What you watched yesterday was the complete destruction of the Patriots.
The offense was predictable, the Ravens knew what play were being called by listening to the line calls. Brady looked disinterested, Moss was invisable, the running backs couldn't hit the holes and O line couldn't make many holes. The offensive line played well against the ok teams and baddly against the good teams. They don't run block all that well and against pressure up the middle they don't pass block at all.
The defense was better than the final score said it was, but it still didn't play well enough to win. We witnessed the difference between a finesse defense and a physical defense, and physical won. Is there any doubt that the linebackers for Baltimore are better by far than the linebackers for the Patriots? Belichick hasn't drafted that position well and it is showing. The defensive backfield is bad. The younger players don't show a whole lot of promise and the veterans are just OK.
Special teams have been a problem all year, and yesterday it killed us. It seemed that every time the Pats had a little momentum, a big special teams play sucked the mo right out of them.
We need:
Offense Coordinator - There is a problem here. Because of the scheme we use there aren't a whole lot of people available to fill the position. Obviously O'Brien isn't the answer.
Defensive Coordinator - The talent pool is better in this area. All I ask is aggressive.
Wide recievers - Moss disappeared the second half of the season. Welker/Edleman are pretty good, the rest are really ordinary to below ordinary.
Linebackers - Mayo? What the hell happened to him? The rest can be replaced by any of the other journeyman LB's out there, and that is the problem. It is time to either take advantage of the talent on the team or get new talent. Thomas can't be that bad, it has to be scheme. Burgess was a stud a couple of years ago, is he a bust or a victim of Dean Pees? What the hell are Eric Alexander and Pierre Woods doing on this team? There has to be upgrades to the backup LB position.
I have no idea how to fix these holes immediately, but getting new coordinators would be a good start, I think. Once we have them in place let them decide who is a good fit and who needs to be removed. One thing about this is that it should be an active offseason. If it isn't we amy not make the playoffs next year.
