JMarr

The old axiom that the only way to stop the Pats' offense is to get Brady rattled is truer than ever.

Brady has literally been a statue since 2008. Yes, the coaches know that he's still good at sensing and subtly avoiding pressure, but they also should know that a lot of pressure can only be avoided by.....running away from it(?). Once the pocket starts to collapse, he's nothing more than a sitting duck now. Plus, his 34 year old body doesn't like getting hit anymore. Bad combination in terms of making crucial mistakes in the passing game.

It appeared that the Pats had finally realized the importance of having a balanced running/passing attack to counterbalance Brady's one glaring weakness (as well as the lack of deep threat WRs). But apparently
BB and Josh still haven't fully learned the lesson. Time for the Pats to face the reality that Brady will never win another title if they continue to ask him to win big games solely through the air.

TommyBrady12

wouldn't have mattered if brady hadn't choked at the end of the first half.

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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "

- Steelers S Troy Polamalu on Tom Brady

Satchboogie3

The problem is that the offense always becomes extremely predictable, conservative, and often executes poorly when it comes down to the final minutes of a game in which they need to protect a small lead. I just don't understand how an offense that leads the league in first downs and was marching down the field with ease all game can't kill 2 minutes when they are given 2 separate opportunities. It makes it even worse when they can't seem to gain a single yard on a 2 minute drill when they lose the lead and have to win the game.

The offense should have sealed the deal. They only needed to get what, 2 first downs? and were given 2 straight opportunities to end it on offense. The same damn thing happens, 2 runs that go nowhere, a badly executed passing play, punt.

This isn't to say that the defense isn't to fault. They are the unit that is responsible for preventing scoring, so they get a much bigger piece of the pie, but they are also this teams glaring weakness. The offense is what drives this team and it's the unit that has to make the game winning plays. You simply can't keep giving the other team the ball back and expect this defense to prevail. The offense HAS to play keep away.

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This is the year. We put our failures in the past, it's a new year, a new defense. It's time to prove to the league that the Patriots are back and aren't going anywhere and they will be the last ones standing in Feb.
Update: Well that didn't work out as I had planned. Next year baby, next year 19-0 we go. Next year.

JJDChE

Yup, Brady is the problem.

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TommyBrady12

fact of e matter is brady can't carry this team by himself. i argued on this board all summer that the pats won't win another SB unless the running game takes pressure off brady. he simply cannot throw the ball 50 to 60 times a game at his age.

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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "

- Steelers S Troy Polamalu on Tom Brady

the Patriot

The larger the lead, the faster this defense gives up touchdowns. No lead is safe with this secondary.

ensoul

It is not 100% on Brady. Yes the problem seems to be that the pats cannot get that elusive first down or two to win the game.

What the issue is that the the pats have a 2 or 6 point lead when they punt the ball with about 3 minutes left. Naturally with that little times the opponents have to pass. What we then witness is that DBs just getting flat out beat for HUGE gains on the sidelines pass after pass or they get flagged for PI.

At the end of day if the offense is not humming, its a close game and you have to leave the game in the defenses hands in the fourth pats are cooked. I was watching the game with 4 other people and not one of us thought the D would prevent the seahwaks from getting in the endzone on that last drive. In fact the last time I recall the D making a game winning stop was back in 2010 when the pats played the Colts and Manning was picked off.

Deus Irae

I have to ask.... have you watched a single game this season? I ask because Brady's been moving around all over the place, including running for touchdowns on busted plays.

Also, you may have noticed that the Patriots did run the ball 26 times against the Seahawks. Important to note though...

87 total yards

Woodhead: 4 rushes, 25 yards - Woodhead is not the bellcow RB this year
Bolden: 6 rushes, 28 yards - Bolden left due to injury

So, the team's RB1 ran 16 times for 34 yards or, essentially, for 2 yards a carry. Criticizing the Patriots for not doing more of this seems poorly thought out.

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- Marcus Aurelius

letekro

It's not a sexy answer, but these are TEAM failures, and that includes number 12, as well as the coaching staff. When the Patriots were the best team in football, whenever the defense was struggling, the offense would step up, and vice versa. This was probably due to a combination of the following factors: 1.) Brady was in his prime on those teams 2.) the coaching staff was extraordinarily experienced and talented on those teams and 3.) those teams were far more experienced and knew what it took to overcome obstacles.

Steve:Section 102

I am of the opinion that this franchise did much better when Brady as asked to be more of a game manager than a "sling it" type of guy. They won three super bowls with TB12 taking whatever the defense gave them, instead of chucking it down the field with more of a vertical passing game. In 2007, Route 1 bought all kind of toys for Brady to play with and the method of the madness changed. Brady was now carrying the load. They put up some eye-popping offensive stats, but they haven't won a Super Bowl since. Again, IMO, that because the cliche of "defense wins championships, offense sells tickets" is accurate.

The brain trust down in Foxboro has tried to re-build a championship defense with, lets face it, disappointing results, if you use rings as a measuring stick. They replaced arguably a HOF corner back in Ty Law with a succession of guys who, thus far at least, have not played to the level of the championship winning Patriot defenses of the past. They were not able to replace Willie McGinest until likely this season, although jury is still out on Jones, who has the look of a McGinest type. They did not replace the leadership and passion of Bruschi, Vrable and Johnson, although Hightower, Spikes, and Mayo look like they could be worthy. They haven't yet replaced Rodney Harrison, or his predecessor, Lawyer Milloy.

So, if you are looking for "nits to pick", that's where I would start looking, either at the front office for bad picks and poor free agent signings, or on the defensive side of the ball, whoever you choose to blame. They didn't lose yesterday because Brady threw picks, bounced balls, or had intentional grounding calls at inopportune times. They lost because the defense does not play at a championship caliber level yet. That doesn't mean that they can't or won't be at that level in December/January. It means that on October 15th, they can't stop the long ball, and allowed a rookie QB to take the top off the secondary. Whether or not this is true in the post season remains to be seen.

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