NY Times Article On The Patriots 2012 Season

New England Patriots, 2012 N.F.L. Season Preview - NYTimes.com


Benoit is not very convinced this defense will be much better,but he still puts the Pats in the AFCCG

That was a good read.

Let's hope he is wrong the the defense.

Agreed. A very good read, and hard to argue with anything he says. I'd conservatively say that I believe the defense will be more physical this year, and faster, more able to hurry the QB if not get to him, but that does remain to be seen.

PATRIOTSFANINPA said:

New England Patriots, 2012 N.F.L. Season Preview - NYTimes.com


Benoit is not very convinced this defense will be much better,but he still puts the Pats in the AFCCG

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In my opinion a lengthy, yet lazy, assessment.

lets bring the sb back to foxboro

Jackson 2 said:

In my opinion a lengthy, yet lazy, assessment.

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Wow, you're a harsh critic.

For people who don't know the team well (and remember this was written for a 'national' paper, and thus hit the target for its audience) I thought this was packed with good detail and observation.

For the well informed, it was a thoughtful take from an outsider useful as portrait to reflect upon and urge a prodding of my beliefs about the Pat's talent.

Brady'sButtBoy said:

Wow, you're a harsh critic.

For people who don't know the team well (and remember this was written for a 'national' paper, and thus hit the target for its audience) I thought this was packed with good detail and observation.

For the well informed, it was a thoughtful take from an outsider useful as portrait to reflect upon and urge a prodding of my beliefs about the Pat's talent.

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It is always annoying to here another outside voice that makes the classic mistakes of underrating Wes Welker and overrating Mark Anderson.

That and I don't understand at all how people don't think the D will be significantly better. We undeniably lost games last year because of the awful play in crucial moments of guys like Tracy White and Sergio Brown. This year we should consistently have actual starters playing at safety. Our LB's are better and should have time to gel. At the end of the year we had guys like Moore on the field who basically admitted that they didn't know what their assignments were.

Our D was held together with spit and bubblegum last year. This year we have an off season to prepare and enough depth in the secondary to avoid the catastrophe that was all of last season.

Ifleninwasawizard said:

...

That and I don't understand at all how people don't think the D will be significantly better. We undeniably lost games last year because of the awful play in crucial moments of guys like Tracy White and Sergio Brown. This year we should consistently have actual starters playing at safety. Our LB's are better and should have time to gel. At the end of the year we had guys like Moore on the field who basically admitted that they didn't know what their assignments were.

Our D was held together with spit and bubblegum last year. This year we have an off season to prepare and enough depth in the secondary to avoid the catastrophe that was all of last season.

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From your lips to God's ears, but I think the author's point is that that is yet to be proven.

I join those who think this was a fair and very good piece, even if I have the Pats winning the SB and thus disagree with his final analysis.

I liked especially the way he dismisses those who think the off the field celebrity of folks like Brady and Gronk has diminished the team's play. This is clearly someone who remembers that Max McGee led all receivers in SB I with a Blood Alcohol Level that would have gotten him rung up in most states. (For the humor impaired, that's a joke and not meant to compare anyone on today's Pats with someone who showed up for a Championship Game in the bag.)

My favorite quote came from his comparison of Brady/Belichick I and Brady/Belichick II (hopefully reproduced briefly enough not to get zapped):

"Super Bowl-losing Brady has better arm strength and accuracy than Super Bowl-winning Brady. Super Bowl-losing Brady is more poised in the pocket.... Super Bowl-losing Brady performs as comfortably with bodies around him as anyone in the game. He never, ever seems to deliver a ball off balance.... More important, he orchestrates a rich, diverse system predominantly from the line of scrimmage, controlling a game’s tempo and flow the way Peyton Manning always has. Super Bowl-winning Brady did some of these things some of the time. Super Bowl-losing Brady does all of these things all of the time. It’s not even close who the better quarterback is." (My emphasis)

I like that because it helps put to rest the nonsense that Tom Brady today isn't as good as Tom Brady a decade ago. Hogwash and horse feathers. I hope he only gets better with age.

I disagree with his assessment of the defense, to improve a defense, you need talent and last year that team was devoid of talent on the defensive end, a bunch of UDFA out there.

Now, I dont see us being a top defense, but I think we can be middle of the pack.


anyone can see that Belichick has re-stocked this defense, better talent at Safety, front 7, linebacker and if Hightower/Jones can be impact players that can greatly improve our defense

AbortionClinic said:

lets bring the sb back to foxboro

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Looking at his username I wonder how this guy got banned....

Fair article.

While we try to pump up the defense in our minds, every team in the NFL can argue that they've improved through player continuity, experience from young players, returning players from injury, and recently drafted players. While I am also optimistic about the Pats because Belichick might be the best in the business at fixing problems quickly, the bottom line is you can't expect success until it's been proven on the field. For the defense, they have a lot to prove, and until then, I'll keep on believing this is not a championship defense.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Fair article.

While we try to pump up the defense in our minds, every team in the NFL can argue that they've improved through player continuity, experience from young players, returning players from injury, and recently drafted players. While I am also optimistic about the Pats because Belichick might be the best in the business at fixing problems quickly, the bottom line is you can't expect success until it's been proven on the field. For the defense, they have a lot to prove, and until then, I'll keep on believing this is not a championship defense.

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I definitely agree there, theres alot that has to fall in place .for this defense ti improve...1 being Mccourty has to go back to being who he was his rookie year, and Hightower/Jones IMO have to be impact guys

just looking from a talent perspective though, this years Defense is much better....Belichick has definitely gone out and gotten some NFL talent....last year Belichick was pulling guys off the street. I remember one game, they didnt even have pictures for them it was so patched together