Stats on Pats Weekly Article by Joshua Bonneau, southcoast247.com correspondent
A Close One at Gillette: Patriots battle back for a 19-17 win in home opener
The opening play to the 2006-2007 season for the New England Patriots came as, well, a big fucking shock to everybody, including the Vegas bookies who had the Pats by nine in a low scoring game. But the hardnosed Bills had other things in mind besides the spread, and as the game commenced with a forced Tom Brady fumble turned touchdown, it looked as though the Buffalo Bills might have been short-changed.
But even though the Bills managed to put six on the board, deflate the crowd, and dumbfound the Patriots coaching staff all within 12 seconds, the pundits will tell ya that the contest is a marathon, not a sprint. Eventually, the Patriots trudged their way back from a 17-7 deficit at halftime to overcome their opponents 19-17. But more importantly, their second-half performance had all the indications of a well coached game, in which adjustments were made on the fly in order to exploit weakness and neutralize the offensive threats the Bills had made in the first half, like Willis McGahee (RB)for example.
In the end, it was a Ty Warren (DT) two-point safety that was the decisive factor in this one. The entire second half it was all Pat’s defense, who didn’t allow a point coming out of the locker room. And to keep in suit with low numbers, the team had only 1 penalty against them all day- a five yarder. Aside from Warren, a newly rejuvenated Rodney Harrison (S) quietly had nine tackles, along with Colvin (LB) and Seymour (DT) who each sacked Losman (QB) once and had a handful of tackles a piece. Junior Seau (LB) also had a noteworthy performance.
The Patriot’s offense looked ill-cohered in the first half, scoring only seven on an eighty yard drive. Although the second half was only marginally better in terms of looking like a championship caliber team, it was all about the execution. In other words, the offense returned to the basics, and did what had to be done for the win. Rookie RB Lawrence Maroney fit the hyped description as a talented first round pick, running for 86 yards, along with Corey Dillon who ran for 73. What’s more is that with a two back system, the Patriots arguably have a very strong running game this year- something that has not been emphasized in the past.
Tom Brady had a less-than-great season opener, and was just 11 for 23 with 163 yards and an interception. In a post game interview he expressed discontent for the offensive performance, saying “I certainly hope it’s short term, but we have to work hard to make sure it doesn’t carry over into next week.”
And looking forward to next week, the Pat’s will be in the Meadowlands to take on former Patriot’s coordinator Eric Mangini and the N.Y Jets. Anybody with a working brain will tell you the Pats are favored. My prediction, 31-10 Patriots. Right then, on to next week.
Tell me, Tell me. josh@southcoast247.com.
The opening play to the 2006-2007 season for the New England Patriots came as, well, a big fucking shock to everybody, including the Vegas bookies who had the Pats by nine in a low scoring game. But the hardnosed Bills had other things in mind besides the spread, and as the game commenced with a forced Tom Brady fumble turned touchdown, it looked as though the Buffalo Bills might have been short-changed.
The Patriot’s offense looked ill-cohered in the first half, scoring only seven on an eighty yard drive. Although the second half was only marginally better in terms of looking like a championship caliber team, it was all about the execution. In other words, the offense returned to the basics, and did what had to be done for the win. Rookie RB Lawrence Maroney fit the hyped description as a talented first round pick, running for 86 yards, along with Corey Dillon who ran for 73. What’s more is that with a two back system, the Patriots arguably have a very strong running game this year- something that has not been emphasized in the past.
