RayClay
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Also notice how we didn't draft any defensive tackle in the draft??
There's obviously some deep confidence put into this guy.
I knew what you were inferring Archeryaddict12. A healthy Gronk goes a long way to alleviating that. That said, we shouldn't count on health because we've been wronged by it far too often in recent memory.But I mean we had no issue getting to the red zone. We stalled in getting Tds is what I mean. So will bigger wide receivers and causing other teams to slow down down in the red zone makes the O be less perfect.
I knew what you were inferring Archeryaddict12. A healthy Gronk goes a long way to alleviating that. That said, we shouldn't count on health because we've been wronged by it far too often in recent memory.
Also notice how we didn't draft any defensive tackle in the draft??
There's obviously some deep confidence put into this guy.
Exactly right. I didn't see DT as a position of need. We have more than enough depth there now.
I think Love is under-appreciated on this board. (watch him get cut now ). Sure he doesn't push the LOS back or create disruption as well as Vince (but who does?), but like Vince he's basically a run stuffer. He was pretty good last year IMO, so the only question is whether either Kelly or Armstead emerge as studs, which would make our D pretty lethal.
I agree Brady2Moss that the team needs to be better constructed than what it has been in the past few seasons. On O, that means a more complete team capable of more than the constraints the Patriots have been faced with the past few seasons and on D that means a team that can unleash the fury when needed in those key January/February moments.That is why Dobson is such an important piece to the puzzle. The offense has crapped out in many different ways in recent years, but the common denominator seems to be a lack of an outside threat that can get "chunk" yards. It is just too damn hard to operate with an offense that gets 10 yards at a time with 1 true red zone threat against good defenses in January.
Defense also needs to finally take that next step, the biggest problem is lack of consistent pressure. I still have nightmares of Eli sitting back in the pocket literally not even having to move a centimeter on 3rd and long and getting the 1st down because no one sniffed him.
When the team shows evidence that they can get consistent pressure I will start to feel real good. Otherwise its going to be praying Gronk is functional in January or bust.
That is why Dobson is such an important piece to the puzzle. The offense has crapped out in many different ways in recent years, but the common denominator seems to be a lack of an outside threat that can get "chunk" yards. It is just too damn hard to operate with an offense that gets 10 yards at a time with 1 true red zone threat against good defenses in January.
Defense also needs to finally take that next step, the biggest problem is lack of consistent pressure. I still have nightmares of Eli sitting back in the pocket literally not even having to move a centimeter on 3rd and long and getting the 1st down because no one sniffed him.
When the team shows evidence that they can get consistent pressure I will start to feel real good. Otherwise its going to be praying Gronk is functional in January or bust.
Exactly right. I didn't see DT as a position of need. We have more than enough depth there now.
I think Love is under-appreciated on this board. (watch him get cut now ). Sure he doesn't push the LOS back or create disruption as well as Vince (but who does?), but like Vince he's basically a run stuffer. He was pretty good last year IMO, so the only question is whether either Kelly or Armstead emerge as studs, which would make our D pretty lethal.
I hope Armstead can live up to at least a fraction of the hype he's been receiving.
I would love a DL specifically for passing downs consisting of:
Jones-Armstead-Kelly-Abraham (we are still expected to sign him in the coming weeks)
I think that would be pretty disruptive in most situations and allow us to drop 7 into coverage, hopefully Fletcher and Collins can improve the coverage from the LB spot.
The downside about our defense is that I feel like we might have too many specific role-players which might tell an offense to either run or pass.
I hope Armstead gets a nickname. Every time I see his name as a thread title, I think someone's been arrested.
If they sign Abraham, there will be serious roster log jam along the DL, and some of the players in some of these scenarios in this thread will be gone.
AA, eh?
Hope someone gets the reference.
If they sign Abraham, there will be serious roster log jam along the DL, and some of the players in some of these scenarios in this thread will be gone.
We signed Cory Grissom as a UDFA too, who I like. He's not flashy but he's powerful and gets a good push. Paired with a more mobile, incisive DT he's could really open up some room.
That is correct Palm Beach - once Talib was added to the active roster, the Pats were 11th best in yardage in the NFL. Lets just hope for improvement from our guys and of course, good health. Good health means a lot in the playoffs especially on the defensive side of the ball....
I hope Armstead can live up to at least a fraction of the hype he's been receiving.
I would love a DL specifically for passing downs consisting of:
Jones-Armstead-Kelly-Abraham (we are still expected to sign him in the coming weeks)
I think that would be pretty disruptive in most situations and allow us to drop 7 into coverage, hopefully Fletcher and Collins can improve the coverage from the LB spot.
The downside about our defense is that I feel like we might have too many specific role-players which might tell an offense to either run or pass.
I am sorry, but the offense has crapped out in many different ways??? Are you really serious? The Patriots lost in the Superbowl and the AFC championship, to the team that won the Superbowl the last two years. 2 years ago Gronk was hurt and played at about 1/2 speed. Last year he didn't play, they had also lost Julian, and in the first quarter they lost Talib.
So playing without their best offensive threat, they struggled scoring points against the best team in the league, two years in a row, not really sure that counts as crapping out in many ways.
They were the #1 offense both years. It is however, a little like baseball, sometimes when the best hitter goes against the best pitcher, the pitcher wins. Sometimes, in football, when the best offense goes against the best defense, especially if they are missing a very key part of that offense, the best defense will win.