New England can become Superbowl contenders again

[ScottishPatriots]

Any team that has Mac Jones at QB will never be a Super Bowl contender no matter the rest of the pieces, time to wake up to reality of the modern NFL.

 

[DarrylS]

Are "magic mushrooms" legal in Montreal??..

 

[reflexblue]

Are "magic mushrooms" legal in Montreal??..

No, i think hes on a natural high

 

[Triumph]

Would anyone believe me if I said New England can become a superbowl contender again with 2 great OT's, one more great DT, 1 great LB and one great WR? Maybe an edge too.

No, I'm not crazy. Neither stupid.

Notice my avatar.

When you see that its gone only then will the Pats be relevant again.

 

[archstanton543]

You're forgetting one crucial position.

Coach? GM?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

You're forgetting one crucial position.

I tend to agree, then I keep remembering that Nick Foles was the QB on a Super Bowl winner.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Maybe this is part of the problem.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The problem is what needs fixed includes two of the hardest positions to fill. You are right in the sense that there isn’t MANY holes on the team. If you add a franchise Qb, high end wr, and OT to this team along with the return of judon and Gonzalez and hopefully retaining Dugger/onwenu/Bourne and the TE’s, I think the team can contend. But what are the odds you field the qb and wr. Some franchises go decades trying to find a franchise qb. Some franchises have never had one.

 

[203Pat]

Coach? GM?

Coach, GM, and QB. You know, only the three hardest positions to get right in the sport.

 

[Nikolai]

There are pieces on this team right now that can make this team a contender.

The simplest path to contention is also one of the hardest; get a no-****, big-game QB.

We've won Super Bowls with worse defenses than we have. Again, a league-average offense has this team firmly in playoff contention.

 

[Boston Boxer]

+ a new QB
+ a new GM
+ a new HC

Now we're talking.

i agree...its time for a new direction at the top

 

[TheRainMaker]

We've won Super Bowls with worse defenses than we have. Again, a league-average offense has this team firmly in playoff contention.

All the defenses that won the Super Bowl were better than this current group.

 

[DarrylS]

All the defenses that won the Super Bowl were better than this current group.

This defense is very much banged up, each and ever week another key player is lost to some sort of injury..
Next man up is a nice slogan, but in reality..
Last week they lost Bentley in the middle.. Mack Wilson stepped in. Currently Judon, Uche and a slew of others are not able to play.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Okay Morpheus. Did you wake up and take the red pill or the blue pill this morning?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

This defense is very much banged up, each and ever week another key player is lost to some sort of injury..
Next man up is a nice slogan, but in reality..
Last week they lost Bentley in the middle.. Mack Wilson stepped in. Currently Judon, Uche and a slew of others are not able to play.

Judon, Uche, Gonzo, M Jones, Bourne, etc. Top guys at their positions, but if Mac does not figure it out we are back to Step 1.

 

[Triumph]

 

[lancerman]

All the defenses that won the Super Bowl were better than this current group.

Yup. Not particularly close either.

18th in yards
22nd in passing yards
13th in rushing yards
26th in points per game.
13th in penalties
28th in sacks
20th in QB knockdowns
22nd in passing touchdowns by opposing offense
25th in first downs given up
They are tied for 24th for INT's but really only one team has less interceptions
Tied for 26th in total takeaways.

We've never had a defense anywhere near this that won a Super Bowl. Just in ppg the 2004 team was ranked 2nd, 2014 was ranked 8th, 2016 was ranked 1st, 2018 was ranked 7th. The website doesn't go further back than 2004 but we all know the 03 and 01 teams weren't ranked as badly as this team. I don't think we've ever won a Super Bowl without a top 10 defense.

On top of that we've never won a Super Bowl with an offensive line that ranked this poorly. Or a special teams that ranked this poorly.

Also the only time we've won with a running back group close to as bad as this was the 2003 squad. And even then as a pure player I'd put Faulk over any of them for how he produced in both rushing and receiving.

Before you even talk about passing, this team has a lot of severe deficiencies that the Super Bowl winning teams didn't.

 

[rkarp1]

There are pieces on this team right now that can make this team a contender.

The simplest path to contention is also one of the hardest; get a no-****, big-game QB.

We've won Super Bowls with worse defenses than we have. Again, a league-average offense has this team firmly in playoff contention.

I do not agree.
first of all, how many of those types of players are on the face of the earth? Mahomes. ok. Burrow. ok, maybe.
who else is winning with poor OL play and poor WR play?
we have seen Fields, Lance, Lawrence, Murray, Pickett, Tua and others drafted in rd 1 over the past 5 years. none have won a playoff game to date. none have managed to win with out a big time target or even 2 secured.

 

[Nikolai]

I do not agree.
first of all, how many of those types of players are on the face of the earth? Mahomes. ok. Burrow. ok, maybe.
who else is winning with poor OL play and poor WR play?
we have seen Fields, Lance, Lawrence, Murray, Pickett, Tua and others drafted in rd 1 over the past 5 years. none have won a playoff game to date. none have managed to win with out a big time target or even 2 secured.

While all HoF QBs are "no-****, big-game QBs" not all "no-****, big-game QBs" are HoFers. We don't need a Mahomes to win. A healthy Cousins could probably get the job done for us.

I agree that OL play is critical, and ours is subpar to say the least.

That said, after sitting on the fence with Mac for the last couple seasons, I am starting to come around on the idea that he's not the guy. It's not the losses, but rather that he does not seem to correct his mistakes, even after three years. Mechanical issues aside, he does not see the field well and has subpar awareness. These were issues when we had a Top 10 OL in 2021, and they are issues now.

 

[Brotherblues]

Would anyone believe me if I said New England can become a superbowl contender again with 2 great OT's, one more great DT, 1 great LB and one great WR? Maybe an edge too.

No, I'm not crazy. Neither stupid.

Yeah, adding 6 great players to any team will almost invariably result in a contender.