Postmortem Thoughts

[godef]

* Well, perhaps now we know how Rams fans felt after Super Bowl XXXVI. Perhaps, our situation is a little different: on the one hand, we did get to experience the dynasty that they thought they were on the brink of, but on the other hand, they never had so much at stake (positive NFL immortality), so I think those cancel out.

* It seems Tom Brady has succmbed to the temptation inherent of running an explosive passing offense. We saw some of this in the latter half of the season: Brady ignoring open receivers underneath and trying to push the ball deep to Randy Moss, but we all told ourselves that they were going for the record and that they would stop this nonsense in the playoffs. And indeed, when the Jaguars blanketed Moss, Brady patiently hit receivers underneath to the tune of a 26-28 completion pct. I understand that the Giants presented a different challenge, but it was plain to see that Brady often didn't have time to set and unload long passes, and that he might have been more successful dinking and dunking the Giants to death, if nothing else than to help neutralize their pass rush.

I still remember the 2001 contest at the Meadowlands when they had Brady adjust to a 3-step drop to beat the Jets pass rush, and they came from 13 down to win that game.

* How many other things did we see that was uncharacteristics of the Patriots?

• Bill Belichick's red hoodie? What was up with that?
• Asante botching an easy intercept? I thought he was long past that.
• Brady glaring at Welker over a bad route?
• Giselle at the game? ... Was Brady trying to show off? I know first hand the effect of having an object of romantic interest watching you in a game, it's always in the back of your mind.

* On the second to the last play of the game, when Moss came oh-so-close to getting his hands on the ball. If ever there was a time to jump up and go for the ball rather than wait for it to come down, perhaps the defender never could have deflected it. I don't know, I realize this is different than standing in the endzone and waiting for the ball to come down, as opposed to running down the field and timing the ball's arrival, so maybe I'm being unfair, but if he could have just slowed a bit such that the ball came down at a higher angle, and then take advantage of his height and leap up for it...

* My first thought when we won the challenge on the too-many-men-on-the-field penalty, I thought "Gee, what a cheap way to get a first down", but then my second thought was that "Well, it hardly makes up for the first quarter OPI the refs missed, nor the fumble recovery that was stolen away and should have been overturned."

* I wish Troy Brown were out there on that last freak Manning completion where he escaped a near sack. He would of ripped that ball out of the receiver's hand, either before or after he gained possession.

 

[Spiral]

While we're in the post-mortem mood, let's get into it deeper:

I think I have about as much chance of seeing the Red Sox go undefeated in the regular season as I do of seeing the Patriots do it again.

There is no salary cap room to speak of.

There are probably 3-4 guys on the back 8 of the defense that will or should be gone next year. Pick from: Bruschi, Seau, Samuel, Harrison, Colvin.

The 2007 draft was probably the worst of the Belioli era. No boost in 2008 from cheap mid-round draft picks entering their second year, maybe excepting Mike Richardson.

Stallworth is probably gone, and you need to either give Moss a long-term contract, or franchise him. Franchising him will take a lot of cap space they don't have, limiting them in other areas. A long-term contract at his age is a significant risk.

I think Big Sey is short for Big Siesta. Since signing his extension, he's done nothing. Seriously, he once was considered by some as the best defensive lineman in the game. To me, he looked no better than the 4th or 5th best lineman in the game last night.

If Asante goes, Ellis Hobbs is our new #1 corner.

Vrabel looks like he's getting close to the end of the line. He doesn't strike me as someone who's going to hang around for a year or two to pick up a few extra paychecks.

3rd-4th year guys like Ben Watson, Hobbs, and Nick Kaczur are as good as they're going to get. That's right, Nick Kaczur moved his feet last night as fast as we'll probably ever see. And maybe next time Ellis Hobbs lines up 7 yards off of a WR at the 13-yard line, Hobbs will be more than 2 yards behind the WR when he crosses the goal line. And maybe next big game Watson will have fewer catches and more penalties than he did last night. OK, I'll look on the bright side--at least he didn't drop any passes last night.

I've been on this bandwagon since the 1960's, but I think we're headed for some bumps in the road.

 

[richpats]

I've been on this bandwagon since the 1960's, but I think we're headed for some bumps in the road.

That's what really killed me about last night's loss - this was the culmination of a lot of vets making a final run, some players in their prime and some players making their first SB appearance. This was Belichick's best team in NE, and next year things won't get better, especially on defense.