Offensive expectations

[tonyto3690]

The good:
-Tom f'ing Brady is our QB
-OL looks to be good, if not great. Continuity and solid pieces at every position. Monsters at tackle.
-We have studs at RB with Vereen and Ridley

The bad:
-A completely new cast of WRs.

The ugly:
-Best case scenario is Gronk is at 80% at week 1. In all likelyhood he doesn't play the first three weeks and isn't 100% until week 7.
-Best case scenario Hernandez misses the first couple weeks of the season. Would not be surprising if he misses the entire season.
-Mike Jenkins could be starting for us


We're not scoring 30 PPG this year. I thought losing Welker would be fine because we had Gronk and Hernandez, maybe even with missing Gronk for a couple games to start the year. But losing all three? Potentially only having Gronk for half a season and zero Hernandez?

Our running game is better than 2006 as is our OL. But our defense is not nearly as good as it was that year and our receivers are barely better, if at all.

24 PPG? 27 PPG? Top 5 still? Top 10? Top 16?

 

[resdubwhite]

next man up.

We'll be fine.

Bring that to the bank.

 

[PP2]

Looks like we won't even have our top 5 leading receivers from '12

 

[voluntarysaftey]

I expect a historic offense

Amendola will be better than Welker
Gronk will be healthy when it counts
AHern will be in jail or on suspension -- but it will be Tebow Time. He's going to surprise us just like Welker did in 07
Lloyd will be back to serve as 'incase the rookies suck or need a break' outside WR

Ridley will be slightly better than last year
Vareen will be the new Brian Westbrook

And Brady will be the same or slightly diminished from last year

 

[resdubwhite]

Looks like we won't even have our top 5 leading receivers from '12

Its been stated here several times today. But it is worth repeating.

We still have Tom F'ing Brady.

 

[Rob0729]

At this point we don't know the best case scenario for either Gronk or Hernandez.

To say Gronk will be 80% at best is way premature. He could be close to 100%.

Also, there is a chance that Hernandez starts the season without a suspension while Goodell waits for the legal process to play out. That is far, far less likely.

As for Mike Jenkins, who says he can't be a decent #2 WR. I know the media hates him, but he was pretty decent when he had decent QBs to throw to him.

 

[Sicilian]

WR: Caldwell, Gaffney
RB: Maroney
TE: Watson

PPG: 24.1 (7th in the NFL)

I think that's the minimum we can expect. We have the talent to do better, assuming health and contributions from rookies. But I don't see us doing worse than that 06 team.

 

[Get it shawtaay]

None of these expectations are particularly offensive.

 

[tonyto3690]

WR: Caldwell, Gaffney
RB: Maroney
TE: Watson

PPG: 24.1 (7th in the NFL)

I think that's the minimum we can expect. We have the talent to do better, assuming health and contributions from rookies. But I don't see us doing worse than that 06 team.

We had a defense that got three and outs and gave us a short field to work with. Along with the fact in general offense was down that year and the past few years offenses have been higher scoring overall.

The second best offense that year was 26.8 PPG. That would not even be top 5 in todays league.

 

[Sicilian]

We had a defense that got three and outs and gave us a short field to work with. Along with the fact in general offense was down that year and the past few years offenses have been higher scoring overall.

The second best offense that year was 26.8 PPG. That would not even be top 5 in todays league.

So, that Patriots team wouldn't have also scored more points if they were in today's NFL? 7th in the NFL is 7th in the NFL.

 

[IllegalContact]

490- 500 points

 

[letekro]

They played without Hernandez or with a sub-par Hernandez all last year and were fine. No reason to think Gronk won't be fine by the end of PUP period at the latest. Outside of Amendola the receivers are a question mark but you could have said the same last year outside of Wes. I expect continued improvement from the backs.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I don't have the details, but I think we will be explosive

 

[Rob0729]

We had a defense that got three and outs and gave us a short field to work with. Along with the fact in general offense was down that year and the past few years offenses have been higher scoring overall.

The second best offense that year was 26.8 PPG. That would not even be top 5 in todays league.

But if the second best offense that year was 26.8 PPG and the Pats were at 24.1 PPG with a #3 WR as Brady's primary WR, wouldn't the expectations be that the Pats will score a lot more than 24.1 PPG.

Again, Gronk could be back and healthy game 1. Amendola could have a Welker-like explosion. Ballard was a very good TE his last year in NY, he could be better this year. One of the rookies could hit right away. There is a lot of possibilities that could make this offense great. Although there are a lot that could make it mediocre.

McDaniels got this offense clicking with Cassel at QB and he made Kyle Freakin Orton look like a very good QB in Denver (3802 yards, 21 TDs, and 12 INTs). And Tom Brady is still Tom Brady. You can't count out this offense.

 

[Get it shawtaay]

I don't have the details, but I think we will be explosive

Explosive details to come?

 

[Archeryaddict12]

I still think we but up top 5 numbers. We have a shot at having gronk and ahern starting the season. And amendola has looked pretty good. If Dobson can develop or any of the rookie receivers I think we do better. If the D can finally make that leap, I don't think we need the O to put up record numbers to win games.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

If ammendola can stay healthy and Ahenr doesn't go to jail..they will be fine...

Ahern goes to jail and ammendola plays hurt...could be tough

 

[patsfan13]

AH will never put on a Pats Uni, Gornk will be out till midseason.

The O will score > 30ppg.

T Brady will cement his position this year by making the O the highest scoring in the league after losing his top 5 receivers from last year and then winning his 4th SB and becoming the first QB w 30 playoff wins.

The D will be in the top 5 in the league in fewest ppg.

 

[MoneyFX]

A little less passing, but a lot more running.
Get the play-action going to make things a little easier for the new WRs.

For the RBs, Ridley and Vereen did great last season, but it was only their second seasons and they are only going to get better. Ridley added muscle and will be even harder to take down. Hopefully he can kill the clock late in games. Look for Shane to get lots of catches from the backfield as the new change of pace back. He has the potential to be better than Danny Woodhead. Bolden will get opportunities to contribute, I don't expect Leon Washington to get much snaps on offense because of ST and I'm not sure if Blount makes the team or not.

For the WRs, it's deeper, faster, bigger and more physical than last year's group. But, a lot more unknowns than last year. Dobson and Boyce need to be able to complement Amendola on the outside, but even Danny can play outside at times too. Dobson, Amendola, Boyce, Edelman, Jones/Jenkins is definitely a lot more than just Welker, Lloyd, Edelman (only played 9 games), an old Deion Branch and Donte Stallworth for one game. It's hard to tell how good this group could be, but it is a step in the right direction in addressing the weaknesses from last season. Instead of 1-2 guys getting most of the yards and the rest get little, it could be more of a balanced production, more like a 900-1000 yd guy, a 700-800 guy and maybe two 400-500 yd guys.

For the TEs, I don't know what's going to happen with Hernandez and Gronkowski. I can guess that Gronk will be back Week 1, but not at 100%. But I hope Jake Ballard can at least contribute to the offense at least a good bit of what he did in 2011 with the Giants. He's big and could be a good red zone threat. Interested in Sudfeld too.

I think the offense will still average over 30 PPG, due to Tom Brady's ability to "make things work" and the fact that the defense will be much better and force even more turnovers to give Brady a shorter field. You also have to factor in Leon Washington and his abilities in the return game too.

It's only June, but I just hope that in the playoffs, the offense won't struggle again when they face teams that will take away the middle of the field and test them vertically. And who knows if the whole offense will be healthy? Injuries always happen.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Offense will put up yards and struggle a bit in red zone. Brady will take a LOT of hits this year as the Pats go to a more spread offense.