Priorities into next year

[Phoenix111]

Before I get trashed for giving up, the fact is even if the Pats sneak into the playoffs, they are nowhere near good enough to seriously compete-mentally just as much as physically. With that said lets talk about the work that needs to be done. First, players that need to go: Gaffney, Woods, O neal and please get whatever you can for Cassel. I think a LT is needed in fa or the draft, plus a safety and a corner for the love of god.

 

[billdog3484]

im not going to trash you. we were pretty bad today and didnt look like a playoff team. steelers are good though, beat us up pretty good. hopefully we can make a run the next four games and beat up on the Seahawks, Raiders, Cards and Bills. Its definitely possible we go 4-0 and likely we go 3-1 leaving us 11-5 or 10-6...missing the playoffs at both of these numbers is possible, and with our Conference record, likely. All we can do is play and win, we cant control what the Ravens or Colts do.

As for next year, I would think Defense would be our #1 priority, and with 3 picks in the top 50, I would go CB at #1, then LB and S in the second. Doubt we will get a First for Cassel, but if we could that would be great. Pick up a OL in there or OLB/DE Hybrid.

 

[slash83]

Honestly ill be happy with a young stud pass rusher in the draft and a good corner. Hell how bout a saftey while were at it...

 

[carolinatony]

Before I get trashed for giving up, the fact is even if the Pats sneak into the playoffs, they are nowhere near good enough to seriously compete-mentally just as much as physically. With that said lets talk about the work that needs to be done. First, players that need to go: Gaffney, Woods, O neal and please get whatever you can for Cassel. I think a LT is needed in fa or the draft, plus a safety and a corner for the love of god

I agree with you all the way. It hurts to think how weak the AFC is this year if we Only had Brady.
Defense and more defense is what we need next year.
Maroney,Watson and All-Pro Seymore need to go imo.
Get a solid OL/TE and a power RB and go all defense with the rest imo.

 

[pats63]

fellas I trust in BB&SP on the needs we need.....we have alot of injures for key players.....I know call me a homer......we nee3d some db,ol,dl,and lb...

 

[BelichickFan]

We've been wanting a real LT so Light can move to RT for years, it never happens.

And, yeah, we need two good CB and two more safeties (one if Sanders re-signs AS A BACKUP).

And a real WR to replace Gaffney.

And one real TE.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

a bigger problem is that up and down the roster, this team has gotten less physical on both sides of the ball.........the pats players take many more hits than they deliver

yeah, sure it helps to have more of the regulars, but it seems like under BB, the new players are schooled so much for technique and scheme, that they forget their toughness somewhere

the pats of past years were much more physical with opposing players......

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

a bigger problem is that up and down the roster, this team has gotten less physical on both sides of the ball.........the pats players take many more hits than they deliver

yeah, sure it helps to have more of the regulars, but it seems like under BB, the new players are schooled so much for technique and scheme, that they forget their toughness somewhere

the pats of past years were much more physical with opposing players......

i'd agree, the giants have becoem what we use to be.

we need some bad attitude players

 

[carolinatony]

a bigger problem is that up and down the roster, this team has gotten less physical on both sides of the ball

Bingo.
We have a winner. We don't have any MEAN playes on defense anymore who give that big hit. With Rodney; when he hit you, you went down. We need to get more Nasty. Not dirty but meaner.

 

[Fencer]

a bigger problem is that up and down the roster, this team has gotten less physical on both sides of the ball

Bingo.
We have a winner. We don't have any MEAN playes on defense anymore who give that big hit. With Rodney; when he hit you, you went down. We need to get more Nasty. Not dirty but meaner.

Well, the DL is of that physicality, but in this scheme they tend to prove it negatively, by not being knocked backwards by double teams -- more than they prove it by walloping the other guys.

Vrabel is still pretty tough -- how often do guys run through his tackles? How often does he get blown up by blockers? (ALL LBs get blown up occasionally -- that's the blockers' job on many plays, and they get paid too, and they're often stronger.)

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

The Pats need start looking for a replacement for Koppen too. He's been letting NT's who normally don't get sacks, get sacks. Koppen has been getting bull rushed since last year's superbowl. And his snaps aren't very good as well in the shotgun.

 

[billdog3484]

The Pats need start looking for a replacement for Koppen too. He's been letting NT's who normally don't get sacks, get sacks. Koppen has been getting bull rushed since last year's superbowl. And his snaps aren't very good as well in the shotgun.

I actually think Koppen does a good job. He did get beat by Hampton on that 2nd and 1 today, but I think he does a good job for the most part. He struggled against Williams on the Chargers too, but so does everybody

 

[condon84]

The Pats need start looking for a replacement for Koppen too. He's been letting NT's who normally don't get sacks, get sacks. Koppen has been getting bull rushed since last year's superbowl. And his snaps aren't very good as well in the shotgun.

Koppen is the least of our problems. He is pretty solid. The defense gets paid too so if a pro-bowler like Hampton or Kris Jenkins makes a play or two against Koppen, I'm not going to throw him under the bus.

Our OL in general is solid. Light had a bad game, but he's been solid all year. Our OL has been solid since Neal came back and has protected Cassel and opened up running lanes for our RBs.

IMO, the priorities next year should be

1. pass rusher (via free agency or draft, we need this badly)
2. CB (Delta sucks, Hobbs is average at best, he would be great at nickel back. Wheatley looked good in the preseason and in the first half against INDY, but we need depth of good players here).
3. S (Sanders cannot make an impact play. He just doesn't have the physical tools. Merriweather has the physical tools, but he is still learning and should be better next year. We need someone next to him that can make plays in the secondary.)
4. Youth at LBs and WRs. Mayo is a stud and Guyton is a diamond in the rough. We have Crable but we also need some depth here. Guyton played OLB tonight when Woods went out of the game. We also need some youth at the WRs position. Moss is getting up there and Gaffney's not gonna get any better. We need to develop some WRs so we won't get caught with our pants down again when Moss/Gaffney move on.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

If I had the wherewithall, I'd be in the powers that be's ears about gettng someone different/new/whatever at LT.

For being the HIGHEST PAID member of the o-line and TB/MC's blindside guy, he is practically useless against a speed rusher. Name one pass rusher known for his speed who Mr. 5+ million cap hit has managed to contain.

If you can, you do better than me.

I have no doubt he'd be a solid RT but for LT, it really can't get much worse as far as pass protection goes.

 

[chrisfx811]

The Giants have become what we used to be, and we have become what the COlts used to be... soft.

I've said it a bunch, but the core of the team is where we are losing the battle. Our o-line is not very good right now. They can't protect the qb, and they can't line up and control the clock with a consistent running game.

The d-line, on the flip side is similar. They can't generate qb pressure, wether by scheme or by talent you can decide, and they can't consistently control the LOS against the run. The bend don't break scheme isn't working well with our injury riddled back 8.
Mayo and Merriweather look like bright spots, but they need some serious help.

Losing Stallworth was big imho. Gaffney is not a suitable replacement is imho, is a #3 WR at best. Welker & Moss are fine, but having a Moss type WR requires having a strong #2, preferably a big guy who will take over the middle of the field to give Randy some space. Unfortunately, none of that matters when your QB has less than 3 seconds to complete a pass.

 

[dhamz]

Losing Stallworth was big imho. Gaffney is not a suitable replacement is imho, is a #3 WR at best.

You do realize that Stallworth had lost his job to Gaffney in the 2nd half of last year, right?

 

[JR4]

For me it would be

one of the following

From Free Agency I want
a proven pass rusher
or
a Solid FA corner.
or
a smart experienced Safety

I want a proven guy in at least one of these two positions even if expensive.

From the Draft: best OLB, Corner or safety if not picked up in FA

Our Corners are B class, I'd like to see PATs get at least one
A Class corner.

I'd like PATs to be able to call man on man secondary coverage
ANYTIME they want not just trying to sneak it in every so often.
League is wise to BB's tricks and are just waiting for that D call.

 

[E Belichick Unum]

I am not *****ing here, just taking an honest look at where we are and what we have to do to get back on top. This has become at least a three year rebuilding process. It started this year with Mayo and the two DB's. We still need a stud OLB and we need two starting CB's, and I don't think we can get those in a single year.

If it were me I would go with the DB's next year and hope Crable can do something. When he was drafted I thought he would be the steal of the draft, instead he is just another recent disappointment. Assuming we will be picking in the 18 to 22 range at worst we will have 3 picks in the top 55 picks. I would draft the best available DB, maybe at each draft pick and find a couple of people who can cover. Once we have the backfield straightened out, we can focus on the LB's, especially a guy who can consistently apply pressure on the QB.

One more thing I think I would do is maybe give Dom Capers the DC job. He is a 3/4 guy who likes to blitz and zone blitz. As can be seen by our opponents third down conversion rate, we need to get some pressure on the QB and it seems like our schemes get figured out early in the game, and our QB pressure is eliminated late in the game.

 

[ALP]

what we need is pretty self evident....

as players, we need an A type pass rusher, on the backfield, we need a hard hitting A type cb (get him early in the draft, cheaper, and hell be here 5 yrs)

our offense was number 1 last yr, i do not care if we upgrade any of those spots, but if we do, TE has to be a priority, w/ watson making crucial mistakes each game, and with thomas not showing anything good lately...

back to defense, draft a DE to replace seymour, he does not deserve the contract he has (even when healthy)

finally, we need an impact SS, and i want a young guy from the draft to pair w/ weather, so that we dont have to leave the cb's one on one deep....(and have to give wr's 5-10 yd cushins)

 

[chrisfx811]

You do realize that Stallworth had lost his job to Gaffney in the 2nd half of last year, right?

I do. At the beginning of the season, Stallworth was a perfect complement to Welker's underneath routes and Moss's deep stuff. Idj what happened though.
Gaffney's certainly not following up last year's progress though. He's dropping balls when he is open, and isn't physically gifted enough to be considered a solid #2 on an offense of this caliber, imho.

Even still, if the core of the team gets solidified on offense, then it might not be as big of a deal.