Reiss' mailbag today - New England Patriots Forums

SVN · 12-01-2009, 04:58 PM

The mailbag was overflowing after the New England Patriots' disappointing effort against the New Orleans Saints. - ESPN Boston

Some interesting comments

Quote:

Q: Hey Mike, after watching the D get destroyed again I have to start to question Dean Pees game plans. I just don't see enough from the D. When Romeo Crennel was here, the D would confuse and throw things at the other QB that he has never seen. Just don't see that since Pees has taken over and once Romeo left it seems the D hasn't been as good. Not blaming it all on Pees but I think he should be taking some heat here for it and maybe Bill should look at getting Romeo back. Thoughts? -- Mike (Framingham, Mass.)

A: I'm not as down on Pees as others, Mike. It's my belief that this is Bill Belichick's scheme -- and Belichick's the one making the personnel decisions -- and Pees is more of the overseer. It's easy to say in retrospect, but I think one of the issues Monday night was how the Patriots tried to match up with the Saints' ever-changing personnel. I might have gone with a more simplified approach, thinking that sometimes less is more -- focus on the fundamentals. I almost thought they confused themselves into some mistakes with all the changes, and players looked winded from all the on-the-field, off-the-field movement.

Q: It seems like Belichick has tinkered too much with this team. I understand Bruschi retired, but now it seems worse that we got rid of Vrabel and Seymour. I know we wanted to get younger, but at what cost. Where do you see this defense going? -- Jimmy (Charlotte, N.C.)

A: It's always a tough balance, Jimmy, trying to get younger and remaining competitive. I think the defense actually shows promise in the long run, but as we've seen in two of the last three weeks when the Colts rung up 35 and the Saints 38, it's a unit that is not ready for prime time against upper echelon teams. They have played well against some of the non-elite teams, so all is not lost, but I think most would agree that more alterations are needed if the Pats are to become a championship team.

***mgteich*** · 12-01-2009, 05:03 PM

Well, of course it is Belichick's fault for not bringing in competent coordinators. Of course it isn't the fault of Pees and O'Brain that they are not competent to don their jobs.

But then, maybe the coordinator job is not what it seems. Perhaps, the reality is that Belichick cannot delegate enough and must be the GM, HC, OC and DC, and secondary coach for that matter.

farn · 12-01-2009, 08:02 PM

Too easy to dump on them... the defense was exposed, the players were beat. We are what our record says we are : 7-4.

upstater1 · 12-01-2009, 08:50 PM

For 2 or 3 years now the constant drumbeat has been that we need to get younger on D.

brady et al fan · 12-01-2009, 09:29 PM

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Originally Posted by upstater1

For 2 or 3 years now the constant drumbeat has been that we need to get younger on D.

oh they're definately younger. I think the beef is that they did not draft well for a few years so that you'd have quality guys ready to step right in without a downgrade as Bruschi, Vrabel, Harrison got old and/or retired and guys like Asante left for $. There's also the Seymour trade and I'm sure that will get more play this week.

***MoLewisrocks*** · 12-01-2009, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgteich

Well, of course it is Belichick's fault for not bringing in competent coordinators. Of course it isn't the fault of Pees and O'Brain that they are not competent to don their jobs.

But then, maybe the coordinator job is not what it seems. Perhaps, the reality is that Belichick cannot delegate enough and must be the GM, HC, OC and DC, and secondary coach for that matter.

RAC was an overseer too. Funny how that concept worked fine for you when they were winning.

***Rob0729*** · 12-01-2009, 09:37 PM

I wonder how much input Pees has on the defense anymore. He is up in the booth and you have seen Belichick for several year working with the starting defense making adjustments when the offense is on the field. I figured that Pees and his staff make the overall gameplans and Belichick takes a lot of the control during games.

SVN · 12-01-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoLewisrocks

RAC was an overseer too. Funny how that concept worked fine for you when they were winning.

BB always got more credit than RAC even the rams SB. thats the way itgoes..When D is playing well its "BB knows how to confuse QB's" and when it sucks "fire pees"

***MoLewisrocks*** · 12-01-2009, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob0729

I wonder how much input Pees has on the defense anymore. He is up in the booth and you have seen Belichick for several year working with the starting defense making adjustments when the offense is on the field. I figured that Pees and his staff make the overall gameplans and Belichick takes a lot of the control during games.

Coordinators here never "made" the game plans. They do their film work as does Bill and they meet and he sets the tone for the overall approach to a game. They have input to the extent he agrees with it. Their role is to install and run it. This season Dean has gone up into the booth to call plays. That leaves Matt Patricia running the substitutions from the field. Earlier they had him up in the booth talking to Pees about what he saw. Bill has always taken control of his defenses during games and coached and made adjustments on the sidelines.

Lots of people here seem to be of the opinion that RAC and not Bill and Ernie came up with the concept and game plan that stopped the greatest show on turf... RAC's job was to implement it. Still Bill spent that game roaming the sidelines admonishing his defense on in cuts being the game...

The only offensive TD scored in that masterful game Charlie called came when Bill called for an adjustment to a play they had just run based on what he'd observed as the reason it failed. Charlie called the play in but it wasn't his idea...

RAC and Charlie were brought here because they knew the system Bill wanted to run on both sides of the ball. Bill taught that same system to their successors including Dean Pees mentor Nick Saban who was Bill's DC in Cleveland. Bill has adapted the system since RAC and Charlie left, most dramatically on offense...

***Tunescribe*** · 12-02-2009, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgteich

Well, of course it is Belichick's fault for not bringing in competent coordinators. Of course it isn't the fault of Pees and O'Brain that they are not competent to don their jobs.

But then, maybe the coordinator job is not what it seems. Perhaps, the reality is that Belichick cannot delegate enough and must be the GM, HC, OC and DC, and secondary coach for that matter.

And perhaps you just don't know enough yourself to make sweeping judgments from afar. Obviously, you don't like BB as head coach and have little faith in what he does. Your arguments and "observations" remind me of a political pundit who criticizes the president no matter what he does because he's from the rival party.