Billy Yates vs. Stephen Neal
The Patriots rotated Billy Yates and Stephen Neal at right guard for the second game in a row. Yates started, with Neal rotating in.
Yates played 29 of the team's 62 offensive snaps against the Rams, with Neal on for the other 33.
Both seemed to do some good things.
Yates, for example, helped pave the way for BenJarvus Green-Ellis's 2-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and also had a nice seal block on a Kevin Faulk 9-yard run that helped set up that TD. He also had a heady play by tapping the helmet of Victor Adeyanju in the third quarter when Adeyanju jumped across the line of scrimmage, which ensured a neutral zone penalty would be called. On the flip side, Yates was beaten by Clifton Ryan on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter when Green-Ellis was stopped for no gain.
Neal seemed to be a bit more powerful on a consistent basis in pass protection, showed his athleticism by blocking downfield on a Kevin Faulk 15-yard screen pass in the second quarter, and also had a nice backside block on a Faulk 14-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Here was the breakdown (kneel-downs not included):
First half
Second half
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there is no question about it. neal is the better player. he has more experience, talent, quickness and power. if he can get back to full health, he should be playing full-time...
Great post Mike.
"Neal seemed to be a bit more powerful on a consistent basis in pass protection"
Mike I understand that you probably cannot say everything the way you really want to. What he meant by the above statement is the Billy Yates is an open gate in pass pro.
Yates is a liability in the passing game.
Yates has done a decent job and has developed considering he was a practice squad player. He has taken a lot of flack for missing that block on the 4th and 1 on the 3rd quarter. By the same token we should have been humping all over Koppen for him missing rushers running almost straight at him and right up the middle.
Neal is the better player. He was injured all of last year and let's hope he can stay healthy this year.
I say let them wrestle for the starting position at RG ... oh wait ... wasn't Neal the NCAA wrestling champion ?! ... when both are healthy Neal is the starter but it is nice to see they are working him in slowly and getting Yates as much reps as possible, which never hurts to have depth.
Hi Joe. I don't think Yates is an open gate. I wasn't holding anything back on this one. I do think Neal is the better overall player, but I think you can win with Yates.
--Mike
Starting with yesterday's posts, the headlines and first sentence are all that shows up in RSS readers (like reader.google.com). Mike, did you change how you are making updates, or has boston.com changed how the RSS feed works? An RSS reader makes it possible for me to follow your writing so much more easily.
(Of course, none of boston.com's advertising is conveyed through RSS, so it could be a boston.com infrastructure change for that reason)
I echo Chuck's sentiments ... Please someone read this and change it back ... unles they are doing it to force traffic to Boston.com?
Neal is a special story. Not a college FB player. Was a champion wrestler. Pats made him into a FB player. Great story of vision and creativity.
Hi Chuck and Tyrone Weeks. I've forwarded these comments along to the appropriate people. Thanks for pointing it out.
--Mike
I too miss having Mike's full text in the RSS feed, which is great on my handheld.
Neal is solid, but Yates is the better player.
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