Does Brady have a severe lack of confidence in his Offensive Line?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

After looking closely at the past 2 games I think its a given that Brady is not only struggling out of the gate a little rusty but more so that I believe that he has little confidence in his OL

You can see situations where the line has actually kept defenders at bay (albeit rarily thus far) and still Brady seems almost ready to get hit like he does not think his linemen can give him more than 2 seconds - Most of the time thats been true but even when he has a few seconds it seems he is in a hurry expecting the big hit.

I think at this point after taking closer look at the games so far that Matt Light is playing the worst of all 5 guys and most of the pressure is coming off of his man he is blocking.

Do you think like I do that Brady does not trust his OL (which is certainly understandable)? or do you think the OL is o.k. and he is just rusty and has yet to get in a groove?

Matt Light better improve soon or be moved around to the other side or something or give Vollmer a shot somewhere,Matt has been awful this year so far. - And the thing is I really liked Light and rarily put him down in years past in fact he was once my favorite offensive lineman but so far this year he stinks.

What is your opinion?

 

[Bill B.]

If Brady doesn't have confidence in his O-line, you will never hear him say it out loud. I agree with you about Light. While I do like him, he does seem to struggle a lot against speed rushers. A lot of times in the past they had to put a TE on that side of the line to help him out. I wouldn't mind seeing Vollmer get a shot at left tackle. Do you think Light, after playing all his career on the left side, can transition to the right side?

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

If Brady doesn't have confidence in his O-line, you will never hear him say it out loud. I agree with you about Light. While I do like him, he does seem to struggle a lot against speed rushers. A lot of times in the past they had to put a TE on that side of the line to help him out. I wouldn't mind seeing Vollmer get a shot at left tackle. Do you think Light, after playing all his career on the left side, can transition to the right side?

I don't see why not,In fact in TC I bet they try a lot of different movements in the line just in case of injury in the regular season

A seasoned vet like Light should not only be able to play on the other side but he should be no worse than he is this year at the left tackle spot so far,right?

Vollmer should definately get a shot at the left tackle spot if Matt's horrid play in coverage and protection continues,I have really never seen him play so bad before.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

they'd better find a way to stop those 6 man rushes.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

they'd better find a way to stop those 6 man rushes.

Like I said before the solution to that is unfortunately take away a RB and a TE out of obvious passing downs to give Brady more time he needs to look downfield.

Of course with this move you lose targets to throw to but what else can you do if the OL can't keep defenders off their QB on 3rd and long?

 

[Rob0729]

After looking closely at the past 2 games I think its a given that Brady is not only struggling out of the gate a little rusty but more so that I believe that he has little confidence in his OL

You can see situations where the line has actually kept defenders at bay (albeit rarily thus far) and still Brady seems almost ready to get hit like he does not think his linemen can give him more than 2 seconds - Most of the time thats been true but even when he has a few seconds it seems he is in a hurry expecting the big hit.

I think at this point after taking closer look at the games so far that Matt Light is playing the worst of all 5 guys and most of the pressure is coming off of his man he is blocking.

Do you think like I do that Brady does not trust his OL (which is certainly understandable)? or do you think the OL is o.k. and he is just rusty and has yet to get in a groove?

Matt Light better improve soon or be moved around to the other side or something or give Vollmer a shot somewhere,Matt has been awful this year so far. - And the thing is I really liked Light and rarily put him down in years past in fact he was once my favorite offensive lineman but so far this year he stinks.

What is your opinion?

If the o-line is keeping the defense "at bay" and Brady is playing like he is going to get hit, then it is Brady's lack of confidence in his knee than his line. I don't think the o-line has been playing as bad as many people have said especially since both Buffalo and the Jets brought the house so much. But if Brady is showing any timidness in situations where he is getting good protection, it is most likely he still hasn't gotten all the confidence in his knee rather than the line.

The fact of the matter, there has been plenty of times in the past where the offense has had breakdowns and Brady has bought himself a few seconds by stepping up at just the right time (and then the o-line gets credit for it even when Brady is the one who avoided the sack and made the plays). I am not seeing as much of that this year so far.

The good news is that Brady should regain that confidence the longer he plays.

 

[mayoclinic]

Like I said before the solution to that is unfortunately take away a RB and a TE out of obvious passing downs to give Brady more time he needs to look downfield.

Of course with this move you lose targets to throw to but what else can you do if the OL can't keep defenders off their QB on 3rd and long?

I had thought last week that we would use a lot of Matthews at TE as an extra blocker. Unfortunately, he was inactive for the game.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

If the o-line is keeping the defense "at bay" and Brady is playing like he is going to get hit, then it is Brady's lack of confidence in his knee than his line. I don't think the o-line has been playing as bad as many people have said especially since both Buffalo and the Jets brought the house so much. But if Brady is showing any timidness in situations where he is getting good protection, it is most likely he still hasn't gotten all the confidence in his knee rather than the line.

The fact of the matter, there has been plenty of times in the past where the offense has had breakdowns and Brady has bought himself a few seconds by stepping up at just the right time (and then the o-line gets credit for it even when Brady is the one who avoided the sack and made the plays). I am not seeing as much of that this year so far.

The good news is that Brady should regain that confidence the longer he plays.

I think if Brady had held on to the ball to find receivers as he has done in the past he would have been sacked at least 7 times this season,He has chosen to throw the ball early and off target to avoid those sacks,Whether he still worries about his knee getting hit or maybe its whether he worries about injuring his shoulder is something we have no idea of except Brady himself.

Brady has not been able to step up into the pocket like in years past and that where he is at his very best.

Whether thats because the OL has not set up him to do that or whether Brady is reluctant to go into the teeth of the front 7 or as you might say 'the eye of the hurricane' is a question we cannot answer right now.

 

[olschool]

Light has always had trouble with speed rushers. Now, being older he has even more trouble. Mankins, being younger, is a little quicker, but not by much.
Koppen is quick , but too small to handle big nose tackles. Neal is quick, but chronically injured. Kazcur is big and slow.

Their speed disadvantage was exposed in the last half of the '07 season, and since then opposing defenses have exploited that, with generally successful results, depending on personnel.

The only choice is to limit the offense by keeping a back and tight end in to block. Or, watch Brady get hit a couple of dozen times a game.

Running the ball more would help, but the line has been pretty inconsistent with that too.

 

[LaserLee83]

Brady doesn't have confidence in his KNEE! If you watch him throw in a clean pocket he looks comfortable making it, all his mechanics are correct and whatnot. On the other hand, when there are defenders around, he tends to favor that left leg and it throws off his momentum/throw physics

 

[LaserLee83]

I'd trade Matt Light for Jason Peters/Demetrius Bell anyday

 

[BradyFTW!]

I agree that the OL hasn't been playing up to par, but a lot of the hits that the Jets got on Brady were on overload blitzes, and that's not on the OL. If there are more defenders coming after the QB than there are blockers, then it's on the QB to get rid of the ball, and/or it's on the playcalling to identify and adjust so that we have enough blockers. You can't expect 5 blockers to block a 5-6 man rush, when Kris Jenkins is demanding a double team.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Brady doesn't have confidence in his KNEE! If you watch him throw in a clean pocket he looks comfortable making it, all his mechanics are correct and whatnot. On the other hand, when there are defenders around, he tends to favor that left leg and it throws off his momentum/throw physics

Bad knee or no knee..giving your QB 1.3 seconds to get the ball off which is what the average time he had sunday is not going to get you many completions or win many games.

If Brady was 100% and healthy and with no knee problems he still probably wouldn't be much more accurate with defensive lineman constantly in the backfield 2 seconds after the snap - Moss is fast but how far downfield can he get and how open can he get in less than 3 seconds?.

 

[upstater1]

I remember a few instances where Brady had all day and he took the time. He ended up forcing throws downfield for incompletes.

so, based off that, I would say, no he still has confidence.

I also really liked how he moved in the pocket. IT made me optimistic that he has confidence there.

His technique was totally off, he was inaccurate, and worst of all, totally out of sync with his receivers.

I'm optimistic about both his confidence and the way he moves in the pocket.

He needs to improve technique and get synced up with receivers.

 

[upstater1]

Bad knee or no knee..giving your QB 1.3 seconds to get the ball off which is what the average time he had sunday is not going to get you many completions or win many games.

If Brady was 100% and healthy and with no knee problems he still probably wouldn't be much more accurate with defensive lineman constantly in the backfield 2 seconds after the snap - Moss is fast but how far downfield can he get and how open can he get in less than 3 seconds?.

The real question is, how far can he run after a WR gets the hot read in 1.3 seconds?

Because if the Patriots could beat the blitz at the rate they used to beat it in the past (75%) then the defense will eventually back off.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

1) If he doesn't have confidence in his line, we'll never know it from him.

2) I think it's much more likely that he's still adjusting to playing with his repaired knee. Seems to me that any human being with anything resembling a normal set of feelings is going to be skittish the first few dozen times 300 pound guys are running at it full tilt.

Just think about it; over the past year he's gone through two surgeries (that we know of), a major infection and months of rehab focused on protecting and strengthening the knee (not to mention the trauma of having it wrecked to begin with!).

It's only normal that it's gonna take more than two or three weeks for his subconscious to get the message that his conscious mind is fine with it.

It's on us for having the expectation that he was going to jump back into the saddle as though he'd never been hurt.

 

[mosslost]

they'd better find a way to stop those 6 man rushes.

All I know is that if they can stop those big blitzes, and give Brady even a little time to think and throw (however it happens), then anyone sending that many is going to get torched.

If the way to beat the Pats is to bring that many, then the way for the Pats to easily win is to block them, sounds simple right?

 

[jmt57]

More on the subject of Brady and the Pats offensive line: Are the Patriots still the dominant team we've seen in recent years? by Pete Prisco and Clark Judge of CBS Sports

Without the guys up front playing well, Tom Brady is struggling. He just doesn't seem to be in a groove. He's jumpy in the pocket, which you would expect from a player coming off major knee troubles. When people get near your legs, it's natural to get jumpy. That's why the linemen have to be even better. And they've been worse. I was talking to one scout who said left tackle Matt Light, who protects Brady's backside, is playing bad football. That has to stop. If the line doesn't play better, it won't matter who's throwing and who's catching. But I get a sense that they will improve. Scarnecchia has done it in the past, so I expect he'll do it again. At some point, this offense will get cranked up and the gut feeling is it happens once Brady starts believing in the guys in front of him.