#56300ex

I didn't get to see any post- game pressers. Did I miss something??

KontradictioN

I don't see how you can make that comparison. For example, even considering that Welker is rehabbing, I don't think that Gaffney is/was "head and shoulders" above him. On top of that, I don't think that Gaffney alone is good enough to put an otherwise putrid group of '06 receivers above the 2010 unit currently being fielded.

In the entire 2006 season, Brown had a whole 384 yards receiving. Since the best comparison to him this season would be Welker, Wes has already seen 319 yards receiving. And he still has eight more games left to play. On top of that, Welker is seeing a lot more attention/double coverage this year than Troy Brown was in 2006. Rehabbing Welker > Troy Brown.

In 2006, Gaffney had 116 yards receiving the entire year. Since he was playing split-end, we'll compare him to Branch. This season, so far, Deion Branch has hauled in 270 yards worth of passes. As a Patriot, Branch has hauled in 158 yards worth of passes. In three games, Branch has surpassed Gaffney's total for the entire season. But since we know what Gaffney did down the road in the playoffs that year, I'll give you Gaffney over Branch. Although the gap between the two is not nearly as wide as you're making it out to be.

In '06, Caldwell was our leading receiver with 762 yards. Can you name me a worse flanker that Brady has had to work with in his career? And before you say Tate, that might not be a fair comparison. Like I said, Tate certainly hasn't lived up to preseason promise, but if we're using the "rehabbing" excuse for Welker, it should be applied to Tate as well. On top of that, Tate is realistically in his rookie season here and there's certainly room to improve.

What about tight ends? In 2006, Graham hauled in 235 yards worth of passes while Watson pulled in 643. Not bad considering Watson, a tight end, was legitimately the only threat that we had to go deep that year (another negative mark on the receiving corps as a whole). Eight weeks through their rookie seasons, Gronkowski and Hernandez as a duo have already hauled in 489 yards in passes. That's not even considering their output today. As rookies, Gronkowski and Hernandez are poised to surpass Graham's and Watson's 2006 production, and that's considering the fact that neither one of these guys are the team's #1 deep threat the way Watson was for the 2006 team. Hernandez and Gronkowski > Watson and Graham. Now, blocking might be another story there. Graham was an excellent blocker and is better than Gronkowski is at this point. However, the argument isn't about blocking.

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kurtinelson

Do you want to take a mulligan on that statement or are you serious?

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andrewgarrr

"It is Week 9 and we've got a lot of work ahead. I don't think that we are a finished product right now. We have to do things better in all areas, including the quarterback."

He's blaming Brian Hoyer for the loss!!!

kurtinelson

exept for Hernandez, Branch and Woodhead.

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Deus Irae

If you don't concede the Gaffney point, there's really nothing more to discuss. That point is beyond question, IMO, so we're clearly not going to see the same things here.

Hell... Gabriel, who got cut, had 25 catches for 344 yards in 12 games (5 starts) and a 13.8 average. How much worse is that than what Tate's produced to this point, really?

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KontradictioN

Actually, I did concede the Gaffney point. I just don't see how he puts 2006's otherwise bad receiving corps over the 2010 version. After all, the team thought enough of the 2006 receiving corps to completely overhaul it the following year. As for Gabriel, Tate (even if he keeps going on this path and sees absolutely zero improvement) is poised to surpass what Gabriel did with less receptions.

Like I said, Deus, you're not going to get an argument out of me that Tate has been doing what has been expected of him since the preseason. He definitely hasn't. But he's really a rookie with all of the physical and a lot of room to improve upon. I think that, when you consider everything, the 2006 team had a worse receiving corps than the 2010 team does. The '06 team, however, was a lot stronger in other areas than this team is which helped them.

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SteveBsFan

Agreed. I know he had a pretty brutal game, I also know he made some throws that should have been caught, but he's missed the mark quite a bit this season. He's overthrown receivers, thrown to their feet, and completely missed the mark many times. He's been like that all season with or without Moss, and it hasn't been mentioned because we've been winning, but when you lose to the Browns and get outplayed by a rookie QB, it's glaring.

I don't know why it's been like this, but they just haven't really been the same since the Bills game.

ATippett56

As for the running game this season, the age of the Patriots running backs this year who were not traded prior to the start of the season:

Kevin Faulk - 34 years old
Fred Taylor - 34 years old
Sammy Morris - 33 years old
BenJarvus Green-Ellis - 25 years old

It's time to upgrade the Patriots running back corps via the NFL Draft.

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convertedpatsfan

Hoyer did throw a pick so it's clear Brady's blaming him for the loss.

As for all the haters, Brady has a crappy game or two every year, including our Super Bowl years. Manning and Brees also have bad games each year. It happens. Time to prepare for Pittsburgh.