But they were told by the powers that be it would be fine.
That they understood their concerns, but assured everyone they had a plan to address them.
Then when the roads were being laid, this crossing looked even more hazardous than they feared.
Just accidents waiting to happen.
Again, they were assured the problem was not being ignored.
They had a vision and were sticking to it.
But when the roads opened, it was pure carnage.
Crashes happening on a daily basis, just like the townspeople predicted.
Still, the ones in charge merely insisted they’re fully confident in the intersection they have.
Sure, they’re always looking to improve it.
That’s the 2024 Patriots offensive line situation.
–In no way am I going to sit here and put down Demontrey Jacobs.
He’s a 2023 UDFA who never saw the field until his 14 snaps of cleanup duty last week.
Being assigned to solo block one of the most unblockable edge players of his generation.
One was a TEX (tackle/end cross) stunt on 3rd & 5 where he technically beat Sidy Sow.
But on none of those plays did Jacobs have a legitimate chance of slowing him down.
–This isn’t a failure of the player involved.
It’s failure on a systemic level.
Failure of the front office to make offensive tackle the priority everyone knew it was.
Failure to adjust the plan to the realities of the league.
The fact they got injured and Jacobs was forced to enter Thunderdome against Bosa isn’t bad luck.
It’s bad management.
–Not that Bosa was the only one to attack the weakened flanks of the Pats battle lines.
Sam Okuayinonu beat Jacobs with an inside move.
But still:
–I get the overall plan is to focus on the long term.
To build this roster in a way that’s sustainable.
Without that, you’re never going to be able to transition to Drake Maye.
It’s the EKG of a coma patient whose family is debating whether to unplug the machines.
It indicates that of his 19 completions, 7 were at or behind the LOS.
Including the first touchdown pass since the 1st quarter of Week 2.
And another 10 completions were shorter than 10 yards.
The more the personnel has changed, the harder it’s been to have any sort of continuity.
The communication along the line might as well be done by carrier pigeon.
And no one can claim we didn’t all see this coming.
So I’m much more comfortable putting the blame on personnel decisions and on coaching.
We know the rush is coming.
Whether opponents send extra guys, employ twists and stunts, or simply send four bodies shooting into gaps.
It’s coming like winter in Westeros.
And yet you don’t see Alex Van Pelt scheming up ways to take advantage of the aggressiveness.
Not effective ones anyway.
–But beyond the wildly ineffective screens and dumpoffs into the backfield, where are the hot routes?
Tight ends scraping along the line into the vacated zone behind the pass rushers.
Just to give them something to think about.
–And calls like this aren’t going to hurt his chances.
Maliek Collins was already three steps into the backfield on Layden Robinson before Stevenson had the ball.
Hooper sold the run with a block on Bosa before releasing into the flat.
Use your own predictability against your opponent.
That’s some real Sun Tzu stuff right there.
As was the illegal shift they got flagged for after the 2:00 warning before the half.
And there were other examples of questionable coaching.
For instance, burning a timeout challenging a Brandon Aiyuk catch that looked legit.
It went for a loss of 7.
Beyond that non-block and that penalty, Thornton contributed 0 catches, bringing his season total to 2.
(That last one isn’t literally in the ads, but it’s always the subtext.)
We can’t be sure if the problem is the player, the quarterback or the system.
–Here’s a play that won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
It’s just to make you temporarily happy in the middle of all the doom scrolling.
–Here’s more video joy:
I’ll say about Joey Slye what I said about Nick Folk.
it’s possible for you to scout the bejeebers out of them.
Measure all their measurables and deep dive into their stats.
And then it’s the one everyone overlooked that ends up being lights out.
Kickers are weird in the same way MLB closers are.
Go figure with either of these positions.
That’s all I got.
–With those out of the way, it’s time we have a talk about Stevenson.
He has a fumbling problem, and it’s starting to affect us all.
Four fumbles in four games is unsustainable.
Never forget that Stevan Ridley once had 1,200 yards and was benched because he fumbled four timesin a season.
There’s no question Stevenson has been our best offensive player for years.
Then why would you trust him with a non-nuclear football?
–I’d like to give the Pats defense credit.
This is, after all, a powerful, highly efficient, precision space rocket Kyle Shanahan has built.
It’s got a lot of thrust and it’s not easy to keep on the launch pad.
–The Niner’s system is an heirloom in the Shanahan family.
That creates space for the quarterback and opens up the deep parts of the secondary.
Which is precisely what happened yesterday.
Low expectations aren’t going to do us any good.
And it stopped being a small sample size a long time ago.
We’re now five seasons into this disaster.
Five years of not being able to generate points.
A half decade of opposing coordinators having no one to worry about gameplanning for.
Five orbits around the solar system of not being able to win a single 1-on-1 matchup.
And Keion White had seven pressures.
–This Week’s Applicable Movie Quote (tie):
“I’m too old for this!
Someone get me a goddamn wheelchair!”
- Whistler,Blade
“Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice-skate uphill.”
Blade,Blade
–I’ve already gone on way longer than I expected to.
So I’ll end on a non-Patriots high note.
Which seemed like the perfect time to switch to Drake Maye until we saw this debacle unfold.
If they decide to make the move anyway, strap yourself in.
Their track record for bold decisions hasn’t been good here in a long time.
