Offense has a long way to go

[E Belichick Unum]

After watching the Indy Baltimore game I was struck by how far the Ptriots have to go to compete on offense. I hate the Colts, but watching them last night I could see how much more advanced their offense was conpared to ours.

1) Offensive line - That is a very good line that blocks evry well. Their protection schemes are always good and Payton Manning is pretty much always able to get the pass off before the defense has an opportunity to react.

2) Recievers - Both the Colts and the Vikings have athletic recievers who can catch the ball in traffic and across the middle. They are also fast enough to take the DB deep. The only deep threat on the Patriots is Randy Moss and it has been proven he can be taken out of the game by being physical at the line.

3) Running backs - They block well, pick up the blitz well and when called upon can make people miss. But they are also well suited for their particular offense. Does anybody really think that Laurance Marony has been used to his strengths? Does anybody really believe that Sammy Morris or Fred Taylor is the answer?

4) Play calling - The coaching and play designs for both teams are excellent. There are always open recievers running down field, or across the middle.

For as bad as out defense has played at times, it is our offense we have to be worried about, I think. BB hasn't done a real good job filling the bench with usable reserves and we are paying the price for that today. He has also let too many good coaching candidates leave without replacing them with quality, so we have a situation where we use an unproven minor coach as an offensive coordinator and he gets out classed.

I don't have any answers, but I have some concerns that won't be answered until next year.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Coaching is the key.

On paper, they need a WR or 2 and some help on the interior line. You look at the championship teams on paper and we're not far from that at all, talent wise.

 

[emoney_33]

Comparing the Ravens games from the pats and Indy makes things look a lot worse than they really are.

Brady was playing with special teamers and a rookie as receivers (aside from Moss, but ONE receiver is not enough). 24-0 after 1 quarter dramatically changes the way a defense can play.

The Patriots are 1 or 2 receivers away, people underestimate the effect that losing Welker had on this offense. This year Moss/Welker were the only 2 legitimate threats, you take one out and you are pretty much done.

 

[Mosi Moose]

Coaching is the key.

On paper, they need a WR or 2 and some help on the interior line. You look at the championship teams on paper and we're not far from that at all, talent wise.

Agree, we need 2 WRs and help on the Oline. Would also love a pass catching TE (or at least USE the ones we have) like the Colts use Clark. I agree - I don't think we're THAT far off offensively. I think we're a little further away on defense though.

 

[muzz]

I remember the Rams in their heyday, under Bruce and Holt they had:
Az-Hakim and Ricky Proehl.
Hey look, just like Breaston and Urban for the Cards
How about LMoore and Robert Meachem for the Saints(regardless of #, they have FOUR good ones).

We just didn't have enough good talent in the WR dept. this year IMO, Welker and Moss are great..the rest were bench fodder.

Please bring in quality 3rd and 4th WRS this year!!

 

[supafly]

Peyton Manning really is an exceptional QB, and has a plethora of weapons at his disposal. They built their offense around their best talent, which of course is QB.

If anything, I was a bit disappointed that we did not go out and find another WR early in the year--although I certainly trust BB and his reasons. I just feel that we can be a lot of the same as IND, as least offense-wise. We need decent options to help Brady. A true #2 outside Moss to stretch the field, and a true #4 possession-type receiver a la Gaffney.

The way I see it as of now, all we have is one of each. Moss can stretch the field, and Welker is a possession-type, slot WR. We need one more of each to compliment both of them, and now are faced with an even bigger task due to the Welker injury.

We all saw what can be done on offense in 2007, with true WR1-WR4.

Brady may not be as good as Manning, but he's damn close. When you look at teams that are powerful on offense this year, you see many options. Just look at IND, SD, MIN, NO, ARZ, DAL, PHI, PIT. All of them have 4 or 5 options to throw the ball to, although some use their TE's as in the case of IND, SD, PIT, etc.

If we're only going to have 2 or 3 true options like a BAL, or NYJ, then we would need to have strong, powerful defenses like those teams + be able to run the ball as well.

If the defense is going to continue it's rebuilding phase for another year or 2 (hopefully) then we need to build a decent offense around Brady, and give him plenty of weapons. Bottom line, I think we can be just as good as IND, and have proved so in the past.

 

[Badluck]

thats what happens when you have a OC on your team which has been my gripe with the team all season