The situation of our Offense

mosslost · Nov 24, 2015

upstater1 said:
14-2 is first seed, so I would take that.
Denver and Cincy are going to lose one more.

One of them is already guaranteed a third loss

mgteich · Nov 24, 2015

Mack Herron said:
State of the offense?

1. The OL nearly got The Franchise killed last night. If the Pats are to achieve anything, Brady must remain upright. The OL must improve.

2. There is no legitimate threat in the running game. This makes defending the Pats easier, and allows DLs to tee off on the pass rush. There has to be a credible running game. LGB has shown that he can tiptoe to the line but will get nothing unless the OL has created a lane. The staff has shown essentially zero confidence in White or Bolden. I am not a fan of LGB because he offers neither speed nor power at the point of attack, but it looks like we live or die with him. Again the onus falls to the OL.

3. The passing game is a mess. Without Lewis, JE11 and now Amendola, there are few open targets and nobody gets open quickly. Martin showed some promise before taking 5 weeks off with a hammy. Dobson has been unable to make a difference and is injured again. LaFell has been inconsistent and was benched in favor Dobson. Harper is inexperienced playing behind all of the above and we are now leaning on him to be a factor. If DA isn't ready, It is possible we go into Denver with a WR crew of LaFell, Harper, Slater, and maybe Martin. Yikes. I don't expet a consistent passing game from these guys or anyone else they might sign off the street.

We leaned more on the TE group after the injuries last night but Gronk went AWOL. Gronk needs to show he can be effective without JE11, which is not asking a lot. Chandler is invisible and Williams is strictly a blocker. White and Bolden are only occasional targets and have been mostly confined to the backfield to intercept all the penetrating rushers (see #1).

Conclusion: Nothing happens without better play from the OL. The OL has survived and even thrived so far (until last night) despite rotations and injuries, so I'd like to think last night's debacle was an aberration. We can reasonably hope they can play better in every facet of the game moving forward. In the meantime, we need to win with defense until the coaches rebuild an offense with spare parts.

I think that we all have 5 or 6 ways to say that that the key is the play of the OL. The OL was exposed. They've looked very, very good in past games when Brady was releasing in 1.7 seconds. They looked good even in games where Brady passed all game from the shotgun. We need a LT for next week. We need to decide among Cannon, Vollmer and Fleming and play them. They need consistency. The announcers were right. Have Fleming move back and forth between left and right just doesn't work, especially for such a inexperienced players.

So, yeah, we really do need Amendola and Martin. But, even more, we need consistent play from the OL. Given that we have six weeks to develop the consistency, this can be done. Of course, Brady needs to survive without injury until the playoffs. He can't take too many more games like this one.

ivanvamp · Nov 24, 2015

One thing to remember. The Pats OL is a total mess, the offense has lost Edelman, Lewis, Amendola, and Dobson. The Bills' D played incredibly well, and the Pats still put up 356 yards and scored 20 points.

Not bad all things considered.

Ivan · Nov 24, 2015

First off stabilize the OL, I would move Stork back to center, Vollmer to left tackle, Fleming to Right Tackle, Mason at LG and Kline at RG. Keep it as stable as possible from here on out.

Given the dearth of receivers I would go two back for now. Use any combination of Blount, White, and Boldin. Get at least 30 touches a game out of them and use them in the passing game. It also bolsters the protection for Brady.

Use LaFell, Harper, Martin and Amendola when he is healthy as the receivers and shoot for a 5-1 finish that gives them home field and a much needed bye. The Denver game is big because they can hand them their 3rd loss and have the tiebreaker and if the Broncos beat Cincy then the Patriots will have essentially locked up the first seed overall.

Basically patch it together for the playoffs, if Edelman is back, Amendola gets healthy, and they stabilize their OL then they will be the team to beat in the tournament.

Kontradiction · Nov 24, 2015

Mack Herron said:
State of the offense?

1. The OL nearly got The Franchise killed last night. If the Pats are to achieve anything, Brady must remain upright. The OL must improve.

Brady is going to get injured if he keeps absorbing hits like that at 38 years old. The last two weeks are the hardest hits I've seen him take since Super Bowl XLII. They need to get healthy up front, find the right combination, and stick with it.

SlowGettingUp · Nov 24, 2015

Everyone is blaming Cannon here - not saying he didn't have some very poor plays indeed (he obviously did as Hughes beat him easily a number of times) but he also played more snaps than anyone else, and also played in the toughest spot on the line.

But the fundamental problem here was Brady and the line being being fooled by Rex - any number of times we saw 3 linemen standing around blocking one guy while someone was coming untouched to Brady on the other side.

As to why the run blocking was so bad I have no idea. Mostly wasn't Blount's fault - my impression was there just wasn't much to be had at all.

It was the first game this year for Stork as center, and obviously this was also the first game back for a couple of key players that have been out. So there is hope that things improve next week.

Mack Herron · Nov 24, 2015

ivanvamp said:
One thing to remember. The Pats OL is a total mess, the offense has lost Edelman, Lewis, Amendola, and Dobson. The Bills' D played incredibly well, and the Pats still put up 356 yards and scored 20 points.

Not bad all things considered.

I love the half-full perspective but much of the offense you cite was accomplished pre-injury; take away DA and Brady completed less then 50% of his throws and we amassed a whopping 239 yards of total offense heading into Denver.

Brady was 9-for-12 for 117 yards when throwing to Amendola and 11-for-27 for 160 yards when targeting anyone else.
After Amendola was removed from the game, Brady was just 3-for-7 passing for 42 yards with an interception.
Prior to Amendola getting hurt, the Patriots averaged 6.43 yards a play. After he left the game, the Patriots averaged just 4.06 yards a play.

What Patriots would miss without Danny Amendola

mosslost · Nov 24, 2015

I am choosing to think that the Pats will find a way. Get HFA... Then find a way to win 2 home games... then game plan a SB

meatface · Nov 25, 2015

No way the Jets release Thompkins anyone soon, even if they don't want him they can't b let the pats get him. It would be amusing if the pats got welker and Thompkins

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The situation of our Offense

mosslost

Pro Bowl Player

mgteich

PatsFans.com Veteran

ivanvamp

In the Starting Line-Up

Ivan

Hall of Fame Poster

Kontradiction

On my retirement tour.

SlowGettingUp

2nd Team Getting Their First Start

Mack Herron

Pro Bowl Player

mosslost

Pro Bowl Player

meatface

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

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