the wrothbroughterer
On the Game Day Roster
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2010
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did you see how dominant the jets oline was yesterday? that's the kind of oline you need to win, not this country boy oline bs that the pats have. there is a reason why our running game sucks. and part of the reason why brady struggled this year is because he's not getting time. he is being rushed into making bad decisions. we simply cannot continue to have the same oline year after year.
light- he's been with the team since 2001. he played well but his time has come. maybe another year but major upgrade needed here.
koppen- still only 30 but not that athletic
kaczur - lol
neal - could be gone after this year.
mankins- only 27. should keep around.
vollmer - keep
replacements should be made at center, LT, and guard (neal's spot). they just need to have nastier players up front. the line has no attitude anymore.
Could the mediocrity of the running game perhaps be a function of bad running backs? The only competition that Maroney had for playing time for the majority of the year was Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis and he still couldn't top 200 carries this year. Kevin Faulk has never been used as an every down back, Fred Taylor played in 6 games, and Morris in 12. Despite all that, the Pats still finished in the top half of the NFL in Rushing Offense. With a reliable RB and the same squad there is no reason to think they couldn't have been in the top quarter of rushing teams.
I'm sure you've got solid ground to stand on when talking about the "attitude" of our O-Line, too. Do you regularly attend practices or are these the musings of an armchair GM?
Football Outsiders had the Patritos O-Line as the 2nd best pass blocking unit and the 5th best run blocking unit. There are certainly question marks with some players but year in and year out the Pats have one of the best lines in football and this year was no different.
Also, statistically the Patriots rushing game was best when running up the middle. How can Koppen be an issue when the team is most productive running up his ass?