Patriots’ Preseason Part II:

Patriots’ Preseason Game 3 at Detroit (8/27/11):

It is said that the only game that matters in the preseason is the third one. The Pats traveled to Ford Field in Detroit to face an up and coming Lions team. The Patriots were looking to get in the necessary reps while the Lions were using this game as a barometer to measure their performance against a better team. The Lions won the toss and Matthew Stafford moved the ball down the field and completed a long pass to Nate Burleson. The drive stalled at the 15 and Jason Hansen kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Lions an early lead. On the Patriots’ opening drive, Ocho was called for offensive pass interference, negating a first-down gainer to Gronkowski. On third down, Cliff Avril caught Brady from behind while throwing and the ball went loose. The Patriots recovered the fumble but had to punt away. On the Lions next drive, Jerome Harrison carried off right tackle for 52 yards down to the 11. From the 9, Stafford hit Burleson in the back of the end zone and the Lions took a 10-0 lead. On the Pats’ next drive, Brady hit Welker on a crossing route out to the 34. On third down, Brady hit Aaron Hernandez on a screen pass for 13. Hernandez picked up another first down on a screen down to the 20. Dan Connolly suffered an injury on the drive and had to leave the field.

Stephen Gostkowski opened the second quarter by kicking a 33-yard field goal to put the Pats on the board. A pass interference call against Kyle Arrington gave the Lions a first down at the 30. Stafford then hit Brandon Pettigrew for 8 but an offensive holding call on Cherilus set the ball back. Arrington then blitzed and sacked Stafford and the Lions punted away. The Pats next drive went nowhere as the Lions continued the ferocious pass rush. The Lions started again at their 45. Calvin Johnson picked up 30 after he caught a poorly thrown ball at the 18. From there, Stafford hit Tony Scheffler over the middle for the touchdown and the Lions were up 17-3 midway through the quarter. Stafford was 12-13-200-2TD so far. Brady continued to get pressured by Ndamukong Suh, who had another free run. A face mask call on Mankins set the ball back 15 and then Avril sacked Brady. The Lions took over at their 10 but a face mask call against the Lions moved the ball back to the 5. Devin McCourty made a nice play breaking up a pass intended for Johnson and the Lions punted away. Julian Edelman had a nice 25-yard punt return as the Pats started out in Lions’ territory. On second down, Brady made a beautiful play-action fake and found Welker wide open and alone for a 44-yard touchdown strike. The Lions’ corner, Berry, bit at the fake and Welker was ridiculously open. Shawn Hill took over for Stafford on the Lions’ next drive. Hill found Aaron Brown on a swing left up to the 40 for a first down. Darius Butler was then called for defensive holding, giving the Lions another first down at midfield at the two minute warning. Hansen then kicked a 46-yarder to give the Lions a 20-10 lead. With a minute left in the half, the Patriots started out at their 20. Danny Woodhead picked up 9 on a screen pass and then Hernandez grabbed a pass in traffic at the 40. Brady’s next pass was intercepted by Ricardo Silva at the 45. Hill then hit Stovall on the right sideline down to the 21. Hill then hit Brown in the left flat down to the 8 with 12 seconds left. One play later, Hill found Brown over the middle for the touchdown. It was a blown coverage by one of the Patriots’ linebackers that left Brown wide open for the score.

Brady led the first offense on the field to open the third quarter but they went three n’ out with the Lions taking over at the 40. Drew Stanton escaped Anderson’s sack attempt and scrambled left for a first down at the Pats’ 37. A field goal attempt by Rayner then went wide left. Hoyer then took over at quarterback and his first pass intended for Ocho was incomplete. Hoyer threw two more incompletions and the Patriots punted away. Stanton hit Tim Toone at the 45 and then Brown broke a tackle and scooted left for 5. Stanton then zipped a pass to Williams at the 26. Stanton then escaped a rush and scrambled left inside the 20. Brown then went left with a couple of nice moves down to the 9. A personal foul (crack back blockon Mayo) against Toone set the ball to the 24. Arrington then intercepted Stanton’s next pass in the end zone. Hoyer hit Edelman over the middle to the 32. The offense was able to move the ball to the 35 but no further and Mesko punted away. The Lions put up over 400 yards of total offense through the first three quarters.

Stanton led the Lions’ offense down to the Patriots’ 10. On fourth-and-2 from the 5, Stanton hit Williams on a quick hitter for the touchdown. The Lions were up 34-10 with about nine minutes left on the clock. Hoyer hit Matthew Slater on a long gainer down to the Lions’ 14. A false start call pushed the ball back 5 but Sammy Morris took it up the gut to the original line of scrimmage. Another false start call on Nate Solder took the ball back. Hoyer found Garrett Mills in the left flat at the 10. On fourth-and-5, Hoyer’s pass intended for Slater fell short and the Lions took over on downs. On the Pats’ next series, Ryan Mallett came out at quarterback and again, the offense went for it on fourth down and failed. The Lions took over at midfield and stuck to the ground to kill the clock. After the two-minute warning, Medlin picked up a first down on a screen pass. Mallett then hit Brandon Tate over the middle at the 28. Mallett’s last gasp pass into the end zone intended for Darnell Jenkins fell incomplete and that was that.

What did we learn tonight?

It was basically a snapshot of how much work the Patriots need to do to get ready for the season. The O-Line couldn’t compete with Suh and the Lions first defense. The D-Line generated virtually no pressure on Stafford. Dan Connolly and Wes Welker were injured during the game and their absences going forward has to be a matter of concern.

In the first big round of cuts to get down to 80 players, the Grim Reaper called the following group to bring their playbooks:

Garrett Mills, Matt Katula, Tyree Barnes, Chris Koeppilin, Kade Weston,
Jonathan Wilhite, James Sanders, Clay Nurse and Malcolm Williams.

Patriots’ Preseason Game 4 NY Giants (9/1/11):

The final preseason game doesn’t mean much to the players who are starters. If they play at all in the fourth game, it’s just a cameo. The game is very important to the 25-30 guys who probably won’t make the final cut as it’s a last chance to impress the coaching staff and try to hang on for one of the few available open spots on the roster.

The Giants lost to the Jets on Monday night in the inaugural “Snoopy Bowl” (no joke) so they might not be “game sharp” (not that the regulars will play much if at all).

The Giants won the toss and received. An illegal wedge penalty against the G-Men set the ball back at the 5. David Carr came out with the second offense. Carr’s pass was caught but Hixon fumbled. Chung recovered the fumble and returned the ball to the 1, but Coughlin challenged the ruling of a fumble, claiming Hixon was downed by contact. Not even close, the ball was out before Hixon’s knee hit the turf. A video review upheld the ruling on the field. Brady came out with the first offense and Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis banged it in from the 1 and the Pats took a quick 7-0 lead. The G-Men started out their next drive at the 13. Shaun Ellis and Haynesworth started with the first defense. Andre Brown rushed twice and picked up a first down at the 35. On second down, Carr’s pass was intercepted by Devin McCourty at the right sideline and the Pats took over at the Giants’ 35. Brady hit Ocho for 9 and then Woodhead went off left tackle for a first down. The Pats ended up settling for a 31-yard field goal from Gostkowski and took a 10-0 lead. The Giants started out their next drive at the 21. Carr completed a couple of passes as the Giants moved the ball out to midfield. But the drive stalled and the Giants punted out and the Pats took over at the 20. On first down, Brady hit BJGE over the middle to the 41. A holding penalty on Matt Light set the ball back and Mesko punted out. Jerrell Jurnigan had a 36-yard return and the Giants started out with great field position. Carr then hit Hixon, who beat rookie Ras-I Dowling down to the Patriots’ 25. Carr was then sacked by Gary Guyton, who blitzed completely unblocked to the quarterback. The Giants settled for a 48-yard field goal to get on the board. Tate returned the kick back to the 8. Why didn’t he simply take a knee? Brady connected with Aaron Hernandez on two quick hitters out to the 26. From the 32, Matthew Slater picked up a 64-yard catch and run down to the Giants’ 4. Slater was wide open on a crossing route to the right and made an impressive break with the ball after catching it at the 35.

The Pats opened the second quarter with the ball at the 1. BJGE was stuffed carrying up the middle, but made it into the end zone on second effort. Slater made a great tackle on the kickoff, pinning Devin Thomas inside the 20. Carr then scrambled to the right for a first down at the 40. Carr then found Thomas over the middle at the Pats’ 42. Brown then carried up the middle for 11. A holding call against the Giants pushed the ball back. Shaun Ellis then hurried Carr, who threw the ball away. Jerrell Scott then carried on a draw to the 15. Brown carried twice more, inside the 5, Carr rolled right and nearly made it in, but Chung was injured on the play. Carr fumbled the snap at the goal line and the Pats’ Andre Carter recovered. Hoyer took over for Brady and the offense went three n’ out. But the Giants’ Jernigan muffed the punt and Guyton recovered. But a penalty against the Patriots nullified the play and Mesko punted away again. The Giants moved the ball inside the 25 on their next drive. Carr connected with Thomas on the left sideline to the 15. Eric Moore then tackled Brown for a loss. Carr was picking on Dowling but the rookie held his own on two straight plays. A penalty against the Giants moved the ball back to the 24, where Carr was sacked by Ellis. A 49-yard field goal attempt by Rhys Lloyd went wide left.

Tate widely took a knee to open the second half. The second offense came out to open the third quarter. The Giants’ Clint Sintim was injured and the Pats’ Shane Vereen was called for a “chop block”. The Pats’ first drive of the half didn’t go far and Mesko punted away. The Giants took over inside the 50 and quickly moved the ball inside the 30. From there, Lloyd missed another field goal attempt. On the Pats’ next drive, Vereen had a long gainer up the middle. Hoyer was then sacked and Mesko punted away and Jurnigan made a fair catch at the 12. A holding call against the Giants set the ball back. Brandon Meriweather continued to get reps working with the scrubs. Ryan Mallett came on as quarterback late in the quarter as the offense continued to run Vereen. Mallett then hit Tiquan Underwood over the middle at the 35. Mallett then found Vereen coming out of the backfield for a short gain at the 24. The Pats went for it on fourth down and failed to pick up the first down. Carr took a heavy shot from Landon Cohen on the last play of the quarter.

The Giants faked the punt and Jerrell Scott rushed 65 yards uncontested for the touchdown and it was now a 17-10 game. On the Pats’ next drive, Vereen continued to get the bulk of the carries. Mallett was then sacked for a big loss and the Pats ended up punting away with the G-Men taking over at their 28. Richard Medlin carried on the Pats’ next drive and fumbled and Brian Jackson picked up the loose ball and rumbled into the end zone. The Giants went for two and Ryan Perriloux hit Jurnigan in the back edge of the end zone and the G-Men took an 18-17 lead. Mallett then hit Underwood for a first down at the 32. The drive stalled there and Mesko punted away with the Giants taking over at the 23. The Pats got the ball back at their 21 with about three minutes left on the clock. After the two-minute warning, the Pats went for it on fourth down and succeeded. But Mallett was sacked on successive plays and lost 20 yards. On fourth-and-35, Mallett’s pass went awry but Brian Williams was called for an illegal hit and the Pats had another life. Mallett was sacked again and then threw an incomplete pass. After a short gain, time ran out and the Giants came away with the comeback win. It was even more impressive by the fact that they played a game only three days earlier. Thus the preseason came to an end.
On the following day, the reaper came calling for eight players, including RB Richard Medlin, OL Jonathan Compas, TE Carson Butler, DE Darryl Richard, WR Buddy Farnham, LB Ricky Brown, OT Corey Woods, and OL Mike Berry.
September 3rd was the day teams had to cut down from 80 to 53 players, and these were the following cuts:

S Brandon Meriweather, DL Landon Cohen, LB Niko Koutouvides, DE Eric Moore
RB Sammy Morris, WR Brandon Tate, WR Tiquan Underwood, OL Thomas Austin
RB Eric Kettani, DB Ross Ventrone, DE Markell Carter, LB Aaron Lavarias, DE Alex Silvestro, TE Lee Smith and TE Will Yeatman.

“In addition, DL Ron Brace, DL Brandon Deaderick and RB Kevin Faulk were placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, while 2011 fifth-round draft choice Marcus Cannon was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. Offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger was placed on season-ending injured reserve.” (from ESPN Boston).

The big move was obviously cutting Meriweather. He had made two Pro-Bowls in his four years with the team, but was seeing time with the scrubs during the preseason. Regardless of past laurels, that was an indictment of where he stood with the coaching staff and talent evaluators. The release of Tate wasn’t much of a surprise as he was given ample opportunity to showcase his skills and rarely delivered on his great promise. Everything in Foxboro operates in a vacuum tighter than state secrets, so fans have no other choice but to draw their own conclusions.

The team has depth issues at guard, safety and tight end. There will probably be a few more moves made prior to next Monday night’s opening game to address these holes.

On Sunday, the Patriots signed former All-Pro guard Brian Waters and released tackle Steve Manieri and long snapper James Dearth. To replace Dearth, they signed Danny Aiken from Buffalo. There was a lot of movement of players who were released on Saturday, as Meriweather went to Chicago, Landon Cohen went to Seattle, Brandon Tate (Cincinnati), Will Yeatman (Miami), Lee Smith (Buffalo) and OL Thomas Austin to Houston. As of Sunday, there are only two tight ends on the roster. Things will probably stay that way until after Week 1, when they can bring in a veteran on a non-guaranteed deal.