Breer: might be time to dump a big bucket of water on Pats fans

[jmt57]

Albert Breer cautions Pats fans to not look to far ahead, and keep expectations for the 2009 season in perspective.

Rehabbed but rusty Brady knows repeat of 589 points unlikely

It might be time to dump a big bucket of water on New England Patriot fans. Should they be excited about Tom Brady's return? Absolutely.

The return of perhaps the NFL's best quarterback -- maybe, best ever -- will be a major boon for an offense that hit record-breaking heights the last time Brady made it through a season and remained in the top five without him.

But expecting the Patriots to reach their offensive heights of 2007 is a bit ridiculous. Maybe more than a bit.

 

[rsd]

Fair article from an Offensive point of view.

Of course it is silly to EXPECT the offense to be better than 2007 (not to say its impossible). But the issue is frankly not the offense. Last year's offense ended up performing fairly well with Cassell. I think we all agree it should be better this year with Brady (post-injury or not).

The question as to whether this team can win the SB comes down to the defense which has been the weak link for years now. It has clearly failed to make important stops in the last 3-4 years in critical games (Indy 2006, Giants 2007, etc).

I'm fairly optimistic as the 2ndary has been overhauled, and I think the young blood has a shot of performing no worse than some of the older veterans that are gone now.

 

[Synovia]

Of course it is silly to EXPECT the offense to be better than 2007 (not to say its impossible). But the issue is frankly not the offense. Last year's offense ended up performing fairly well with Cassell.

If its silly to expect a repeat of 2007, why do people insist on comparing Cassel's 2008 with Brady's 2007?

(I agree with you)


Although I completely disagree that the Defense was the problem in the superbowl.

 

[ivanfears]

Albert Breer cautions Pats fans to not look to far ahead, and keep expectations for the 2009 season in perspective.

Rehabbed but rusty Brady knows repeat of 589 points unlikely

oh mr. breer us pats fans dont care about the amount of points, its the wins now go dump some water on yourself

 

[Deus Irae]

"I know the kind of effort we put in in '07," Brady said. "We need to match that. And '08, we worked hard that offseason; it didn't work out for us in the end. This year is another bit of excitement. It's a new challenge, and that's why we're here."

That's Brady himself tapping the brakes in the wake of comments from Wes Welker and Randy Moss earlier this week. Both indicated that the '09 offense could eclipse the production of its forerunner.

I'm not sure how that's even tapping the brakes. Maybe I'm just tired and missing something. This seems to be more a case of Breer tapping the brakes and wrongly framing a quote.

Am I the only one getting that impression?


P.S. I have no problem with Breer advising some calm/patience/humility. I just don't get the part with Brady.

 

[APatrioticVirginian]

I would not expect any optimism from Tomases stooly

 

[NEPatriot]

Why does it take too long for NFL comissioner to DELIVER a SB trophy to Patriots when TB is here?

 

[Ryan]

I really don't even care if the offense is like it was in 2007. As long as it's good enough to win games, which it will be, I'll be happy. If I'm going to choose one of the units to play like they did in past seasons, I'd choose the defense playing like they did in '03 and '04.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Although I completely disagree that the Defense was the problem in the superbowl.

This is something that will be heavily debated for a long time. Some will say the defense kept them in the whole game by only allowing 10 points until the Giants miracle drive. Others will say the defense collapsed when they were needed the most. At first, I was in the "defense collapsed" group, but I have come to the conclusion that the offense is just as guilty for not taking advantage of the defense's stops earlier in the game. That miracle drive could have been avoided had the Pats kicked the field goal instead of going for it on 4th down and taking advantage of the Giants inability to score majority of the game.

Although the Pats offense came up big late in the 4th quarter, I thought the coaching staff had the worst offensive game plan I had ever seen in a playoff game. It was really hard to believe that they couldn't adjust to the Giants pass rush and kept going for the big play. Had they taken what the defense gave them and kept to the short passing routes to Welker and Faulk, they would've had a better chance of victory. The long game just wasn't there that day because of the Giants ridiculous pass rushers.

But to respond to the original post, I don't expect them to return to 2007 form because everybody is one year older and Brady is coming back from an injury. Also, I hope and think the Pats go more to a heavy ground game attack to take pressure off of the O-line and Brady. This is why I think Fred Taylor is going to have a better year than most people think. In addition, they have other capable backs such as Morris, Faulk and Maroney. And one last note, a heavy ground game keeps the defense fresh and limits the amount of chances the opposing offenses gets to score. It's great to score fast, but like we saw in the 2007 season, it can exhaust a defense.

 

[BadMoFo]

But we already have the nickname!

 

[Clonamery]

Am I the only one getting that impression?

Nope. I even put on my Read-Between-the-Lines specs and still got nothing.....

 

[BadMoFo]

I would not expect any optimism from Tomases stooly

You're obviously new here, but most posters were sad when Breer left for Dallas. I know, I don't get it either.

 

[Pats726]

I used to like Breer...he was more like Reiss in many ways..and a solid writer...But now that he's been in Dallas and national, he's making a return here.. Last year he was on radio some and I found a bit of snottiness...like since he's NOW in the big picture, a sort of arrogance...something that Curran never had even though he's gone from the local to national. He's too full of himself really..and a comment like that?? I agreedump a barrel of water on the snot.

 

[BradyManny]

I'm a huge Breer fan, but I think he's generally off the mark here. His best point is the one about health and how the 07 team fared well in that regard. If either Brady or Moss get injured, the offensive production - as it did last year - would diminish considerably, particularly against elite competition.

On paper, this offense is as good or better than the 2007 one. Not saying that'll be the reality, and a brutal schedule, injuries, Brady's time to knock the rust off, weather, etc. might get in the way, but I think the bar should be set high for this offense.

 

[BradyManny]

I'm not sure how that's even tapping the brakes. Maybe I'm just tired and missing something. This seems to be more a case of Breer tapping the brakes and wrongly framing a quote.

Am I the only one getting that impression?


P.S. I have no problem with Breer advising some calm/patience/humility. I just don't get the part with Brady.

Yeah, in fact, when directly asked about this issue on D&C today (whether 09 could match 07), Brady essentially intimated the offense would be better. Does that mean it'll be as insanely dominant statistically? Perhaps not, there's far too many factors involved (as I mentioned above), so Breer may be right in that regard, but this offense might be more dangerous, effective, consistent, etc. than before.

 

[spacecrime]

Of course it is ridiculous to think the Pats will score 500+ points in 2009.

But not as ridiculous as it was to think in May 2007 that they would score 500+ points in 2007.

It is highly unlikely, but it is certainly possible. They have a better offense this year than they had in 2007.

Does this mean they will score the same number of points? No, but it means that it is at least possible to consider.

I think Breer may just be picking up on Brady's saying that the past 5 years were unsat. Brady wants superbowl wins, not record-setting regular seasons. So about that, Breer is correct.

Breer is a good, fair reporter. I have no idea why someone is trying to compare him to TomASSe. That is just wrong.

 

[Synovia]

I'm a huge Breer fan, but I think he's generally off the mark here. His best point is the one about health and how the 07 team fared well in that regard. .

That 07 team that lost multiple members of the offensive line? That lost their best LB? That had their best DL on the pup list most of the season? That had a starting corner playing with a torn groin? That had their two best RBs miss most of the season?


If Brady or Moss goes down, of course it'll hurt the offense, but the same could be said of any other teams #1WR and QB. If Manning and Wayne go down, what do you think Indy's offense will do?

 

[BradyManny]

That 07 team that lost multiple members of the offensive line? That lost their best LB? That had their best DL on the pup list most of the season? That had a starting corner playing with a torn groin? That had their two best RBs miss most of the season?


If Brady or Moss goes down, of course it'll hurt the offense, but the same could be said of any other teams #1WR and QB. If Manning and Wayne go down, what do you think Indy's offense will do?

Specifically for the offense, the only injuries we had trouble overcoming were Sammy Morris (if he were healthy for SB, I bet we win) and Neal's injury in the SB. I agree with what you're saying, overall, the team overcame injuries - but as long as Brady and Moss are healthy, I won't be complaining about the health of the offense.

 

[Synovia]

They have a better offense this year than they had in 2007.

How so?

They have a #1 WR who is 2 years further from 30.

They have a QB who sat out the last year with a blown knee, and WILL be rusty.

They have a starting RG who is 2 years further from 30, and has been hurt a ton the last 2 years.

They have a #3 WR who, while the upside is tremendous, is coming off a knee injury, and just filled out his AARP card.

They have a staring running back who's YPC dropped over 1.5y last year.

They have a 3rd down RB who is two years further from 30.




There are some good reasons for optimism, and I think the offense is going to be terrific, but there's certainly quite a few players who could show serious decline this year.

 

[ScottieC]

Albert Breer cautions Pats fans to not look to far ahead, and keep expectations for the 2009 season in perspective.

Rehabbed but rusty Brady knows repeat of 589 points unlikely

Tom, Randy and Wes seem to disagree with our ole' buddy Breer - So who are we to believe?