NFL Week 14

[dwid]

Well, no one was really covering him in the redzone so Brady had to take it. He hasn't done much with it otherwise, like 6 yards per catch, so the talks of him being great by the talking heads are a little bit premature, nowhere close to the level of Gronk. Woodhead is running some routes out there and the defense is covering him. Would like to see him run more, a variety of plays, one carry for 4 yards 1 catch for 18. Ridley had 14 yards on one play and 8 on the next 7 for 2.8 ypc.

 

[Don Wassall]

Pats with 8 White starters on offense tonight. A healthy Gronk would have made it 9.

I didn't catch the defensive starters. If Ninkovich, Gregory and Scott are all starting, the Patriots may break one of the league's ultimate taboos and have a majority White starting team when Gronkowski comes back.

 

[dwid]

Well, Watt is starting to get pressure on Brady. They have gone away from the short passing game trying to chuck it deep.

Pats d is playing intense, they need to play like this during a playoff game. Woodhead needs to be put on returns, his role at least should resemble that of Darren Sproles.

Welker having a bad stretch of plays right there, thats 2 catches he should have had, one was a little out of reach and the other one was jarred loose but its uncharacteristic of him.

Positive commercial, White woman obsessed with Clay Matthews.

 

[Extra Point]

Having Woodhead return kickoffs and Edelman return punts would make for a good return game. I think Woodhead would have some electrifying returns.

 

[Don Wassall]

Would be nice to see Welker get his record breaking 100th reception on national TV, but it doesn't look like it'll happen. They haven't connected in the second half yet as Brady isn't sharp on his short throws tonight. Schaub is also usually very accurate but has been a little off.

 

[jacknyc]

what's up with Welker!?
He's dropped 4 passes tonight..... really unbelievable for him.

 

[dwid]

Woodhead made a few guys missed but stripped by Watt but luckily recovered for a td

wtf is up with Welker, like 3 or 4 drops right now, is he focusing too hard on getting to 100 catches or something?

 

[Westside]

That was a great dsplay of athletism by Woodhead on that screen. Making two miss with a possible TD in sight, but Watt knocked the ball out his hands, and luckily Lloyd showed good situational awarness and recovered the ball for a TD. It could have been an excellent TD by Woodhead, if held he on to it.

Hopefully he gets more touches in the 4th quater.

 

[Extra Point]

Woodhead made a few guys missed but stripped by Watt but luckily recovered for a td

Watt stripped the ball like he was stripping a wire. Watt is a high voltage player.

 

[foobar75]

The good folks at Weenieworld have already passed judgment on Kris Durham's career:

Making a surprise start opposite Calvin Johnson, Kris Durham caught four passes for 54 yards in Detroit's Week 14 loss to the Packers. Signed off the practice squad just five days ago, Durham failed his audition. The 6-6, 216-pound wideout ran the wrong route on Matthew Stafford's only interception of the evening, and failed to corral a catchable ball as the Lions were driving in the fourth quarter. Although it would have been unfair to expect Durham to light up the statsheet, he didn't show nearly enough to earn another start, or hint at future fantasy value.

And here's your write-up if Durham were black:

Making a surprise start opposite Calvin Johnson, Kris Durham caught four passes for 54 yards in Detroit's Week 14 loss to the Packers. Signed off the practice squad just five days ago, Durham passed his audition with flying colors. The 6-6, 216-pound wideout may have run the wrong route on Matthew Stafford's only interception of the evening, and failed to corral a catchable ball as the Lions were driving in the fourth quarter, but we attribute those miscues to big-game jitters and an overall lack of chemistry with his college roommate Matthew Stafford, which is sure to develop over the remaining 3 games. Durham demonstrated his incredible athleticism with an acrobatic one-handed catch in the first quarter which set up Detroit's first TD of the game. We are puzzled why such a talented receiver has been spending time on the practice squad, but that's about to change. He has the size, speed, and tremendous upside to develop into a solid WR2 across from Megatron.

 

[Don Wassall]

And here's your write-up if Durham were black:

Making a surprise start opposite Calvin Johnson, Kris Durham caught four passes for 54 yards in Detroit's Week 14 loss to the Packers. Signed off the practice squad just five days ago, Durham passed his audition with flying colors. The 6-6, 216-pound wideout may have run the wrong route on Matthew Stafford's only interception of the evening, and failed to corral a catchable ball as the Lions were driving in the fourth quarter, but we attribute those miscues to big-game jitters and an overall lack of chemistry with his college roommate Matthew Stafford, which is sure to develop over the remaining 3 games. Durham demonstrated his incredible athleticism with an acrobatic one-handed catch in the first quarter which set up Detroit's first TD of the game. We are puzzled why such a talented receiver has been spending time on the practice squad, but that's about to change. He has the size, speed, and tremendous upside to develop into a solid WR2 across from Megatron.

You nailed it. It's funny because it rings so true.

Foobar, maybe they're hiring at Weenieworld. You know, the long march through the institutions and all. . . :icon_wink:

 

[Don Wassall]

This is why I say if Matthew Stafford had it to do over again he probably would take back his on the field reaction to the play. Stafford was in a vulnerable moment. No doubt he was upset and frazzled over the all-world blooper he committed just prior to the int. But now he has his friend in the spot light in a bad way. He should feel bad about that. Hopefully, Stafford is advocating for Kris Durham to the coaches. He owes him one, big time.

Stafford took the blame for the pick today (as did Durham):

Stafford looked visibly frustrated after the pick, suggesting Durham ran the incorrect route. That sentiment was echoed by NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth during the broadcast.

But after reviewing it on the sideline, Stafford felt differently about the play.
"I thought he was going to cross (Shields') face, and looking back at the pictures, he made the right decision," Stafford said. "We just weren't on the same page."

article: http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2012/12/detroit_lions_matthew_stafford_28.html

 

[Thrashen]

Pats with 8 White starters on offense tonight. A healthy Gronk would have made it 9.

I didn't catch the defensive starters. If Ninkovich, Gregory and Scott are all starting, the Patriots may break one of the league's ultimate taboos and have a majority White starting team when Gronkowski comes back.

For whatever reason, New England’s defensive starters weren’t displayed until well into the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] quarter. Gregory and Ninkovich were listed as defensive starters (as they have been all season when healthy), but Chandler Jones was listed ahead of Trevor Scott despite the fact that Scott was on the field for the first defensive snap. This gave the Patriots 10 “official” white starters on MNF.

Overall, offensively speaking, I found the “Anti-Caste Matchup” between the Patriots and Texans to be an extremely dull game from our perspective. Sure, there were plenty of white players starting and playing, but few delivered or were permitted to shine properly. Woodhead barely played (5 touches for 38 yards) again, and unfortunately fumbled at the tail end of a dynamic catch-and-run. Gronkowski can’t return soon enough to save this offense from being overrun by the likes of Hernandez, Lloyd, Stallworth, and Ridley.

wtf is up with Welker, like 3 or 4 drops right now, is he focusing too hard on getting to 100 catches or something?

Aside from one 31-yard punt return and a handful of early catches, Welker had a putrid outing. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] quarter of last night’s game might have been the single worst quarter of his career, dropping at least 4 catchable passes. Yes, Brady was a little off, but the fact remains that Welker is 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the NFL in drops (after Brandon Marshall) over the last 5 seasons. Of course, with so many targets each game (coupled with endless “bracket coverage” with defenders swinging at the ball), he’s bound to drop a few passes. Hopefully he can regroup against Johnny-Wig Harbaugh’s 49ers next week on SNF.

As for the Texans…Daniels, Walter, and Casey did nothing, while Graham was injured. It didn’t help that Schaub was so inaccurate against New England’s much-improved defense, despite not receiving much pressure. Ninkovich, Scott, and Gregory all played well, as did many of New England’s black defenders (Mayo, Dennard, Hightower, and Wilfork, in particular). It isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Pats to (finally) have some black defensive stars, as it could allow New England to advance farther into the playoffs. Did any catch this hit by Steve Gregory?

CAPTION: Gregory Smashes Jean

 

[dwid]

I saw the hit, the commentators said he would have dislodged the ball even if it wasn't overthrown, and I agree, that was an awesome hit. He was flying around for this game and made quite a few plays. Held Andre Johnson in check a few times as well as another black receiver. He had to take responsibility for Johnson a few times because he was the only guy lined deep for a lot of plays which means they must have a lot of trust in him. The only thing that was emphasized by the guys in the booth was "the amazing play of the 2 corners" Talib went out and they were still shutting the Texans down and didn't really adjust their scheme.

As far as Welker, yes he gets a ton of more targets and catches so while his drops might be high, he isn't even on the bottom half of drop percentage for the past 5 seasons from looking at pro football focus. In 2010 when he led the league in drops there were 10 guys below him in drop percentage, but from 2008-2010 he wasn't anywhere near the bottom, and wasn't in 2007 or 2011 either. I can't find anywhere that says he led the league in drops other than 2010, which is when he was coming back from his acl/mcl injury and had either 13 or 14 depending on the source. Before this game he had 7, so another 4 would put him at 11, 1 more than Victor Cruz. So that would put him at 4,4, 6, 14, 5, 11 on 649 catches with more targets. I know besides Marshall, Roddy White should be up there with drops as well, and not sure if all 4 of those will be considered true drops, I know one was jarred loose by a defender. I don't know what the criteria is for counting a dropped pass, I know I see guys who should have more listed but don't. But I don't know what his problem is, his drops seem to come in bunches, I remember a game against Buffalo where he dropped 3 or 4. So the only thing keeping him up there in drops is maintaing a high level of play for so many seasons (targets/catches) with now 2 seasons with a bunch of drops out of 6, still not close to the worst with drop percentage.

 

[Animalmuther0]

That was a great dsplay of athletism by Woodhead on that screen. Making two miss with a possible TD in sight, but Watt knocked the ball out his hands, and luckily Lloyd showed good situational awarness and recovered the ball for a TD. It could have been an excellent TD by Woodhead, if held he on to it.

Hopefully he gets more touches in the 4th quater.

I don't think Woodhead got another touch in that game. I noticed that Vereen or whomever fumbled it on the goal line where it was luckily covered by Hernandez, got another 20 touches or so it seemed.