Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

I'm being sarcastic about this one.

But my point on this is that the Pats are taking measures in the passing game.

1. Picked up Ray Mickens so Troy Brown can play exclusively on offense.

(I see this as realization by the team the wr core is not getting it.)

2. Went with Kelvin Kight instead of my fan fav Bam Childress who despite being small knows the offense and has shown in real games he can catch the ball and make plays.(Kight is most likely special teams, but depsite this only have 4 legit wr's with CJ out)

3. Released Gabriel, many theories revolving around this.(The team but their losses and saw he wasn't getting better) This brings the legit wr's to 3(goes to 4 if CJ is healthy).

So realistically I hope this means CJ is healthy, if not the Pats only have 3 legit wr's(Reche, Troy, and Gaffney).

My point is if CJ can't go, then are we to expect more heavy loaded packages with TE's? And how can we expect any production from players just brought in? Do they expect Graham and Thomas to suddenly carry the load?

It's scary if they are going to tight end heavy offense.

The last few weeks should be very interesting with how the Pats intend on focusing their offense.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

It will be interesting to see if they come up with something that works - because they don't seem to have a lot of personnel to work with right now and that makes the playcalling tough

Because teams need only put one CB on Caldwell and don't really need to respect much of the rest of our offense (perhaps double teaming Watson but if he's not in, then its even a bigger problem) the Safeties are free to come up in coverage to take on the run, mid to short pass, or blitz

That puts a ton of pressure on the OL as we've seen - that in turn requires a TE to often stay back to help block - further limiting the offense... its a real viscious cycle.

The only way out as I see it is to have as many recievers out there on every play, and go no huddle to keep the D off kilter.

Open up the field with some mid passes, work in a few long ones to Caldwell - - but do whatever you have to do to keep the safeties off the line of scrimmage

One you've done that, there's some balance restored, and you work in the run - though you've never got the true deep threats that really keep them honest

So at this point 4 TEs isn't out of the question by any means - its 4 warm bodies with warm hands that we care about - and doing something on offesne to keep the D honest.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

I think the reason why Gabriel was released was he was not blocking well, adjusting to the blitz, poor route running and not completing his routes.. the fumble did not help, but a lot of receivers do not get what is expected in this offense. Not only are you required to catch the ball and hang on to it, but to make continual adjustments.. it also seems why Troy seems to be elevated, because he gets it.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

Why stop at quads?? Let's go empty backfield with five tight ends !! If Graham and Watson are hurt, let's go get a couple more elsewhere. Hey, what's Christian Fauria doing??

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

Gabriel must have exuded something that didn't sit well with BB. I remember a quote of Gabriel about a week ago, after his fumble, where he said something like, "If somebody makes a mistake, that's all part of the game..." -- or words to that effect. I don't think that's what Bill was expecting to hear from a seasoned wide-out but someone who is a newbie on the team. Not vocalizing a good attitude about making mistakes.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

Sorry, I just don't buy that. If he was productive on the field, with the state of this receiver corps, they'd never cut him unless he got in trouble with the law. I don't care about his locker room presence, or statements to the press. If he was getting separation while running the right routes, and if Brady knew that Gabriel would catch the ball 60-70% of the time and the rest of the time he'd keep it out of defenders hands, he'd be on the field. All day long.

Good grief, there's a problem, here. You don't solve it by getting rid of solutions.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

I'm praying that CJ is healthy and will be available within the next couple weeks.

Truth is, with hammys and groins, they are nagging MFers and I wouldn't blame them for playing it safe, calling this a red shirt season for him and IRing him.

But, they wouldn't have released Gabriel if they were going to do that.

Orginally, I was perfectly fine with releasing Gabriel, but looking back at the game logs, Gabriel was our most productive receiver this season up until the very moment he fumbled the ball. Since then, he barely saw the field. It's just confusing - obviously, I'm always going to give BB and Pioli the benefit of the doubt and assume they know more about the situation than we do - that much is obvious.

That said, if Jackson isn't healthy, why not keep around Gabriel?

So, we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

As for 4 TE set - in all seriousness, when they drafted Mills & Thomas, I thought maybe they could use all their TEs on short yardage/goal line - it would be lethal b/c the defense would have to respect the idea that we very well may pass (like when we bring in Vrabel as an extra TE).

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

*You* may not care about his locker-room presence, etc, but BB and some team guys might.

OK, let's say that is not the issue; let's say it's only about what he does on the field: I never saw him on the field -- maybe you did -- was he getting separation? running his routes right? dependable on catches (forgiving him that one fumble)??

I imagine that the braintrust thought he wasn't. Why else let him walk?? I don't think Bill and the rest of the front office are stupid.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

My point exactly. I don't know how you can have matchups if the other team is faster than you and we all know the pats aren't a power running team.

Re: Quadruple Tight End Offense
 

I don't mind 4 te's on goal line, but I hate when they pull it out after the midfield. If last week was any indication the pats are getting away from that power I- formation. I hope they do not go back to it.