Before the season started..did you think we would have these issues?

[BradyFTW!]

What I really don't think anyone saw coming is the NFC West being good. Other than that, I didn't expect the secondary to be fantastic, but I did expect it to be better than it has been. Dowling's failure to emerge, paired with Chung's regression, has been problematic to say the least.

 

[VrabelJr]

The issues with our Secondary will continue until we pick up a veteran player or a new coach. Or both. These guys are all first, second, third, fourth year guys. None of them have made it past their rookie deals. It's the blind leading the blind. I really thought there was some serious value in keeping a guy like Will Allen around.

 

[VrabelJr]

What I really don't think anyone saw coming is the NFC West being good. Other than that, I didn't expect the secondary to be fantastic, but I did expect it to be better than it has been. Dowling's failure to emerge, paired with Chung's regression, has been problematic to say the least.

I think the Rams are the only NFC West team that is surprising me right now. If you were paying attention to the rest of the league it was hard not to notice the NFC West kicking some serious butt the second half of last year.

 

[ATippett56]

Other than that, I didn't expect the secondary to be fantastic, but I did expect it to be better than it has been. Dowling's failure to emerge, paired with Chung's regression, has been problematic to say the least.

Dowling, Arrington, Chung all have been major disappointments in the New England Patriots defensive secondary this season.

 

[ausbacker]

No, I didn't think the secondary would continue to be as porous as it has been.

 

[ATippett56]

The issues with our secondary will continue until we pick up a veteran player or a new coach.

Steven Gregory, in his seventh season in the NFL, is considered a veteran player.

 

[Crononaut]

I don't know...why don't you ask Rivers...

A little OT, but I was reading through this thread and noticed you posted this BEFORE his 6 turnover meltdown Monday night. Well done, sir!

 

[supafly]

No, I didn't think the secondary would continue to be as porous as it has been.

I expected more of an ability to be able to switch up players and positions, based on potential failure.

So far, we haven't seen that too much, besides the benching of Arrington and replacement of Dennard.

I thought that Belichick was forming a good secondary with some players being able to switch to different roles when/if necessary, although it's still pretty early in the season yet.

It's a shame to see a lack of depth at the safety position, as we should never have to witness someone like Ebner needing to play in a decisive moment of the game--despite his 'Superman' type ST hype. It actually brings me back to thoughts of Sergio Brown filling in for Chung last year vs the NYG in the regular season letdown.

The million dollar question is still "What is wrong with Dowling?"

Question #2 is "Can McCourty play consistently enough to be an actual #1?"

 

[PATS16N0]

I thought our offense was going to be better than it was in 2007. I knew it was going to be a break out year for Ridley but he's still surprised me with how good he is. I had no idea who Bolden was until the Buffalo game.

I feel like the talent is there but the play calling isn't working.
Or i'm not sure what the issue is on offense.

Sometimes I wonder if Brady is being weighed down by his legacy. Or haunted by it I should say.

He just hasn't looked like the same quarterback when playing against defenses that have a reputation for being good since the 18-1 Superbowl loss.

I'm not sure. I thought he was playing better than he's ever played against Buffalo and then against Denver and then Seattle comes and something didn't look right.
I don't know what to think right now.

I think this offense is under achieving despite being the #1 offense in the league right now. I still feel like it should be playing even better.

But our secondary.... I just cannot believe that it is still this horrible. It has to be the worst in the league.

I was convinced we were going back to the Superbowl this year. We went last year with an inferior team. Now we're improved in so many places, offensively and defensively. The Ravens aren't nearly as formidable.

And yet... that secondary.
I think we can make it through the AFC post season bracket but with this secondary... I don't see how any NFC team with an offense won't just totally humiliate us. I know if we face the Giants again in the SB with these defensivebacks Eli and Coughlin are just going to make a mockery of Brady and Belichick's legacy with a 3rd Superbowl victory.

I'm really worried about this. This is just inexcusable how these very same positions can be such a glaring, obvious, and TEAM KILLING weakness, season after season after season.

 

[BaltimorePatsFan]

I thought Brady had another year in him. I guess I was wrong.

 

[IllegalContact]

at this point, I was figuring 5-1 with a loss at baltimore

I'm not buying the AFC west.......I think it is a matter of fast starts by a couple of teams lacking talent. arizona has since returned to reality as they could not beat the bills at home. The seahawks were given a gift. they are a typical pete carroll team playing on an undisciplined high will will likely lose 5 in a row at some point this season. the rams are a work in progress and can't handle a good team. the niners are still it. the rest of them remind me of denver when mcdaniel was first there.....

my biggest concern is the consistency of the pats problems which makes them real. the playoff teams will have QB's that can tear the pats a new one as we won't be playing tebow again.

at this point, I think other teams will see that the pats have nothing back there and will continue to try to exploit it regularly until something changes. the pats are up poop creek when it comes to fielding a safety pair as the middle of the field is what comepletely annihilated the pats last week. I don't think the corners are all that bad

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

yup....we will continue to be guilty until proven innocent...

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Closing out games? Not being able to win the close game. It has been an issue for a while now..but did you guys really see us at 3-3 with these issue..i bet no one saw this one coming..

Good question. And a fair question, as I certainly didn't think we'd be 3--3 with this schedule. I divide my answer into two parts.

One, I was concerned about our Secondary from the beginning, which is why I had us at 12--4, despite the team's overall improvement in talent after going 13--3 last year. I optimistically thought that the addition of a couple of studs who could get after the Passer would take some of the pressure off of the Secondary, but I think I was wrong about that and I am concerned that this might not be "fixable" or that if it is fixable, it will take too long for people to grow into their responsibilities; it won't do us any good if the Pats are finally playing lights out in December but are 6--8. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Two, what I did not see coming was that the loss of the ability to "close" close games, which has cropped up in recent years, might now be a real issue. This is why I now think my 12--4 was optimistic. Two of the three losses (Baltimore and Seattle) are directly attributable to this in that the Offense got the ball with the lead and three or four minutes to play and politely handed it right back. Unlike some, I'm not ready to go off the deep end and start to question everything from Josh's play calling to whether Tom Brady still has "it." But, it is very worrisome and, since it is more "intangible" than the play of the Secondary, a bigger issue, IMO.

Despite all of that, I still can't imagine that they don't win the Division. The rest is up to how they're playing in December; anything is possible from a ring at 10--6 or 11--5 to "one and done" with the same record.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Closing out games? Not being able to win the close game. It has been an issue for a while now..but did you guys really see us at 3-3 with these issue..i bet no one saw this one coming..

I saw it in week one once Josh's grand tweek was revealed. Saw signs of it in preseason based on the OL situation and the way they were forcing issues like assimilating Lloyd come hell or high water. Whole offense was out of sorts all pre season and we are still seeing the effects/remnants of that six weeks in. Josh seemed to be treating the first few games of the season as an extension of his plan to reconfigure something that needed little more than tweeking in the off season. And it's cost them, especially once Hernendez went down and it becan to emerge that Gronk's subdued pre season wasn't just an anomoly.

 

[supafly]

at this point, I was figuring 5-1 with a loss at baltimore

Every year (at least in the current Brady/Belichick era) I go into the season thinking that we'll be 12-4, or something close to it.

Every year, regardless of schedule, added talent, weak spots, etc, I go into the season with the following assumptions, right/wrong/indifferent:

1 loss to a divisional foe

1 loss at home

1 loss away

1 loss to a "WTF" team/game that comes unexplained

That is the 'formula' that I pretty much stick with every year, and in my opinion it is reasonable to assume as much.

So far this year, we have all of the losses in my 'formula' covered, besides the divisional foe--which we've only played 1 out of 6 games so far.

No, I didn't think we'd be 3-3 at this point, I can guarantee you that; but I did think that there was a realistic chance at 4-2 through 6 games.

As many have pointed out, the best place to start is going into the bye with a 5-3 record, which would be the same as last year. We've still seen some great things from this team so far this year, and we've seen improvements in the running game, in the balance, in the defensive front seven and the rookies, and arguably in the SE position--as Llyod appears to be an upgrade over Branch.

If the team can iron out some of their differences in the secondary scheme/talent/whatever, and have a little bit more luck, we have a decent shot at going 12-4 or 11-5 with momentum heading into the playoffs.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i cant say i knew they would be a 500 team after 6 games i was thinking more like 5-1 with the seahawks being the only loss but i kind knew the defense was going to be bad i mean come on they were the 2th worst pass defense in NFL history last year and all they add it was a jag FS and a few rookies the only reason they ant dead last is because the front 7 is pretty good but there is not a nuff dept up front to keep them fresh for pass rush to help that bad secondary out