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Another season starts a week from today. And just like every season for the past 10 years it begins with the usual combination of great promise and continual anxiety. Here are a few general observations in no particular order for your consideration
1. We survived the angst of the lockout with the end result that most of us could now probably pass the bar exam. Never as so much been written and discussed about the NFL that had NOTHING to do with football. It wasn't pleasant for anyone. BUT if it means that we don't have to talk about it for the next 10 years then I guess the aggravation was worth it. (not that I'm entirely happy with the end results, but more on that later)
2. At the start of this TC the Pats seemed STACKED at virtually every position. Yet suddenly at what seems to be the last minute we wind up thin at S, TE, and the OL. That being said we DO have that embarrassment of riches along the DL
3.I can't remember a more chaotic cut down day, nor a more disappointing one. With one week to go before the start of the season, we are all are waiting for "the other shoe" to drop", and none of us know what exactly that is. Do we add another S. Do we find a 3rd TE? We all expect SOMETHING to happen.....which probably means.....nothing will
I'm STILL having a problem with losing BOTH Yeatman and Smith. I cannot understand not keeping one on the roster. There seemed to be SO many guys more likely NOT to get snatched. With so much of our offense seemingly shifting to the TEs, wouldn't a better risk to reach the PS had been someone like Jeff Tarpanian?
4. The injury situation at G must be worse that we think. I have NO idea how Waters will work out. Clearly on the downside of a great career. He was once considered the best G in the league....but that was a while ago. If he has anything in the tank, he COULD be an upgrade.. But consider that he hasn't been in anyone's camp and will likely start with just 6 practices under his belt. Not exactly a confidence builder for early in the season
5. BTW- is anyone concerned about our kicking game, given that our long snapper is a cast off from the Bills and ALSO will have JUST 6 practices to create a semblance of timing and coordination with rest of the specialists before the REAL games begin.
6. Oh, in case you haven't noticed, the BEST offense in the league last season, who returned just about EVERYONE, added some very encouraging pieces, and SHOULD be even more potent that last season........has looked like horse sh!t the last 4 quarters the starters have been on the field.
7. Here are some possible answers to my own questions and concerns about the Safeties, OL, and TEs
a. Borgy posted this in another thread and I thought the idea was worth repeating. Since Roster flexibility is one of the hallmarks of this regime, Borg opined this scenario for the seeming lack of the so called "blocking TE", and it makes a lot of sense.
What if its BBs intention to use Nate Solder at that position. He certainly would be an upgrade on ANYONE for that position as far as run and pass blocking is concerned. Doing it creates another roster spot. It allows you the opportunity to utilize your best players on the OL. Alge participated in 50% of the offensive snaps last season. Using Solder as the blocking TE will certainly help in his development as well as help BB start to get a more immediate return on his draft investment
The more I think on it (IF it turns out to be reality) the more I like it..
b. The Safety situation is even MORE curious....and confounding. We release the 2 guys with the most experience, and are now left with just ONE guy who has more than a single year's experience in our system?????? Now BB isn't an idiot. He's at least as smart as we are. He has SOMETHING up his sleeve....and here are some guesses
1. Josh Barret may be the key. Here is a guy that BB liked enough that he paid him to sit for over a to get healthy, so maybe after all is said and done, a combination of Chung and Barrett IS an upgrade over Chung and whatever Merriweather had become.
2. The S situation hasn't been this muddled since 2003 when Eugene Wilson came out of the blue to give the Pats 2 good years of Safety play after coming into the league as a CB. So maybe the drafting of Dowling and the pick up of a big CB in Molden are precursors to a similar move to making THAT kind of adjustment
3. Finally maybe our starting S isn't on the roster yet. Maybe that "other shoe" is picking up one of the myriad of FA's who have come and gone the last few weeks (btw, this is the least likely of my scenarios IMHO)
c. Actually the OL isn't a really a deep concern. Most of the problems are injury related. Plus I have to admit that my binky this preseason was Steve Mareni and I hated losing him because necessity forced us to add Waters. Assuming that Cannon will be back in 6 weeks, I actually like the potential of this OL very much. BUT for the first few weeks I have to worry about the continuity of what is usually a well coordinated unit.
7. It is interesting to note that LAST year Vince, was the OLDEST DLman running with the likes of Pryor, Brace, and Deadrick and Love. THEN within a single season he becomes the YOUNGEST of the likely DL starters
With a starting line up of Carter, Vince, Albert, and Ellis, his might be the best DL the Pats have had in a few years, especially when you consider the Pass rushing potential. Its also the oldest. This group has a year, maybe 2 of peak production. I hope we manage to keep enough of the young kids that we can make the inevitable transition smoothly.
8. I cringe to think that every team in the NFL will have one 14 more padded practices for the REST of this season. The ****ification of the NFL continues. What's worse is knowing that it will slowly filter down to the the HS and college.
For me the beauty of football is the odd mixture of the cerebral nature of the chess game that football is, contrasted by the primitive violent physicality. of the game. It truly reflects the yin and yang of human nature. IMHO the lawyers are taking the contact part out of the mix
9. I suppose I should feel SOME pride at how quickly seeming all of our so called cast offs IMMEDIATELY found jobs within the league, but somehow I'm not comforted
10. If you check the Pats secondary roster this season, the one thing you come away with is....."size DOES matter" In the arms race that the league's offensive gurus have started, the average size of an NFL WR has grown rapidly in the past decade. Clearly BB has decided that he has to respond.(finally IMO) In the past it was very rare for the Pats to have ANYONE in the secondary over 6' tall. This season the Pats will start the season with only 4 DBs that are UNDER that mark.
11. Looking toward Miami. I AM concerned for the following reasons.
a.Dolphins have the makings of an excellent defense. More than that it is the kind of defense that can be a tough match up for the Pats (at least at this point of the season)_They possess 2 big physical CBs who can cause problems for the wide outs.
b. They have the guys in Misi Odrick, and Wake who can generate a constant pass rush that will force the Pats to go to short routes that can be anticipated and jumped. All this is even more troubling when you consider how INEFFECTIVE our offense has been the last two scrimmages.
c. Miami has historically been a house of horrors for the Pats. Its tough to win ANY road games in the NFL. Miami has been a particular problem, especially THIS early in the season Do not underestimate the effect of that heat,even in a night game
d. Henne has the best passing options he's had since he's been there. For all his problems Brandon Marshall is a match up nightmare and STILL one of the best WRs in the league. Jarvis Best is a productive guy who always has played well against us. He makes the tough catches that would make him a favorite if he were one of ours. And Reggie Bush, say what you will, is an excellent 3rd down back.
Any QB good enough to start in this league is good enough to beat you. You cannot ASSUME that he's going to throw multiple picks and be inaccurate, because this just MIGHT be the game that he doesn't.. Our defense looks GREAT ....on paper. but it's yet to be proven.
OTOH, they don't have any likely answers to Hernandez and Gonk either
BOTTOM LINE: Its a game you would EXPECT to win, but its still terrifying to think about the negative prospects. There aren't many "gimme's" on the schedule this year. This ISN'T one of them. And with SD coming in the next week, its one we CANNOT afford to lose.
As usual I look forward to your comments
1. We survived the angst of the lockout with the end result that most of us could now probably pass the bar exam. Never as so much been written and discussed about the NFL that had NOTHING to do with football. It wasn't pleasant for anyone. BUT if it means that we don't have to talk about it for the next 10 years then I guess the aggravation was worth it. (not that I'm entirely happy with the end results, but more on that later)
2. At the start of this TC the Pats seemed STACKED at virtually every position. Yet suddenly at what seems to be the last minute we wind up thin at S, TE, and the OL. That being said we DO have that embarrassment of riches along the DL
3.I can't remember a more chaotic cut down day, nor a more disappointing one. With one week to go before the start of the season, we are all are waiting for "the other shoe" to drop", and none of us know what exactly that is. Do we add another S. Do we find a 3rd TE? We all expect SOMETHING to happen.....which probably means.....nothing will
I'm STILL having a problem with losing BOTH Yeatman and Smith. I cannot understand not keeping one on the roster. There seemed to be SO many guys more likely NOT to get snatched. With so much of our offense seemingly shifting to the TEs, wouldn't a better risk to reach the PS had been someone like Jeff Tarpanian?
4. The injury situation at G must be worse that we think. I have NO idea how Waters will work out. Clearly on the downside of a great career. He was once considered the best G in the league....but that was a while ago. If he has anything in the tank, he COULD be an upgrade.. But consider that he hasn't been in anyone's camp and will likely start with just 6 practices under his belt. Not exactly a confidence builder for early in the season
5. BTW- is anyone concerned about our kicking game, given that our long snapper is a cast off from the Bills and ALSO will have JUST 6 practices to create a semblance of timing and coordination with rest of the specialists before the REAL games begin.
6. Oh, in case you haven't noticed, the BEST offense in the league last season, who returned just about EVERYONE, added some very encouraging pieces, and SHOULD be even more potent that last season........has looked like horse sh!t the last 4 quarters the starters have been on the field.
7. Here are some possible answers to my own questions and concerns about the Safeties, OL, and TEs
a. Borgy posted this in another thread and I thought the idea was worth repeating. Since Roster flexibility is one of the hallmarks of this regime, Borg opined this scenario for the seeming lack of the so called "blocking TE", and it makes a lot of sense.
What if its BBs intention to use Nate Solder at that position. He certainly would be an upgrade on ANYONE for that position as far as run and pass blocking is concerned. Doing it creates another roster spot. It allows you the opportunity to utilize your best players on the OL. Alge participated in 50% of the offensive snaps last season. Using Solder as the blocking TE will certainly help in his development as well as help BB start to get a more immediate return on his draft investment
The more I think on it (IF it turns out to be reality) the more I like it..
b. The Safety situation is even MORE curious....and confounding. We release the 2 guys with the most experience, and are now left with just ONE guy who has more than a single year's experience in our system?????? Now BB isn't an idiot. He's at least as smart as we are. He has SOMETHING up his sleeve....and here are some guesses
1. Josh Barret may be the key. Here is a guy that BB liked enough that he paid him to sit for over a to get healthy, so maybe after all is said and done, a combination of Chung and Barrett IS an upgrade over Chung and whatever Merriweather had become.
2. The S situation hasn't been this muddled since 2003 when Eugene Wilson came out of the blue to give the Pats 2 good years of Safety play after coming into the league as a CB. So maybe the drafting of Dowling and the pick up of a big CB in Molden are precursors to a similar move to making THAT kind of adjustment
3. Finally maybe our starting S isn't on the roster yet. Maybe that "other shoe" is picking up one of the myriad of FA's who have come and gone the last few weeks (btw, this is the least likely of my scenarios IMHO)
c. Actually the OL isn't a really a deep concern. Most of the problems are injury related. Plus I have to admit that my binky this preseason was Steve Mareni and I hated losing him because necessity forced us to add Waters. Assuming that Cannon will be back in 6 weeks, I actually like the potential of this OL very much. BUT for the first few weeks I have to worry about the continuity of what is usually a well coordinated unit.
7. It is interesting to note that LAST year Vince, was the OLDEST DLman running with the likes of Pryor, Brace, and Deadrick and Love. THEN within a single season he becomes the YOUNGEST of the likely DL starters
With a starting line up of Carter, Vince, Albert, and Ellis, his might be the best DL the Pats have had in a few years, especially when you consider the Pass rushing potential. Its also the oldest. This group has a year, maybe 2 of peak production. I hope we manage to keep enough of the young kids that we can make the inevitable transition smoothly.
8. I cringe to think that every team in the NFL will have one 14 more padded practices for the REST of this season. The ****ification of the NFL continues. What's worse is knowing that it will slowly filter down to the the HS and college.
For me the beauty of football is the odd mixture of the cerebral nature of the chess game that football is, contrasted by the primitive violent physicality. of the game. It truly reflects the yin and yang of human nature. IMHO the lawyers are taking the contact part out of the mix
9. I suppose I should feel SOME pride at how quickly seeming all of our so called cast offs IMMEDIATELY found jobs within the league, but somehow I'm not comforted
10. If you check the Pats secondary roster this season, the one thing you come away with is....."size DOES matter" In the arms race that the league's offensive gurus have started, the average size of an NFL WR has grown rapidly in the past decade. Clearly BB has decided that he has to respond.(finally IMO) In the past it was very rare for the Pats to have ANYONE in the secondary over 6' tall. This season the Pats will start the season with only 4 DBs that are UNDER that mark.
11. Looking toward Miami. I AM concerned for the following reasons.
a.Dolphins have the makings of an excellent defense. More than that it is the kind of defense that can be a tough match up for the Pats (at least at this point of the season)_They possess 2 big physical CBs who can cause problems for the wide outs.
b. They have the guys in Misi Odrick, and Wake who can generate a constant pass rush that will force the Pats to go to short routes that can be anticipated and jumped. All this is even more troubling when you consider how INEFFECTIVE our offense has been the last two scrimmages.
c. Miami has historically been a house of horrors for the Pats. Its tough to win ANY road games in the NFL. Miami has been a particular problem, especially THIS early in the season Do not underestimate the effect of that heat,even in a night game
d. Henne has the best passing options he's had since he's been there. For all his problems Brandon Marshall is a match up nightmare and STILL one of the best WRs in the league. Jarvis Best is a productive guy who always has played well against us. He makes the tough catches that would make him a favorite if he were one of ours. And Reggie Bush, say what you will, is an excellent 3rd down back.
Any QB good enough to start in this league is good enough to beat you. You cannot ASSUME that he's going to throw multiple picks and be inaccurate, because this just MIGHT be the game that he doesn't.. Our defense looks GREAT ....on paper. but it's yet to be proven.
OTOH, they don't have any likely answers to Hernandez and Gonk either
BOTTOM LINE: Its a game you would EXPECT to win, but its still terrifying to think about the negative prospects. There aren't many "gimme's" on the schedule this year. This ISN'T one of them. And with SD coming in the next week, its one we CANNOT afford to lose.
As usual I look forward to your comments