MrNathanDrake

-Belichick coaching the defense. This is barely mentioned, but its a huge factor. Dean Pees was flat out terrible as DC. Sure our stats are not good, but the D make plays when they need to and are getting a lot of turn overs. A lot of yards/points have also been garbage time - bend but dont break defense. Like BB once said, Stats are for losers. Our defense has come up with huge plays when we needed them the most (game ending INT vs Colts, Ninkovich early INTs vs. Miami that kept us in the game and led to a blowout, etc)

-Brady is back. A lot of people dont realize how hard it is to come back physically, but more importantly MENTALLY, from a traumatic injury and sitting out of football for a year and a half.

-Mayo is healthy. Last year he was playing injured and mightve had the sophomore jinx. He still looked like he was learning out there. Now he seems comfortable and confident as a Captain on the team. This year he's one of the best Linebackers in the entire league.

-We got rid of every cancer on the team. Adalius Thomas, gone. Randy Moss, while praised by BB and Brady, was always seen moping on the sidelines and plays off and on whenever he feels like it. Laurence Maroney, another hot and cold moody player. Gone. We replaced all those guys with humble, CONSISTENT team players (Branch, BJGE, Cunningham). Watching the Pats play it is clear that every player is 100% buying into everything BB is telling them. Chemistry is important and it is way better than last year.

-Lower Risk, Same Reward. Brady has barely thrown any INT's since Moss has been gone. He isnt bombing it out. He doesnt have to worry about babysitting and keeping Moss happy. Instead he's gone back to spreading it out. Our Offense is far less predictable than the "Moss goes Deep, Welker goes Under" Offense that we had the past few years. I thought we might have Redzone scoring issues without the height/jumping of Moss, but the Reward is the same as when he was here, but without the high Risk. We're still scoring a lot, and have the best offense in the league.

-Dominant Offensive Line. They're playing better than I've seen them play in recent years. Vollmer hasnt gotten enough credit. He's a huge upgrade over Kaczur. Having Light/Vollmer lock down the edges has given Brady a clean pocket and lots of time to throw.

-New Starting CornerBacks. Bodden was decent last year, but at times we saw him and the other side get picked on with ease. Now this year we have 2 new starters. McCourty is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He's shutting down deep balls thrown at him and quickly reaching "Shut Down" status where QB's won't even attempt throwing deep on him. The majority of his INT's look identical. WR runs a streak down the sideline, McCourty runs step for step with them, turns and plays the ball perfectly. Arrington isn't getting picked on like we've seen Butler/Wilhite/Wheatley get picked on in past years. He's no McCourty, but he's been playing pretty damn good in his own right and supports the run well. Brandon Marshall, Santonio Holmes, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson.... None of them had good games against us.

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Bring on the 2012 Season

patriotsdynasty12189

I agree with all your points. But dont forget we have a WR closing in on a 100 catches, who most thought wouldn't even play this season. Thats another big reason.

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the patsssssssss

BlitzFritz

good points, i have been thinking about #1 and #2 lately.

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"If you counted out the Patriots, you just don't get it." Adam Schein, September 2008

“We are building a big, strong, fast, smart, tough and disciplined football team that. consistently competes for championships.” Guess who.

MrNathanDrake

He played last year too.

This thread is about how our team is Improved / Different than last year. Welker is doing the same thing he has done the last few seasons.

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Bring on the 2012 Season

DarrylS

What you seemed to have missed is a very good draft, and their ability to work themselves into the lineup particularly in defense, having gone for one of the oldest defenses to the youngest in a very short period of time.. McCourty, Spikes, Cunningham, Mesko, Gronkowski and Hernandez.. and the continued good play of our previous draft Chung, Brace, Butler(to a lesser extent), Tate.. along with finding & developing some very good UDFA's; BJGE, Kyle Arrington, Fletcher, Danny Woodnead et al. ..

Many of our draft picks this year were team captains in college, so they have been held in esteem by their peers & coaches before(leadership)....

This team is changing dramatically on the fly, and not missing a beat... that is amazing.

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

363839

All good points but besides Branch, you forgot to mention the return of Logan Mankins put an attitude back into the OL.

MrNathanDrake

They were already playing well without Mankins. The real upgrade in our Line's pass protection has been Vollmer. Mankins is just the cherry on top.

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Bring on the 2012 Season

MrNathanDrake

*shrug*

You're right, but I thought that was already very obvious to everyone. Didnt want to ramble on and be redundant about something that's always talked about by commentators/analysts. I was trying to bring up things that have gone unnoticed or havent gotten as much praise as they should.

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Bring on the 2012 Season

DarrylS

Sorry to have bored you.. Brady playing well is not obvious?? Mayo is healthy is not obvious?? Got rid of the cancers on this team is not obvious??

IMO this is the least talked about on talk radio, would love to hear more about how McCourty was able to step and assume the role he does.. would love to hear about how our second year players have developed, instead they concern themselves with what Moss says/said.. or what Rex Ryan says/said.

This is about opinions, not right or wrong..

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

patsfan13

BB has coached up a very young D that has improved dramatically due to 2 outstanding drafts and some great UDFA pickups.

THis group will benefit a lot from any bye weeks we get.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."