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With Edelman now out along with Lewis how will the Patriots offense change?
I think it is more than just "someone needs to step up". I think it is going to cause a lot of changes to how the Patriots run their offense over the rest of the regular season. Here are the changes I think are made
#1 Blocking to replace Edelman - There is more than one solution to a problem. Obviously Amendola, Gronk & Lafell's loads will go up and other skill players will be asked to do more. However I think an even stronger possibility than putting Dobson on the field is putting another blocker on the field. If you don't have a skill player really worth putting out there then don't do it that much. I think we will try to add an extra OL man in more to set Gronk free and to find Brady a little extra time to find his top 3 targets. Better to have 2.5 seconds with them than 2 seconds when you add in a Dobson or Martin or Chandler much of the time IMO.
#2 Scheme change... More is more - The Patriots have done the surgical short passing offense very well this year but that will have to change some now IMO. The fact is without Edelman is will be harder to put drives of 10+ plays together. He was your best chain mover and most trusted 3rd down converter. I think the Patriots will look for bigger chunks more often. Though it is riskier I just don't think they have much of a choice. The Patriots need to look for more of those bigger 20-30 yard chunk plays to get scores. Luckily they have reasonably good personnel to do this in Gronk and Lafell who both go deep reasonably well. Also if they do add in an extra blocker they will probably have more time to try it.
#3 Run the ball - I am not one to say this often as I don't generally believe running tends to do much for you most games. However I think expect Gronk, Amendola and Lafell to hold up to many 50 attempts games with lots of targets and hits is not the best idea. The Patriots need to run the ball as long as it not being completely stuffed. Also their OL is more built for it anyway right now. IT will shorten games and give you less offensive plays which is probably for the best right now. If the run is completely shut down then you have no choice but to get away from it but otherwise they should commit to 20-25 carries a game unless you need to score for sure.
#4 Pass more to RBs - The Patriots don't have Lewis but their RBs have shown me they are pretty sure handed. Bolden with a big catch last week. Blount/White going 3/3 for 16 yards. Though the YAC won't be their as much as long as the RBs can catch and get you a successful down they should look to it. I especailly think they need to pass to Blount a bit more often. He should be in their more anyway as a pass blocker and showing our commitment to running a bit more (like they did vs the Giants). As long as he catches the ball and gets you 5-6 which he seems to why not go to it more if they leave him open in the flat.
#5 Dobson - This is my pick for the main WR replacement for Edelman for a lot of reasons. He is the most proven here of all the guys. More snaps with Brady than Chandler/Martin and he is also a deep option which ties into what one of my other predictions here. I think they need to go for bigger chunks of yards and Dobson certainly has the tools to do this. Time to throw him out there and either he proves he needs to be off this team or earns a spot for next year. He does not need a ton of catches but he needs to make the ones that are there to make in the intermediate to deep parts of the field.
Obviously, our game plan depends on our opposition. Against some teams, we try to run more. Against others, we go into the shotgun for almost the whole game.
However, I do believe that it is truly "next man up".
LEWIS is not replaceable. White can be the 3rd down back and receiving back. In fact all the running backs can catch the ball.
EDELMAN is out. LAFELL is now back at 100%. We are clearly much worse off for the trade. We have two #4 WR's who could certainly step up. Both have shown flashes this year.
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The MUCH MORE SERIOUS problem is the health of the OT's. Having one of the OT's come back would make a huge difference. We are fine at OG with Stork, Mason and Kline. IMHO, we should keep Barker on the roster until we add TWO healthy linemen.