23 hits on Brady...most on any QB since 2006

ViperGTS said:

I'm borderline on that. Losses to Seattle and Pitt. One each to the East teams. If they don't get an Alshon Jeffrey type AND fix the o-line it may be worse than that.

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Excellent analysis Cousin!
Jefferies is my no brainer. OT stud in the Draft and an RB like a Kenneth Dixon who might last till round 2.
DW Toys

Tony2046 said:

Then that suggests that they have to redistribute their salary cap. Where would cut depth to improve the O line?

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I don't have details of the cap and projected salaries so I couldn't say but I know that there's not much point in having an elite QB if you don't protect him. Elway has managed to put together a very solid team while also paying Peyton and his very competent O-line.

TomPatriot said:

My bad. I didn't read your post.

With their 3-4 man rushes being effective, Denver 's SS or Mike was able to rotate to the flat on both sides of the field most of those plays. They were giving Brady over the top by playing tight man but Brady never had time to execute those throws. Still, it's not a bad suggestion and with someone like Lewis it might have worked.

In the game thread, I clamored for the hurry-up offense, something they completely abandoned this year once the injuries piled up. I wouldn't have run it to prevent sub-packages, but to change the tempo of the game to put maximum pressure on Denver's D. In fact, when they opened the game by electing to receive, I thought the plan was to go uptempo on the first series and catch Denver by surprise.

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Agree with everything. Makes you wonder if they stayed away from up-tempo because of the altitude, the faster your offense runs the more gassed they get. I do think it had a chance of being successful to at least switch the pace up because nothing else was working, but that might be a reason why they stuck with the traditional offense.

50-yard-line said:

Our first pick is number 50 or 51. Lotsa luck with that.

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I dunno. They found some guy named Jamie Collins at 52.

robertweathers said:

I don't care who the QB is. If your QB gets hit 23 times you will lose.

This statistic is the single biggest indicator for why they lost.

DEN's front 4 OWNED the Pats o-line. Pass rush, stuffed the run.

Not sure if Lewis would have helped...maybe?

That performance was on par with SB 42.

Painful to watch.

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Yeah, Ghost missed an extra point.

But HAD THE OFFENSIVE LINE DONE THEIR JOBS, that point would have been moot.

hambone1818 said:

Agree with everything. Makes you wonder if they stayed away from up-tempo because of the altitude, the faster your offense runs the more gassed they get. I do think it had a chance of being successful to at least switch the pace up because nothing else was working, but that might be a reason why they stuck with the traditional offense.

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I thought of that but I have read where it really isn't that bad for most players. But if you are right, then Home field was a much bigger deal that I thought it was and posters like VectorPrime were spot on.

hambone1818 said:

Agree with everything. Makes you wonder if they stayed away from up-tempo because of the altitude, the faster your offense runs the more gassed they get. I do think it had a chance of being successful to at least switch the pace up because nothing else was working, but that might be a reason why they stuck with the traditional offense.

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I addition to play up-tempo the oline needs to have almost unspoken communication with each other and TB.

With the 100db crowd noise and the inexperience and lack of time to truly learn how to play together as a cohesive unit, it would have been ugly.

Rhodey said:

Yeah, Ghost missed an extra point.

But HAD THE OFFENSIVE LINE DONE THEIR JOBS, that point would have been moot.

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Yep. Would have gone to OT.

It isn't the end of a season without so called fans figuring that we're going to go 8-8 the following season and it finally being the year we lose the division. Go **** yourselves. It happens EVERY SINGLE OFFSEASON.

robertweathers said:

I'm not an expert on line play but if there is one thing I do know is that the olines that play well have good chemistry and communication. That is the foundation for cohesiveness and consistency.

I'm not sure what Googs could have done. Stork hurt. Three rookies starting with one getting hurt. Solder hurt. Cannon hurt. Stork comes back and gets hurt. Vollmer hurt. Jackson hurt. Kline hurt. Vollmer comes back. Street free agents coming in. 5 different starters and the tackle positions....

Throw that in a high-pressure situation when you can't hear the player next to you vs a very good defensive front and that sounds like a bad situation to be in.

It becomes a very clear picture detailing the main reason why they lost.

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In being reminded of the sheer number of injuries at this position, I am curious to as whether there might be a common denominator?

Can anyone remember a NEP team where there have been this number of injuries at these (O-LINE) positions?

TomPatriot said:

I dunno. They found some guy named Jamie Collins at 52.

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Physically-gifted offensive tackles tend to go in round 1.

TommyBrady12 said:

do you like andrews better at center than stork? Bring wendell back? Solder is good, but not great.

i don't think you can fire Gug after one bad season where he had a bunch of injuries to deal with. after all he DID help win us a super bowl last year.

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I do. The NEP played very, very well with Andrews at center. He is a natural center and will only improve at the NFL level. Where would the Pats been if he had not played as well as he did in that position for as long and consistently as he did?

TB was very gracious in stating that the O-LINE "held in there all game."
Tom Brady: Patriots' Offensive Line 'Held In There All Game' Vs. Broncos

BB is not blaming the O-LINE.
Bill Belichick Not Blaming Patriots' O-Line, Credits Wade Phillips' Defense

However, the fans saw it. And that these two leaders have to cover their collective *sses by speaking out like this only confirms what wee saw.

Snake Eyes said:

I don't have details of the cap and projected salaries so I couldn't say but I know that there's not much point in having an elite QB if you don't protect him. Elway has managed to put together a very solid team while also paying Peyton and his very competent O-line.

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Thanks for responding to my kindergarten questions.

The reason I mentioned expanding the roster (which would include raising the salary cap accordingly) is that it seems that each season is decided, in part, by which team is the healthiest at the end of the season. D line and O line seem to impact a team proportionately more than any other position with the exception of QB. I would rather have a championship game decided by which team was better rather than healthiest etc... Or maybe this is just an opinion based on the loss. ahh who knows.

The O line issues confuse me. I can't figure out if it was game planning, injuries, coaching or that they were just not capable of doing their job. Did losing Nate Solder have that big of an impact?

Anyways look forward to following you during the draft.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

By the snap counts, he had help fairly often.

Fleming, Chandler, Williams totaled 27 snaps, a majority trying to help Cannon IIRC
No effect.

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Interesting that Williams only played 19% of the snaps, earlier in the season it was more like 60% and he was the "go to" extra blocker. Plus, obviously he wasn't that effective yesterday, I wonder if it is due to injury, or were the Bronco pass rushers just too quick for him?

Does anyone have a link to a site that shows how many times Brady was hit? I could swear either ESPN and nfl.com had a QB Hits stat per game but its not listed.

VectorPrime said:

It isn't the end of a season without so called fans figuring that we're going to go 8-8 the following season and it finally being the year we lose the division. Go **** yourselves. It happens EVERY SINGLE OFFSEASON.

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Unless Brady gets injured or suffers a mega decline, the Patriots will win 12 games, win the AFC East, and be playing in the AFCCG again next year.

Rhodey said:

TB was very gracious in stating that the O-LINE "held in there all game."
Tom Brady: Patriots' Offensive Line 'Held In There All Game' Vs. Broncos

BB is not blaming the O-LINE.
Bill Belichick Not Blaming Patriots' O-Line, Credits Wade Phillips' Defense

However, the fans saw it. And that these two leaders have to cover their collective *sses by speaking out like this only confirms what wee saw.

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If BB actually does blame the OL do you think he'd publicly say so? He's not the kind who will throw his people under the bus.

Rhodey said:

TB was very gracious in stating that the O-LINE "held in there all game."
Tom Brady: Patriots' Offensive Line 'Held In There All Game' Vs. Broncos

BB is not blaming the O-LINE.
Bill Belichick Not Blaming Patriots' O-Line, Credits Wade Phillips' Defense

However, the fans saw it. And that these two leaders have to cover their collective *sses by speaking out like this only confirms what wee saw.

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Unlike PEDton Manning who sells out his OL through the media:

articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/16/sports/sp-adande16

He even claims "Certainly it has not been for a lack of effort due to my part".