Pats backroom let down Brady AGAIN

[Fixit]

Even with all of the injuries and guys murdering people, the Pats had the #3 scoring offense and were #1 for the second half of the season. As great as Brady is, he left points off the board with overthrows, too.

So, clearly, the receivers suck and were never open and dropped everything in sight.

I tell you what never helps an offense: giving the QB more time to throw, or a better D.

 

[BritPat]

It is not a bad bunch at all but your last paragraph is an assumption because 3 of the 4 were injured ALOT. If they are all healthy and out there then Tom will be Tom and this team will put up 30+ easily to go with a vastly improved D. But i don't need to tell you that the NFL is the NFL and injuries happen on a daily basis, so where is the depth at receiver in a passing league?

I'd say there's plenty of depth.

If we line up in the traditional 11 set, then you're looking at either Ridley or Vereen as the back, Gronk as your TE, then likely Dobson as the X, Amendola as the Y and Edelman as the Z. I like the ability of the receivers there to win one on one, a hallmark of our offense in the BB era and something which helped us win Superbowls.

I'm actually really looking forwards to seeing how LaFell does as he's got better each year he's been in the league. He could potentially offer a second big outside option and relegate Amendola to the bench. Dobson got better as the year wore on, Thompkins will be much the better for his experiences in his first year whilst Boyce should be ready to make his presence known.

Don't count out Gallon either, if I could have picked one player from any program out of the Draft, other than Jason Verrett, it would have been Gallon. He is going to cause some arguments on here over the next few months, guaranteed.

 

[BTTA]

The best thing to do for Tom is to strengthen the defense, to reduce the number of points he has to engineer, and allow the O more flexibility in how they manage the time they have the ball.

The second thing is to strengthen the middle of the line so he can relax a bit more about getting his knees crushed two seconds after the snap.

The third thing is getting some Gronk insurance, which is still to be done.

The fourth thing is give him a full camp with the handful of receivers who are either coming into their second year, or second year in the system. That's about to happen.

 

[Nunchucks]

I am not sure who they could have drafted at WR or TE that would have an opportunity to actually make a difference. The rookies did a great job for rookies. People have unrealistic expectations for rookie WRs and TEs.

 

[fnordcircle]

You seriously can't just expect the D to do great work and then not have a pass offense to help?

You do realize the Pats had the 4th highest scoring offense in the league last year, right?

That's why the histrionics about the passing game and Brady needing receivers so badly this offseason has bemused me. I think it's rooted in people's perceptions getting twisted by 2007.

Looking at NFL.com our offense only scored .2 points less a game than the world champs. Breaking in rookies and our issues at the TE position with injuries and serial killing certainly accounted for some of that huge disparity.

 

[PP2]

The Patriots had to practically throw out their play book and re-write it with the loss of Hernandez and Gronk. That isn't easy to do. Their rookie production was more than solid.

Not really. the only thing they changed was the personnel and alignment. TE's (Hooman) lined up split end primarily to block, instead of at flanker, slot, or even out wide. IIRC, they still ran the same concepts.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Did they not get the memo? Tom needs help! Forehead over in Denver is throwing to all pros but once again when needing to get receiving help Brady will be asked to throw to UFA rookies like Kenbrell Thompkins for miracle game winning TD's.

They had stud tight ends and abundance of good college receivers sitting there at every pick waiting to be taken but instead decide to take a player that could have been had later on.

They must be expecting some serious year 2 jumps from what they already have and think Amendola is going to REALLY turn into Welker this time because without even knowing if Gronk will be 100% ready to go they did nothing in free agency to help and nothing in the draft either.

So what's the master plan now? Dustin Keller? The dude whose leg bent in half less than a year ago?

What a let down once again, but it's OK right? Tom is Tom and will find a way won't he. Pathetic if you ask me.

Brady's play in big games has been letting the backroom down for several years now.
I'm thrilled that Belichick has finally gotten away from the "BradyCentric Patriots" (never won a SB since it became all about Tom) and gotten back to balance on both sides of the ball.

 

[Big-T]

The top 4 WRs contributed 2674 yards last season - only 1 of them played all 16 games (Edelman). In 2012 the top 4 receivers contributed 2645 yards...so last year was a small improvement!

The lost production was at TE:
744 in 2013 vs 1382 in 2012

RB actually produced a small increase in production too:
679 yards in 2013 vs 657 yards in 2012

But those 51 extra yards from receivers & RBs doesn't cover the massive 638 lost yards at the TE position.

That is why WR wasn't a priority in the draft - especially with LaFell signing during free agency.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Why would it be sarcasm, who did they get at receiver to help him out after last years joke of a performance?

They got Dobson, Boyce and Thompkins last year who were all rookies and will now be going into year 2..

They also signed LaFell from free agency as well, and already have Edelman and Amendola on the roster under contract.

 

[Rob0729]

Assuming Dobson, Gronk, and Amendola are healthy (yes, it is not all that safe to assume), I think the Pats' receiving corp is pretty strong. None of the TEs in the drafts are sure things and all have boom or bust potential. So I am not that upset they didn't grab one.

I am actually satisfied overall with the offseason. The Pats have really improved the defense and that is where the improvement was needed more. If you watched the Super Bowl, great offenses can turn into the Jets' offense against a great defense. And if you also watched the Super Bowl, an elite QB can be neutralized if he is under pressure every play even with elite receivers.

 

[Ring 6]

But even if they get O-Line help what the F does that matter if his receiver can't catch a cold? I'm sorry you have to be blind to have not seen that joke of a passing offense without Gronk. They didn't even pick up a backup for Gronk!

Please list all the teams that won SBs by building around the WR position.
I know they could make you happy with flashy guys to get excited about, but they would rather win.

 

[shmessy]

Honestly even with the potentially improved 0-line if Amendola doesn't step up, Edelman doesn't keep up that pace and those rookies don't make a jump to go along with Gronk having to be there for it work then you are going to see the same thing as last year.

Holy crap, your post is comedic! "......and if Putin wants to go after Poland after Ukraine..and if an asteroid hits Swaziland..... and if the sun doesn't rise in the morning...and if my worry beads get lost......."

That was a litany of "what ifs" that EVERY team in EVERY sport faces. It's called life.

Reality is that, so far this spring, none of our star offensive players have been implicated in a murder and released from the club. If that good news continues past mid-June, then we will already be ahead of last year's pathetic 12 win/AFC Championship game season. Oh, the tragedy!!!!!!

 

[livinginthe past]

The Practice Squad is still open for business, right?

 

[meatface]

I think the Patriots priority in this draft was obviously to make sure that Brady doesn't get Knocked down by trying to shore up their O-line. I am kind of surprised they took Garoppolo as opposed to taking CJ Fiedorowicz, but obviously they did not think they needed him as much as they needed Garoppolo.

 

[Rob0729]

But even if they get O-Line help what the F does that matter if his receiver can't catch a cold? I'm sorry you have to be blind to have not seen that joke of a passing offense without Gronk. They didn't even pick up a backup for Gronk!

Aaron Dobson was turning into a player before he broke his foot. We are talking about a lot of receivers in year two of their development and there is usually a decent jump in production (look at Branch and Givens in year two with the Pats in 2003). Your assessment of the current receiving corp is way too negative. I don't think the Pats have an elite receiving corp, but his the potential to be a good to a very good one.

 

[RIpats88]

Where would a rookie WR play?

right now we have Edelman, amendola, lafell, dobson, boyce, thompkins. You can probably expect 2nd year jumps for at least dobson/boyce. I think we are fine at receiver this year.

The Only weakness I see we didnt address was Tight End...but maybe pats feel Dustin Keller can come back healthy and they sign him. and Gronk can come back healthy.

pats strengthened D-line with easely, and Center which was a huge weakness last year up the middle which can allow brady to have more time.

 

[Ring 6]

It is not a bad bunch at all but your last paragraph is an assumption because 3 of the 4 were injured ALOT. If they are all healthy and out there then Tom will be Tom and this team will put up 30+ easily to go with a vastly improved D. But i don't need to tell you that the NFL is the NFL and injuries happen on a daily basis, so where is the depth at receiver in a passing league?

So your argument is if the guys we are relying on (who can play) don't come through, we are in trouble so we should have gone out and got other guys to rely on, particularly rookies, because last year we relied on rookies and that was stupid?

 

[Triumph]

The interior line cost Brady way more than lack of WR targets. The team came out of day 3 with a guard, a center who can play guard, a tackle who can play guard, and a 3rd down RB. How can Brady be let down with that?

Vereens a 3rd down RB. How many does McDaniels need? Bolden can contribute on 3rd down.

TE is weak. WR is questionable hoping that Almendola can stay healthy and that the 3 rookie WRs improve. If Gronk does not stay healty, the gameplan hasnt changed to defend the NE dink and dunk offense.

 

[sb1]

It's amazing how the mindset of a lot of Pats fans changed over the years.

We used to mock Colts fans for their obsession with Peyton Manning's stats and now a lot of us fret when the Pats appear to do less than they'd like to help Brady keep up with Manning in a race for stats that (as 2007 and 2013 proved) means jack.

 

[Big-T]

Vereens a 3rd down RB. How many does McDaniels need? Bolden can contribute on 3rd down.

Bolden is a JAG, White will be an upgrade and Finch has the potential to be an upgrade. Vereen is in a contract year and unfortunately can't stay healthy, that means it's pretty much a necessity to have multiple receiving options at RB.