How Have We Improved

AndyJohnson said:

I don't care what your PERCEPTION was about what happened on 3rd down. I would rather have you hate the 3rd down defense and allow less points and win than have you love it and allow more points and lose.
You must be one of those guys that considers Rex Ryan's defenses great when they put up good yardage stats, brag about being tough but never take the ball away, allow more points and lose.

Are you seriously telling me that winning isn't important but winning with a style you approve of is?

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no no no. my point is Brady is 38 now. In all likelihood, his ability to score as proficiently as he has in the past will diminish. therefore, more possessions for him takes pressure off him. as well as keeping points as low as possible

AndyJohnson said:

Check back in Septmenber

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HOOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKK

billdog3484 said:

If that is the most frustrated you have had to watch as Patriots fan then consider yourself damn lucky. I don't know if you are aware of some former Pats defenses prior to the arrival of Bledsoe and Parcells.

ok. for all of you people who parse what i wrote:

When you have a QB like Brady. Over larger sample sizes you will score more POINTS PER DRIVE than another team. Over smaller sample sizes there is less predictability. therefore, the goal would be to maximize the number of possessions your QB has. Mathematically, this will enable you to take advantage of your advantage on offense.

When we play soft shell (like 05-12), inside the 20s we are not giving the other team yardage but we are backing off. this in turn creates more 3rd down conversions by the offense. inside the 20s we buckle down. and BB and our Defensive Coaches are the best in the business at this. That is all fine and dandy. BUT, the biggest thing is that it keeps our QB off the field and limits the amount of possessions per game. this puts more pressure on the offense to score more efficiently than maybe we need to be because we are limiting sample size, and further away from the mean.

in the past, becuase Brady is so good, we were able to overcome it. maybe he still can. but hes 38 now. at some point its gonna be a problem

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Wrong.
The goal is to win.

Are you actually stating here that you have a better idea of how to win football games than Bill Belichick?

CMH said:

Apparently you are privvy to information that others are not?

Glad you know for a fact that Easley will be healthy and Mayo will be back.

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We're hearing that Easley is healthy and Mayo, as of this moment, is a Patriot.

Great point, though. Real MENSA stuff.

It's understandable that people would see them as having a weaker roster now than they did 6 weeks ago because it's true, however that doesn't mean Belichick is making the wrong decisions it simply means he is limited by the salary cap and has to find ways to improve next year's team without weakening them significantly for the future. And truth be told I would be willing to bet that those who are the most upset are the exact same people who have always wanted him to mortgage the future to get a ring, and they just got that ring and didn't mortgage the future to get it.

Belichick has had to make exceptionally difficult decisions over the past month, and while they aren't as strong right now as they were when they win the Super Bowl there is really no way they could be as any decisions to sign or release would have resulted in losing quality players who helped them win a championship. In other words it would have been impossible to field a better team notes than they did for the SB. Losing Revis sucked but was inevitable, there was no way they could outbid the Jets for him. Losing Wilfork sucks but he made the difficult decision not to overpay an icon who is really going to be a Role player from here on out. Losing Ayers, Casillas, and Vereen Is too bad but other teams were willing to overpay for them and and Belichick was right not to.

The bottom line is that sometimes you have to get worse to get better and that is where they sit right now, and there is no one I trust more to make the moves necessary to get them right back to the podium than Belichick. At this point the toughest decisions for this of season have been made and now we are looking at the moves to strengthen them, I'm looking forward to that.

billdog3484 said:

no no no. my point is Brady is 38 now. In all likelihood, his ability to score as proficiently as he has in the past will diminish. therefore, more possessions for him takes pressure off him. as well as keeping points as low as possible

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So since you want to limit how many points the other team scores you don't like the scheme that was 3rd in points allowed and second in turnovers (and first in wins) over a 9 year period????????????

billdog3484 said:

no no no. my point is Brady is 38 now. In all likelihood, his ability to score as proficiently as he has in the past will diminish. therefore, more possessions for him takes pressure off him. as well as keeping points as low as possible

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He's 37. I hear that's almost 40.

Do i have a better idea of how to win football games than Belichick???

hmmm. well, i dont know football as well as him.

I know that he has never won a Super Bowl without an elite #1 CB.

I know that in the years we did not have an elite #1 CB we came up justtttt short because our CB's couldnt make the big play.

I know that we had an elite CB on our team

I know we currently do not have an elite CB on our team

i know Brady scores more points per possession than just about any other QB

I know that by limiting possessions per game and reducing the sample size in any given game there is more unpredictability. and opposite to that, the more possessions per game brings more tendency towards the mean

i know who Belichick has drafted at CB over a 20 year span, including the Browns, I'm sure you know his track record with that

The Pats are as good as they were at the end of the season at the present time, but I would still say they are still the team to beat in the AFC.

billdog3484 said:

UMMMMM NOOOOO. i just want to know how we are going to come close to replacing him

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Yes, where is the HoF CB to replace Revis, huh? huh? Get on it Belichick! This is hilarious. Ever hear of the salary cap?

It's amazing that longtime fans of the Patriots don't know better than to avoid panicking at this time of year. We go through this almost every year. And the team is almost always proven right in its decisions not to chase high-priced free agents.

In the entire history of this team under Belichick, the Pats have only once chased after a high-priced free agent who made an immediate impact. That was last year with Revis. If you want to call Adalius Thomas a success, then maybe twice, but he turned out to be a flop in the end. Rosie Colvin got hurt in his first game and was the only other big-money, sexy free agent the Pats ever chased. Colvin contributed on the 2004 title team, but you could make the argument that he was the sixth-best linebacker on that team (after Willie, Vrabel, Johnson, Phifer, and Bruschi).

Every other Patriot mainstay either arrived via the draft or was a low-cost acquisition. Rodney Harrison cost $14 million; Welker cost a little more plus a second-rounder. Moss cost a fourth, as did Ted Washington. Brian Waters signed a week before the season started for short money. Vrabel was a total unknown - Jonathan Freeny might be the next Vrabel for all we know. Same with Ninkovitch and basically every starting free agent offensive lineman this team has had outside of Waters.

The Patriot approach is to try to build with value signings and then add throughout the season as needs arise. Jarvis Green was the plan at the nose in 2003, but they traded for Washington when they realized he wouldn't work. Talib was added when he became available. Deion Branch's return was another example. Blount, acquired twice, was another..

This team doesn't have many holes. It returns basically the entire offense minus Vereen, plus Chandler. On defense it lost the three major players in Revis, Browner and Wilfork. But Sheard is a big addition to the front, and Easley and Mayo returning improve the team.

That means we have an entire draft class, plus all of our remaining cap space, to try to make up for the losses of a few players. Granted, Revis is a huge, devastating loss. But they're not that far from being what they were, and they may very well be better on offense. With Collins, Hightower, Jones, Ninkovitch, Sheard, Mayo, Easley and Siliga, they have a lot of good players in the front seven. They've got a Pro Bowl safety and a bunch of corners who are at least okay. And there's a LOT of time left. May we should at least wait until after draft weekend before hitting the panic button?

billdog3484 said:

I know that he has never won a Super Bowl without an elite #1 CB.

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What elite CB did they win with in 2004?

ArchAngel007 said:

We should stop downplaying the loss of Revis he was the difference maker in the defense last season.

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The reasonable fan will say that the loss of Revis is a huge blow, but will also say that there are 5-6 other playmakers on this defense that are very capable of playing at a ProBowl level consistently.

ArchAngel007 said:

We played against elite quarterbacks throughout the year and he made it possible to gameplan effectively against them. Good thing this year we do not face as many elite QBs.

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2014- Tannenhill (2), Cassell, Geno Smith (2), Carr, P. Manning, Alex Smith, Dalton, Cutler, Luck, Orton (2), Rivers, Rodgers, Stafford

2015 (projected) Geno Smith (2), Cassel (2), Tannenhill (2) Bortles, Mettenberger? Bradford, Roethlisberger, Mallett, Luck, Romo, P Manning, E Manning

I don't see a sizable difference. They need to have a strong secondary in 2015 as well.

ArchAngel007 said:

Luckily we still have Brady and Gronk those two alone can change the course of any game so the Pats should be fine as long as the CB position is addressed as well as other areas that need some depth. I saw the offense carry the worst secondary to start a Superbowl in 2011 this one even with its losses is better not saying we should be happy with what we have so far, but just a thought.

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The 2015 secondary is already better than the 2011 secondary. The front 7 is better as well.

Don Kipines said:

It's amazing that longtime fans of the Patriots don't know better than to avoid panicking at this time of year.

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They are not longtime fans. They are pink hats. They are impetulant children. They are fans who have only recently become fans since the Pats started winning. They are whiners.

They are anything but longtime fans.

How many rings do the "elite" CBs in the league have combined? Two?

Saying BB hasn't won a SB without one is logically akin to Homer wanting Lisa's bear-repelling rock.

Maybe some people would be happier rooting for another team during the free agency period and then they can root for the Pats during the regular season.

billdog3484 said:

I know that he has never won a Super Bowl without an elite #1 CB.

I know that in the years we did not have an elite #1 CB we came up justtttt short because our CB's couldnt make the big play.

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You do? What elite QB was on the 2004 team? What plays did the elite CBs make down the stretch in 2001 and 2003? Or last year for that matter?

For a guy who claims to be smart, you keep demonstrating the opposite. Rather than post more misinformation, perhaps its time to ask questions and learn.

billdog3484 said:

Do i have a better idea of how to win football games than Belichick???

hmmm. well, i dont know football as well as him.

I know that he has never won a Super Bowl without an elite #1 CB.

I know that in the years we did not have an elite #1 CB we came up justtttt short because our CB's couldnt make the big play.

I know that we had an elite CB on our team

I know we currently do not have an elite CB on our team

i know Brady scores more points per possession than just about any other QB

I know that by limiting possessions per game and reducing the sample size in any given game there is more unpredictability. and opposite to that, the more possessions per game brings more tendency towards the mean

i know who Belichick has drafted at CB over a 20 year span, including the Browns, I'm sure you know his track record with that

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So you are picking the Jets this season?

Oswlek said:

You do? What elite QB was on the 2004 team? What plays did the elite CBs make down the stretch in 2001 and 2003? Or last year for that matter?

For a guy who claims to be smart, you keep demonstrating the opposite. Rather than post
more misinformation, perhaps its time to ask questions and learn.

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People who actually are smart know better than to claim they are.

At least 99.99% of them do............

Oswlek said:

You do? What elite QB was on the 2004 team? What plays did the elite CBs make down the stretch in 2001 and 2003? Or last year for that matter?

For a guy who claims to be smart, you keep demonstrating the opposite. Rather than post more misinformation, perhaps its time to ask questions and learn.

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I remember our elite CB costing us a title in 2007 by choking on a gimme.