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First let me state that I'm fine with the Pats flying under the radar for the next few weeks. This is a very young team and lowered expectations will probably be appreciated. But the fact is that no team in the league has to deal with more unreasonable expectations from the general public and their own fan base than the New England Patriots.
Let me also say that few reporters bring less credibility to the table than Bert Breer. He is Greg Bedard light, without the knowledge or work ethic. Most of his work is gossip and hearsay. Lets look at the reality and see if it matches up with what Breer and his anonymous "NFL Execs" say.
The Problems of the OL - What problems on the OL, compared to whom? We have the 5th best rushing offense, the 5th best passing offense, and the best total offense, the best scoring offense. Plus both Cold Hard football facts AND Football Outsiders have rated the Pats the best performing OL in the league. All this while having a first year starter at C and LT, both starting OGs out for multiple games, and a RT with a bad back who has missed games.
Well if WE are having problems with the OL, what the hell is happening with the other 31 teams in the league. They'd LOVE to be having our problems.
As to the the lack of a rush, blitzes and stunts, no one has cried out more for a more aggressive attitude than I. But I also understand that I don't have all the information, and there can be some very good reasons why the Pats haven't "unleashed the hounds" to this point. No matter we might not like to hear it, the guys who are making the decisions that we so disagree with, are a LOT smarter than we are.....AND they have a lot more data on which to base their opinions than we have.
So as much as we'd like to think we are perfectly right in our condemnation of their strategies, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt as to why they are holding off to this point.
As to the problems with the secondary. Every other team in the league gets to trot out their injuries as a reason for execution problems.....except it seems the Patriots. The injuries along the OL and TE weren't part of Breer little hatchet job. Neither were the loss of both starting S's in the secondary and the dislocation that that brought.
Also it begs the fact that although the results still aren't good or even acceptable, one still can't deny that it isn't markedly better than last season at this time. Both statistically and through the eyeball test.
One would think that after all this time BB and his staff would have earned a little more patience from his own fanbase. Have we so quickly forgotten that last season's statistically historically bad defense, when it got more playing time together and the much maligned Pat Chung back, turned into the 5th best defense among the playoff teams in most categories. And because of the pain of that last drive in the superbowl, we forgot that that same much maligned defense held one of the best offenses in the league (5th passing and 8th total) to under 20 points and caused 4 fumbles, an effort that would have won most games
Those of you who seem to either be panicking or ready to jump ship because we aren't winning by big enough margins or had the temerity to lose 3 games by 4 points in ugly fashion, haven't been watching this team closely the last few years.
I acknowledge that its troubling to see us lose 4 fourth quarters en route to those 3 loses. Just as it was troubling to see us lose those early leads. Things clearly aren't where they need to be. BUT the good news is, they don't need to be there yet. This defense WILL get better. This offense WILL become more cohesive. Roles are being carved out. Depth is being created. Our flaws are being over emphasized, while are strengths are being underestimated. This is a team that is going to the playoffs, and should be at its best when that time arrives.
As to this week, the team is still pretty banged up, but we will squeak out a win over an improving Rams team, and the predictions of the Pats demise will continue to increase because of the lack of a blowout. But I warn you, watch out for this team as it starts to get people healthy coming out the bye.....and all this hand wringing will seem like a bad dream by mid December.
Let me also say that few reporters bring less credibility to the table than Bert Breer. He is Greg Bedard light, without the knowledge or work ethic. Most of his work is gossip and hearsay. Lets look at the reality and see if it matches up with what Breer and his anonymous "NFL Execs" say.
The Problems of the OL - What problems on the OL, compared to whom? We have the 5th best rushing offense, the 5th best passing offense, and the best total offense, the best scoring offense. Plus both Cold Hard football facts AND Football Outsiders have rated the Pats the best performing OL in the league. All this while having a first year starter at C and LT, both starting OGs out for multiple games, and a RT with a bad back who has missed games.
Well if WE are having problems with the OL, what the hell is happening with the other 31 teams in the league. They'd LOVE to be having our problems.
As to the the lack of a rush, blitzes and stunts, no one has cried out more for a more aggressive attitude than I. But I also understand that I don't have all the information, and there can be some very good reasons why the Pats haven't "unleashed the hounds" to this point. No matter we might not like to hear it, the guys who are making the decisions that we so disagree with, are a LOT smarter than we are.....AND they have a lot more data on which to base their opinions than we have.
So as much as we'd like to think we are perfectly right in our condemnation of their strategies, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt as to why they are holding off to this point.
As to the problems with the secondary. Every other team in the league gets to trot out their injuries as a reason for execution problems.....except it seems the Patriots. The injuries along the OL and TE weren't part of Breer little hatchet job. Neither were the loss of both starting S's in the secondary and the dislocation that that brought.
Also it begs the fact that although the results still aren't good or even acceptable, one still can't deny that it isn't markedly better than last season at this time. Both statistically and through the eyeball test.
One would think that after all this time BB and his staff would have earned a little more patience from his own fanbase. Have we so quickly forgotten that last season's statistically historically bad defense, when it got more playing time together and the much maligned Pat Chung back, turned into the 5th best defense among the playoff teams in most categories. And because of the pain of that last drive in the superbowl, we forgot that that same much maligned defense held one of the best offenses in the league (5th passing and 8th total) to under 20 points and caused 4 fumbles, an effort that would have won most games
Those of you who seem to either be panicking or ready to jump ship because we aren't winning by big enough margins or had the temerity to lose 3 games by 4 points in ugly fashion, haven't been watching this team closely the last few years.
I acknowledge that its troubling to see us lose 4 fourth quarters en route to those 3 loses. Just as it was troubling to see us lose those early leads. Things clearly aren't where they need to be. BUT the good news is, they don't need to be there yet. This defense WILL get better. This offense WILL become more cohesive. Roles are being carved out. Depth is being created. Our flaws are being over emphasized, while are strengths are being underestimated. This is a team that is going to the playoffs, and should be at its best when that time arrives.
As to this week, the team is still pretty banged up, but we will squeak out a win over an improving Rams team, and the predictions of the Pats demise will continue to increase because of the lack of a blowout. But I warn you, watch out for this team as it starts to get people healthy coming out the bye.....and all this hand wringing will seem like a bad dream by mid December.
