I can't wait for...

[Lansdowne]

I'm not saying it wouldn't make any difference, I'm saying it wouldn't make as much difference as if we had some better playmakers on D. If our D stops a 3rd and 15 in the Jets game, we probably win. If they did a bit more in the Colts game, we probably win. There're two games right there without Brady, which we should have won.

No, I hear ya. If this defense could make stops anywhere near as good as the teams of recent past, the Patriots would be sitting pretty atop the standings, even without Brady. That's one way of looking at it. My previous post was looking at it another way.

 

[BradyManny]

That's the solution, just hide the Pats D problems by hoping every game is going to be a blowout?

Temporarily, sure, b/c we wouldn't have any other options. Re-building any defense takes time, especially for the Pats when college players have to transition to playing in a 3-4 or playing two gap or playing lots of zone coverages. Heck, it takes time for free agent veterans, too. We're in the process of rebuilding the defense and aside from somehow getting Asomugha from the Raiders, I don't see any way to really speed up that process. I am confident by next year, and with a healthy AD back, Mayo and Guyton progressing, Wheatley progressing, then we should be OK. We might be better than OK, we might be very, very good on defense by then, but there's a few "ifs and buts" in my line of thinking of course.

But as it is right now - what choice do we have but to trot out the guys we have? And I do think if we had Brady, we'd be the favorites to represent the AFC right now and go against the Giants, who would likely be a better team than us.

As for hiding behind blowouts - its not so much about getting in a shootout. The Brady led offense was scoring nearly every time it touched the ball [until it ran into the Giants], that makes the job much simpler for the defense. Frankly, the offense is still good enough behind Cassel that against weak defenses (like Jets and Phins) that it can have that affect on the defense.

 

[LuckyGandolff3x]

I think Brady being out this year was a blessing in disguise. By competing in tight games I feel like we're throwing our young secondary into the fire, so to speak, and next year we'll have a tested secondary with more experience to keep us in the tight games + Brady to Moss creating separation. We're going to have a GREAT team next year, and no one will know what hit them.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I dunno about the rest of ya...but I am not looking forward to next season yet. My "I can't wait for....." is

Matt Cassel hoisting the Lombardi as this year's superbowl MVP.

 

[Kontradiction]

And after the score, can Brady then go play defensive back for us, as that's our glaring weakness this year, not QB?

At this point, compared to Deltha O'Neal, Brady would be an upgrade at the CB position.

 

[LasVegasPatsFan]

Cassel had a bad game. But what if's:

Moss caught that first deep pass?
Moss caught the TD in the endzone?
Watson caught that slant route which was tipped for an IT?
Gaffney caught that deep pass?
Matt Light did his job?

These what if's could have changed the outcome of our offense against the Steelers but it did not. Would that have changed if TB was the QB last Sunday?

Our defense is our problem. Our offense in the last several weeks has been good enough to get us to the playoffs (if we stop shooting ourselves in the foot). I believe our defense is the problem.