Welcome aboard my self-congratulatory express
The Boston Globe’s Mike Reiss fields a question from a reader on August 22:
[H]ow does Ryan O’Callaghan not get in the ups? He had a very solid game — a couple mistakes, but overall a good performance.
As for O’Callaghan, it looked like he played a solid game. Those “ups & downs” are done right after the game and it’s hard to evaluate most line play until the next day, when I’m watching the game again. Along those lines, I’d give nose tackle Vince Wilfork and backup center Billy Yates the biggest ups after watching the game again.
And here’s what I wrote on August 19, during the half-time and right after the game:
Ryan O’Callaghan did a good job at right tackle and I he think he’s an improvement over Brandon Gorin… Backup offensive lineman Billy Yates had another strong game, this time at center, where coach Bill Belichick seems determined to build some depth. Yates is solid blocker and tonight he showed that he can handle playing center, too (including the shotgun snap, something even otherwise accomplished centers don’t always master, as Patriots fans know first hand). I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Yates ends up a starting interior lineman before the end of the season. The one play where Yates probably could have been a little stronger was on the cut-back run that took fullback Heath Evans to inside the one-yard line. That opening probably wouldn’t have been there against a starting defense. On the other hand, it’s hard to block everybody all the time on plays where the blocking flows from the backside towards the point of attack.
Of course, line play is what I pay the most attention to because I think that’s the most interesting part of the game. But more than that, it’s easier to evaluate when you can rewind as you please than when you’re at the stadium and don’t have the option of checking two, three or maybe even four times how a specific play happened, who picked up the backside linebacker and so on.
