mgteich

If we believe that we would be a heavy favorite to at least having a bye, then perhaps the defense is performing as well as one might expect. Perhaps they have simply not stepped up to the extra burden on them and the additional time on the field and the lack of garbage time (like last year when we were often a couple of touchdowns ahead).

I do indeed believe that we would be a heavy favorite to compete with the upstart Titans for championship in the AFC, if Brady were here.

So for me, there is no need to be talking about replacing and redoing the entire defense or even major parts. That is already being done. To put it another way, we have been bringing in new players. Mayo and Guyton are extraordinary rookie starters. We might have a future starting corner or backup help in Wheatley, Wilhite and/or Richardson. Meriweather has shown he is the real deal. And we have some linebackers we haven't heard from yet. Surely Redd and Crable are potential backups.

Sure, Vrabel and Bruschi have lost a couple of steps, as expected. They may be only good enough to be role players next year. So! Why is it a negative to have veteran role players. We used to consider such a situation a positive.

jmt57

I'd guess the Pats would be 8-2. A couple of extra plays made in the Jets and Colts games would make the difference. The Miami and San Diego games would still have been lost.

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KontradictioN

Can we please stop with these hypothetical Brady threads? They are far too much of a tease for me to think about. Cassel is our man now. We may be a lot better (if not undefeated again) right now with Brady and we might not. But we won't know what this team (and this new defense) has with #12 under center until 2009. Enjoy this season for what it is worth.

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CREDIT - Sicilian

BradyManny

Last year, there were only two teams that could compete with us: the Giants and the Colts. We destroyed the rest of the league. Our average margin of victory was almost as many points as the offense is scoring per game now. I see no evidence that we wouldn't be either 9-1 or 10-0 with Brady right now. And I believe we would be clear favorites over the Titans, not favorites with them.

Last year, teams came in wondering how many touchdowns they'd be down by halftime. This year, they come in expecting to beat us. That's the biggest difference to me. Someone could say "oh, well we still would've lost the game against the Phins or the Chargers"...No, if Brady were healthy, its a completely different scenario, and those games don't play out the same way.

BradyManny

Disagree. See my above post.

signbabybrady

undefeated. The only game we lost that I question wether Brady would have made the difference is the Charger game. OK 9-1 then.

We beat the Colts no problem.
He somehow would have made a difference in the first half of the Jets game effectively keeping us out of the hole we dug.
I don't think Miami would have been able to use the wild cat the way they did if Brady was tourching their secondary the way he did last year.

That leaves the Chargers, and the way that game went down I don't know if anything would have changed it. But Brady certainly could go a long way.

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fumbrunner

Agreed. We would be the #2 seed right now. I dont see us losing the Jets or Colts game with Brady in there. Heck, a couple early scores against Miami and that would have been a competitive game as well.

mgteich

I agree that we need to enjoy this year for what it is.

My main point was that we shouldn't be criticizing the defense as much as we do. They are doing their part on a Brady-led team. Unfortunately, they are not up to making up the difference between Brady and Cassel.

I DO BELIEVE that the defense has improved over last year. It just isn't enough.

And someone should ADMINISTER FLU SHOTS!

SoCal Pmen

1 or 2 losses at most with TB at the helm. He would have kept the defense off the field a lot longer and forced teams to go one dimensional with their game plans after building a big lead.

Rob0729

Actually I think the Pats could have won the Miami game. The Pats seemed to have the momentum early and were stopping them on defense and moving the ball on offense. The whole momentum shifted (for the rest of the game) on a Cassel INT.

I do agree with KontradictioN that these Brady threads are exercises in futility though. We asll know the Pats would have had a better record and been in a much better position to compete for the Super Bowl, but why bother speculating?