Brady'sButtBoy

Deion and his agent are counting on the Pat's struggling on offense due to his absence (and that enough GM's around league don't begin to view Branch as a malcontent). But if the Pats roll without Branch, which I think is possible if Maroney and Dillon stay healthy and Watson and Graham can both stay on the field, then Branch could suffer multiple pains:

First, and the most obvious, the Pats could just let him rot as long as Branch wants to sit out, (and Deion must be sniffing glue if he thinks that staying out until the 10th game will mean he won't get franchised for next year) without Branch building any kind of leverage he would have if the Pat's had difficulty moving the football. Branch could end up losing millions of dollars he will never recoup, this year or next...

Second, and this would have to be the most scary for Branch, if the Pat's O piles up yardage without him, the odor of a 'system' player may attach itself to Deion in an most odious manner. The odds of his rep being tainted increase astronomically if Caldwell (I admit it's unlikely), or, god forbid, someone like Kight or Childress, put up more than reasonable numbers. And the 'system' stench could really begin to reek if Givens struggles in Tenn.

Thirdly, by missing so much time (again figuring he does hold out to the 10th game because the Pat's refuse to cave since they are moving the ball very well), he will be at great risk for (permanent?) injury since he will have no training camp to ease himself into the harsh world of NFL contact. Even if he comes in at game 10 and plays well right away (unlikely with his rust and the fact others will have earned playing time by then) without getting hurt, Branch will lose bewteen 6-10% of his potential career stats(estimating 8-10 high output years mixed into however long he actually plays). Combine this loss of numbers with a scent of being labeled a 'system' player, and Branch could lose any hope of ever being a HOF'er despite his SB record and MVP.

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BelichickFan

Simultaneous to that, he needs Givens to do well with Billy Volek throwing to him. David Patten has done nothing without Brady, if Givens doesn't produce at a good level, it will start to look like Brady made the WR and lower his value.

SVN

who knows,he could end up like peerless price and be back with the pats in a couple of years

SoonerPatriot

I would imagine Deion isn't exactly quaking in his boots after what he saw in Atlanta Friday.

Yeah, we rolled up 400+ on offense but our WRs caught exactly 3 balls. 1 each from Caldwell, Erik Davis and Rich Musinski. If anything, in his mind, it only strengthened his position that the team needs him.

And incidentally, while I'm thrilled CD and Maroney looked great Friday night, it's important to remember Atlanta ranked 26th in rush defense last year.

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jczxohn1

Deion needs to fire his agent and cut a deal.

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Felger started his question, "Correct me if I'm wrong," BB quickly interjected, "I can't wait--"


``The officials now are evaluating the players and their performance, I mean, that's great,'' Belichick deadpanned. ``I can't say how much that means to me, really.''

spacecrime

1. The preseason won't matter. It is regular season games that will make or beak Deion.

2. Passes is passes. It does't matter who catches them. On Friday, the Patriots receivers caught 16 passes for 253 yards, a pace over 16 games that would yield over 4000 yards. This would rank the Patriots passing offense near teh very top of the league.

If Brady passes for 4000 yards no one is going to say the Pats passing offense was subpar.

BelichickFan

Brady played one series and was a (slightly) tipped ball from a TD.

scott99

All I have to say is we are very very lucky to have Brady. Though we don't have a strong WR corp (I'm watching Cincy, where do they get all those WR's ?), Brady will get his 3000+ yards, and hopefully the running game does the rest. The first team O-Line, when healthy will open up some nice holes all season, regardless whom we play. Dillon averaged 90+ yards a game in the playoffs (3 games) in 2004 (Jan & Feb 05), despite facing the top two defenses in football (Pittsburgh & Philly).

SoonerPatriot

Thus the phrase IN HIS MIND.

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PatsFanInVa

Guys, Volek is the real deal. He might not post back-to-back 400+ yard games like last time he took the reins, but he is not some pissant, never-played-a-down backup. You're probably looking at the next Brees/Rivers problem here, in fact (with Young playing the Rivers role, albeit with happier feet.)

Givens only real problem is if the Volek/Bennett connection proves to strong to break in on. Or, if Tennessee wants to cash in its Vince investment early and kicks Billy to the curb on general principals (they're already showing signs of the latter.)

Just threw that in for flavor,

PFnV