Missing pieces on defense not offense: Misunderstood

[Claremonster]

We should probably get an elite QB to backup Brady. You know, for when he tears his ACL.

Everyone thought that Cassel wasn't going to be much after Brady went down. Mallett or Kafka will be setup for success if Brady goes down again. BB isn't that dumb.

 

[supafly]

they need to run the football on first and 2th down a lil more so brady dose not have to be in 3rd and long all the time, this team just gives up on the run to fast if they are down by a TD they go into pass only mode and when they are in 3rd and long Brady need to not lock on to he's top guy and spred the ball more,

Believe it or not our 3rd down conversion rate in the AFCCG wasn't the problem at all as they were 7/15, which would have led the entire NFL last season. I don't mind the fact that they try and keep the defense guessing, but when they line up in a nickle formation for the duration of the game and dare you to run the ball, you need to take advantage of that. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in 2 of our last home playoff losses vs the NYJ and BAL.

I think people are all too happy to point out the awesome patriots offensive statistics in the AFCC, while ignoring that in the red zone they played liked trash.

I brought up the 3rd down conversion rate in response to his comments about being stuck in 3rd and long etc.

I did not fail to point out the fact that they couldn't run the ball effectively.

 

[tonyto3690]

I think people are all too happy to point out the awesome patriots offensive statistics in the AFCC, while ignoring that in the red zone they played liked trash. The Ravens and other good defensive teams play a bend don't break defense on the Patriots and everybody starts pointing to the awesome yards and 3rd down conversion and blah blah blah...

The truth is the Patriots offense stunk it up when the field got short. Why? Because they couldn't run the friggin ball and they threw the ball to Welker too much.

It stunk because four of our top five receiving targets were either out with injury or playing seriously injured.

Sometimes you just get unlucky. Seeing that we got unlucky and thinking "Oh we need to add 3 more quality receivers or we're doomed" is just terrible thinking. We just need to stay the course and not assume because a fluke injury happened, and almost everything possible that could have gone wrong, went wrong, it will happen again.

 

[Claremonster]

It stunk because four of our top five receiving targets were either out with injury or playing seriously injured.

Sometimes you just get unlucky. Seeing that we got unlucky and thinking "Oh we need to add 3 more quality receivers or we're doomed" is just terrible thinking. We just need to stay the course and not assume because a fluke injury happened, and almost everything possible that could have gone wrong, went wrong, it will happen again.

The Pats do have a glaring need at wr. You have to admit this.

Did Brady stink in the last few years at qb in the post season? I think he did. He always focused on Welker too much, when Welker wasn't dropping passes.

 

[tonyto3690]

The Pats do have a glaring need at wr. You have to admit this.

Did Brady stink in the last few years at qb in the post season? I think he did. He always focused on Welker too much, when Welker wasn't dropping passes.

I think they need to add another Edelman/Lloyd calibre role player or hope one of Jenkins/Jones has a 50 catch 800 yard year. But investing big time in a Greg Jennings kind of #1 is just a waste of resources. I think we'd be much better off with our receivers as is, than our DBs as is. Plus, we need to become a run first team eventually and Ridley is a guy who can handle that load.

09- Welker is out, Moss is triple covered all game and our second best receiver was 40 year old RB Kevin Faulk. We were completely outmatched.

10- Brady throws a fluke interception. Everyone on the OL besides Vollmer gets destroyed. Shaun Ellis had the game of his life and made Mankins his whipping boy. Recovering Welker and Branch couldn't get open. Brady plays mediocre but not poorly.

11- Brady and Belichick drag one of the most undertalented teams ever to make the SB. Brady has one bad play the entire game- the safety. Otherwise plays a pretty good game where no one is getting open. Has the longest drive in SB history- 98 yards for a TD before halftime(?).

12- Plays a solid game. Running game is completely shot and his options are Welker, Hernandez and Lloyd. OL plays very well. He was good enough to win, definitely. Unfortunately the defense completely fell apart in the second half, Ridley got KO'ed, and the Ravens got a tipped pass to float 50 feet into the air for 3 minutes so a Ravens player could grab the game ending interception.


As to be expected, in all the games we've lost in the playoffs the past few years, Brady hasn't lit the world on fire. Whenever he does that, we win. Because we are completely dependent on him carrying us.

In the games we've lost he's ranged from mediocre to good. 2010, 2011, 2012 are all games we win if we had either a healthy OL, good defense, or healthy receivers.

I know it's easy to put the blame on him, but asking him to carry a team through the entire playoffs is impossible. He needs to be able to have 1 mediocre game and have us still win. Having a Texans/Broncos calibre game for the entire playoffs is just impossible.

 

[ATippett56]

It stunk because four of our top five receiving targets were either out with injury or playing seriously injured.

Who was seriously injured?

Welker ???
Lloyd ???
Hernandez ???
Vereen ???

 

[NEPettyOfficer72]

1) Stevan Ridley has developed into one of the top young running backs in the league, who is tough, fast and has good vision. He also has a slew of very talented runners lined up behind him. This will always swing an offensive momentum during the course of a game.

2) Rob Gronkowski is the pure, best all around tightend the NFL has seen since Tony Gonzalez in his prime. Hell, I will go as far as to say the best tightend I've ever seen. If he is healthy, and recovered at least by game 3 and stays healthy for the remainder of the season then he is unstoppable and another AFC Championship game will be minimum.

3) Dice and slice Aaron Hernandez, can line up everywhere including the backfield and create mismatches and decoy mismatches meaning that even if he doesn't get the ball he still creates an opening for someone else. And when he and Rob are in at the same time then thats too much for any defense to handle.

4) Danny Amendola when healthy, is a great wide receiver who brings so much more than Wes Welker. He specializes in it all, not just the slot and brings more speed, quickness, youth, great hands, and clutchness that NE likes. Defenders can't just lock down one aspect of his game and he's done like they did Wes.

5) Jake Ballard is a very good receiving Tightend, and looks to be healthy going into the season. So even if Rob isn't recovered by season start, we have two very good options at that position. And at 6'7, he also creates a big body in the redzone.

6) Donald Jones and Michael Jenkins though not game breakers I believe can contribute in a very solid fashion. First off, with Donald being young and pretty much coming in to learn from two of the NFL's best qb and coach of all time in addition to Josh McDaniels, I believe personally that he could suprise some people. And Michael is a 6'4 solid vet who has NEVER had a qb that can actually acurately throw the ball.

7) The resigning of Sebastion Vollmer will pay huge dividends for the offense down the road.

8) Loose Danny Woodhead, but you have a great receiving runningback in Shane Vereen who is extremely versatile and Leon Washington, who is great in open space and on dump offs and screens. Brandon Bolden is a solid receiver as well. These guys will contribute in the passing game as well.

9) Drafting a high pick on a WR? Do you really expect a young kid to come into his complex offense and pick it up and help right away? No. They will probably make a trade for a Veteran WR.

10) Last but not least, read all of my posts above and realize that WE HAVE NEEDS ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL.

11) Don't sleep on Julian Edelman. He was getting firery hot before he got hurt, both on offense and special teams. Who knows how electric he can and will be this season.


The "Stretch the field" mythical need on offense is a matter of Rob staying healthy, and the signing of Danny Amendola who can get deep. Aaron Hernandez can do some of the same things Wes did, but if you look at it, in 2003-04 we really didn't have your 6'3 stretch the field type of receiver, but we had a great defense that helped us to those Championships. Insurance is always good on offense but its not a focal point of our needs.

 

[Brady6]

Players that we need to take next step...

My list would include,

Chandler Jones
Hightower
Vereen
Tavon Wilson
Dennard
Hernandez

Discuss?

 

[lurker1965]

All I know is those 2 sevenths could be any position - they'll probably be projected as kick returners.

The first three could be a DT, OG (or Center), CB, LB, or WR (to replace Sanders) depending on what is available. Heck, I won't raise an eyebrow for a safety.

I will be surprised by a QB, RB, TE, OT, K, P, LS.

Anyone who claims any need is glaring needs psychiatric help.

 

[lurker1965]

The Pats do have a glaring need at wr. You have to admit this.

...

Bull puckey! Pre-Moss name an elite wr.
Troy Brown and Deon Branch were good, but not great. (Brown was #2 to Glenn and 1B when Glenn left. As for Branch, ask a Seattle fan how elite he was.)
This crop of wr are not as bad as 2006 (and the TE's are so much better as to make that comparison silly.)
Troy Brown (of 2006) and Reche Caldwell might not make make it out of camp this year.