Is this really a play-off caliber offense?

I have to say, we have a championship-caliber defense. Like Mike Reiss said, "[t]his is easily the deepest, most talented and athletic front seven in recent Patriots years." Not to mention, the Patriots secondary is playing like no one expected them to play!

However, I can't say the same about the rest of the team - and that goes for special teams as well.

Right now, the offense is battling through injuries and inconsistency. The offensive line keeps struggling with consistency against talented pass rushers. Meanwhile, Brady’s weapons keep getting hurt. And the healthy ones keep dropping passes. In a nutshell, Tom Brady is playing about as well as he can as the rest of the offense crumbles around him. But will it be enough to compete and play in the playoffs?

Your thoughts.....

Yes. #1 in passing yards, #3 in scoring, best record in the AFC. The receiving corps will be complete in one week (Edelman, Gronk, LaFell, Amendola, Chandler) and they have couple of wild cards who could be difference makers in Hankerson and Stephen Jackson.

The OL is complete and has gotten valuable reps for several players who were not experienced at the outset of the season.

The question is, could the Patriots win in a shootout with the Panthers, Cardinals or Steelers? You bet.

Edelman plus Gronk = unstoppable nuff said!

My thought - Edelman makes a huge difference. And LaFell finally looks better. Playoff caliber, are you kidding ???

Not sure it could carry us to a SB but it doesn't have to.

Is this really a serious thread???!!! We were lights out before Edelman and Gronk got hurt, and they will be back. There is also a certain QB we have with a pretty good track record in the playoffs, even with less than stellar supporting cast.

The only real issue has been the interior o-line, especially the guards in pass protection. I am not terribly concerned with the RB, especially with the way White has been playing in the pass game.

Tom Brady is the QB, so yes this is a playoff caliber offense.

If Julian and Danny are healthy, the skill positions are certainly good enough. The offensive line is just not good though. Let's hope they've saved their best for the playoffs.

All we need is the o-line to hold up a little better and establish more of a running game. I think we will have it straightened out by playoff time.

Yes.

Yes but we haven't seen it healthy. I worry about edelman being rusty. The offense wasn't great yesteday. They have to hope for consistency.

Edelman and Gronk are damn near unstoppable with Brady throwing the ball if both are healthy.

Both have trickle down effects. Gronk mostly impacts other WRs being open or getting easier match ups cause he requires so much attention by DBs and LBs and can't be left 1v1 which frees guys up generally.

Edelman's biggest trickle down effect is how he covers up for the offensive line. He can get open so fast and runs for first downs. For all the great things Gronk can do he can not catch a pass behind the LOS half a second after the ball is snapped and turn up field for 10 yards.

That is something Edelman can do though if given the right look and it makes your pass rush and DL completely meaningless.

Once Edelman is back we will notice the problems with the OL less though hopefully it can just learn to play better as well.

Sad to say, was not able to watch yesterday. Sadder still, Pats Fans is letting me down in terms of giving any good insights into the game yesterday--where are you, @Rob0729 and @patfanken ?

Specifically,

--How did the Oline look?

--Lafell better?

Anything else?

12-2 while dealing with injuries to Lewis, Amendola, Gronk, Edeleman , Blount... not to mention the revolving offensive line.

yeah I'd say they are.

JE11
Gronk
Yesterday's LaFell
Kmart
DA
White (yes....White)
RB by committee....

Thats more than enough.

robertweathers said:

JE11
Gronk
Yesterday's LaFell
Kmart
DA
White (yes....White)
RB by committee....

Thats more than enough.

Click to expand...

I am still hoping that edelman plays before the season's over. Get some limited snaps.

patriot1136 said:

All we need is the o-line to hold up a little better and establish more of a running game. I think we will have it straightened out by playoff time.

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I guess that this is a wish and a hope.

Folks are simply assuming that Edelman will be back strong, and that will be enough to give us a playoff quality offense.

I strongly DISAGREE that we need anything more than we had yesterday to have a playoff quality offense. In fact, we've added Jackson (hopefully an upgrade to Bolden). Bolden will be able to play more special teams (he's needed I think).

That being said, I certainly expect that Edelman and/or Amendola will contribute in the playoffs.

BOTTOM LINE
Yesterday's offense is enough to be a playoff offense through the AFC title game. The SB will depend much on the defense. We may or may not be able to win a very high scoring game.

goheels22002 said:

Yes. #1 in passing yards, #3 in scoring, best record in the AFC. The receiving corps will be complete in one week (Edelman, Gronk, LaFell, Amendola, Chandler)....

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I think you have to mention Martin in there, who at this points seems a much better receiving threat than Chandler.

It's certainly a playoff calibur offense. If the OL starts playing well, they will be the best offense in the league when Edelman comes back. Seems like a big if tho

mgteich said:

Folks are simply assuming that Edelman will be back strong, and that will be enough to give us a playoff quality offense.

I strongly DISAGREE that we need anything more than we had yesterday to have a playoff quality offense. In fact, we've added Jackson (hopefully an upgrade to Bolden). Bolden will be able to play more special teams (he's needed I think).

That being said, I certainly expect that Edelman and/or Amendola will contribute in the playoffs.

BOTTOM LINE
Yesterday's offense is enough to be a playoff offense through the AFC title game. The SB will depend much on the defense. We may or may not be able to win a very high scoring game.

Click to expand...

Need to finish drives with tds. Would like to see more of that