The New England Patriots employed a simple game-plan last evening vs the Indianapolis Colts - run the ball down their throats. The new running back, Jonus Gray, a replacement for Stevan Ridley who was lost to season ending IR - rushed an absurd 38 times for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Colts chose to stay in nickel defense to attempt covering Gronk, but it left them exposed in the running game as that left a small defender on Gronk and the Patriots took full advantage pounding the ball over and over.
Gray was a wrecking ball last night - running between the tackles on smash plays again and again like it was instant replay - nearly identical plays over and over. The results looked the same as well - with Gray ripping off yardage against the Colts wilting defense - consistently getting 7 yards or more on a carry - and averaging an insane 5.2 per carry - which is a nightmare for NFL d's against the Patriots, who focus on one Tom Brady. Tom didn't have his best game last night and made one of his first terrible interceptions of the year - truly a bad throw. The Colts kept playing the pass no matter how many yards the Patriots ran for - so were not lulled when Brady called play-actions -getting blitzers home and causing two first half interceptions - one of which Brady called 'dumb'. However, in the second half - there were no mistakes - or deviation from the plan. He simply turned around and handed it to Jonus Gray - who crushed all hopes of the Colts by running them over. The defense won this game for the Niners, forcing 5 Eli Manning interceptions. The difference maker - the return of Aldon Smith - and the pressure he brought really changed the dynamic of the Niners D. They can actually get pressure on the QB once again, having been 25th in the league in sacks before his return. Watch out for the Niners down the stretch if Smith can return to his former form.
Week 11 is upon us and there are several good match-ups today. I'm going to be watching the Niners and Patriots, but also of note will be the Bengals at the Saints, Seahawks at the Chiefs, Eagles at Green Bay and Detroit at Arizona. We'll know a lot more after today the teams that are playoff contenders and those that are pretenders. So, let's get to the picks!!!
I'm picking these games straight up - not taking the spread into account, though I may mention it. 1) Niners over Giants - The NY Giants gave up 350 yards rushing to Seattle last week -and it doesn't look like they want to play D anymore. Niners for the win. 2) The Texans visit the suddenly hot and relevant Browns - pick - Browns 3) The Seahawks visit the Chiefs. Kansas City is tough to play at home - pick - Chiefs. 4) Detroit visits the Cardinals - the match-up of the two best records in the NFC. Which team is 'more real'? I take Detroit in a close one. 5) Finally, The Eagles visit Green Bay - a match-up of two of the other elites in the NFC besides Detroit and Arizona. I like Green Bay here at home. Rodgers is money at home. Enough said. Not picking the Patriots game - just want to enjoy it. And as a Patriots fan - far more than a win - I hope New England avoids injuries. That's all. This is a great video. The back-up QB for the Broncos, Brock Osweiler thought he'd get playing time - with the score 41-10 entering the final quarter against the winless Raiders - but, not to be - Peyton Manning rushed out on the field in front of him. Denied. The Bears should be embarrassed to collect their pay for this game, allowing six touchdown passes in one half. You read that right - one half. Rodgers is playing a video game and the Bears are willing to stand around not tackling.
The Niners Defense overcame the Niner's offensive mistakes and costly dropped passes and forced Drew Brees to fumble in overtime, setting up a 35 yard Game Winning FG to save a game that the Niners dominated yet stood to lose. San Francisco ran the ball effectively, which set up a series of wide-open passes on play-action set-ups, but most of these plays ended with drops by Boldin, who set a career record for drops in a game. A g"ame Drew Brees fought to keep the Saints in the game, finding Jimmy Graham on several key plays - but the Niners D rose again and again, holding the Saints to key few goals as well as the game-deciding turnover in overtime. The play calling of the NIners again falls into question. The balance of run to pass was better, but there were still too many 2nd down throws. Though the Niners ran the ball well and often, that total should have been even higher. Boldin's drops cost the team points on several occasions and you have to wonder about the mental state of this team even after a huge win. The team suffers at time from an identity crisis. The Niners are best when they run often and play physical defense. As pass attempts rise, the effectiveness rate falls. Can the offensive coordinator fix these issues? Only time will tell. Post by SportsCenter. The Browns dominated the hapless Bengals in every aspect of the game last night, rushing for a big 170 yards en-route to a huge 24-3 win in the Bengals home stadium. The Bengals were favored by Vegas by 6 points, though I can't think of a reason why - the Bengals simply are terrible and play their very worst in anything that resembles a 'big game'. And with the records of 5-3 vs 5-2-1 coming into this tilt and adding to the fact it's a division game - BIG GAME qualified. And as usual, the Bengals aren't ready for prime-time. They never are. They never will be with Andy Dalton as their QB.
That said - Bengals running back Jeremy Hill still decided to run his mouth after the game - saying the Browns were 'Worse than I thought' - Message for Mr. Hill - Don't run your mouth after a game your team gets smacked upside the head AND you fumble the football. Just a little note. |
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November 2015
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