. Brady’s ability to move within the pocket is helping out his rookie LT and LG. Daniel Graham obviously had a huge game, and he gets more playing time because he’s a more complete tight end right now. But I still think Ben Watson has a big game in his near future. He picked up the first TD of his career on Sunday, and despite only having 3 catches on the year, he’s been thrown to 13 times (2 more than Graham’s 11). Deion Branch, after being almost forgotten last week, was heavily featured against the Falcons. And he picked up his 8 catches and 107 yards while matched up against DeAngelo Hall most of the time.

On defense, tight ends vs NE have had some success this year. Gates picked up 108 last week, Courtney Anderson had 2 TDs in the opener, and Crumpler had 99 yards against the Pats. New England looked like they had linebackers on Crumpler to start the game and then swtiched to using more DBs to cover him. Neither technique was effective. And Chad Brown is being abused in coverage.

The Pats also rushed rushed the passer much more than they did last week, showing perhaps less respect for Schaub than they did Drew Brees. This left a lot of Falcons’ receivers in single coverage, but on too many occasions (for ATL, at least) Schaub either missed his throw or the receiver wasn’t able to make the catch. The Falcons attacked down the field all game, they just couldn’t come up with many plays. Against a team with a little better verticle offense, New England will have to go back to protecting their secondary with 7-8 men in coverage, and they won’t be as effective against the pass. There are real problems here for New England.
TARGETS(catches):
Branch- 8(8)
Graham- 5(5)
Givens- 4(2)
Dillon- 4(2)
Pass- 2(1)
Johnson- 1(1)
Brown- 1(1)
Dwight- 1(1)
Watson- 1(1)

—
Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Burger showed on Monday night that he’s making good progress as an NFL quarterback. He’s finally becoming more than just a half field passer, it seems. I expected Willie Parker to be more of a force than he was in this game. For a guy who’s never carried a full load before, it looked a little like he may have lost a bit already. Take for example the 14 yard run he had that ended as he was tripped and couldn’t keep his balance. I can’t help but think that a fresh Parker finds a way to stay on his feet there.
TARGETS(catches):
Ward- 10(6)
Miller- 6(4)
Randel El- 4(3)
Wilson- 2(1)
Morgan- 1(0)
Haynes- 1(1)
Parker- 1(1)
Bettis- 1(1)

San Diego Chargers
After getting just one pass thrown to him in his first two games, LaDainian Tomlinson has picked up a total of 18 targets in his last three. Antonio Gates is on pace for 75 catches this year (81 in 15 games last year), but his 341 yards through 4 games puts him on a 1279 pace for the season. He’s had 33 passes thrown to him in ‘05. That’s good for a pace of 124 for the year. He picked up 111 targets in 2004. Also of note, Keenan McCardell received another pass in the red zone, giving him 8 on the season. Gates has just 3 RZ targets so far.
TARGETS(catches):
Gates- 11(5)
Parker- 7(5)
Tomlinson- 7(7)
McCardell- 6(1)
Caldwell- 1(1)
Osgood- 1(1)
Neal- 1(0)

—
Indianapolis Colts
Edgerrin James looks more decisive with his running as each week passes. He’s not only giving a better effort than ever before since his knee injury, but James is also getting all the chances he can handle because of the way teams are playing Indy. The only problem is that he’s still being taken out in the red zone way too often for his fantasy owners’ likings. James also fumbled on the goal line against the 49ers. He’s just finding ways to not score.

The Colts don’t seem to be doing anything new with their offense yet. The 49ers just didn’t play the game like others this year have. And despite the score, the Colts were real sloppy in this match. They lost a fumble (as I mentioned, on the one yard line), Peyton threw 2 picks, and Indy had 10 penalties for 80 yards. Very uncharacteristic. But still they dominated. Harrison’s injury seems to be limiting him right now.
TARGETS(catches):
Wayne- 10(6)
Stokely- 8(6)
James- 5(4)
Clark- 3(3)
Harrison- 3(2)
Rhodes- 1(1)
Walter- 1(1)

San Francisco 49ers
I know he threw 4 INTs, but Alex Smith looked much better in the pocket than he has at any point I’ve seen him this season. He still has most of the way to go before he’s a good QB, but at least Smith has made significant progress past that whole first year ‘deer in headlights’ thing. It seems he’s always going to have that awful release though. It’s the only thing about Smith that is slow. Oh, and Smith certainly earned every one of his INTs too. They were all ugly. Only one pass was completed to a WR (cato June had two INTs), and 13 of Smith’s 23 passes went to either a back or tight end.

Kevan Barlow is basically a head down, straight ahead runner at this point. Frank Gore has been running with much more explosiveness, but it’s still the veteran who’s getting most of the carries.
TARGETS(catches):
Barlow- 4(3)
Lloyd- 3(0)
Battle- 3(0)
Morton- 3(1)
Gore- 3(1)
Jackson- 2(0)
Amey- 1(0)
Bush- 1(1)
Bajema- 1(1)
Beasley- 1(1)
Hetherington- 1(1)

Thursday Football

Just one game to add for now. NHL’s opening night has me behind in the schedule.

NE- The closest thing I remember seeing a pass go to Deion Branch was right at the end of the first half when a ball in the end zone that was originally intended for Troy Brown was tipped and went through Branch’s hands. In fact, I had to rewind the tape just to find which part of the game Branch’s one catch did finally come in. And in searching for it, I realized that not only was I not seeing #83 in my limited tv camera view, but I also didn’t really see Quentin Jammer. Based on that, I can only assume that either Jammer was owning Branch for much of the game, and/or the Patriots’ offensive staff couldn’t figure out any way to get Branch involved. He really was nonexistent. In turn, David Givens had a big game.

The Pats line did a good job, considering they started rookies at LG and LT. But as a team, they did get away from the run a little too much in the second half. Dillon was running well when he did get his chances.

There isn’t much wrong with New England’s offense, other than they don’t have the best play caller in football working for them anymore. There are problems on defense though (see below).

Also, Matt Cassell’s INT wasn’t really his fault. The pass was deflected coming out of his hand and went almost straight up before it was picked off and returned for a touchdown. Cassell did, however, launch a poorly thrown pass on his first attempt. It was a sideline route that looked like it didn’t quite have the arm strength behind it to be considered an NFL caliber throw. TARGETS(catches): Givens- 10(6), Pass- 9(8), Brown- 6(2), Branch- 6(1), Dwight- 2(2), Watson- 1(1), Dillon- 1(1).

SD- In a big game like this, it was interesting to see the San Diego come out early and try to get the ball into the hands of Darren Sproles as they did.

The Chargers’ offensive line was good enough when run blocking for LT and Michael Turner, but they weren’t really tested by the typical New England pass rush. The Pats were most likely protecting against their problems in their secondary. Being cautious didn’t help though. On the play that put the Chargers ahead 31-17, it was third and 7 from the NE 28 and Brees had enough time for Caldwell to sell his route all the way to almost the middle of the field before breaking it off to the corner of the end zone for a score. I’d be surprised if Brees was even knocked down for the entire game. The Pats just didn’t come after him. The Chargers finished the game 7 for 12 on third downs. They also scored 40 points, and this is at New England. Wow.

Turner, incidentally, continues to look great as LT’s backup. If Tomlinson happens to miss any time, I wouldn’t blink for a second in putting Turner into my lineup.

LaDainian Tomlinson carried Monty Beisel for about four yards into the end zone on his first score, and on LT’s second TD, he just blew Beisel up a yard before the goal line and rolled over him for the 6 points. No doubt, TJ Duckett has been smiling a lot this week.

SD couldn’t get much pressure on Brady. That’s been a trouble spot for them and it looks like it continues to be a problem. The Chargers should also be concerned about their run defense. Over the last two weeks, both the Giants and the Patriots have been successful running wide, away from Jamal Williams. And now they have to face Willie Parker this Monday night. TARGETS(catches): Gates- 8(6), Parker- 4(4), LT- 4(3), Caldwell- 2(2), Sproles- 2(1), McCardell- 1(1), Neal- 1(1), Peelle- 1(1)