slash83

1. I still feel confident we win the division fairly easily, but given the teams struggles throughout the season I would not be surprised if they went one and done in the playoffs.

2. The team as a whole can only go up cause I think the Saints game was rock bottom for the Pats. Hopefully they take this game as a wake up call and start playing more consistent football on both sides of the ball.

3. I for one feel more relaxed with Vollmer in at LT than Light. The differnce I notice between the two is that they are both good at the initial point of attack. Where Vollmer has the edge is that he has the ability to win the point of attack and give the rusher little to no chance to get to Brady, where as Light does not hold up as long as Vollmer can.

4. I think Springs needs to be activated from here on out, I think hes the clear cut better corner than Wilhite, Id even rather see Butler starting over him at this point. Seems like week after week Wilhite either gets beat for a big play or a TD.

5. The O-line today gave up too much initial pressure fairly often when the Saints only rushed 3 players. I understand sooner or later somebody is going to break through but to give up almost instant pressure with 3 rushers VS 5 protectors is unacceptable.

6. The team needs to find a game changer on the edge of the front 7. Whether it is through the draft or yes somehow getting Peppers, something has to be done an upgrade is a necessity at this point.

7. Finally when its all said and done I still think the team will improve over the next 5 weeks or so. Hopefully they turn it on once they get in the playoffs where anything can happen.

__________________
Madden ID for ps3- bradydabest

mayoclinic

Agreed. There's always the chance that we get our act together and make a run in the playoffs, but right now this team looks more like a "1 and done" team (like 2005) than a deep playoff contender. We can make a lot of adjustments, but we can't cover up the lack of a pass rush, just like we couldn't cover up the lack of LBs in 2005. That will kill us in the playoffs against Manning, Palmer, Rothlisberger and Rivers.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176092. The team as a whole can only go up cause I think the Saints game was rock bottom for the Pats. Hopefully they take this game as a wake up call and start playing more consistent football on both sides of the ball. [/QUOTE]

The Pats are good at beating up on the small fry of the NFL. They just can't beat the good teams with top QBs. I don't expect us to lose more than 1 of our remaining games, and we could easily run the table. We'll finish 11-5 or 12-4, but I don't think anyone will be fooled again into believing that we're an elite team until we actually fix the problems.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176093. I for one feel more relaxed with Vollmer in at LT than Light. The differnce I notice between the two is that they are both good at the initial point of attack. Where Vollmer has the edge is that he has the ability to win the point of attack and give the rusher little to no chance to get to Brady, where as Light does not hold up as long as Vollmer can.[/quote]

I said before the game that Vollmer's loss was huge, and it was. Vollmer is a franchise caliber LT. Light is a good one. Not that Light is to blame for the OL's woes. But we need to put Vollmer at LT and Light at RT for the rest of the season, and put Kaczur on the bench where he belongs.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176094. I think Springs needs to be activated from here on out, I think hes the clear cut better corner than Wilhite, Id even rather see Butler starting over him at this point. Seems like week after week Wilhite either gets beat for a big play or a TD.[/quote]

I'm getting tired of seeing Wilhite beat, too. He's looking more and more like Ellis Hobbs. I want to see Butler and Bodden starting the rest of the way.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176095. The O-line today gave up too much initial pressure fairly often when the Saints only rushed 3 players. I understand sooner or later somebody is going to break through but to give up almost instant pressure with 3 rushers VS 5 protectors is unacceptable. [/quote]

Agreed. The O-line was terrible, and one of the biggest differences in the game was that Brees had time to throw and Brady didn't. We need to fix the right 3/5 of our line.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176096. The team needs to find a game changer on the edge of the front 7. Whether it is through the draft or yes somehow getting Peppers, something has to be done an upgrade is a necessity at this point. [/quote]

I don't believe it's possible to win the SB in the modern NFL without a pass rush. It's no coincidence that the last 2 SB winners did so based on a dominant pass rush. It's like trying to win without a QB.

[QUOTE=slash83;16176097. Finally when its all said and done I still think the team will improve over the next 5 weeks or so. Hopefully they turn it on once they get in the playoffs where anything can happen.[/QUOTE]

Anything can happen. But I think that we've had our flaws exposed, and other teams will key on them. I can't see us missing the playoffs, but it's hard to see us developing a pass rush in the next 5 weeks. We don't have the horses.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Patriot Missile

My thoughts are focused on winning the division. Priority 1. Any bit of playoff experience will be good for the young guys for the future. You never know what will happen what once they get there or what adjustments will be made from now until then.

Random thoughts

This loss was easy to take. The better team won. Plain and simply there weren't a lot of what if's like the Colts and Jets game which make you angry and bitter.

Although I venture to say the Saints are probably the best team right now...they are beatable. Ask the 07 squad. Brees is the best QB in the NFL this year, but his throws were so accurate and perfect I would dare him to do it again. The guy was on fire last night. Everyone has superhero nights.

It's too bad Jared Allens don't grow on trees because I'd like this team to have one. People have been ripping these cornerbacks which blows me away. That blown coverage? Sure, fire away. but for the most part they were alone for 4 -7 seconds with the those wr's. No pass rush=losses against high powered passing offenses.

mayoclinic

I agree with this. The secondary is a scapegoat. They made some mistakes, but so did the rest of the defense (lots of missed tackles). You can't expect any secondary to stop Manning, Brady or Brees when they're on and when they have no pressure on them.

I heard that BB was a big Jared Allen fan when he was with the Chiefs, and I used to dream that there was some way we could get him. I'd like this team to have one (preferably two) as well.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Everyone is talking about playoffs but the last time I looked this team has failed to win in another team's stadium and until they do I wonder if they will this season.

Next week's game is a MUST win if this team is to cruise to another AFC east title which they should if they win in Miami sunday,If they lose then they fall to just a 1 game lead of the Dolphins and the Jets who should win on thursday.

Until they beat Miami,the division and a playoff berth is far from a certainty.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

BionicPatriot

First off, I fully agree with what you said above. This team does not have the horses to suddenly become a dominant pass rusher team unfortunately. My only hope, as he does sometimes in December, is BB can take over the D a little and come up with blitzes. Some one on this board said we're more of an attacking defense than the stand back, play disciplined Bill tries to install.

Just by seeing them melt down last night, there are no vets on the field. I really think Bill needs to do what ever he can, and just let the defense attack at this point. Why not? 2/3 last weeks the defense has been exposed. This is december, this could seriously cost this team the playoffs.

This team is far invincible folks. If the right team with the right coach attacks this team through the air, this team could drop one or 2 and who knows what could happen. This team needs to grow a sack and attack on defense.

__________________
Defense, defense, defense

BionicPatriot

Yup. It's a huge game for this team to stay alive. Beating the Dolphins proves nothing, but they need this win to lock the division up or this things going to get TOO interesting.

__________________
Defense, defense, defense

Lockdown06

the biggest adjustment i want to see is at least one of our safeties consistently blitzing on passing downs.

In the past, Meriweather, Chung, Sanders, McGowan - all of them have shown an ability to be holy terrors to QBs when given the chance, I think its clear that our secondary is good, but they don't consist of a bunch of Nnamdi Asomughas who are capable of shutting down good receivers in the absence of a pass rush.

Since we're getting burned anyways, lets try and cut down the time the QB gets and use our safeties to punish the QB like they are capable of doing

slash83

I agree, this loss is much easier to move on from than the Colts game which we should have won. We got spanked and did not deserve to be on the same field as the Saints last night.

__________________
Madden ID for ps3- bradydabest

Patspsycho

my response