PATRIOTSFANINPA

Heres my argument over this issue

SAN DIEGO - The entire coaching staff has changed,Even though this is the most talented team from last year the team must take some time to adjust to all new coaches...IMO this may cost them a few early games and make it tough to win a championship - Still is the biggest threat to New Englands SB aspirations.

DENVER - Has a relatively weak LB corps the only blemish to what appears to be a very solid looking team,The play of Cutler is also going to play a big role in the Broncos chances..For the lack of a big name LB I think Denver may be a team you should be able to run on and most teams will probably do exactly that,Hell knows no team is stupid enough to try and test the talented secondary of Bly and Bailey - That would be stupid so I think Denver will give up chucks of yardage on the ground thus leading to problems in the playoffs.

INDIANAPOLIS - The champions are missing very important pieces of thier 2006 team,They have a depleted secondary which is missing the 2 starting CBs and I don't think Marlin Jackson is the answer not to mention Marvin Harrison is getting older and Peyton is missing his best offensive lineman..Not only do I think Indy is going to struggle in the playoffs but I think they are going to find it hard to win thier own division,It would not surprise me to see Jacksonville take over the South even though I think Indy is much more of a dangerous playoff team than Jax.

PITTSBURGH - New coach who has alot of burden on his shoulders since Pittsburgh has only thier 3rd HC in franchise history - I think Roethlisberger wants a big passing attack unlike the smash mouth football Pitt is usually known for,I don't think big Ben is good enough at least in this point in his career to be putting up big numbers through the air - It may take a couple of years under a new kind of pitt offense for Ben to prove he is capable of putting the offensive game on his shoulders.

BALTIMORE - Has a defense good enough to win a championship even without Thomas there but the QB position is still suspect as McNair is getting up in age and showed absolutely nothing against Indy in the playoffs..McNair may be the cancer of this teams quest for a championship,McGahee will be great in the running game and should be the guy to put the offense on his shoulders if Baltimore wants to be a threat in January.

JETS - One year wonder in Mangini who surprised teams that thought they were not as good as they played last year...a tougher schedule plus the fact that the Jets will be taken more seriously will lead to thier demise as a wild card team yet again once the playoffs begin..if they are able to get in,that is


WHATS YOUR ARGUMENT IN THE TEAMS THAT ARE MOST LIKELY TO MAKE IT TOUGH FOR NEW ENGLANDS AFC SUPREMACY THIS YEAR?

Jacky Roberts

I'm not sold on Rivers as a Super Bowl quality QB. LT is a great back and Gates is sensational, but I dont see them as a lock to challenge. I"m not sure they even win that division (Denver).

Indy is the defending champ thanks to the Pats meltdown in the AFCCG and Manning will score his points. Losing Glenn is a killer and not enough is being made of losing all those defensive players. If they try and sign Simeon Rice, you know they are desperate.

Baltimore is great on defense, but how are they going to score?

I dont fear the Jets or anyone in this division whatsoever.

That brings me to Denver. I think based on the history between these teams that this team is the prime threat to the Patriots. Cutler falls into the Rivers category as a question at QB, but the Broncos have the DB's to challenge the Pats wideouts. Add in a great coach in Shanahan combined with a team playing with Darrent Williams' murder as motivation.

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-Robert Kraft, 2/3/2002




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AzPatsFan

San Diego crested last year. They had a 200 victory Head Coach and everything fell into place.

Now the wheels have come off. All the coaches are gone. And the Defense is dramatically weaker than last year. How strong would you say the Patriots would be if Bruschi and Vrabel were not coming back and they did not sign Adalius Thomas? You'd say..." Oh woe is me."

Well that is what faces the San Diego Chargers. Both their star ILB and his competent ILB partner are gone. One to the KC Chiefs, the other into retirement. They will be starting a couple of reserves who have no high draft position or past experience to indicate they are at all near equals to the departed players.

Now their WRs are of the quality of Caldwell and Gaffney, but certainly not any better. Is that really superior?

Indy Colts. The Colts are an all Offense, no Defense team. They have lost NINE , (9), starters, this off season! Now most came from the mediocre Defense, but losing Stokely and Tarik Glenn and the depth at RB, and replacing them with Ugou and Gonzalez might be OK in a couple of years, but not this season.

One other thing. Marvin Harrison is a great future HOF talent, but he is as old as Troy Brown. Is Troy what he once was? To ask that question is to answer it. Marvin, a great player could lose it overnight, or as an older guy, get dinged. Without him the Colts Offense is NOT the Juggernaut it used to be. Without the juggernaut Offense, the Colts become very ordinary, very quickly. Even a winning season would be in question.

I think the AFC rising powers are the Broncos, and ...ta da... the Young Patriots. The entire Offense is potentially awesome, and very deep. And... no starter and any reserve is older than thirty! They could field an entire skill position group of Pro Bowlers. Are any of Brady, Moss, Watson, Maroney or Stallworth patently not of potential pro bowl quality?

On Defense, the D-line and secondary front line starters are all very young. (Harrison is a reserve; Sanders has earned the starting job, IMHO)

Only the Line Backers have any age; and three of the four starters are 29, 30 and 31. These LBs will likely play for 3-5 years or more. Sure they must find another starter and a couple of reserves,soon, but that is not a problem when you have double drafts, and can trade to fill that particular position, since their are few other demands. The Pats could choose to not draft a single player at another position than LB for the next two drafts and still be fine. Or as is Belichick's favorite course, trade or sign an established NFL LB star.

VJCPatriot

I'm not scared of Denver as long as we have homefield advantage for the playoffs. For whatever reason, Mile High stadium, just kills our team. Maybe it's the thin air, maybe the noise, who knows.

Denver does match up well against the Pats defensively. So that is a concern. But I don't think their offense will be as explosive and their QB also lacks experience whereas Brady has already played in many big games and is 12-2 in the playoffs, and likely to improve that mark!

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BHSL2

As for Denver's LBs, DJ Williams and Ian Gold are stillv ery capable players. I think their iddle might be weak. Who's taking over for Wilson, Nate Webster?

BradfordPatsFan

SD--I'm not sold on their secondary vs the pats' wr's (or Indy's or Denver's) nor their wr's vs anyone. Gates and LT are phenomenal but the changes at the top are going to hurt them in some games and you have to start to wonder when it becomes a mental thing with this team. They had the Jets and Pats beat in their last two playoff appearances and lost both games.

Indy--Their defense has lost key player after key player over the course of the last few years, not just this past spring. If they can't generate a pass rush, teams will throw all over them because their safeties already have to play up in the box a bit more than they'd like. IMO, the best way to attack this defense is to spread it out and get more db's on the field. I think that Harrison is starting to look at the downside of his career but I think the other weapons that Manning has are more than enough to make up for that. Can Addai handle the load? Everyone asks this about Maroney, I don't hear this question about Addai that often.

Denver--Ick. The team that worries me. The key for them, defensively, will be if their rookies can generate a pass rush. Also, can those players also play the run? If they are pure rookie pass rushers, and they are in there on running downs, the o-line will get to that second level very quickly. Also, I look for teams who choose to pass against them to go three wide and attack the player that the safety/lb has coverage on. On offense, Graham and Henry are good pick ups for this team. Cutler is the key.

Baltimore--The pats have enough weapons and interchangeable parts, as well as a smart enough qb to move the ball against this team. I think opponents could man up their wr's and stack the box against McGahee, who the pats typically have done well against. Their defense is fast and agressive, teams would have to use that agressiveness against them.

Pittsburgh--The change in philosophy on both sides of the ball gives me pause with this team. Do they have the weapons for Big Ben to go to a pass-first offense? Defensively, I think they will be all right, better than all right actually. I can see this team finding a way to win 10 games but I can also see this team falling back into the non-playoff pack if the skill players are not there.

Jets--No worry.

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patsox23

I don't see how Denver's LB's can be called weak - even considering the hole left by Al Wilson. They have very good LBs.

Remix 6

weak LB corps? Al Wilson didnt make them great alone. Ian Gold and DJ Williams are very good LBs..and im telling u. DJ Williams will be a monster this year

i dont thin they are lack of big name..DJ is a LB from Miami..first rounder and Gold has been to a few teams but hes very good

their weakness on defense was pass rush and safety last year. they added pass rushers this offseason in Crowder and Moss while Dumerveil gets better. Lynch is a question mark since hes aging

offensivly i think they are a very good team. Walker is a pro bowl WR..they really like Marshall whos in the mold of a TO..big strong and fast.

Added Graham to help block and i think hes an underrated receiver while Scheffler was a nice rookie last yr. Adding Henry gives them a legit back that did it without their ZBS before. Hes had success in Buffalo and Tenn and i think he can put over 1600 yards with their system.

stinkypete

Why is San Diego's defense weaker? The only player they lost was Donnie Edwards, and they chose to but him The addition of Weddle makes their secondary potentially much better.

JaredOfNazareth

Only one that should win a lot of games is Baltimore. Their division is weakest. I am serious. Cinci D is weak, Pitt is weaker this year, the Browns are the Browns. The Ravens only need to score 15 a game.