PP2
Hall of Fame Poster
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 24,065
- Reaction score
- 24,527
By and large I’ve stayed away from football these past few days as it seems anything Patriots-related has turned into a full-blown inquisition ranging from the ludicrous to downright insane (the Spanish Inquisition pales in comparison). I did, however pay attention to sources that I thought were well-qualified to speak on the topic, and those included Bruschi who has shown a remarkable level-headedness through this, and Harrison, (i.e., ex-Patriot players). What they both pointed out was that football is essentially about blocking. If you can’t block, you can’t execute, and when you can’t execute, you aren’t playing football. That’s a basic point of truth and is why I believe that it’s hard to diagnose what is wrong with the offense when the blocking isn’t there. And to a further extent, if the offense isn’t there, it’s hard for the defense to stay enthusiastic.
In that regard, I am revisiting the Mankins trade- and while a good argument could be made that his level of play isn’t where it once was, there are two important things that stand out to me, one of which is his leadership and toughness which is now a void on the line. The other is the timing of the trade which couldn’t have happened at a worst point: right before the regular season started. This seems to have been a fatal combination which has resulted in the line having no confidence, no leadership, and more importantly no trust in each other which naturally leads to missed blocks and blown assignments because you aren’t trusting that the guy next to you will do his job, and you feel compelled to cover for him or do his job for him, losing your man in the process. And on top of that, a new coach who comes with a new system, new terminology.
Solder seems to have been affected the most, as his confidence has plunged- and when that happens, no amount of technique in the world is going to save you. It does not look like he is a natural leader and that role has been unjustly placed on his shoulder in Mankins’s absence. The minor bright spot on the line is that we are finally starting to develop consistency at center and that is the place to start. Stork turned in a remarkably good performance in a hostile, loud environment and didn’t make too many mistakes. FWIW, the sack Solder gave up to Hali was in fact, Stork’s fault. Hali had figured out the timing of the snap by watching Stork’s tendency to bob his head right before the snap and was able to beat Solder before he could establish. This is something Stork will self-scout on and most certainly eliminate in the future.
And as for this past Monday night.. there are a few other factors to consider which leads me to believe that it was just a perfect storm waiting to happen. What people seem to forget is that prior to Monday night, Reid was 0-4 vs. BB (including on a national stage), so you can bet he stayed up quite a few nights dreaming up a fantastic, near perfect game plan which included quite a bit of weakside plays that threw this gap-priority defense and messed up their gap responsibilities (something we will see more of as we go forward as we all know the NFL is a copycat league). That along with wearing the wrong cleats (the Pats haven’t been on that field since ’06) as well as a bad game design on McD’s (and BB’s part) in that by benching two WR”s and going with a gameplan that called for plenty of quick releases and backfield action, they pretty much sent a loud message to the OL: “We have zero confidence in you.”
I think this team has too much integrity and pride not to self-scout and self-assess their way back to their usual standards, so I am not hitting the panic button and am far from doing so. I think it is unfair to judge Brady when his line is not taking care of him or protecting him. He is right now, IMO, the equivalent of a blind man being judged for not driving a car properly or skillfully.
I somehow think that, come Sunday night, the ship will be righted and all will be good in Patriot nation. BB has already buried the game ball and moved the team past this, and we should all move on as well.
In that regard, I am revisiting the Mankins trade- and while a good argument could be made that his level of play isn’t where it once was, there are two important things that stand out to me, one of which is his leadership and toughness which is now a void on the line. The other is the timing of the trade which couldn’t have happened at a worst point: right before the regular season started. This seems to have been a fatal combination which has resulted in the line having no confidence, no leadership, and more importantly no trust in each other which naturally leads to missed blocks and blown assignments because you aren’t trusting that the guy next to you will do his job, and you feel compelled to cover for him or do his job for him, losing your man in the process. And on top of that, a new coach who comes with a new system, new terminology.
Solder seems to have been affected the most, as his confidence has plunged- and when that happens, no amount of technique in the world is going to save you. It does not look like he is a natural leader and that role has been unjustly placed on his shoulder in Mankins’s absence. The minor bright spot on the line is that we are finally starting to develop consistency at center and that is the place to start. Stork turned in a remarkably good performance in a hostile, loud environment and didn’t make too many mistakes. FWIW, the sack Solder gave up to Hali was in fact, Stork’s fault. Hali had figured out the timing of the snap by watching Stork’s tendency to bob his head right before the snap and was able to beat Solder before he could establish. This is something Stork will self-scout on and most certainly eliminate in the future.
And as for this past Monday night.. there are a few other factors to consider which leads me to believe that it was just a perfect storm waiting to happen. What people seem to forget is that prior to Monday night, Reid was 0-4 vs. BB (including on a national stage), so you can bet he stayed up quite a few nights dreaming up a fantastic, near perfect game plan which included quite a bit of weakside plays that threw this gap-priority defense and messed up their gap responsibilities (something we will see more of as we go forward as we all know the NFL is a copycat league). That along with wearing the wrong cleats (the Pats haven’t been on that field since ’06) as well as a bad game design on McD’s (and BB’s part) in that by benching two WR”s and going with a gameplan that called for plenty of quick releases and backfield action, they pretty much sent a loud message to the OL: “We have zero confidence in you.”
I think this team has too much integrity and pride not to self-scout and self-assess their way back to their usual standards, so I am not hitting the panic button and am far from doing so. I think it is unfair to judge Brady when his line is not taking care of him or protecting him. He is right now, IMO, the equivalent of a blind man being judged for not driving a car properly or skillfully.
I somehow think that, come Sunday night, the ship will be righted and all will be good in Patriot nation. BB has already buried the game ball and moved the team past this, and we should all move on as well.
