2008 Offense Is Fine

[mgteich]

I assume the re-signing of Moss and Gaffney, and the cutting of Stallworth. So Jackson and Washington need to replace Stallworth's 2007 contribution. There are other combination possible at WR, but we are fine in any case.

Otherwise this is the 2007 Best Offense In The History of the NFL. Note that Morris and Thomas are back from the IR.

Sure, there are places to upgrade. There always are, except for Brady.

QB - 3 Tom Brady, Cassel, Gutierrez
RB - 3 Faulk, Maroney, Morris
FB - 2 Evans, Eckel
C - 1 Koppen
G - 4 Neal, Hochstein, Mankins, Yates
OT - 4 Light, Kaczur, O'Callaghan, Britt
WR - 5 Washington, Welker, Chad Jackson, MOSS, GAFFNEY
TE - 3 Watson, Dave Thomas, Kyle Brady

 

[fumbrunner]

I assume the re-signing of Moss and Gaffney, and the cutting of Stallworth. So Jackson and Washington need to replace Stallworth's 2007 contribution. There are other combination possible at WR, but we are fine in any case.

Otherwise this is the 2007 Best Offense In The History of the NFL. Note that Morris and Thomas are back from the IR.

Sure, there are places to upgrade. There always are, except for Brady.

QB - 3 Tom Brady, Cassel, Gutierrez
RB - 3 Faulk, Maroney, Morris
FB - 2 Evans, Eckel
C - 1 Koppen
G - 4 Neal, Hochstein, Mankins, Yates
OT - 4 Light, Kaczur, O'Callaghan, Britt
WR - 5 Washington, Welker, Chad Jackson, MOSS, GAFFNEY
TE - 3 Watson, Dave Thomas, Kyle Brady

Agreed. We are set there and I think Washington will beat out Jackson for the outside WR position opposite Moss. Both will get increased snaps though.

 

[BelichickFan]

I agree with you, Stallworth made some plays but was being phased out quite a bit in the second half. I'd have liked him playing more but given how the second half went, we should be fine without him (that's assuming Moss re-signs of course).

The one spot I could see us upgrading is at Tackle. Whether it's a guy to play RT or a guy to play LT with Light moving to the right side.

 

[#12]

I think our offense will even improve because this will be year 2 of Brady working with pretty much the same receivers (assuming Moss and Gaffney resigns); and also year 2 that Mcdaniels works with this juggarnaut of an offense. Very excited to see them back out there, especially with Morris back!

 

[patsfaninpa]

I assume the re-signing of Moss and Gaffney, and the cutting of Stallworth. So Jackson and Washington need to replace Stallworth's 2007 contribution. There are other combination possible at WR, but we are fine in any case.

Otherwise this is the 2007 Best Offense In The History of the NFL. Note that Morris and Thomas are back from the IR.

Sure, there are places to upgrade. There always are, except for Brady.

QB - 3 Tom Brady, Cassel, Gutierrez
RB - 3 Faulk, Maroney, Morris
FB - 2 Evans, Eckel
C - 1 Koppen
G - 4 Neal, Hochstein, Mankins, Yates
OT - 4 Light, Kaczur, O'Callaghan, Britt
WR - 5 Washington, Welker, Chad Jackson, MOSS, GAFFNEY
TE - 3 Watson, Dave Thomas, Kyle Brady

Draft should be defense, defense and more defense. If we really like one of the tackles. I'm ok with that after Round 1. But, want defense in 1st. Kind of hard to believe that the offense that set all of those records comes back intact. Or, slightly better. Won't score more points. But, Morris and Thomas should help in games when we're not hitting the big downfield plays. Not sure what to expect out of Chad Jackson. I think he'd be fine on those wr screens that we use Stallworth on. How complicated is that? Take 2 quick steps upfield to drive the cb off of the line. Take a couple back. Catch the ball. Run like hell. He's got the body and speed where he should be able to run through some tackles and past others. Washington on the field blocking on those could make that play even more effective.

 

[mgteich]

I don't see an OT upgrade, unless it is with a 1st round pick. I'm fine with that, as I have been for two years. I'm not sure Light would make a great RT.

If we don't have a gentleman's agreement with MOss, we'll just keep Stallworth, which is also fine.

I agree with you, Stallworth made some plays but was being phased out quite a bit in the second half. I'd have liked him playing more but given how the second half went, we should be fine without him (that's assuming Moss re-signs of course).

The one spot I could see us upgrading is at Tackle. Whether it's a guy to play RT or a guy to play LT with Light moving to the right side.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Unless Stallworth takes a pay cut, he will be gone. I think Gaffney will take his spot on the outside unless my boy Chad Jackson works hard in the offseason and surprises us all. I think Jackson has a ton of potential as seen in his first season as a Patriot. He should be fully healed from his injury. It all comes down to how badly Jackson want to start opposite of Moss (assuming he re-signs).

I think they should upgrade on the right side of the O-Line if the opprotunity presents itself.

 

[stinkypete]

The offense is fine, if healthy, but we absolutely need to bring in a long-term replacement for Kevin Faulk. The 3rd down offense stopped working when Faulk got hurt. Without him, Brady saw pressure up the middle of the pocket, something he almost never sees. The short passing/screen game was shut down. Faulk is the most vital role player on the team. Consider this, Faulk was injured in the 2nd quarter of the last 2 playoff losses. In both games, the offense abruptly stopped working. Without him, the run game becomes predictable, and Maroney can't find his rhythm without a change of pace guy.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Am I the only the one that wonders what happened to Stallworth as the season progressed? Wasn't he the second most gifted WR on the team just behind Moss? Did he simply not develop a relationship with Tom Brady? Was it the scheme or coaching? The offense needed to burn the Giants just once and the game would have changed. I am not knocking him but he seemed to run hot and cold at times.

 

[Jimke]

At this point in time, the only sure bets at wide receiver are Chad Jackson and Wes Welker. Assuming the Pats re-sign a couple of wide
receivers (hopefully Moss is one of them), the offense is fine.

Hopefully, the Pats stress defense in the 2008 draft. Bill Belichick
and Scott Pioli have fooled us in the past. This year they may
have too many holes on defense to ignore them.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't see an OT upgrade, unless it is with a 1st round pick. I'm fine with that, as I have been for two years. I'm not sure Light would make a great RT.

If we don't have a gentleman's agreement with MOss, we'll just keep Stallworth, which is also fine.

I think our T upgrade, if there is one to occur, is OCallaghan overtaking Kaczur, or even one of the developmental guys (Yates, Britt) progressing to take the job.
That seems to be our mo. One thing seems certain, we have developed depth along the OL and Kaczur was not miles ahead of his competition.

 

[VJ11]

There are enough question marks on offense for me to be a bit apprehensive. Moss is the most important candidate to be re-signed. Although it could become a tough process to sign him long-term. He'll probably will want top money this time to stay a Patriot. Stallworth is due an $8M bonus, and I don't think the Patriots will pay that, making him a free agent. Gaffney becomes a free agent as well, and he may be someone the Patriots will try to re-sign at the right price. He made a lot of plays down the stretch as the second or third option. But there will be other teams ready to pounce on him. I can even see teams trying to get Moss' attention, just to bump up his asking price. Until these players are actually signed, there's no guarantee they will be back in 2008.
The only question mark at RB is Sammy Morris: will he make it back to 100% of his old form? Then he can team with Maroney as was the plan in 2007, although Maroney will get the majority of the carries.

Defense is a lot more complicated. There is a chance that guys like Bruschi and Seau (even Harrison is a candidate) decide to retire, and that would be a blow, because we then need to replace them with new players who lack the experience in the 3-4. That would lead to simplification of schemes, and limit the options in coverage, blitzing and run-defense. Unless Samuel is adamant on staying at $8-9M a year, I don't see him coming back. So the draft will have to be used to provide a replacement. Meriweather is a player I expect a lot of: he can become as physical a presence as Rodney, with better speed and range. I'm mildly disappointed that the other young DBs we have drafted the past few years haven't risen to prominence and claimed a position like Samuel did. To be honest, this past season, our defense didn't have to bail us out that many times, in most games they could keep things simple while playing with a good lead. However, they weren't exactly eye-popping dominant in the few instances they had to step it up. That's a cause for mild concern.