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- Apr 3, 2006
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I love Edelman, but many are thinking the offense will suddenly become a juggernaut again when he returns. Amendola had 119 yards before leaving with his injury! I think that, even with some JAGs taking the #4 and #5 option, the Patriots will be able to get by okay. This isn't to say they won't improve when Edelman returns because they will; he is a great receiver and, in my opinion, the best in his prime slot receiver they have had.
The dropoff from Edelman to Amendola, however, doesn't force the Patriots to change their gameplan / distribution as much as Lewis to White. Amendola essentially becomes Edelman with less explosiveness and a weaker skill set, but he still gets a lot of targets and makes a lot of plays. In losing the production of Lewis, however, the Patriots go from a team that is going to beat you mostly on dumpoffs and medium passes to a team that is going to throw almost all medium passes. It's a lot easier to defend.
Thus, in my opinion, the much bigger offensive concern is the position previously occupied by Faulk/ Woodhead/ Vereen/ Lewis. Having that back who can catch passes and lineup at WR makes the offense incredibly dynamic and softens the poor play of the offensive line. In addition, double/triple teaming Gronk becomes a losing proposition since he can just keep running seem routes to draw bodies downfield.
Does anyone remember the insane "With Vereen / Without Vereen" splits from the last few years?
I am not sure how or if the Patriots will be able to solve this problem, as it's going to take some creativity or may require White or Bolden to step up. Unfortunately, I don't know if either has the necessary skills to make defenses pay for being aggressive and attempting to dictate the gameplan. It is a tiny sample size, but the Patriots moved the ball well against the Jets with White filling in for Lewis, and White had 5 targets in that game. White and Bolden were targeted a combined 4 times against Buffalo and 2 times against NYG. That's an average of just 3 targets per game, and in both games the offense seemed average. In comparison, Lewis averaged just over 7 targets per game, and Vereen averaged roughly 6 targets per game from 2013-14.
I hope the Patriots will at least try to get White/Bolden involved more, even if it will be often be a 6 yard gain instead of a 12 yard gain. Clearly I am not in the same universe as the coaching staff and Brady when it comes to these gameplans, but it seems like they may have some problems moving the ball if teams continue to show little respect for out running backs coming out of the backfield.
The dropoff from Edelman to Amendola, however, doesn't force the Patriots to change their gameplan / distribution as much as Lewis to White. Amendola essentially becomes Edelman with less explosiveness and a weaker skill set, but he still gets a lot of targets and makes a lot of plays. In losing the production of Lewis, however, the Patriots go from a team that is going to beat you mostly on dumpoffs and medium passes to a team that is going to throw almost all medium passes. It's a lot easier to defend.
Thus, in my opinion, the much bigger offensive concern is the position previously occupied by Faulk/ Woodhead/ Vereen/ Lewis. Having that back who can catch passes and lineup at WR makes the offense incredibly dynamic and softens the poor play of the offensive line. In addition, double/triple teaming Gronk becomes a losing proposition since he can just keep running seem routes to draw bodies downfield.
Does anyone remember the insane "With Vereen / Without Vereen" splits from the last few years?
I am not sure how or if the Patriots will be able to solve this problem, as it's going to take some creativity or may require White or Bolden to step up. Unfortunately, I don't know if either has the necessary skills to make defenses pay for being aggressive and attempting to dictate the gameplan. It is a tiny sample size, but the Patriots moved the ball well against the Jets with White filling in for Lewis, and White had 5 targets in that game. White and Bolden were targeted a combined 4 times against Buffalo and 2 times against NYG. That's an average of just 3 targets per game, and in both games the offense seemed average. In comparison, Lewis averaged just over 7 targets per game, and Vereen averaged roughly 6 targets per game from 2013-14.
I hope the Patriots will at least try to get White/Bolden involved more, even if it will be often be a 6 yard gain instead of a 12 yard gain. Clearly I am not in the same universe as the coaching staff and Brady when it comes to these gameplans, but it seems like they may have some problems moving the ball if teams continue to show little respect for out running backs coming out of the backfield.