What were you right and wrong about last season?

[fnordcircle]

Trying to remember the things I was arguing about last year.

People shouldn't be panicking about our offense: Right, the team was the 3rd highest scoring offense.

Tim Tebow making the team: Wrong. Dude's selling used cars or something.

Blount wouldn't be a big deal: Wrong, I like him more than Ridley.

Amendola was going to have a great season: Wrong, I think his season was underwhelming.

Edelman can add a lot to our offense: Right but I was wrong every season before that.

Boyce would be our best rookie WR: Wrong but I'll be proven right next year.


Can't really remember much else. I give myself an A because even when I'm wrong I'm brilliant.

Curious where other people landed on their debates from last season. No this isn't a stealth 'i told you so' thread, jeez.

 

[50-yard-line]

Tommy Kelly was a good signing - I was RIGHT until he got hurt.

Adrian Wilson would help a lot - WRONG. Hoping he can contribute this year, but doubt he'll be around.

Amendola would be a huge positive - WRONG so far. Book is still out.

Pats would sign John Abraham and it would help them a lot - WRONG, but would've been RIGHT, dangit!

Blount was a great trade - RIGHT.

Ballardwas a great signing - WRONG. Is he a free agent again?

Their First Pick would be a WR - WRONG.

Fair to middling, I guess.

 

[RayClay]

Winning the first four games while the offenses especially looked horrible was a big deal. We lost Wilfork, then Mayo, then gained our passing offense with Gronk and better play by the rookies, then had to patch that aspect too. We had a sieve on the DL and patched that somehow.

Bottom line is, with all that trouble we were still one game from the Super Bowl. Do I think we could have taken it with a healthy Gronk at the end? I do, but that's just wishful thinking.

The fact is, the seahawks could have had injuries, we saw that Peyton could be rattled and, because we won ugly early and Tommy yelled at his poor receivers, we were one of only four teams that had a shot.

 

[everlong]

The biggest thing I was right about was Jaime Collins. I wanted Bill to draft him but didn't think he would. Really looking forward to year two.

The biggest thing I was wrong about Ryan Allen vs Zolton Mesko and it wasn't even close.

 

[shmessy]

I was right about Bequette (bad) and Edelman (good).

I was dead wrong about Logan Ryan - - - and I'm very happy I was so wrong!

 

[fnordcircle]

The biggest thing I was wrong about Ryan Allen vs Zolton Mesko and it wasn't even close.

Oh this is a good one, I too was taken aback by that. Once again what was a head scratcher at the time ends up looking solid.

We're lucky.

 

[Ivan]

RIGHT:


The Patriots would make it to the AFCCG.

The Patriots would have a Top 10 Scoring Defense (amazing considering all they lost).

Tim Tebow would not make the team.

The Patriots draft was better than many gave them credit for.

Tommy Kelly was a really good pick up.

Edelman was wise to re-sign in New England and the deal would give him a chance for amuch better one this offseason.


McCourty would have a really good year at safety.


Aaron Hernandez spending for car rentals would go down dramatically

WRONG:


Amendola would offset about 75-80% of Welker's production. Injuries precluded that.

Blount would be a bubble player. In fact he was significant, a great trade.


Edelman produced much more than i thought he would. I thought he made the right move but really underestimated his production.

Dante Scarnecchia would coach forever----I guess not.


Boyce would be the best rookie receiver. I expected him to get the system the fastest and produce more than he did.

Adrian Wilson would play well in a big nickel role.





OVERALL:


Right on the money on my expectations for them as a team but i was off on some individual predictions. However when you pick the Patriots to make it to the AFC Championship you really aren't taking too much of a chance. It will be the same for me next season, i think their defense will continue to improve and they will once again make it back to the AFCCG, where they go from their depends upon many factors.

 

[Ivan]

I was right about Bequette (bad) and Edelman (good).

I was dead wrong about Logan Ryan - - - and I'm very happy I was so wrong!

I really liked the Ryan pick, harmon was the head scratcher for me. ryan was considered late first early second and they got him in the third, and he has the size we have been clamoring for.

 

[Ivan]

BTW-Good thread topic, we sorely needed one.

 

[manxman2601]

Right:

In my final mock I got the players wrong but got the positions we drafted almost spot on.

Despite not being a Pat, Kiko Alonso did in fact go on to have a stellar rookie season.

Duron Harmon was a good backup safety.

Wrong:

Josh Boyce. Still think he should have been used as a Vereen backup. Oh well.

Tim Tebow. The all purpose FB that never was.

Was convinced that either Markus Wheaton or Robert Woods were going to be Patriots this time last year.

Unclear:

I wasn't convinced by Aaron Dobson. He showed some flashes of proving me wrong ( I hope he continues to do so), but I think it's still unclear whether he'll live up to his draft position.

 

[PATS16N0]

Correctamundo:
Patriots would make it to the AFC Championship game.
Losing Welker wasn't the end of the world.
Edelman > Welker
Blount would be awesome.
The Seahawks would make the Superbowl.

The Denver Broncos would be overrated.

No Beuno:
Amendola would be better than Welker.
We would at least win 13 games without Welker and Hernandez.
Ridley would have a monster pro bowl season.
Seattle would make the Superbowl as favorites.

The Patriots would get the #1 seed.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Right on…
Edelperson, but then I had also thought he'd emerge in prior years
Blount, liked him right from the start of the summer season
Pats reaching AFCCG again
Ninko again being a decent contributor to the defense, despite his detractors
Brady would not be in decline
Gost was a very good kicker
Vereen would continue to show the versatility that we saw flashes of in 2012
The Hammah would be a non-factor (OK, a real easy one)
Tebow would not be on the roster (FYI: I like Tim Tebow)


Wrong on…
Thought Adrian Wilson could play and contribute
Thought the transition to the new wideouts would go smoother…WAY WRONG here
Thought DA would have a healthier season and contribute more
Thought Armstead would be able to play
Thought Zack Sudfeld would be Studfeld
Thought Jake Ballard would contribute
Thought Gronk would come back sooner

 

[Deus Irae]

Always an interesting thread. I hope it remains non-confrontational.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I was wrong about Adrian. Thought he would help a good amount on running downs

Thought Sudfeld would be very good

 

[jmt57]

If I recall correctly I was right about the Patriots, Bengals and Broncos winning division titles in the AFC, but was way off in the AFC South where I had Houston winning the division and the Colts missing the playoffs. I was also way off in conversations with others who thought that KC would make the playoffs; I had them improving, but only to 6-7 wins.

In the NFC I was right about New Orleans winning the South and Atlanta missing the playoffs, and with Seattle taking the west leaving SF as a wildcard. In the East I felt confident that neither the Giants or redskins would make the playoffs, but was wrong with my winner there (Dallas), and was also wrong in the North (I had Chicago winning the division - though they did have a whole lot of injuries to their defense).

 

[Mike the Brit]

Right

Edelman. I noticed two things last season. First, he had really stepped up in the two games before he got injured. Second, his injuries have been the unfortunate impact injuries that are an inevitable part of football. All of those "can't stay on the field" posts of a year ago were wrong then and wrong now.

Wide receivers. Expected the team to struggle. It did


Wrong

Blount (thought he was slow and danced around)

Ballard (I expected great things)

Sudfeld (my binky)


Overall

But the bottom line about last season is what didn't happen. The team could have imploded after all of the events surrounding Hernandez and the devastating injuries. That it didn't is a great credit to BB, the coaches and, of course, the players.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Mike I also felt that Blount was dancing early on, but I felt that the coaches would get on him over that and if they did and he took coaching, he'd be a fine contributor

 

[Ivan]

If I recall correctly I was right about the Patriots, Bengals and Broncos winning division titles in the AFC, but was way off in the AFC South where I had Houston winning the division and the Colts missing the playoffs. I was also way off in conversations with others who thought that KC would make the playoffs; I had them improving, but only to 6-7 wins.

In the NFC I was right about New Orleans winning the South and Atlanta missing the playoffs, and with Seattle taking the west leaving SF as a wildcard. In the East I felt confident that neither the Giants or redskins would make the playoffs, but was wrong with my winner there (Dallas), and was also wrong in the North (I had Chicago winning the division - though they did have a whole lot of injuries to their defense).

As far as the league goes i was right about Baltimore missing the play-offs and the Chef's making them, but i was wrong about Houston and had SF winning the NFC again.

 

[Ivan]

I wasn't convinced by Aaron Dobson. He showed some flashes of proving me wrong ( I hope he continues to do so), but I think it's still unclear whether he'll live up to his draft position.

I really liked the Dobson pick because i think he understands that he is going to have to work his ass off to become a great receiver and he will put in the work to do just that. You never know with these guys, all you can do is read what is out there and take that with a grain of salt, but what i read and heard about both Dobson and Boyce led me to believe that it was the intangibles that led the Patriots to draft them, if so then we should see them reap the rewards over the next couple of seasons. The same can be said of the rest of their picks as well, if guys like Collins and Harmon and ryan put in the work then they should really see an improvement in them over the next season or two, but if they coast and think they have already made it then they will see their growth stunted and fade away.


When you look at the greatest players there is usually an exceptional work ethic that goes with them, which is why a guy like Jerry Rice became the GOAT and even a guy like Chris Carter, who i can't stand personally, was able to overcome his ealry struggles and turn himself into a HOF player; when you watch the film of him catching everything thrown to him in practices with one hand it becomes clear how he was able to develop some of the best hands to ever play the game. these young WR's need to takes pages from those books and work harder and smarter to get the most out of themselves.

 

[manxman2601]

I really liked the Dobson pick because i think he understands that he is going to have to work his ass off to become a great receiver and he will put in the work to do just that. You never know with these guys, all you can do is read what is out there and take that with a grain of salt, but what i read and heard about both Dobson and Boyce led me to believe that it was the intangibles that led the Patriots to draft them, if so then we should see them reap the rewards over the next couple of seasons. The same can be said of the rest of their picks as well, if guys like Collins and Harmon and ryan put in the work then they should really see an improvement in them over the next season or two, but if they coast and think they have already made it then they will see their growth stunted and fade away.


When you look at the greatest players there is usually an exceptional work ethic that goes with them, which is why a guy like Jerry Rice became the GOAT and even a guy like Chris Carter, who i can't stand personally, was able to overcome his ealry struggles and turn himself into a HOF player; when you watch the film of him catching everything thrown to him in practices with one hand it becomes clear how he was able to develop some of the best hands to ever play the game. these young WR's need to takes pages from those books and work harder and smarter to get the most out of themselves.

You are probably right about the intangibles but unfortunately we get minimal access to that sort of info as amateur evaluators. I largely missed on WR las year because I was looking at Reggie Wayne types (Wheaton, Woods) when BB clearly had the larger receiver in mind. I didn't see it with Dobson and am happy to admit to that and am very happy to be proved wrong.

I do however think that if this team had Marvin Jones last year, then we would have been so much better. I don't do the second guessing BB thing, but Jones gets me the closest to " you were wrong BB"