Week 4: DP's thoughts from the stands
The Crowd
Yeah , I am happy with the mix of respect for Brady and the boosting up of Mac Jones. I think the fans did a good job and set the right tone when they cheered for Tom Brady. I was in the stadium early. I was there to see Brady come out and warm up. There were a lot of cheers then and when it was announced that Brady broke the all-time passing yardage record. That was about it. The fans booed when the Buccaneers came on the field just before the game. The fans were clearly there to back Mac Jones and see the Patriots win. A lot of fans seemed unprepared for the rain. Me, I was ready for a Monsoon.
Seeing the Field
The pressure on Mac was strong. He is getting hit way too much. The thing that has impressed me the most is that even though he has been pressured a lot he is still going through his progressions and some of his completed passes were on his second and third reads. I think that was impressive That was a reason why he completed so many in a row Sunday night. I don't think this is going to be a playoff season for the Patriots or even a good one but I think we have a decent QB that I hope will get even better next year. Mac Jones is going to be fine. There was a point in the game when he went on a roll completing 19 passes in a row. He was going through his progressions and was picking out the right receivers. He looked real good. If in when the Pat's get the running game going it's really going to help him. Teams aren't buying the play-action right now.
No Faces Please
Before the game and in the parking lot. I was wearing my #10 white Mac Jones jersey and my buddy Mark was wearing his white #12 Tom Brady jersey. A woman came up to us and asked if she could take a picture of us. She only wanted to take a picture of us from the back so she could see the names, Jones and Brady. I joked that we get a lot of requests for pictures of us with no faces. She laughed. My other tailgating friend joked that she didn’t want our faces in their pictures either. lol
My buddy told me he would pick me up at 3PM. He came over at 1:20. He said he was ready to go and couldn’t wait anymore. Fans tailgated early. All in all it was a lot of fun and a day to remember.
Doink/You Play to Win the Game
It never rained harder than when the Patriots got on the field for the last drive. So, when the final drive stalled at Tampa Bay’s 37-yard line. I thought the Patriots would go for it on 4th and 3. IMO, it was a tough call for Bill Belichick to make. It was raining hard and it would have been Nick Folk’s longest FG ever and he was coming off an injury. I get it Bill was trying to win the game and he thought that the field goal would be his best chance at it. The FG attempt was right in front of me. When Folk lined up for the FG it got very quiet. You could hear a pin drop. The ball hit the left upright. I can still hear the clank of the ball hitting the goal post. It was a tough call but I thought with the rain causing poor field conditions Bill would choose to go for the first down.
Other Quick Game Thoughts
I thought the fumble by Taylor was huge. The Pats had their best field position of the game. Any kind of points on that drive would have been big.
I am going to have to see the replay but the Slater penalty didn't help. Slater has claimed he thought it was a legal play. Nor did the false start on the last drive by Harry.
This was Matt Judon's best game so far. The sack of Brady was a great sack. He just went right through the defender.
This team needs Trent Brown back this week against Houston.
Once again the fans were singing “ Have You Ever Seen The Rain” by CCR.
