Biggest Positives this season?

This deserves it's own separate thread from the "Biggest disappointments". Here's to those who look at the cup half full. Those who are already looking forward to September. The Pats still went 12-4 and made it to their 5th consecutive AFCCG despite a ridiculous amount of injuries this year.

1. Malcom Butler. Nobody expected him to be this good. We were all worried after losing Revis and Browner. Butler played like a legit #1 CB and made the Pro Bowl.
2. Patrick Chung. He flashed it last season and was underrated. He had some clutch, game-saving break ups during our SB run. He's built on that and this season he's been one of the best Safeties in the league. Incredible career turn around for Chung, who looked like he was on his way out of the league just a couple season ago.
3. Logan Ryan. Looked good in his rookie year, but was pretty bad last season. Nobody was confident he could come in and compete on a weekly basis with some of the best WR's in the league, but he had an excellent year.
4. Jamie Collins and Donta Hightower. Probably the best Linebacker duo in the league, or close to it. Both are Pro Bowl calibre players and are the core of our defense. The difference when they were out of the lineup was very obvious.
5. Akeem Hicks signing mid year. He played well for us at DT and we should all hope we're able to re-sign him for next year.
6. Malcolm Brown. Didn't start off so well, but is really turning into a good DT. Looks like a great draft pick and has a bright future. Losing Wilfork didn't affect us much this year and Brown was a big part of that. I expect him to get even better, as DT's usually improve after their rookie year.
7. Keshawn Martin. Got him for a late draft pick. Some guys come in at the start of training camp and still can't pick up the playbook. Martin came from a similar system in Houston and had instant chemistry with Brady. Provides the much needed deep threat. Made some big time plays. I think he can become our #2 or #3 WR once a little more trust and rapport is built with Brady.
8. Dion Lewis. Amazing talent and skill. My only fear with Dion is that he's small and has had knee injuries. It's not a question of talent, it's a matter of staying healthy.
9. James White. He finally showed up and is the player we expected him to be. Not a huge drop off from Vereen. Much like Vereen, they were very inconsistent with how White was used. Sometimes he was a huge part of the game plan and put up big numbers, but other games he barely touched the ball. That's more on play calling and game planning than it is on White. I was impressed with what he brought to the table this year and thought he should've been a bigger part of the game plan vs. KC and Denver.
10. Tom Brady, despite his age, despite taking all the huge hits this year, is still the same player he was last year. He hasn't fallen off a cliff like Manning did. He took more hits this season than he should've and still looked fresh. I can't pin that loss to the Broncos on Brady when his OLine couldn't block and he was getting hit every play. He's probably the toughest player in the NFL and *if* major injuries don't occur, he really could play another 3-4 more years at a high level.
11. Gronk survived another year without a major injury. His back worries me. But he will have the next 7 months for that to heal. He's still only 26. I don't expect him to play as long as Tony Gonzalez, but if he can make it to 30 his position as Best Tight End Ever is a foregone conclusion. I would like to see the NFL protect players knees to a certain extent. Like no targeting kneecaps when receivers are defenceless, as Gronk has had 2 injuries from those kind of hits. If the rules make defenders have to tackle properly, wrap up and bring him down, instead of taking cheap shots launching their helmet into his kneecap… Gronk might survive a few more years. He is a Randy Moss-like game changer and had another great year.
12. Jabaal Sheard had a hell of a year. Great signing.

I guess nobody wants to talk about the good things?

I think that this team, just getting the injured players healthy, is a playoff caliber roster without the luxury of free agency and the draft.

Sure, yesterday was a bummer, but I would go to bat for this team anywhere and against anybody. Yesterday, the offense played terrible and they still were one or two plays away from forcing overtime against a team that played about as well as one could expect at home.

Yes, the glass is half full for sure.

Nfl didn't get a red cent off me all year.

That's all I got

I was super proud of the defense this year with the loss of Revis and Browner. I expect Malcolm and Logan to be even better next season with the experience gained from this season. Hightower and Collins are definitely big time together. Collins was nasty yesterday aside from the first quarter.

Butler was as good of a 1st year starter at CB in recent memory. If he can take a similar 3rd year leap that Revis, Sherman, and Norman have in the past the defense could be dominant.

We found a probowl caliber RB and our best RB since Dillon out of nowhere in Lewis.

Considering how Brown played at just 21 years old, he will soon be a stud at DT.

Chung proved to be a great player without Revis.

To me, the biggest positive was the play of the defense. Not just from a numbers perspective, but I felt like BB and Patricia got a little more creative this year, which is a sign that they are starting to trust these guys with more advanced assignments and reads. When healthy, I think this defense should be excellent again next year. Only thing I would like to see is a little more depth at corner, and hopefully some continued development out of Harmon and Richards to solidify everything. The corner depth may even come from Tarell Brown or Daryl Roberts potentially, if either comes back strong and competes.

On offense, I'm encouraged by the idea that all of our skill players are the same ones basically that put up 28 points against a tremendous Seattle defense just a year ago in the Super Bowl. If the offensive line can improve and can actually stay healthy enough to gel over the course of a season, I think this offense can be outstanding again.

I have high hopes for next year. We need a few complimentary pieces and we're once again the best in the league.

Thanks, OP, for this thread. It gives some of us a reason to come in from the ledge.

The defense looks like a very bright spot for next year. Butler and Coleman will be better. Roberts will hopefully build on what he showed early. Easley back. Maybe whatever is holding Bostic back can be fixed in camp. I like our D for next year.

Good post. I think you nailed a lot of the solid takeaways from this season.

I would add the bigger picture takeaway. Every team is its own thing--you see that any time you step back and count just how many different players there are year to year. Fans oftentimes make the mistake of, well, thinking like fans: "we were good at x, y, and z this year. These players were good. So, they will be good next year, and we'll add new good players, and everyone will be healthy, and things will be great."

And, of course, it doesn't work that way. Guys regress, decline, etc. The positive for the Pats is two-fold:

--This team is young and well-coached, so projections of improvement from guys such as Brown, Butler, some of the young O-lineman, etc. are reasonable, and there aren't many guys where age is a factor.

--The personnel work from the organization has really been outstanding over the last couple of years. It's not unreasonable to expect that to continue.

There's no way to spin the loss of the first rounder. But apart from that, the pieces are very much in place for this team.

I agree 100% that Malcolm Butler is far and away #1 on this list. We went from an insanely deep CB group (Revis, Browner, Arrington, Ryan, Butler, and Dennard at times) to a group highlighted by an undrafted rookie.

Another thing to be greatful for that gets overlooked.......the Pats won 12 games and made another appearance in the AFC Championship Game. Honestly, I'm guilty of this too, but Pats have spoiled us so much that this doesn't get it's due credit each year.

I mean, we see it all the time in which Super Bowl hopefuls crash and have bad seasons. See Indy and Baltimore this year. See New Orleans last year. It happens to everyone, except hte Pats for some reason. The excuses are always there (injuries) but we don't take them, we just keep on winning and making it to the AFC Championship game. Losing there, while disappointing, is nothing to hang your head on. THere is no shame. There are other good teams in the league.

Oh, and how could I have forgotten this............one of the biggest successes from this season was FINALLY beating the Giants (and in heart pounding fashion none-the-less).

I mean, we didn't win the Super Bowl, but that is definitely SOME consolation. Losing to those guys would have made me throw up.

It's moments like these where as Pats fans, many (especially on this board) don't realize how good we have it. Yesterday was the 5th straight AFC title game. Most fan bases would love to have a chance to get to one title game let alone 5 in a row.

102 Pat said:

It's moments like these where as Pats fans, many (especially on this board) don't realize how good we have it. Yesterday was the 5th straight AFC title game. Most fan bases would love to have a chance to get to one title game let alone 5 in a row.

Click to expand...

Some would love to just play a playoff game...

Could be worse...


We could be the fan base the Rams left at St louis..

This is much better

So, basically the entire defense.
Injuries certainly cost us with Collins and Hightower being out, McCourty for a little bit, and Easey for the entire second half of the year. BUT--every D has injuries.
The Patriots now have a defense.
Time to start focusing on improving the offense at the WR, TE, OL, RB positions. In other words, everywhere except QB.
Although I will still make the case that we need to draft at least one LB.

AzorianPats said:

Some would love to just play a playoff game...

Click to expand...

Exactly, I wonder how some of the posters would act if they were fans of the Titans, Browns, etc? Hell, they might even have a positive outlook. When I read the gameday threads I often wonder are these people having any fun?

AzorianPats said:

Could be worse...


We could be the fan base the Rams left at St louis..

This is much better

Click to expand...

We could be Bengals fans too. There are lots of fates worse than ours.

This weekend is going to remind me of the days that I used to look forward to the Pro Bowl to get a final glimpse of a Pat Patriot logo on a helmet. In other words, I won't be watching.

The emergence of a good young defense. All of the starters are signed thru next year. Would like to see them re-sign Hicks. I'm amazed that they replaced Arrington, Browner, and Revis with Butler, Coleman,
and Ryan and didn't miss a beat. Need a good young linebacker in case Collins or Hightower get
dinged up.

I'm not as optimistic about the offense. I don't know if Solder at LT and Vollmer at RT will solve all of the
Pats offensive line problems. They need to add a couple of OTs thru the draft or free agency so they can cut Cannon and Fleming. The Pats also need a serviceable big running back, tight end, and wide receiver.