LeGarrette Blount Is A Good Running Back And Other Leftover Patriots Thoughts
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The preseason is halfway over! Let's have some cake!
OK, so maybe you're not like me, and maybe you actually enjoy the preseason. Something about seeing the jerseys and the helmets moving around on the field under the lights in patterns somewhat similar to what we see from September through February every year. You like the idea of football, and so preseason football fits the bill enough. It whets your appetite for real football.
But me, I see the preseason for what it is: an evaluation opportunity for the coaching staff. They can practice all they want, but it's during these fake football games that coaches get to see how all of that practice translates on game day. They can confirm or deny their beliefs, which will later help them make decisions when trimming the roster.
Alas, it looks like football, and it is somewhat meaningful. So let's go ahead and add to the overanalysis with some leftover thoughts from the Patriots' "win" over the Bears.
--I call it a "win" because the feeling probably wasn't all that triumphant, not after the way the game ended. In case you had already achieved slumber and thus missed the game's dramatic conclusion, Bears quarterback rolled to his right with no time on the clock, waited, waited, and waited, before he delivered a casual 22-yard touchdown pass with zeroes on the clock. It was an ugly play by the Patriots defense, and it was followed up by Shaw completing a pass for the two-point conversion.
The broadcast cameras caught Bill Belichick's reaction to the touchdown.
Some would say he looked angry, but if I know anything about Bill, that's his happy face. That's his "I was just gifted so much material for the meeting rooms and practice fields for the next week, I am just so ecstatic" face.
--Does the Gillette Stadium turf seem slippery to you? It seems slippery to me. There's no scientific measurement here, but it looks like there are more rubber pellets than usual flying all over town, and players appear to be losing their footing more often.
Looks slippery, man.
--It was no doubt a tough night for people who showed up to Gillette specifically so that they could see Tom Brady. But it was a tougher night for many more people in New England who found out something they never thought could be possible.
They found out that if you cut Tom Brady, he bleeds.
These are dark days in New England.
--If you want to talk dumb player evaluation, I can give you dumb player evaluation. In fact, I might be able to provide the dumbest.
So, at the risk of sounding dumb, I'll say this: Chris Long looks good. He looks supremely focused. Granted he's technically in the process of trying to earn a job, but if he can maintain that all season he will be just fine. He obviously went to New England after having a couple of tough years injury-wise and productivity-wise, but (again, I'm just reading his eyes and appearance out there) he seems like someone intent on proving he's not finished.
So, yup, I like the way a guy appears, and I'm using that to draw a conclusion about his potential impact on the football team.
Try to to find that stat on your box score! Didn't think so!
--I don't do fantasy football, because it's the worst, but I know you love it, and because I'm a nice person, I've got a brilliant play for you. Draft Martellus Bennett, because Jimmy Garoppolo is going to lock onto him every time that Rob Gronkowski is double-covered. Bennett will become Garoppolo's third-down man. And that's going to translate to being the red zone man, too. Bennett's going to put up numbers through four weeks. Then trade him after Week 4. His value will never be higher. And there's a chance Tom Brady never notices him. You'll be a thief and a genius. THIS HAS BEEN YOUR FANTASY MINUTE.
--Brandon Bolden fumbled in the red zone because after reversing the field and bouncing to the right side, he didn't switch the ball to his right hand. It's obvious -- anyone who played Pop Warner knows that -- but I always chuckle when a professional athlete violates the fundamental rules instilled in people in youth leagues. People often forget that the reason the coach pounded those rules home is that those people stunk at sports and needed to follow every basic rule in order to not drive the coach up a wall. Invariably, they drove the coach nuts anyway.
You see it in various sports. Never swing 3-0! Never pass the puck in front of your own net! Always switch the ball to your outside arm! Even *I* know that?
It's just always worth a chuckle. By virtue of being in the NFL for five years, Bolden is in the top 1% of athletes in America. He probably knows what went wrong there.
--Tyler Gaffney is a great story. Tyler Gaffney may well be a good running back. Tyler Gaffney is not a goal line runner.
When you get three straight chances from the 3-yard line and can't find the end zone, that might be the reality.
Prior to the goal-line stuff, though, he ran three times for 18 yards and caught a pass for six yards, as the coaching staff seemingly wanted to find out how he could handle a heavy workload. On that drive, they went to Gaffney on seven of eight snaps. He's a guy who's battled through injuries and is fighting to make the league. That's after he ran for 1,709 yards and 21 touchdowns in his senior season at Stanford, and after rushing for seven touchdowns on just 74 carries in his junior season.
He's easy to root for. And he's looked decent. At the very least, if he doesn't make the Patriots' roster, surely some team will come calling in September.
--I need to know who let you the gasping yelp just before Cyrus Jones stepped in front of a Brian Hoyer pass for an interception. Every single replay of the pick included the wail that sounded like that famous yelling sheep from the YouTubes.
https://t.co/Pqp8c2TeYg
I hope it was Hoyer. It had to be Hoyer.
--Poor Brian Hoyer. I mean, nice guy and everything. Works his butt off, I'm sure. But he's coming off the worst postseason performance this side of Jake Delhomme. The memories of that 15-for-34, 136-yard, zero-touchdown, four-interception performance at home vs. Kansas City are hard to shake, and, well, a 4-for-14 night in Foxboro won't help erase them. He threw a pick last week, too. Poor Brian Hoyer.
*Checks Brian Hoyer's career earnings.*
*Sees $12 million.*
Never mind.
--Maybe the hyper-alert criticism of LeGarrette Blount will be toned down this week, yes? After last week's preseason game, a lot of people wanted the guy on the first flight out of Logan. They seemed to be forgetting the fact that he's a seven-year veteran who was treating the game like preseason game No. 1.
He looked much more like his usual self in preseason game No. 2, picking up 69 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
It's just surprising to see so much vitriol to Blount. He is what he is. He does not possess dynamic speed, but he's an effective runner who is a big ol' bowling ball that is very difficult to tackle once he gets going with a full head of steam. He's bad in short yardage situations. He's incredibly useful for a team that often finds itself with a lead to protect. He finished 21st in yards per carry last year, 16th in yards per carry in 2014, and sixth in the NFL in yards per carry in 2013. He had the 12th-most rushing touchdowns in the NFL last year despite playing just 12 games. He has seven rushing touchdowns in five playoff games, in which he's averaged 4.75 yards per carry.
He's an effective back. Now quit the whining*, would ya?
*Feel free to whine all you want. It's a free country.
--In terms of actual things to look for in these games, I've had Cyrus Jones' punt return ability high on the list. He showed some promise late in the first half by finding some space and making something out of nothing with a 16-yard return. As a result, the offense took over at its own 43-yard line, and Jimmy Garoppolo led a touchdown drive before half. Garoppolo and A.J. Derby looked great on that touchdown, but that punt return won't go unnoticed by Belichick and Co.
--In news that might interest only me, Getty Images uploaded five pictures from the game that only showed the scoreboard. Here's a tremendous mashup of all of the action photos.
I have no idea why these were uploaded, but I am happy that I'll be prepared with plenty of photos the next time some team accuses the Patriots of some tomfoolery with the play clock, the game clock, or any other video board nonsense.
--In the "Mental Note" category, the broadcast cameras captured a somewhat noteworthy sideline discussion between Martellus Bennett and Jimmy Garoppolo after that touchdown drive. We obviously don't know what it was about, but Bennett was doing most of the talking, and Garoppolo kind of had an "OK buddy" face going on. The fact that Bennett recently complained that he was always open and Jay Cutler never threw him the ball makes me notice this conversation more than I normally might. So I've now made this mental note public.
--The Patriots came out of halftime ready to roll on offense. They had their plan in place, they knew which play they'd run, they were ready to execute, and then ... false start!
"Who could that have been?!" a befuddled legion of fans no doubt shrieked, only to find out it was ...
Marcus Cannon!
I'm sure the reaction was tempered.
--Everyone's done their James G. analysis, and on the whole, he was pretty good. Yet for the second straight week, he threw what really should have been an interception in the red zone. He's gotten away with both of them, but he's going to have to work on that one. Those types of mistakes flip games on their head.
--If the field were just five yards wider, Jacoby Brissett and Devin Lucien might be bound for Canton. Alas, it is not.
--All right, that's far too many words about glorified football practice. See you next week, and remember to always practice scissor safety. If scissors can get Tom Brady, then they can get you too.
Just don't tell anyone pictured here that the games aren't real.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
