Deus Irae

Defense:

Gerard Warren - liability against the run
Wilfork - All world
Wright - liability against the run

Ninkovich - Liability against the run, not much better against the pass
Spikes - rookie having rookie issues
Guyton - major liability against the run
Mayo - quality player
TBC - liability against the run

McCourty - Rookie succeptible to double moves
Butler - Second year DB with a confidence problem an overreliance on his talent
Meriweather - Veteran who's struggled enough to lose his starting job
Chung - Second year player who's a liability against the pass
Sanders - solid, but nothing more


Offense:

Moss - Top tier talent who's lost about 2 steps
Welker - Top tier talent who's coming back from ACL surgery and took a shot to the head
Tate - Second year man who got almost no playing time as a rookie
Edelman - sub for Welker and oft-injured himself

Crumpler - Mauler, not a pass catcher at this stage of his career
Gronkowski/Hernandez - Rookies who still have things to learn

Light - Solid Left tackle
Connolly - Backup forced to start
Koppen - Oft-injured player who seems to have declined a bit due to those injuries
Neal - Oft-injured player (he missed time yesterday, as a matter of fact)
Vollmer - Second year player still making mistakes

Taylor - Talented, but aging and oft-injured.
Morris - Aging and oft-injured, he doubles as the fullback
BJGE - JAG

Brady - All world, but needs to break a bad habit he picked up last year


Far too many people are laying the blame on the coordinators. Well, players were getting open in the passing game, and the running game wasn't able to open holes. The defense is loaded with players who, for one reason or another, aren't really ready to be starting on top defenses.


It's a personnel/talent/experience/execution problem for the most part. Blaming the coordinators is a cop out.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

51Hits

Thanks Deus, because I'm tired of hearing the same crap over and over about O'Brien.

I love how we scream and freak out about the game plain sayin it wont work because our OC's an idiot. Meanwhile, our QB is overthrowing every deep pass to Moss, he's trying to get the ball in Randy's hands all day everyday. Do people think O'Brien only wants Welker and Randy to run routs? Other people are out there too ya know.

Brien can draw a play and where it's supposed to go but he's not going to make it happen himself. I know it's maddening to hear simple ****, but this team has a HUGE execution problem on offense.

OL - needs to stop their timely second half collapse. I can always count on a big sack on Brady on the road.

aluminum seats

Hmmm, I dunno. While there may be quibbles w/a few of those player assessments, even conceding they're all correct for the sake of argument, there is a pronounced 1st half/2nd half trend that's been going on for more than a year. That would suggest coaching.

__________________
"So I'm going to throw myself against the wall...
'Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all."

D-Money

Well then the players stunk in the second half!!!I thought the offense waS THE main culprit in the second half.The defense gets u a stop and ur up 14-10 and driving and Brady makes a horrific throw!!!!I thought Brady and this offense was pathetic in the second half!!!!!Usually the OC will take the hit!!Imagine if this team had a mind like Mike Martz.U think they wouldnt make more plays?

IcyPatriot

Good thread ... like I said in a thread yesterday players win and players lose games. A good orginization can make a team better. good tight coaching makes a team better. good coaching can help mask weaknesses if everyone plays in unison ... but it's the players that win and lose games 99.9% of the time. Anyone who has ever coached even youth football understands this.

Belichick's lecture on false steps and playing speed is a great example.

D-Money

The defense wasnt pretty but they gave the offense opportunities to try and make a game out of it.The offense should know that the defense is not all that good.

IcyPatriot

Well even if they know it what difference would that make?

Green Bay's defense knows Favres an old man ... did that make them play better defense?

I'm sure brady and the veterans know the defense is young. all they can do is guide them through example in preparation for game day. Butler had the deer in the healights look yesterday. Only more practice and more preparation will make that look go away.

Deus Irae

It would suggest any number of things.



It wasn't coaching when the defense blew plays that they knew were coming (verified by Wilfork).

It wasn't coaching when the QB was targeting a covered Moss rather than other receivers who were open (verified by Curran, Ordway, DeOssie and Smerlas).

It wasn't coaching when Brady overthrew Moss and Cromartie made the pick at the 3 yard line.

It wasn't coaching when Brady underthrew Gronkowski on a pass that would have led to a first down.

It wasn't coaching when Brady threw to a covered Moss, who tipped the ball up for Poole to intercept.

It wasn't coaching when Butler grabbed the receiver when he had position on the sidelines, and ended up getting flagged for PI.

It wasn't coaching when Butler had position on the throw to the endzone but field to jump for the ball.

It wasn't coaching when Light was beaten by Taylor for the strip sack that ended the game.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

aluminum seats

Such as?

The misplays you cite don't address the issue of 1st half/2nd half.

__________________
"So I'm going to throw myself against the wall...
'Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all."

upstater1

I'd take this roster any day of the week!!!

It's a great roster.

The coordinators are not infallible, not matter what you all think.

How many times do you need to see Brady plaintively look toward the sideline asking to get the call.

O'Brien is not prepared to call the next play.

Which says a lot.