Comments on: Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling

By: greg

greg — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:54:57 +0000

Agreed Dan. Sunday was the first time I had that feeling too. Even in the 41-7 win vs. the Broncos, it didn’t feel as strong. What feeling? The “hmmmm, maybe they are gelling….maybe they have something here….” feeling. The feeling they are getting BETTER.

And I was the one who talked to you about the fact they lacked passion this year. And I worried they were just spent from last year, even still. And the last two weeks, especially Sunday, they seemed more like the 2001 Patriots to me. Which is a good thing.

So maybe I’m wrong. Unless they roll out a couple clunkers 3 out of the next 5 weeks or something.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:49:18 +0000

Faulk being Faulk, Richard Seymour being the old Richard Seymour, and Adalius Thomas looking like Willie McGinest all have a lot more to do with that sense of comfort.

But this was the first game where I felt Cassel could handle stretches of the offense riding on his arm, rather than playing “game manager”.

There’s no real knowing how much of a defensive challenge the Rams were; I don’t doubt there will be defenses coming up this year that will make Cassel look horrible again.

What I took from the past two games is regardless of the quality of the opposition, the Patriots did what they had to to win. I was thrilled they kept running the ball against Denver, resisting the urge to try to balance it too much. And I was glad to see they didn’t keep trying to run when it was obvious the Rams were stacking up to stop it.

They played to what the game conditions dictated.

By: Nopointe

Nopointe — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:07:22 +0000

I don’t think it was Cassel bringing back that feeling, it was Kevin Faulk having a bigger than normal role in the offense and once again making all the plays when they needed to be made.