NE rolling with Edelman as back-up QB: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-pa...ulian-edelman-as-their-no-2-qb-192337663.html
The narrative is that Will Fuller is very fast. But speed doesn't kill you near the line of scrimmage. Speed kills you down field. If the Texans want to throw 5-yard passes to Fuller so that half of New England can converge on him I'm sure Belicheck is game for that.
Very fast, runs good routes, and can track the ball very well. Some people making him out to be Ted Ginn. The fact that he can get open deep is a good thing, but it's not the only thing he can do. But here's a thought- if the db is gonna sag off that much, why not throw five yard passes? We did that with Andre all the time. Reminder that he already has a TD this way
Makes sense sort of. Why make roster moves when this backup would only get maybe 3 days of practice with the play book? Brady is coming back for week 5 so you just have to make it till then. Even if both games end up as losses, you still go 2-2 without Brady, Gronk, and Ninkovitch. I think if you proposed that to the Pats in the preseason they'd take it happily.
New England's corners are slow. They can be abused as was Malcom Butler against Miami in the second half. Texans need to beat them up on running out of the Shotgun and wait to take their shots.
I still have faith in Lamar Miller, but many of his runs look like dives into the backs of the OG or OT, and the OL doesn't appear to be opening any hole at all. KCs D-line is really good, but you'd still like to see an occasional hole for the guy. He doesn't see quick enough to hop outside. But there was one series when they had a first down inside the ten (I think inside the five). Perfect time to run... but know, a pass. Second down a run into the line. Third... INT. Frustrating. Need to improve the OL.
This isn't about Will Fuller; it's about defending speed. Speed doesn't kill 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. No, we really didn't. And Andre/they beat Belicheck how often? He's almost certainly going to take Hopkins out of the game; that's a Belicheck staple. The other staple is to dictate what you can do on offense. Fuller - with no Hopkins - cannot beat you within 5-10 yards of the line of scrimmage. And deep passes - while potentially explosive - are often low % plays with high risk. So he'll give the Texans both and take his chances.
It will be up to BOB to move Hop around. Kubiak was very good at getting Johnson open by adjusting him after coverage was shown. They will have to do the same thing here. The are certainly going to bracket Fuller. I hope to see some screens sent his way.
If we can not beat them this Thursday, then when are we going to beat them? Waiting for another ten years? It would be a very disappointment for the Texans fans if we are going to lose this game.
We ran quick slants with Andre all the time. So many first downs thanks to those. In addition to the occasional screen You can't assume Belichick can just "take Hopkins out of the game" especially not when Fuller is on the other side, that was part of the point of taking fuller. And take out the intermediate routes too? I mean teams couldn't even take Hopkins out of the game last year when there was no one else on offense who could make a play
And if they bracket fuller they can't also take Hopkins out of the game. ALTHOUGH Belichick can always figure out a way to play with an extra man
I know it's not wise to bet against Belicheck, but I feel like Nuk's skillset is such that it will be difficult to scheme him out. He's so good at catching in traffic, etc. There's only going to be so much the Hoodie can do to neutralize that. But we'll see in a few days, I suppose.
This game is going to be a big game for Stephen Anderson. Book it. Say they bracket Fuller, which I could see. Say they do something to take away Hopkins. They may bracket Fuller part of the time, they may bracket Hopkins part of the time, and give Fuller some deep balls. My guess is they'll do that. I'm guessing theyll bracket Fuller on third and long, and anything eight yards or under, they'll blanket Hopkins. What this does, is this will almost assuredly leave them with linebackers on Anderson. Who is going to cover him? Nobody. He should be Brock's safety valve in this game by default. I'm thinking something like 8 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Part of me thinks O'Brien has kept Anderson under wraps, somewhat, just for this particular game. Obviously, Bellicheck knows it's hard to scheme for a good pass catching tight end. He just doesn't know we have one.
You're assuming they will run plays for him. I'm still surprised their reluctance in running plays for the tight ends.
I added that little bit to my post as you were typing your response. It wouldn't be out of the question that O'Brien has purposely gone away from tight end passes in order to keep them under wraps for this game. Seriously, its the perfect wrinkle to unveil on a three day week.
Not sure about that.... their entire gameplan against Arizona was to take away the deep threats, and give up all the underneath stuff. Texans just need to be versatile. A semblance of taking what the defense gives you... but you have to execute that well even if its just underneath routes and the running game. With the Texans pass protection being questionable as is... I'd welcome them going for some quick-hitting routes and utilizing the TE early. Get Brock in a rhythm, get the running game established, then when the defense adjusts to drop more LB back in coverage, try to beat them over the top.
When are Pats fans not overly confident? Just because he is black, doesn't mean he is an "athletic quarterback," But no, he only ran for 315 yards his senior year at NC State. Yeah, because he hasn't been able to do anything with a 6th rounder... am I right? Two of the five starters are hurt, and Newton isn't at 100%. They'll be much better when they get DB back, but it isn't going to be an amazing line all season.
I won't be doubting this squad until they give me a reason to this season. Clowney poops in the hoodie on Thursday. Don't believe me? Just watch
