Mike Lombardi thinks we suck

[MoLewisrocks]

Yes. That one kick and there are a lot of storylines that change today:

• People wouldn't be questioning the play calling at the end of the game. In fact, they might be praising Belichick and McDaniels for doing the smart thing by not take any stupid risks in contrast to the Cards in doing a pitch out on the fumble play.
• I think the focus would be on how great the defense played in contrast to how bad the offense played.
• I think people would be giving the Cards defense far more deserved credit for how they played rather than blame the Pats especially the coaching for the offensive problems.

This might be true, but they should have still been questioning this team and likely would have been locally. Just would have been falling on more deaf ears among the fan base. Sometimes you win in spite of yourself. Doesn't mean you're good/fine or deserved to. Any given Sunday bad teams win and good teams lose.

 

[IllegalContact]

the only thing that can lend any credence is the fact that tennessee flat out sucks, and the week 1 result should not be taken at par.

be ready to deal with the frustrations of an old tom brady. unless the pats resort to the kind of offenses the had early in his career, his health may be in trouble. he needs to be protected. and they have excellent personnel to resort to more dink and dunk.......bring branch back, revert to more of a ball controll passing offense mixed with running the ball FROM UNDER CENTER, and lean on one of the better defenses in the league to be patient and control field position and rim through the rest of the season

bring back charlie weis

 

[Kontradiction]

Welcome to small sample size theatre.

Edelman has been around since 2009. We know what we're getting out of him vs. Welker. Three years isn't really that small of a sample size. I'd say that's a pretty hefty amount of data.

 

[borg]

Sorry, I needed some hyperbole on par with Michael's to grab the viewer's attention. Some of this is just dumb:

Patriots Are Bitten by Reliance on Tight Ends



No, Mike, actually we already transitioned. Remember us playing a certain game this past February for a certain trophy. Yeah, that was our 2 tight end offense that got us there.



I love Hernandez, and agree that he is our most dangerous offensive weapon. But to declare him our single best player on a team with Gronkowski, Welker, Brady & Wilfork...yeah, I don't know about that. Not to mention, he's only going to be out about a month at this point. This isn't Brady losing his ACL in 2008.



Was this quote taken last January? I agree we don't have any depth at outside receiver, but Lloyd is on pace for 104 catches and over 1000 yards. What's wrong with that?



The offense was productive in its first game and not in its second. In either case, Brady's case was fine in both games, it was more an issue of protection and receiving.

Lombardi fails to mention the one thing that actually is a problem at the moment: the offensive line.

Either way, I really hope the offense goes out and puts up 30 against Baltimore Sunday night just to shut this stuff up. If Brady and his guys can connect on a couple of these deep balls, the production will look a lot different. I expect to see more Welker this Sunday, less experimentation, and more production.

I agree with Lombardi regarding all 4 of these quotes

“They are in transition,” ...............Absolutely......The TEcentric offense that BB lusts for is incomplete..... the Oline is definitely in transition as 2 quality vets get replaced.....the running game is an unknown based on youngness and Oline instability.

“They can’t replace Hernandez,” Lombardi said. “He is their best player.” .......Absolutely again.......AHern is the irreplaceable x-factor....his versatility causes D coordinators to pull their hair out as they decide which package of players to send into the game.....will he be a RB, TE, WR, H-back, widcat.....Ahern is the straw that stirs this drink....the offense is based on Aherns versatility

"They lack an outside receiver,” he said. ............Welker, Edelman, Lloyd.....is their a slower fleet of WRs in the league. "Lack" is probably the wrong word.......but the deficiency of speed for our down field threats means Brady has to sit in the pocket longer waiting for the WR to shake free. Tough to do with our Oline

“Brady is not playing well.” ........Locked on to Gronk during the two point conversion when 2 other options were more open......no question the Oline breakdown has forced him to speed up his game.....Trouble with deep passes.....tough to blame the guy....but he is a mechanical passer....disrupt his rhythm and he becomes ordinary

 

[Rob0729]

This might be true, but they should have still been questioning this team and likely would have been locally. Just would have been falling on more deaf ears among the fan base. Sometimes you win in spite of yourself. Doesn't mean you're good/fine or deserved to. Any given Sunday bad teams win and good teams lose.

And many of the concerns people have will be proven unfounded as the season goes along and proven that they should have been fallen on deaf ears all along. Other may not. Happens every year.

This time last year, people were questioning this team and proclaiming them one and done in the playoffs if they make it there at all.

 

[Rob0729]

I agree with Lombardi regarding all 4 of these quotes

“They are in transition,” ...............Absolutely......The TEcentric offense that BB lusts for is incomplete..... the Oline is definitely in transition as 2 quality vets get replaced.....the running game is an unknown based on youngness and Oline instability.

“They can’t replace Hernandez,” Lombardi said. “He is their best player.” .......Absolutely again.......AHern is the irreplaceable x-factor....his versatility causes D coordinators to pull their hair out as they decide which package of players to send into the game.....will he be a RB, TE, WR, H-back, widcat.....Ahern is the straw that stirs this drink....the offense is based on Aherns versatility

"They lack an outside receiver,” he said. ............Welker, Edelman, Lloyd.....is their a slower fleet of WRs in the league. "Lack" is probably the wrong word.......but the deficiency of speed for our down field threats means Brady has to sit in the pocket longer waiting for the WR to shake free. Tough to do with our Oline

“Brady is not playing well.” ........Locked on to Gronk during the two point conversion when 2 other options were more open......no question the Oline breakdown has forced him to speed up his game.....Trouble with deep passes.....tough to blame the guy....but he is a mechanical passer....disrupt his rhythm and he becomes ordinary

The lack of an outside receiver comment by Lombardi is just stupid. Lloyd has been a pretty decent outside threat thus far. From what we have seen, a little more work with his timing with Brady and he could be an excellent outside threat.

All the other comments are true for week 2, but one game does not make a season.

 

[Spergon Wynn]

Mike Lombardi knows more about football than most of us have forgotten.

He's one of the few good guys in the sports media.

 

[BradyManny]

Shame on you for the attention seeking headline. Overall the article seemed to be fairly spot on.

Sorry, it was too easy. But, no, the article, or rather Lombardi's contributions to it, does not seem spot on. Probably on Sunday night, Lombardi will be regretting making these lazy, half-***ed comments.

Brady isn't playing well because he isn't being put in position or given the opportunity to.

He was fine in Week 1. In week 2, his production dipped because protection sucked. Lombardi's contention that he is part of the problem is not at all accurate. Brady's made good throws and good decisions so far.

Whose composit skill set is fairly irreplaceable.

He's missed time in both of his first two seasons, and the offense has kept clicking. I love Hernandez, I think he's a huge weapon and one of the most versatile players in the NFL. But the notion that we're dead-in-the-water until he gets back is just not accurate.

Gronkowski, Welker, Lloyd, Brady. There's about 25 teams in the league that would trade their entire offense for that.

Not to mention in flux on the OL transitioning from a veteran pro bowler heavy unit to one in which only one rehabbing veteran pro bowler remains.

Well, Lombardi didn't mention that. Ironically. The one real issue, he didn't think to mention.

The sky is not falling. We ran up against a good defense and had some inopportune things happen. We still have one of the largest offensive pools of talent to draw from in the entire NFL, so why, suddenly are we completely F'd like Lombardi suggests? We're not. It's pure crap from Lombardi.

 

[ralmat55]

And many of the concerns people have will be proven unfounded as the season goes along and proven that they should have been fallen on deaf ears all along. Other may not. Happens every year.

This time last year, people were questioning this team and proclaiming them one and done in the playoffs if they make it there at all.

People were questioning a defense that couldn't stop an offense unless the offense somehow stopped itself. This unfounded concern only cost them a championship.

 

[Rob0729]

Sorry, it was too easy. But, no, the article, or rather Lombardi's contributions to it, does not seem spot on. Probably on Sunday night, Lombardi will be regretting making these lazy, half-***ed comments.



He was fine in Week 1. In week 2, his production dipped because protection sucked. Lombardi's contention that he is part of the problem is not at all accurate. Brady's made good throws and good decisions so far.



He's missed time in both of his first two seasons, and the offense has kept clicking. I love Hernandez, I think he's a huge weapon and one of the most versatile players in the NFL. But the notion that we're dead-in-the-water until he gets back is just not accurate.

Gronkowski, Welker, Lloyd, Brady. There's about 25 teams in the league that would trade their entire offense for that.



Well, Lombardi didn't mention that. Ironically. The one real issue, he didn't think to mention.

The sky is not falling. We ran up against a good defense and had some inopportune things happen. We still have one of the largest offensive pools of talent to draw from in the entire NFL, so why, suddenly are we completely F'd like Lombardi suggests? We're not. It's pure crap from Lombardi.

Good points. I still think the media and fans are sleeping on the Cards defense. They looked disciplined, aggressive, opportunistic, and physical. Several weeks from now, people may not be looking at the Pats' performance vs. the Cards defense as such shocker.

 

[bunuel]

This is a bit odd since Lombardi almost always takes the stance "whatever Belichick does is the right move". Listen to him on the BS Report. He does nothing but fawn.

 

[BradyManny]

People were questioning a defense that couldn't stop an offense unless the offense somehow stopped itself. This unfounded concern only cost them a championship.

The concerns on defense were valid b/c of the personnel we had at the time. The offensive personnel is largely the same as the one that carried the team to the record it had last year, and deep into the postseason.

So, any questions over offensive personnel seem horribly premature to me.

 

[BradyManny]

Good points. I still think the media and fans are sleeping on the Cards defense. They looked disciplined, aggressive, opportunistic, and physical. Several weeks from now, people may not be looking at the Pats' performance vs. the Cards defense as such shocker.

Aside from the drops and the misconnection on two deep balls, a lot of our offensive failures arose from execution on the Cardinals part. Their guys in the trenches beat our guys in the trenches, end of story.

Sometimes you just have to give credit to the opposing team. We were in a defensive game and almost won it, and frankly should have won it. If we'd had that offensive production vs. the Ravens, people wouldn't be making as big a deal about it. It might turn out the Cardinals have a top tier defense, so I'm not losing sleep over this past Sunday at the moment.

 

[BSR]

“Brady is not playing well.” ........Locked on to Gronk during the two point conversion when 2 other options were more open......no question the Oline breakdown has forced him to speed up his game.....Trouble with deep passes.....tough to blame the guy....but he is a mechanical passer....disrupt his rhythm and he becomes ordinary

I think this has been underestimated more than anything else. Brady hasn't played very well this year and while their are plenty of excuses as to why that is the case, his performance shouldn't get a free pass either. His deep ball accuracy is off, his timing with receivers not named Gronk is off and most importantly his pocket presence is way off. The championship Patriots teams never had a dominant oline, had revolving right tackles and guards and yet Brady was still able to stand tall in the pocket, eyes downfield. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. This is contributing to his growing predictability, where he isn't trying to connect with anyone outside of the core group of receivers. I think the shift in personnel is an effort to have a more varied group of receivers involved, which in the end is a good thing.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Good points. I still think the media and fans are sleeping on the Cards defense. They looked disciplined, aggressive, opportunistic, and physical. Several weeks from now, people may not be looking at the Pats' performance vs. the Cards defense as such shocker.

agree 100%. AZ is a top 3 defense in this league, and Peterson looks like the best defensive player in football. Against great defenses you take your 21 points, which we should have had, and hope your D plays well. Unfortunately we allowed a blocked punt on the goal line and blew an easy FG, that's why we lost, not the offense.

I think Brady and the offense in general is playing well. He had a good first game then threw for 300 yards Sunday including some lasers in the deep seam to Welker and Gronk. Also he & JM lost their best weapon in mid-game, so their game plan was out the window and they had to go to plan B.

There have been some mistakes for sure, like 5 drops by Lloyd and Welker over the first 2 games, and a bad play call Sunday to take them out of FG range, but mistakes happen early in the season.

The blocked punt was the play of the game and the reason we lost. Score should have been 19-13 Pats, and we'd all be talking about how great the D is playing.

 

[SVN]

Well,Lombardi's son works for the Pats I believe so he is going to have some objective opinions to show. Secondly , I never really enjoyed his commentary on the pats. It was all pro pats all the time and never really got anything new out of it.

Pats biggest problem is pass protection. After that you throw in any TE and WR's they will make it work.

 

[BadMoFo]

Last week it was praise of the Pats for bringing balance to the offense with a strong running game and adding an outside receiver in Lloyd. McDaniels was praised for his creativity.

This week, the Pats' offense is a mess with a turnstile o-line, overly reliant on the TEs, Brady struggling, and being petty for punishing Welker.

Next week if the Pats win and the offense produces, it will be another story.

Belichick has always said you really don't know what type of team you truly have until around mid-season. All this talk now is just which ever the wind is blowing reactionary banter.

You know we can always count on one week of "Patriots are too old and predictable" stories and one week of "Patriots are unstoppable" stories every season.

 

[PatsDeb]

Oh no! Our season must be over if Mike Lombardi thinks so!! By the way is he related to Vince Lombardi in any way, or is he just lucky to have the same last name?

 

[Patriot Missile]

Is he really writing this article if Gronk catches the ball that hits him on the hands? If welker doesn't pretend his arms are the bucket that Brady throws at at the end of practice? If Lloyd makes the easy catch to sustain the drive after making a spectacular catch a minute before? If Gostowski makes the fg?

Look, I give the Arizona D a lot of credit. They played well but I argue more that the Patriots miscues above as well as the holding call and false start show the Pats did suck at discipline and were victims of their own shoddy execution. I think some are giving Arizona too much credit.

They sucked last Sunday on offense and special teams. If they keep making blunderous errors and don't adapt to life after Hernandez then I will worry. Now is not the time to panic though. We are only in week 3 after all.

 

[BradyFTW!]

This is a bit odd since Lombardi almost always takes the stance "whatever Belichick does is the right move". Listen to him on the BS Report. He does nothing but fawn.

I think he's developed a bit of a reputation as a Patriots apologist, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he said all of this stuff almost entirely so that he'd have something to point to to defend himself against that claim.

FWIW, he also went into the season pretty low on the Patriots, with the offensive line instability being the main reason.