espn sunday nfl countdown on branch

[SVN]

FWIW, for anyone who didnt see it today.
same old...they lost too much etc etc,irvin,ditka all saying its too much to lose
...two things stood
a)Ron jaworski said that change in a team is natural;average playing time for a nfl player is only 3.5 yrs. the eagles which played the pats in the superbowl have lost 60 % of the team.Good teams manage stay competitive.Pats will be fine
b)Tom brady actually sent a text message to matt hasselback saying he is getting a great guy in branch . Personally , i wish he just let it go.

 

[Murphys95]

Saw it. They all seemed to temper their remarks. Funny though, nowhere in that discussion did they really talk about Branch and his actual worth. It was all about the Patriots and their losses, and nothing to do with Branch and his demands (or Seattle overpaying for him).

 

[vyrago]

b)Tom brady actually sent a text message to matt hasselback saying he is getting a great guy in branch . Personally , i wish he just let it go.[/QUOTE]

Tom Brady is a classy guy. Not much will change that.

Btw, if he wanted more money, endorsement opportunities are everywhere, but he handles that with class too as opposed to some pro athletes we've seen (MJ comes to mind). In one of his pressers he said "how much do you need?" and that seems to be exactly the way he looks at it.

 

[BelichickFan]

b)Tom brady actually sent a text message to matt hasselback saying he is getting a great guy in branch . Personally , i wish he just let it go.

I missed that part. Brady does have to let it go. And he also has to remember that he is making close to Manning money. Sure he could have made it more difficult on the Patriots but the Hometown Discount he's so famous for was small. As for his quote about "how much do you need, not how much do you want" - well, the $11M or so that he makes : http://www.patscap.com/brady.gif per year is what he wants, not what he needs. Given that he "needs" no more than $4,5,6M a year that statement is a little disingenuous to me.

I love Brady. But there's plenty of money to go around if these guys want their friends to stay on the team. If we'd paid Branch what he wanted, he and Brady would account for close to $20M by themselves - now if that what you want or what you need, Tom ?

 

[Pats726]

FWIW, for anyone who didnt see it today.
same old...they lost too much etc etc,irvin,ditka all saying its too much to lose
...two things stood
a)Ron jaworski said that change in a team is natural;average playing time for a nfl player is only 3.5 yrs. the eagles which played the pats in the superbowl have lost 60 % of the team.Good teams manage stay competitive.Pats will be fine
b)Tom brady actually sent a text message to matt hasselback saying he is getting a great guy in branch . Personally , i wish he just let it go.

No surprise...but always good to hear what the so called experts think..Jaws might be closer to reality..Tom's a class guy, but he should not be the happiest with Branch who seemed to not care about his situation and cared more about the money..Hasselbeck is not Brady and in time he will learn that.

 

[BelichickFan]

I think we all agree that we have less chance to win the Super Bowl this year now that The Twig is gone. Only an idiot would disagree. But we will still be very competitive for it and the way we've used #1 picks, that should help for years to come.

And what if Hasselbeck or Alexander gets hurt today . . . not that I'm rooting for major injuries but #1 picks from other teams have intriguing upside as you never know what might happen.

 

[emoney_33]

I really hope that Gabriel and/or Jackson can hurry up and shine so all this "Branch is gone, patriots are screwed" talk in the media will end. Some of them get it, Branch didnt' make the patriots the patriots made Branch. The thing we'll miss about branch in the short term is not so much his talent, but the connection he had with Brady. Since they could communicate just by looking at each other, they were almost always on the same page. But when it all comes down to it, Brady is gonna find the open man and I think we have more than enough talent to get guys open consistently.

Personally I think the media are just sick of the patriots and it's just wishful thinking on their part that the Branch thing is going to destroy them. Some of them still cannot realize that the patriots success has come on building an entire team, and no one or two players will make or break this team (save for maybe Brady, and Seymour to some degree).

Luckily the games are played on the field on Sunday (and sometimes Monday) .

 

[emoney_33]

I think we all agree that we have less chance to win the Super Bowl this year now that The Twig is gone. Only an idiot would disagree. But we will still be very competitive for it and the way we've used #1 picks, that should help for years to come.

And what if Hasselbeck or Alexander gets hurt today . . . not that I'm rooting for major injuries but #1 picks from other teams have intriguing upside as you never know what might happen.

As of this instant you are right. However, we may find ourselves with as good of if not a better chance to win depending on how Gabriel and Jackson end up doing in our offense. Don't forget Alexander has the Madden curse (not wishing for injury, but a down year and seahawks struggling would be good)

 

[BelichickFan]

Not only are Jackson and Gabriel intriguing replacement (plus Caldwell is an upgrade over Andre Davis) but the analysts keep forgetting that we have Maroney and a healthy Dillon in the backfield now compared to last year when we had a hurt Dillon plus miscast Faulk and Evans. Now Faulk can play his best role and we have a great running situation which will make a big difference.

No mention of that, though . . .

 

[BelichickFan]

As of this instant you are right. However, we may find ourselves with as good of if not a better chance to win depending on how Gabriel and Jackson end up doing in our offense.

Even if they do well, Gabriel, Jackson and Calwell isn't as good as Twig, Gabriel, Jackson and Caldwell. It just isn't.

However we could EASILY have a better offense for the 2006 playoffs than the 2005 if the running game stays strong and those new WR get in synch with Brady. But however good it is, it won't be as good as it would have been with The Twig.

I'm still very happy with the trade, though.

 

[patsacolachick]

Don't forget Alexander has the Madden curse (not wishing for injury, but a down year and seahawks struggling would be good)

The Seahawks also lost Steve Hutchinson, which I think will be a HUGE loss for this team. No way Alexander does this year what he's done the last couple without him. Why isn't the media making more of this????
Oh right, they are too busy talking about all that the Pats have lost

 

[emoney_33]

Not only are Jackson and Gabriel intriguing replacement (plus Caldwell is an upgrade over Andre Davis) but the analysts keep forgetting that we have Maroney and a healthy Dillon in the backfield now compared to last year when we had a hurt Dillon plus miscast Faulk and Evans. Now Faulk can play his best role and we have a great running situation which will make a big difference.

No mention of that, though . . .

Yup. Instead of comparing what our offense could/should be with this exact team PLUS branch, they should be looking at what our offense will be this year compared to last year. With no running game last year, do people think Branch really made our offense run? Brady carried that offense, and with a dominant rushing attack, I can't see any reasons why this offense should be worse than last year. A good running game is more important because of the clock control ability etc..

 

[emoney_33]

The Seahawks also lost Steve Hutchinson, which I think will be a HUGE loss for this team. No way Alexander does this year what he's done the last couple without him. Why isn't the media making more of this????
Oh right, they are too busy talking about all that the Pats have lost

They are tired of the patriots not making many mistakes in personell decisions the last 5 years and seemingly always finding guys to fill roles. If we lost Lonnie Paxton, they would say we are screwed and will never be able to hit a fg all season

 

[BelichickFan]

Yup. Instead of comparing what our offense could/should be with this exact team PLUS branch, they should be looking at what our offense will be this year compared to last year. With no running game last year, do people think Branch really made our offense run? Brady carried that offense, and with a dominant rushing attack, I can't see any reasons why this offense should be worse than last year. A good running game is more important because of the clock control ability etc..

Forgetting salary, I wonder who would trade Maroney for Branch right now. Just the contribution on the field. I guess we're all biased right now but I'd take Maroney with the hopes that Jackson and/or Gabriel and/or Caldwell can develop.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

FWIW, Tommy had a nice speaking glance going with both Reche and Troy on the flare to the flat when the CBs were playing too soft. Those plays each averaged 9 yds. If Gabriel and Jackson start playing, their individual abilities should attract defenders, which will hopefully make it easier for Tommy to sneak some looks at Reche and Troy with whom he has been building a rapport. As the town crier would say, "2nd week of the season and allllll'ssss wellllll."

 

[Pats726]

Not only are Jackson and Gabriel intriguing replacement (plus Caldwell is an upgrade over Andre Davis) but the analysts keep forgetting that we have Maroney and a healthy Dillon in the backfield now compared to last year when we had a hurt Dillon plus miscast Faulk and Evans. Now Faulk can play his best role and we have a great running situation which will make a big difference.

No mention of that, though . . .

Wasn't Faulk hurt as well last year?? Or did I miss something?? Dillon was hurt, Faulk was hurt, Pass was hurt and the running back situation was far from the best. Even replacement Evans was hurt later on. No..no mention of how much BETTER the team is on the ground. It is sad that the connection between Branch and Brady is no more..but that will hurt Branch as much. It will tkae awhile to develop that connection with Caldwell, Jackson and Gabriel and all must be patient.

 

[BelichickFan]

Wasn't Faulk hurt as well last year?? Or did I miss something??

Right but by the playoffs he was fine. Still we had a hurt Dillon, Faulk, Evans and Pass. Which is a far cry from a healthy Dillon, Maroney and Faulk.

 

[brady2brown]

I think we all agree that we have less chance to win the Super Bowl this year now that The Twig is gone. Only an idiot would disagree.

Agree with my opinion or you're an idiot?

You have a right to your opinion. You do not have a right to call people with differing opinions idiots.

"I think we all agree that without Terry Glenn we have less chance to win the SB this year. Only an idiot would disagree. " Terry Glenn was a better Pats receiver that Deion ever thought of being.

"I think we all agree that without Lawyer Milloy we have less chance to win the SB this year. Only an idiot would disagree. "

"I think we all agree that without Ted Washington we have less chance to win the SB this year. Only an idiot would disagree. "

Only a idiot would think he could guess how teams respond to adverstity, how chemistry . Sometimes what doesn't destroy a team makes it stronger.