TheSolderKing
In the Starting Line-Up
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Sep 12 NE @ MIA Sun Life Stadium
Sep 18 SD @ NE Gillette Stadium
Sep 25 NE @ BUF Ralph Wilson Stadium
Oct 02 NE @ OAK O.co Coliseum
Three road games looks daunting but the competition should mitigate that. The Fins, Bills and Raiders will have significant roster shakeups to deal with. The Chargers are relatively intact and pose a significant challenge.
For the RBs, the Raiders and Bills should still struggle against the run so weeks 3 and 4 would be a good time to break out.
Passing will be more of a factor in weeks 1 and 2 against teams the Pats traditionally struggle with. The interesting point is that Wake and Phillips traditionally play the defensive left...so that would be against Vollmer if he stays put. If Solder claims a starting spot, might be a good idea to keep him at LT.
Henne, Fitzgerald and Campbell are reasonable QBs but the lack of TEs for those teams will hurt against the Pats (assuming Zack Miller will be a FA). SD is a much bigger challenge with Rivers and Gates so having Dowling up to speed by week 2 would be optimal.
After the first month, most rookies should be able to find their way onto the field for meaningful snaps. Before then, it looks like the top 4 will have opportunities to make their mark. That will be key because coming out of the 1st quarter at 4-0 or 3-1 will be huge. The next 8 games get more difficult but 5 of those are at home and the longest roadie is to Pittsburgh.
Do people honestly believe there's been no contact between coaching and players? I certainly don't. There's too much at stake for every NFL team to abide by the lockout rules.
2 things
I think the Chargers have a TON of unsigned starters
I wouldn't call the Fins and Chargers teams we 'struggle' against.
BB has never faced Miami in September with Tom Brady at QB. Nice try at hyperbole.The Pats havent won at Miami in September since 1987. BB has never beat Miami in the month of September as NEs HC.
The Patriots have won 6 of 8 and 14 of 20 vs Miami. Hardly struggling.New England Patriots Vs. Miami Dolphins Results - The Football Database
NE was lucky to win last season vs SD.
New England Patriots Vs. San Diego Chargers Results - The Football Database
The Pats havent won at Miami in September since 1987. BB has never beat Miami in the month of September as NEs HC.
New England Patriots Vs. Miami Dolphins Results - The Football Database
Who said anything about player-coach communique. It's more than reasonable to believe an intermediary could pass information back and forth between the players and coaches.We would have heard something about player and coach contact by now.
I believe most teams did play by the rules, If it comes out that they did not, Goodell is good at delivering punishment in the form of fines or forfeited draft selections.
Do people honestly believe there's been no contact between coaching and players?
I think Dowling is a player we can afford a slower development with, anyway. If he were anything higher than third or fourth on the depth chart for either CB or S at some point during the season, that would be great, but it's not critical to our success. I'm comfortable with the people ahead of him, and so long as he's worthy of being the nickel back by 2012, I'll be quite happy.
By the way, it's starting to seem pretty clever that all the other positions we drafted high are ones with fairly straight forward transitions from college to the NFL. Considering the lockout, this was an awful good year to stock up on OTs and RBs. It's another fine reminder that the FO is much, much smarter than me.
Imagine missing out on Andrew Luck and ending up with Cam "$$" Newton... during a lockout.Have felt similar that this draft was a "lock out draft", no one has to contribute in early September, but if they do it is a bonus for this team. Most of these guys will suffer as they did not experience Rookie Camp, OTA's and the socialization that would integrate them into the culture of the NFL and the Patriots...
Compare to a team that drafted a QB, cannot imagine making a transition from a college team to the NFL in about 7 weeks... quite a leap.
BB has never faced Miami in September with Tom Brady at QB. Nice try at hyperbole.
I dont think a loss in 2000, and a loss in Cassells 2nd career start are the criteria for struggling.
The Patriots have won 6 of 8 and 14 of 20 vs Miami. Hardly struggling
The Patriots have won 4 out of 5 vs SD. Again hardly a case of struggling.
Really? And you know this how?The Pats have struggled in the September Miami heat.
We are talking about 'struggling' vs Miami and SD. He didnt isolate games, he said we have struggled vs those teams.We arent talking about games won in NE.
We have won 5 of those, and have won 4 of the last 5. That is hardly struggling. You 'struggle' against teams that you lose to often, not against teams you consistently beat regardless of margin.Out of the last 8 SD games, 50% have been decided by 7 points or less. Hardly an easy win.
We aren't talking about games won in NE.
The first month of the regular season will be key:
Sep 12 NE @ MIA Sun Life Stadium
Sep 18 SD @ NE Gillette Stadium
Passing will be more of a factor in weeks 1 and 2 against teams the Pats traditionally struggle with.
The Patriots have won 6 of 8 and 14 of 20 vs Miami. Hardly struggling.
The Patriots have won 4 of 5 vs SD. Again hardly a case of struggling.
playbook + photocopier ='s :rocker:
the rookies are being taken care of... I bet they have access to them on a shared basis. The Rookies are in training w/ rest of the team.
The training/interactions have to be outside of the Patriot establishments, but they are still meeting.
Really? And you know this how?
The last time the Pats played in Miami in September was 2000. Sorry, you got this one wrong.
We are talking about 'struggling' vs Miami and SD. He didnt isolate games, he said we have struggled vs those teams.
We have won 5 of those, and have won 4 of the last 5. That is hardly struggling. You 'struggle' against teams that you lose to often, not against teams you consistently beat regardless of margin.
Did the Packers struggle to a SB win last year?
Wasn't precise with my words. When I said "traditionally struggle", I was really focusing on SD in general but Miami on the road specifically (that was the context of the schedule I was referencing). Also, "traditionally" is kind of silly since it really doesn't matter what happened 8-10 years ago, much less in the 70's. "Recently" would have been a better choice of words...something like the last 5 years or so since that would be fairly relevant. Wasn't parsing my words that closely and didn't think my point would be that controversial.
I think there is a difference between struggling to win and stuggling against a particular team. Last year we struggled to pull out wins in some games but didn't struggle to win games.Though my use of the word "struggle" was exactly what I meant. I'm not sure how you could watch the recent games against SD and not see them as "struggles". While a loss always indicates a struggle, a win doesn't indicate the reverse. By that logic, the Colts could say they haven't struggled with the Pats recently...which would be silly.
The Fins in Miami is more of a stretch since the Pats have had a few very productive games there. But in watching the games, I have always got the feeling that the Pats have had a much harder time winning in Miami than the talent difference would indicate. Even losing games that they clearly should not have. That seems like a "struggle" to me but to each his own.
Regardless, my point was that even beyond the "Any Given Sunday" argument, the Fins (in Miami) and Bolts seem to pose a greater challenge for the Pats than you might normally think.