What are the Pats' genuine weaknesses?

[FrontSeven]

3. Brady - biggest weakness. Is obsessed with the long ball and refuses to give it up until he hits one.

That was not the case against the Eagles. I think that applies to the Jets, and there were other cases of a wide open Watson, etc. where he still went to Moss. But that happens every week to every QB. I would say that the "trend" of going to Moss against the Jets is something significant if it was to continue. I don't expect it to continue. Brady is a very smart QB and you know he'll be watching those films and getting it right against the Fish.

If we noticed his tendency then he has noticed it too. If he continues to not notice I'd be shocked. He's a film maven and he'll get it right Sunday.

 

[FrontSeven]

personnaly think our biggest weakness is our run defence. Generally teams have had to play from behind which has maded their run game redundant.

Right now the one team I fear is the Jaguars.

If they're in nickel coverage for much of the game (like against Indy) then they are giving the run. I wouldn't conclude that they cannot stop the run. They certainly did (finally) against the Ravens when they were willing to put the extra guy in the box.

To me it depends on their scheme, not the personnel, and not their ability to take away one part of the offense. I think a lot of it is guessing and having the right people on the field for the right plays.

 

[stinkypete]

To run on the Pats you have to be a multi-dimensional player, and your passing game has to be effective. The run defense has only struggled against Addai and McGahee, who are both quick, elusive backs. Addai had Peyton Manning, McGahee was fortunate enough to play behind Kyle Boller's career game. Parker put up alot of yards, but about 40 of those came on one play, and the Pittsburgh run game was shut down when it mattered. Barber ran effectively but was not a game changer.

I don't believe that the Patriots run defense is any kind of weakness. Find me any defense in the NFL that can consistently shut down elite backs like Tomlinson, Addai, Parker or Peterson. Maybe Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The 2007 Patriots defense clearly aren't same unit as the 2003 defense, who could shut down anyone, but they are still among the league's best.

I think the biggest weakness is the short pass game. Last Sunday showed that you can move the ball against the Patriots with a dink and dunk game if your recievers are quick enough. You can expect the Colts to adopt that strategy if the two teams meet. Of course, with the red zone defense beginning to clamp down, it's not too big a worry.

 

[bradmahn]

To run on the Pats you have to be a multi-dimensional player, and your passing game has to be effective. The run defense has only struggled against Addai and McGahee, who are both quick, elusive backs. Addai had Peyton Manning, McGahee was fortunate enough to play behind Kyle Boller's career game. Parker put up alot of yards, but about 40 of those came on one play, and the Pittsburgh run game was shut down when it mattered. Barber ran effectively but was not a game changer.

I don't believe that the Patriots run defense is any kind of weakness. Find me any defense in the NFL that can consistently shut down elite backs like Tomlinson, Addai, Parker or Peterson. Maybe Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The 2007 Patriots defense clearly aren't same unit as the 2003 defense, who could shut down anyone, but they are still among the league's best.

I think the biggest weakness is the short pass game. Last Sunday showed that you can move the ball against the Patriots with a dink and dunk game if your recievers are quick enough. You can expect the Colts to adopt that strategy if the two teams meet. Of course, with the red zone defense beginning to clamp down, it's not too big a worry.

When the Patriots scheme to take away something (Whitten in Dallas, Peyton in Indy, etc.) they are almost always successful. The only game where I see they failed in doing that for an extended period of time was the game against Baltimore, and the bulk of poor defense came in the third quarter before they completely shut McGahee down in the fourth. Addai was allowed to get yardage on the ground and Parker's "big day," as you mention, came with two big carries and then he padded his yardage total running against defenses primed to take away the pass. I'm not worried about a RB beating the Patriots and that's because, when they absolutely have to, they have been able to buckle down and stop the run.

To me the success the Jets had against the Pats with short stuff was by design. As with any zone coverage, it appeared (to an amateur) that the coverages they were playing were more determined on ensuring a tackle that will not allow big YAC (something the Jets have been able to pull off against the Pats in the last couple of seasons). Again, I have a lot of faith in this defense to do the job that they are assigned and that gives the team the best chance to win, maybe more so than most.

An interesting thing to note, also, is that the 2003 defense (which was spectacular) allowed more points in two games (30 against TEN and 34 against IND) than the Patriots have allowed against anyone this season.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

Ellis Hobbs

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

1. Head coach has trouble dressing himself.
2. Team likes to score points so much they sometimes offend the other teams
3. Team acts unfair by winning the super bowl 3 out of 6 years. Hey there are 31 other teams that deserve to win it too.

 

[fgssand]

Yep, late in the game after he had been successful on a few long throws, which proves my point. Brady is stuck on throwing the ball long, while ignoring the short open throws, until he hits one. Once he does, he reverts to being Brady of old. The problem is that his tendency to try to force the ball UNTIL he hits one plays into the hands of defenses that focus on taking away the long ball (i.e. the Colts) and will cost us against better teams (i.e. the Colts) especially if the weather is poor. It almost did againt the Jets and that's a TERRIBLE team.

The guy is having what will be the best year - ever - by a QB. The guy is headed towards being recognized as "the greatest of all time"

You really are what you are...as pointed out to you..see below:

 

[Seacoast Fan]

1. Head coach has trouble dressing himself.
2. Team likes to score points so much they sometimes offend the other teams
3. Team acts unfair by winning the super bowl 3 out of 6 years. Hey there are 31 other teams that deserve to win it too.

Good thing I wasn't taking a sip of my coffe when I read this one...I would have coughed it up all over my desk!
Too funny....

 

[mgteich]

a very weak fan base, composed primarily of bandwagoners

Never has there has been a fan base that has been given so much, and appeciated so little. Perhaps that is because most "fans" are simply waiting for the baseball season to start.
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Seriously, we do have weakness up the middle in run defense because of the injury to Colvin. Bruschi and Seau have no one to back them up, and they are wearing down. We also have no backup for Wilfork.

The heart of the run defense is the effectiveness of the NT and the two ILB's.
This makes the rest of the defense work. Also, our defense is built around allowing lotws of yards and plays between the 20's, "bend and don't break". This strategy needs healthy players to succeed.

Another area that has been weak as the defense wears down is the quality of tackling.

With all this being said, with enough rest for the three, and no further injuries, we should be fine.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Speed in the LB core. Outside of that, I don't think we have a big problem.