patfanken

I think I finally snapped with the "what the heck is going on thread". We are over 5 months away from the start of the season and "some" people are having kiniption fits over PERCEPTION...not reality.

FACT - our defense last season WAS NOT horrible. In fact it was very decent. It ranked FIFTH in scoring (the most important defensive stat) and 11th over all.

The perception that the defense is horrible comes from the fact due to all the Polian rules changes...pretty much ALL defenses have been rendered "horrible". We just have to look at the 30+ points second half the Colts threw up on the #1 defense in the league in the AFCCG.

So when we see our team give up a 3rd and long first down and decry its futility, we have to understand that THIS IS NOW THE NORM in the pass happy NFL. And despite our perception, our defense last season was pretty good.....RELATIVE to the rest of the sorry defenses in league.

MYTH - The Jets signing Antonio Cromartie makes their secondary the best in the league, with TWO shut down CBs.

FACT - has anyone bothered to check out Cromartie's performance the last TWO season, or are you still watching UTube highlights from 2007. Last season these were his sorry stats. 30 tackles, O sacks, 3 picks, O fumble recoveries, O forced fumbles, and this is the stunner. ... NINE whole passes defended, or roughly THREE times fewer than what Lee Boddin put up for our sorry assed Defense His results for the season before where hardly better.

Given the nature of the league right now WHY would any team literally give up a quality CB, especially to the team that knocked it out of the playoffs. The fact is that they wouldn't....and they didn't. So stop worrying about Antonio Cromartie and his 9 passes defended. I don't doubt that the Jets will present a formidable defensive challenge this season, but it won't be because
Antonio Cromartie is playing opposite a REAL shut down CB in Derelle Revis.

Myth - the Signing of Karlos Dansby drastically improves the Miami defense.

FACT- HOW??? I ask. Granted Dansby is a fine LB, who adds speed to the ILB corp of the Fins, but his has NEVER been an impact player. He has NEVER had more than 5 sacks a season. He makes a lot of tackles, but who is going to replace the big play potential of Porter and Taylor. NOT Karlos Dansby

MYTH- According to the media, this team has more holes in its roster than ever before.

FACT- REALLY?????? Lets check it out, even before the draft where we have 4 picks in the first 53 in the deepest draft in recent memory.

OL - This is very good OL - Talented and DEEP... they brought the entire band back. I challenge anyone to find a hole, with Koppen who is decent, the only guy you are likely to want to upgrade...down the road

QB- All set there

RB - Well here you might get into an arguement, but with Maroney Taylor, Morris, and Faulk (assumption) The Pats may be old at the position, but they have enough TALENT there to have a good running attack....especially in an offense that isn't geared to run first.

TE- Much has been made of the fact that we don't have ANY TE's on the roster, but who cares in March. We don't use them in the passing game anyway. Besides, we are about to sign a blocking TE who caught over 30 balls, and Alge Crumpler's name has been thrown around along with Olsen of Chicago. I'm confident that by camp the Pats will have 3 TEs under contract that will satisfy the masses and more importantly, the coaching staff.

WR - Now this is really where there are holes in the roster. However it is also the position that is the EASIEST to fill. There are simply MORE people on the planet who have WR skills than say QB or DL. We made it to the AFCCG with Jabar, Reche, and a fading Troy Brown. I think we will be fine with Moss, Welker, Edelman, and whomever else we sign/draft to fill in. BTW- Brandon Tate was supposed to be a first round talent before he got hurt. How come no one in the media mentions him when talking about WRs.

So at this position I agree it is something to watch over the next coming months, but its NOT something to go nuts over

DL - Jarvis Green and his 3 sacks over the last 2 years is gone. I'm thrilled he got another pay day. He deserved it. However he had already been surpassed by Mike White, and the promising Myron Pryor is coming back, along with the "unpromising" Ron Brace, who will hopefully benefit from a full off season in the strength progam. However this is an area where I wouldn't be surprised if one of the "big 4 draft picks" is used for a DLman.

ILB - Surpisingly, I think we are pretty much set here with Mayo, Guyton, and McKenzie, along with the other usual suspects, FAs, and draft picks. ILB isn't a 3 down position anymore, so its not like we need much more than what we have.

OLB - The other position of concern - Here's what I don't understand. We act like we are the ONLY team in the league that needs to improve our pass rush. Do people know that we actually had MORE sacks than the Jets last season. EVERY team needs to improve their pass rush. Its the nature of the game now.

Also I'd suggest as required reading, Andy Johnson's post on TBC and his production. Tully doesn't have the "name", yet per this post, his production and efficiency ranked with the best in the league. It also was enlightening is pointing out how effective teams are in pass blocking since even the BEST guys in the league were averaging only ONE effective pass rush (sack, pressure, hit or blk) every 10 throws. Kind of makes you wonder about the competitive fairness of the current game.

So while I do expect the Pats to resign Burgess, I also expect them to address the pass rush issue in the first 2 rounds as well. There seems to be a very good crop of "Tweeners" his year. If we don't know all their names today, we certainly will over the next 6 weeks.

DBs - With the resigning of Boddin our DBs are settling in as becoming a strength of the defense. we are set at S with Merriweather, Chung, McGowan, and Sanders. We are getting better at CB with Wheatly coming back, and Butler and Wilhite with another year of experience. I also expect to see a DB among those picked in the top 4. I'm hoping we resign Springs, because we need another "big" CB for GL situations. Maybe that's the thought for the draft.

So in conclusion. Are we a finished team yet, OF COURSE NOT. However the sturm and drang wringing of the hands BS I've seen on this board is ridiculous, almost to be the point of being embarrassing.

I'm not being a homer when I contend that this is solid team, with a core that is capable of winning it all, just like about a dozen other teams in the league. Luck, injuries, good or bad calls, and the vagaries of dealing with an oblong spheroid will determine exactly WHO lifts the Lombardi in February, but as fans, all we can ask is that we be in the mix...and believe me Pats fans....we ARE in the mix...as of March 10th....as we will be come January

PatsChamp88

Don't take those threads personally, I just find them funny

PatsBoy12

I have to agree with the OP. It's gotten to the point where I don't even really come on the board anymore, and I just end up going to ESPN Boston or some other site for news. Every move the Patriots make or don't make is wrong. They can't win when it comes to so many on the board.

ausbacker

As expected patfanken, a balanced and objective position illustrating exactly where the Patriots stand.

Well done.

vyrago

Stop making sense Ken; you'll rile the malcontents which will lead to a 40 page thread explaining why you are wrong and why WE ARE DOOMED!

Rob0729

I agree about Cromartie. Look at the guy's career and he had a nine game stretch where he was great (although that stretch is overrated) and 3 1/2 years of mediocre play.

People also dismiss the loss of Thomas Jones (got over 1,400 yards) on a team where they are 2-8 when their "franchise" QB passes for 20 times or more. The is a better than decent chance they lose Leon Washington. That would leave Shonn Greene as their lone RB. Greene played very well in the playoffs, but was up and down during the season and has yet to prove he can carry the rock 25 times a game for an entire season. The loss of Jones and possibly Washington might be a far worse loss than the gain of Cromartie.

Also, the Dolphins gained Dansby but lost their two starting OLBs and their NT is suspended for the firat eight games. They just lost out on Ryan Clark and dumped Gabril Wilson to get him. They were mediocre down the stretch and they have a lot holes. Dansby is anice piece, but for every hole people complain on this board for the Pats to have the Dolphins may have two.

signbabybrady

it is 8:18 in the morning, my alarm clock just went off and yet I am standing on my bed applauding.

Nice post couldnt have said it better my self.

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Big Bucks

People have got to realise we are one year in on a three year rebuild.

I agree with the OP except...

nah Guyton I'm not sold on

and the WR problem... I'm in the bring Marshall in camp

People got to look at the injury situation from last year and think WOW how did we still win the Division

Welker missed 4 games with a bum knee, Moss seperated his shoulder and wasn't really the same after that, Tate.. Endelman both had injuries, Brady was hurt too, we lost RB depth with at least Maroney filling in IMO admirably putting up his best numbers.... and thats just the offence, don't get me started on the defence, well how much did Mayo miss for starters!

patsox23

This is a rosier projection than I'm ready to offer, but a good read and some interesting insights. I would warn against blaming all of the last two years on Cromartie's alleged inefficiency at corner. The Chargers pass-rush has been non-existent in that time - or, at least, far less formidable. That likely played a role in his diminishing stat-sheet.

spacecrime

"Some" people are easier to take when you realize that they are not here to talk Patriots football; they are here to show Patriots fans the errors of their ways. That is why guys like Tanked blasted the Pats for not signing Bodden, and then when he was signed, cherry-picked stats to show that Bodden was not that good. For a long time I thought they just didn't understand football, but the idiotic insistence that re-signing your own free agents doesn't help a team after years of deriding the Pats because the Colts stay competitive by re-signing their own free agents, and the frantic yelping that the only way to have a good team is to emulate Daniel Snyder and spend big in the first days of free agency finally showed me it wasn't a lack of football knowledge, it was simply an agenda that whatever the Pats do is wrong.

But you are according to "some" people, who call fans "homers' in an attempt to discredit any support of the team. They call themselves "objective" to try to give their naysaying validity.

It is indeed very tiresome, but it is the nature of the internet that some people just like to do stuff like this.

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“When we look at the board, based on everything we want in a football player at that particular time, we evaluate them and take the player that fits best for our football team. That’s what we always do, and I think the last nine years we’ve put a pretty competitive team out there on the field every year. I think that’s how you do it – you get good football players. Sometimes they are not always at the No. 1 position, but I don’t think you pass up good football players to get the guys who aren’t as good just because they’re at a position that somebody feels you need.”
BB on his draft philosophy, April 2010