PF1996

Especially on defense which is why they are a very average team and will remain that way until the FO starts doing a better job of getting better players both in the draft and in FA. Since 2002, we have signed and retained only two good FA. We have drafted poorly at the LB, DB and WR position and failed to retain the two half-way decent WRs we did draft. What's even more galling is that other teams keep picking up good players in the draft or FA. Look at the Rhodes kid for the Jets. Or Darren Sharper, signed from the Packers by the Vikings. Think for a moment about how many players on the Pats you would NOT trade for another team's player. I would trade ALL the linebackers currently on the Pats roster. They ALL are poor-average, including Bruschi and Vrabel. I would trade all the DBs except Rodney and Hobbs. I don't see the Patriots making much of an attempt to keep Samuel, although he may still re-sign because he stinks so much there isn't going to be much demand for his services. The Dline guys are okay but they are not the best in the league (I don't think I would even put them top ten). The Oline blocks okay but cannot runblock for ANYTHING...PATHETIC. This has been the case for quite some time so perhaps a coaching change is needed.

This loss will be placed on the offense and they stunk but the D stunk just as badly. But for the fact that Denver's offense is not particularly good, this game would have been a very bad blowout. I strongly suspect (heck, expect) the Pats to be blown out against Cinci. Hopefully they can make some changes (4-3 maybe) in time for the Colts but I have my doubts.

The Pats D is barely average. The linebacks are average and the secondary is below average. The D-line is playing very average right now. What bothers me the most about the Pats D, is that they are not physical whatsoever. I'm not only referring to hitting the opponents but more importantly, getting off blocks, closing gaps, stopping players in their tracks. Even when the Pats do seal their gaps, the players are still PUSHED FORWARD by the opposing teams. Receivers drag the Pats DBs for extra yards. The linebackers and D-linemen more times than not CANNOT GET OFF THEIR BLOCKS (or so it appears to my untrained eyes). The Patriots players seem to lack strength and technique skills on defense. The DBs are ALWAYS playing WAY off their guys and the few times they try to jam someone, it's extremely weak and USELESS, the receivers just run RIGHT through. ANY receiver of ANY size. Conversely, the Patriots receivers cannot get OFF of jams quickly at the line of scrimmage. They run routes that do NOT create separation from their defenders or take FOREVER to do so.

Brady is also not that good of a QB. I guess people don't want to say this after annointing him the best QB in the league (and I'm a Brady fan and wished he were the best QB in the league) so they use the excuse of Branch being gone. However, there were many times during this game where receivers got open and Brady just made poor throws for NO reason whatsoever. Throws that guys like Manning and Palmer and Pennington would complete. Brady is playing like a less mobile Jake Plummer and I would have no problem if he is benched. (I also wish he would stop saying "we didn't play well enough, we didn't throw well enough" and say "I didn't play well enough, I didn't throw the ball well enough")

Lastly, the offensive coaching is horrendous. It's almost as though the Pats offensive coaches have a certain script of run/pass, whatever and they refuse to get away from it regardless of the situation on the field. No playaction during most of the game. No screens. No attempts to try to loosen up the Broncos in the box. No rollouts, no screens. Just run twice, get zero-four yards, then throw.

This Pats team is actually worse (in terms of their playing) than the team last year. I think it's quite likely that the Jets will win the AFCE - so just do as I'm doing, accept it and look forward to the draft. This year will not be our year.

Weird - Brady seems kinda happy in his press conference.