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August 11, 2007
Preseason opener
TAMPA -- We'll be heading back to town this morning. Before we do, here are five observations from the preseason opener:
1) Wide receivers look sharp. While Randy Moss and Donte' Stallworth were held out, the Patriots still received solid production from the receiving corps while running primarily three-wide sets. The top trio was Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney and Wes Welker. Caldwell and Gaffney played the entire first half, while Kelley Washington replaced Welker in the slot on the third drive and -- while rotating with fellow slot man Bam Childress -- made two catches to contribute to the team's scoring march. Washington seemed to help himself in this game.
2) Run defense breaks down. Members of the front seven were not happy with the run defense on the Buccaneers' 13-play, second-quarter drive that led to a 36-yard field goal. Tampa Bay totaled 49 rushing yards on the march, and it came against the top defense (minus end Ty Warren). Some of the yardage came up the middle. Some of it came when containment was lost on the edge. The Patriots will work on cleaning that up this week.
3) Kevin Faulk still has it. Entering his ninth NFL season, running back Kevin Faulk looks like he's still ascending. With Laurence Maroney not suited up, Faulk (4 rushes, 12 yards; 3 catches, 26 yards) showed the most burst of the running back group, and provided a reminder that he's an integral part of the offense. Faulk was one of the team's nine offseason award winners, and his strong conditoning was evident in the hot and steamy conditions.
4) Randall Gay & tackling. At 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, cornerback Randall Gay gives up a lot on the tale of the tape to injured teammate Chad Scott (6-1, 205), the player he replaced in the starting lineup. But Gay plays big, and he made a few sound tackles when he was one on one on the outer edges of the field. If Gay doesn't make those tackles (the stats crew gave him 1, but we had him for at least 2), the Buccaneers are looking at significantly more yardage.
5) Quarterback play. The Patriots probably wanted top backup Matt Cassel to play more than two series (plus two plays at the end of the first half), but it appeared Cassel might have been banged up. So rookie free agent Matt Gutierrez played the entire second half. For perspective, in the 2006 preseason opener, the Patriots did not use a third quarterback. Both Cassel and Gutierrez showed promising signs.
Posted By: mreiss | Time: 09:18:00 AM | E-mail | Link
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