Impact of losing AD

[BradyManny]

Maybe its just b/c we've heard no official news, or maybe its b/c big injuries have become the norm this season, but this forum is taking the AD news in stride.

I heard Felger on CSN last nite saying losing AD could be the straw that broke the back. I'm not ready to go that far, but I will say that I am very anxious to see how the team plays Thursday nite without him. They did fine in the second half against the Bills without him, I have a lot of faith in Pierre Woods, but to me, its not the drop off in play and production so much as the drop off in versatility. Every package the Patriots implemented this season not only included AD, but hinged upon AD's versatility.

I dunno, I'm usually as homerific as they come, but if AD is really IR'd, I think I'm going to be nearly as depressed as I was when I heard the official Brady news. My current state of mind thinking that AD is out for the year is about "you've got to be f**king kidding me", but it any team can deal with this kind of adversity, its gotta be the Pats.


I went with option #2, though like I said, I'm anxious to see them prove on Thursday that option #1 is not the case.

 

[bakes781]

I agree it is a HUGE loss. He was clearly the best pass rusher on a team that wasn't very good at getting to the QB as it was.

 

[patsgo]

Maybe its just b/c we've heard no official news, or maybe its b/c big injuries have become the norm this season, but this forum is taking the AD news in stride.

I heard Felger on CSN last nite saying losing AD could be the straw that broke the back. I'm not ready to go that far, but I will say that I am very anxious to see how the team plays Thursday nite without him. They did fine in the second half against the Bills without him, I have a lot of faith in Pierre Woods, but to me, its not the drop off in play and production so much as the drop off in versatility. Every package the Patriots implemented this season not only included AD, but hinged upon AD's versatility.

I dunno, I'm usually as homerific as they come, but if AD is really IR'd, I think I'm going to be nearly as depressed as I was when I heard the official Brady news. My current state of mind thinking that AD is out for the year is about "you've got to be f**king kidding me", but it any team can deal with this kind of adversity, its gotta be the Pats.

if felger said that i guess i need to sell all my tickets, that guy is so smart, thanks for the felger up date,question for you, name something felger has ever been right on??? stop watching the ***!

 

[BradyManny]

I agree it is a HUGE loss. He was clearly the best pass rusher on a team that wasn't very good at getting to the QB as it was.

It wasn't just that he was the best pass rusher, he's also good at coverage, good against the run. He can play inside, outside. They lined him up in the slot against Dallas Clark so they could stay in their base 3-4 against Indy. They've used him to cover TEs, RBs, rush the passer, everything. Vrabel has a similar level of versatility, but not quite as good as AD, mainly b/c of the difference in speed.

Still, I go with option #2 for now. This team just needs some Ubuntu like the Celts right now. We'll see.

 

[bakes781]

It wasn't just that he was the best pass rusher, he's also good at coverage, good against the run. He can play inside, outside. They lined him up in the slot against Dallas Clark so they could stay in their base 3-4 against Indy. They've used him to cover TEs, RBs, rush the passer, everything. Vrabel has a similar level of versatility, but not quite as good as AD, mainly b/c of the difference in speed.

Still, I go with option #2 for now. This team just needs some Ubuntu like the Celts right now. We'll see.

They can still make the playoffs, but I think the Pats are one & done in the post season.

 

[BradyManny]

if felger said that i guess i need to sell all my tickets, that guy is so smart, thanks for the felger up date,question for you, name something felger has ever been right on??? stop watching the ***!

Nice...could've gone without the derogatory slur, but OK...

Felger has been a lot more reasonable this year, and I don't think he was just trying to be a negative nancy. Curran was pretty much on the same page and summed it up pretty well when he said the bottom line is that they'll have to strip down the D a little bit.

 

[patsgo]

Nice...could've gone without the derogatory slur, but OK...

Felger has been a lot more reasonable this year, and I don't think he was just trying to be a negative nancy. Curran was pretty much on the same page and summed it up pretty well when he said the bottom line is that they'll have to strip down the D a little bit.

ya they arent telling us anything we dont know, thats football strap them on and go play,

 

[Rob0729]

It's a big loss. But this team has a long history of overcoming big injury losses on the defensive side of the ball. Whether it is Law in 2004, Harrison in 2005, Seymour for stretches in recent years most notably the first six games last year, Ted Washington, etc.

The team clearly isn't as good as it was starting the game on this past Sunday, but I have faith in Belichick to figure out a way to hide the weakness and overcome it. If we have weathered the storm without Brady, I think we can figure out a way to overcome the loss of Thomas. It wasn't like the defense fell apart after Thomas went out on Sunday.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Pierre Wodds has doen nothing special thus far to think he is an adequate replacement,Its up to the 6 others around and in front of him to make him look decent

 

[ALP]

for the defense, this was probably the second worst injury possible (after wilfork)

and its greatly more effective then maroney and harrison combined...


its a HUGE loss....and its the first time this season i cant see us overcome it w/o serious concequences...

lets hope woods or redd are good....

 

[BradyManny]

It wasn't like the defense fell apart after Thomas went out on Sunday.

Yeah, thats what I keep telling myself...but Buffalo's offense isn't great. The good thing is, and Curran hit upon this last nite in response to Felger, there just aren't a lot of great teams and or great offenses out there.

But one of the reasons we have weathered this Brady storm is that the defense, with the exception of a few plays and a couple bad games, has been very good. That needs to continue and the team needs to find a way to fill Thomas void, b/c even with Cassel looking great, this still isn't the same team without Brady, and if the team wants to win, the defense has to hold teams to under 20 points consistently.

 

[Patjew]

I think it's a huge loss.

 

[JSn]

Well, I'm sure Flava-Favre is relieved. Won't be he surprised when Mini-Vince knocks him on his can?

 

[Kontradiction]

It is a huge loss. I'm not about to sweep that under the rug. But I think this team can overcome without AD. We weathered the loss of Brady. NOTHING can be worse than that.

 

[DaBruinz]

Yeah, thats what I keep telling myself...but Buffalo's offense isn't great. The good thing is, and Curran hit upon this last nite in response to Felger, there just aren't a lot of great teams and or great offenses out there.

But one of the reasons we have weathered this Brady storm is that the defense, with the exception of a few plays and a couple bad games, has been very good. That needs to continue and the team needs to find a way to fill Thomas void, b/c even with Cassel looking great, this still isn't the same team without Brady, and if the team wants to win, the defense has to hold teams to under 20 points consistently.

See, while Buffalo's offense "isn't that great" they have a lot of good players on it. Their O-line is very solid and they have 1 excellent RB in Lynch and a good back in Jackson. Yet, they tried to run at Woods several times and weren't able to with any success.

 

[BradyManny]

See, while Buffalo's offense "isn't that great" they have a lot of good players on it. Their O-line is very solid and they have 1 excellent RB in Lynch and a good back in Jackson. Yet, they tried to run at Woods several times and weren't able to with any success.

Woods has set the well edge every time we've seen him this year, dating back to preseason, no doubt. My concern deals more with the sub packages. With losing Rodney, we already lost some flexibility and depth there.

Same goes for AD, the team could run out the 2-4-5, 3-3-5, 2-5-4, and like I said, I think it all works largely b/c of AD. Vrabel doesn't have AD's skills in coverage, and I'm not sure about Woods. So the team might have to end up going smaller than it wants, bringing in an extra DB or safety, making it more susceptible to the run in its 2nd & 3rd down packages.

 

[neuronet]

It's like every week something good happens, we lose another great player. Are you there God, it's me Neuronet. Please make the hell cease!