What is the biggest obstacle to SB win #4 for the Pats?

In chronological order:

1) Gronk's Health (Already cost us at least 1 SB title, imo)
2) Denver
3) Seattle

I'm not worried about Green Bay in the slightest. We were close to the go ahead score in their house. They're awful on the road.

Seattle, however, is the sort of team that could significantly disrupt our offense and running QBs have given us fits

SVN said:

I like tim wright but he seems to be the potential X-Factor every game. but hasnt worked out yet. Will give him the next offseason to get integrated better .Dont think he becomes the X-Factor in the playoffs. Hope Iam wrong.

Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused on the usage of Wright (which doesn't mean a lot. My only professional level football knowledge of strategy died with the Tecmo Bowl football league going out of business [and even then I never achieved a level of knowledge to defend the Montana-Rice slant play over the middle]). Does anyone doubt that Wright has definite pass catching skill? Even those who disliked the trade admit that Wright has shown some skill. But BB/JM are opting for packages that frequently de-emphasize Wright's skillset.
I know the blocking issue is in play (Wright doesn't have a blocking skillset) and some packages just won't have a need for Wright's skillset, however, on those purer passing downs Wright would appear to be a guy that should be on the field and getting targets. With Gronk, Edelman and LaFell as points of emphasis for OCs, Wright is going to get single coverage every time and frequently with a defender he should beat with speed or with body control.
With that said, I have faith that BB that the packages being used are the ones that provide the greatest likelihood of production (I bet BB would have figured out how to defend Montana-Rice combo in Tecmo)

Oline all the way. I have a lot of confidence in their run blocking but they have been shaky at times in pass coverage.

fnordcircle said:

In chronological order:

1) Gronk's Health (Already cost us at least 1 SB title, imo)
2) Denver
3) Seattle

I'm not worried about Green Bay in the slightest. We were close to the go ahead score in their house. They're awful on the road.

Seattle, however, is the sort of team that could significantly disrupt our offense and running QBs have given us fits

Click to expand...

I'd argue it's cost us two titles. I think they obviously beat the Giants in 2010 with him healthy. And I think they beat Balto and beat SF in 2012 with a healthy Gronk. Last year I'm not so sure they beat that Seattle team, but I'm confident they beat SF.

He is inarguably they most important non-QB in the NFL. (Some can claim Watt, but he's 100% healthy and they are barely a .500 team; Pats are nigh unbeatable with Gronk.)

fnordcircle said:

In chronological order:

1) Gronk's Health (Already cost us at least 1 SB title, imo)
2) Denver
3) Seattle

I'm not worried about Green Bay in the slightest. We were close to the go ahead score in their house. They're awful on the road.

Seattle, however, is the sort of team that could significantly disrupt our offense and running QBs have given us fits

Click to expand...

Up until a month ago Denver worried me. Denver of the first half of 2014 and all of 2013 could light up just about any defense faster than a spliff at a reggae concert. But Denever as of right now isn't achieving that same level of potency. IMHO without that potent 'lighting up' strength, Denver moves closer to a level of Indy or Pitt (meaning a team definitely capable of winning but doesn't strike fear in the heart).

Seattle? They physically dominate. Their Defense is rock solid - I'm taking that away from them -- but keep this in mind about Seattle's defense. The last 8 offenses they have faced: SF, SF, Oakland, Arizona (no Palmer), Giants, KC, Philly(no Foles), Carolina.
Philly with Mark Sanchez is the best offense they have faced by far. The next best offense they have faced is the 14th ranked Giants. Add in the 16th ranked Carolina offense and there are the only 3 offenses they have faced ranked 20 or better.
In the Patriots last 8 games they have played 3 legitimate top 10 offenses. 3 more in the 11 to 20 range, and only 2 ranked below 20 (Jets and Chicago at 23 and 25).
IMHO Seattle's D has been given a very favorable line up to sharpen its teeth and fatten up while the Patriots have been playing much more potent offenses.

The biggest obstacle is the staying healthy.

TheBostonStraggler said:

I'm a bit confused on the usage of Wright (which doesn't mean a lot. My only professional level football knowledge of strategy died with the Tecmo Bowl football league going out of business [and even then I never achieved a level of knowledge to defend the Montana-Rice slant play over the middle]). Does anyone doubt that Wright has definite pass catching skill? Even those who disliked the trade admit that Wright has shown some skill. But BB/JM are opting for packages that frequently de-emphasize Wright's skillset.
I know the blocking issue is in play (Wright doesn't have a blocking skillset) and some packages just won't have a need for Wright's skillset, however, on those purer passing downs Wright would appear to be a guy that should be on the field and getting targets. With Gronk, Edelman and LaFell as points of emphasis for OCs, Wright is going to get single coverage every time and frequently with a defender he should beat with speed or with body control.
With that said, I have faith that BB that the packages being used are the ones that provide the greatest likelihood of production (I bet BB would have figured out how to defend Montana-Rice combo in Tecmo)

Click to expand...

Wright I am assuming is a wrinkle that is comin soon. He has had to much success already to not be used more, which is why I am expecting his production to increase in the playoffs. Not a lot of film on him this year and I think we will see him doin a lot.

For some odd reason, I get a feeling we may even see him in the backfield next to Tom on a play........

Archeryaddict12 said:

Wright I am assuming is a wrinkle that is comin soon. He has had to much success already to not be used more, which is why I am expecting his production to increase in the playoffs. Not a lot of film on him this year and I think we will see him doin a lot.

For some odd reason, I get a feeling we may even see him in the backfield next to Tom on a play........

Click to expand...

Only tangentially related, but remember how confused Miami looked when the Pats lined Edelman and Vereen up in the backfield as split backs? I wouldn't be surprised if we see that again in the playoffs.

I'm in agreement with most. The number one issue that has cost us at least 2 Super Bowls in the past has been injuries. The situation is the same this year. Obviously, we got good and bad news out of yesterday's game. Seeing Hightower, Jones and Siliga as strong as they were is awesome. On the other hand, Arrington and Connolly were injured.

I believe that we are the best team in the NFL and match up well enough against every other team.

If I am listing other teams, the obvious teams in the way of a SB win are DEN, GB and SEA. All four of us are in the similar situations.

Establish the quick hitters out wide to make the D play sideline to sideline. Pound Gray/LGB up the middle. Then feed the Gronk up the seams.

Rinse repeat.

Defense will do their thing, lockdown red zone and not give up big plays from 20-20s

BradyFTW! said:

Only tangentially related, but remember how confused Miami looked when the Pats lined Edelman and Vereen up in the backfield as split backs? I wouldn't be surprised if we see that again in the playoffs.

Click to expand...

agreed. Wish they'd use him and Wright in that look. JE similar to Harvin, Cobb and Wright like AH

BradyFTW! said:

Only tangentially related, but remember how confused Miami looked when the Pats lined Edelman and Vereen up in the backfield as split backs? I wouldn't be surprised if we see that again in the playoffs.

Click to expand...

That's why I am still not convinced we haven't seen wrights best days this season. I know bb wouldn't hold anyone back if it meant a bigger shot at losing, but I think wright is still waiting for a true break out game

Pittsburgh playing lights out. Great qb wr and rb. Great dl and lbs.

Well I want to wait for these last two games but since the topic has to be discussed so soon I will tell you I have two fears.

I don't think we will lose at home, think we go 10-0, best team blah but:

1. No pass rush, at all.
2. No run game, at all.

I don't care what Chandler and Gray and Blount and Collins are capable of, they are not consistent enough for me to sit here and say they will beast, I can easily see all 4 become ghosts for a week or two which is more than enough to get eliminated as we know. To win the SB we IMO need Brady to have his best playoff ever, no off nights like he had against teams like BAL and NYG, and the secondary needs to accept that they will be doing a lot of covering with no pressure on the QB, limit those penalties Browner.

A healthy Gronk, and Revis at corner helps a lot, but remember and this is my #3: We still don't have a great WR so Lafell and Edelman are who they are and Brady has to make it work, I am done complaining about not grabbing a VJax/Fitz type, this is who they choose so make it work.

New England Pride said:

Lmao! Your new avatar!

Click to expand...

have to pay homage to the man

i have no idea what kind of person he is in real life....but his radio persona is great

he was clowning on that silly SI article today....it was great

truth be told, i have great respect for brady.....im glad hes our QB this year....and i look forward to him being the QB next year.....you can make a strong case that he is the best football player ever.....but i just cant partake in the sacred cowism.....i deeply admire his charity work.....but its just more fun to go against the grain than to join in on the ***********

Dutchmaster617 said:

Well I want to wait for these last two games but since the topic has to be discussed so soon I will tell you I have two fears.

I don't think we will lose at home, think we go 10-0, best team blah but:

1. No pass rush, at all.
2. No run game, at all.

I don't care what Chandler and Gray and Blount and Collins are capable of, they are not consistent enough for me to sit here and say they will beast, I can easily see all 4 become ghosts for a week or two which is more than enough to get eliminated as we know. To win the SB we IMO need Brady to have his best playoff ever, no off nights like he had against teams like BAL and NYG, and the secondary needs to accept that they will be doing a lot of covering with no pressure on the QB, limit those penalties Browner.

A healthy Gronk, and Revis at corner helps a lot, but remember and this is my #3: We still don't have a great WR so Lafell and Edelman are who they are and Brady has to make it work, I am done complaining about not grabbing a VJax/Fitz type, this is who they choose so make it work.

Click to expand...

What games have been watchin about pass rush and run game? Run game hasn't been great but gray hopefully will be featured more.

bigballas said:

as our fellow friend and poster would say : JOSH MCDONALDS

Click to expand...

Well I assume Brady isn't giving his possible last shot away to submit to that clown, so it isn't a concern for me.

1) Health

2) Luck (something that we have not had much of in the post-season lately, outside of the BAL missed FG in the 2011 AFCCG)

3) Strong OL play

4) Sharpness from Brady...the kind that we usually see in the divisional round game

kennyb said:

Pittsburgh playing lights out. Great qb wr and rb. Great dl and lbs.

Click to expand...

I'm never one to want to play a hot team, but PIT would have lost to ATL yesterday had Julio Jones been able to go. Hell, they still almost blew it even without him.

I think we'd put Revis on Antonio Brown, have a gameplan to pressure Roethlisberger, and limit the production of Le'Veon Bell. After that, it'd be about taking advantage of their pathetic secondary.

I think I'd much rather play PIT than BAL, who appears to have a cakewalk with their last 2 games and may end up winning the division at 11-5. There are plenty of reasons to not be scared of them as well, but I don't like the fact that they can buckle down and get physical at the right time of the year. I actually think all 3 of those teams are fairly weak this year...or rather, they are their usual mediocre selves that often finish at 9-7 or 10-6, which is exactly why I thought predictions of their demise were severely premature. The fact remains that they (BAL) were never really anything special to begin with, and are likely an annual 9-7/10-6 team no matter what.

I've always said that if you played the season out 3 times, you're likely to get 3 different division winners, and it looks like that may be the case this year as well.

Archeryaddict12 said:

What games have been watchin about pass rush and run game? Run game hasn't been great but gray hopefully will be featured more.

Click to expand...

Gray is overrated, I easily can see a good team shutting him down, I don't consider him to be AP like most posters here.

It is my opinion that we have no run game, we may go off in one playoff game, but the next we won't, so IMO we need Brady to put his career on the table and carry the offense one last time.