As I’ve said before, we’ve always preferred victories of the immoral kind.
They’re much more useful when it comes to playoff tiebreakers.
But this is where we find ourselves.
–There was way too many unacceptable moments in this one, which we are about to get into.
But I don’t think I’m alone in saying I was preparing myself for a lot worse.
So I was expecting a bumpy flight.
But our Foxboro-based flight crew cleaned it up.
Actually made it an enjoyable flight.
And damned near landed the plane on time.
So there are plenty of positive takeaways from this one.
Which is not only illogical, but distressingly unBelichickian.
It forced them to scramble for the dreaded 8-point possession the whole rest of the game.
To be sure, this is the trend in the NFL.
I can’t imagine Belichick would ever get caught up in that Dan Campbellesque hardo dong-measuring nonsense.
He doesn’t chase trends, he sets them.
But I have no other explanation for these calls he made.
–Though credit where it’s due.
Belichick made perfect use of the challenge when he got that AJ Brown 48-yarder on the sideline reversed.
Though he did risk losing the challenge for a Pitch Clock violation.
(OK, that’s two baseball analogies.
I’ve reached my limit for this KJR.)
Practically every tackle football game is decided by a dozen or so 50/50 plays.
If you win more of them than you lose, that’s the ballgame.
Way too often lately, it’s been them that’s been stepping on the rakes.
But it lacked the bandwidth for the traffic it predictably drew, and kept freezing up.
Which is something I discovered only when a friend texted me a screenshot of his livestream crashing.
So I’ll take that as a win.
–Alright, enough of that.
There is plenty of good to be found in this one.
Beginning with the offensive line.
Specifically, with Adrian Klemm, who was dealt a fold hand in a game where you could’t bluff.
Facing the NFL’s Front-7 version of a Straight Flush.
(A “Straight Front”?
No, that doesn’t work.
People will take it the wrong way.)
And he more or less took the pot.
Hell, I was ready to throw Bailey Zappe out there as a starting quarterback/ritual sacrifice.
But Mac Jones wasn’t sacked in the first 57 minutes of the game.
And I think Philly recorded one QB Hit, despite Jones registering a career-high 54 pass attempts.
I’m glad we have one again.
–And speaking of professional coaches, welcome back, Bill O’Brien.
And thanks for bringing the Erhardt-Perkins system with you.
I can’t tell you how much we’ve missed you all.
I hope you could stay awhile.
[Said slightly menacingly while I slowly lock the dead bolt.]
A double move on a seam read from the Y-tight end position inside Smith-Schuster’s vertical route.
And Henry added a few more to his own reel.
):
–Then there was the first touchdown to Bourne, lined up at the No.
And the kind of thing that was only a memory last year.
Which is now our present and, more importantly, our immediate future.
–One last receiver highlight.
If nothing else went right, we could feel good about this fact alone.
He came off the edge on a corner blitz for a sack.
But then right after got turned around by DeVonta Smith for a 1st down right after.
And Gonzalez never looked like he couldn’t keep up with them as he played every snap.
so very good on him.
–But the rookie standout defensively was Keion White.
He played on the edge and some 5-technique.
And showed a variety of ninja moves to disrupt Hurts.
It will be interesting to see how his playing time increases week to week.
Constantly shifting right at the snap.
But don’t get this OK Boomer started on why no one goes for the Coffin Corner anymore.
Baringer flipped the field a number of times and put several inside the 20.
That’s all I ask.
–This Week’s Applicable Movie Quote: “Come on, man.
I had a rough night and I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!”
- The Dude,The Big Lebowski
–I love Gillette.
It has been my happy place for 21 years and will continue to be.
But I’m glad after all these years they finally decided to make the lighthouse look like a lighthouse.
I never understood why it looked like the propane space heater at an outdoor dining place.
As I’ve said before, the schemes the Patriots run are precision-engineered driving machines.
They need extensive maintenance.
It requires Germans in lab coats running smoke over the hood in a wind tunnel.
As a reminder, some of the very best seasons in franchise history started out 2-2.
With panic in the streets and “We’re onto Cincinnati"s. So let’s all proceed accordingly.
Damn, it feels good to have real football back.
How do we live all those months without it?
