Our offense is close to complete!

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

The Pats are not close to being complete on offense.

-Their offensive play calling is terrible and will derail their 2010 season if it continues.

- Who starts at LT? Vollmer better win the starting job.

- They need to find a replacement for Kaczur quickly. He gets worse by the day.

- I've seen enough of Koppen getting blown up after the snap. He is worthless on running plays. Find a replacement.

- Their receives are a mess. Will Welker even play this season? Moss is also getting older and I hope the aligator arms routine doesn't continue. However, I like the potential of Edelman but I don't expect jack from Tate. They need to draft another WR.

- Their TE's are a joke. If they can re-sign Watson, great but I'd be shocked if he wanted to return to New England. Why don't they just use another OL on passing downs because they never throw to the TE?

- I don't think anybody noticed this, but Maroney could've had a 1,000 season easy had the Pats ran the football more often. Maroney isn't the gamebreaker we all thought he was, but he can get the job done if given enough carries. However, Taylor and Morris should take a hike. This draft is deep, find another RB or two.

 

[patriots2010]

i would say we have TWO holes at WR...

and obviously TWO holes at TE, but that doesnt really matter, cuz we dont seem to liek throwing the ball to TE's, so we might as well just put anohter OL in there

and i would also agree I want a rookie RB, thereby well have maroney, this rookie, BJGE, and hopefully faulk and drop morris/taylor

Good point about TE's on the Pats. Why waste 2 or 3 roster spots? Put extra beef on the line with back up G's or T's. Also, I cannot see carrying 5 RB's. We need 6 WR's (Slater is not a WR). Last year showed the folly of carrying a 5th RB as Law Firm barely played even with many RB injuries but we were totally deficient at WR becuse of injuries and poor talent choices in Lewis and Galloway.

 

[crowell33]

The Pats are not close to being complete on offense.

-Their offensive play calling is terrible and will derail their 2010 season if it continues.

- Who starts at LT? Vollmer better win the starting job.

- They need to find a replacement for Kaczur quickly. He gets worse by the day.

- I've seen enough of Koppen getting blown up after the snap. He is worthless on running plays. Find a replacement.

- Their receives are a mess. Will Welker even play this season? Moss is also getting older and I hope the aligator arms routine doesn't continue. However, I like the potential of Edelman but I don't expect jack from Tate. They need to draft another WR.

- Their TE's are a joke. If they can re-sign Watson, great but I'd be shocked if he wanted to return to New England. Why don't they just use another OL on passing downs because they never throw to the TE?

- I don't think anybody noticed this, but Maroney could've had a 1,000 season easy had the Pats ran the football more often. Maroney isn't the gamebreaker we all thought he was, but he can get the job done if given enough carries. However, Taylor and Morris should take a hike. This draft is deep, find another RB or two.

I'm with you. I want Vollmer protecting Brady's blind side.

 

[DaBruinz]

Our starting OL is pretty much set with the retention of Neal. However that doesn't mean it couldn't use some upgrading. Koppen is particularly weak at the point of attack and needs frequent help. Teams have enjoyed a lot of success blitzing right up the gut of our OL. When Maroney is left in there to pass block, it gets even uglier. So getting a versatile guy for depth who could play either C or G at a high level would be ideal.

If you are going to show that play, make sure you know what you are talking about. On that play, Maroney was left hanging because KOPPEN blew his assignment and let Lewis prance right in on a delayed blitz. Maroney's assignment was to pick up the slack behind Connolly and Kaczur on that play. It's why he was lunging back in an attempt to get to Lewis.
It always amazes me how people who supposedly watched that play just forget about the fact that Koppen's assignment was the MLB and he blew it.
Maroney is FINE as a pass blocker when the guy is in his area. Just like Faulk.


The Pats RB platoon is also ancient or injury prone, or both. Infusing new blood into the mix in a draft that looks like it is 5 or 6 good backs deep would be a good idea.

The #2 WR woes continue for the Pats. Welker's return time frame is uncertain. I think we address this position with a veteran and a rookie. I don't think we necessarily need to spend a 1st round pick though. I'd take a few shots in the mid rounds and see if the Pats can pull another Edelman or Givens out of their hats.

The offense looks far from complete. there's some spackling to be done and holes that still need filling. But I don't think the problems are as dire as some people are making it out to be either.

The Offensive Line needs a new Guard. Neal isn't the answer because he can't stay on the field enough.

Yes, there is a need at WR and 2 at TE unless BB really likes Agnone and Myers.

But RB isn't a need if Faulk is brought back.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

The Pats are not close to being complete on offense.

-Their offensive play calling is terrible and will derail their 2010 season if it continues.

- Who starts at LT? Vollmer better win the starting job.

- They need to find a replacement for Kaczur quickly. He gets worse by the day.

- I've seen enough of Koppen getting blown up after the snap. He is worthless on running plays. Find a replacement.

- Their receives are a mess. Will Welker even play this season? Moss is also getting older and I hope the aligator arms routine doesn't continue. However, I like the potential of Edelman but I don't expect jack from Tate. They need to draft another WR.

- Their TE's are a joke. If they can re-sign Watson, great but I'd be shocked if he wanted to return to New England. Why don't they just use another OL on passing downs because they never throw to the TE?

- I don't think anybody noticed this, but Maroney could've had a 1,000 season easy had the Pats ran the football more often. Maroney isn't the gamebreaker we all thought he was, but he can get the job done if given enough carries. However, Taylor and Morris should take a hike. This draft is deep, find another RB or two.

I'm in this camp as well. To suggest otherwise is homer nonsense...

 

[tanked_as_usual]

the defense is clost to complete also......

it only needs a bunch of LB's

 

[Patriot Missile]

This teamis in dire need of a good blocking TE. I'm hoping for the best available in the 4th round.

Edelman and Aiken are only going to get better as they go through another training camp. Edelman worries me a little regarding his health. Not that he has given me any reason to, but he hasn't been with the team long enough for me to know how tough he is. I'd surely like a backup plan just incase. Aiken is going to break out this year and solidify himself on this team.

I don't think anyone really knows what we have in the other Tate. Personally I'm hoping for lightning in a bottle. He has now had a full year + since his knee injury in college. Let's not forget he was pretty much a lock for a first round grade prior to that injury. Not to mention he has had a lot of time to learn the play book, now he just has apply it to the field. I like our WR's as they are right now without having to draft one in the the first 2 rounds.

 

[DaBruinz]

This teamis in dire need of a good blocking TE. I'm hoping for the best available in the 4th round.

Edelman and Aiken are only going to get better as they go through another training camp. Edelman worries me a little regarding his health. Not that he has given me any reason to, but he hasn't been with the team long enough for me to know how tough he is. I'd surely like a backup plan just incase. Aiken is going to break out this year and solidify himself on this team.

I don't think anyone really knows what we have in the other Tate. Personally I'm hoping for lightning in a bottle. He has now had a full year + since his knee injury in college. Let's not forget he was pretty much a lock for a first round grade prior to that injury. Not to mention he has had a lot of time to learn the play book, now he just has apply it to the field. I like our WR's as they are right now without having to draft one in the the first 2 rounds.

Sorry, but Aiken isn't going to do any "breaking out" unless it's "breaking out" champagne or beers. The guy is in his 3rd season with the Pats and 8.th in the league. He's never been a good receiver. Yet, you think it's going to magically happen now..

Edelman and Tate will both help this offense as long as they stay healthy. However, I do believe they need another vet WR who can play opposite Moss until Tate shows he can take the spot or Welker gets back and pushes Edelman out there.

And, yes, I believe that Edelman, given the extra practice, could line up opposite Moss to run the intermediate routes.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Do you bother reading what you quote? Or were you so verclempt over the image of your boy Maroney getting overpowered by Ray Lewis, that you couldn't resist blindly defending him?

Koppen is particularly weak at the point of attack and needs frequent help. Teams have enjoyed a lot of success blitzing right up the gut of our OL. When Maroney is left in there to pass block, it gets even uglier.

It's pretty obvious that someone up front had to have messed up or we wouldn't have this deep penetration, where a clearly ineffective Maroney tries and fails to contain Ray Lewis' pass rush up the gut. You're saying that Koppen goofed, that still doesn't excuse the fact that this was a feeble FAIL at pass protection by Maroney. I've seen revolving doors offer more resistance.

 

[Snake Eyes]

The Pats are not close to being complete on offense.

-Their offensive play calling is terrible and will derail their 2010 season if it continues.

- Who starts at LT? Vollmer better win the starting job.

- They need to find a replacement for Kaczur quickly. He gets worse by the day.

- I've seen enough of Koppen getting blown up after the snap. He is worthless on running plays. Find a replacement.

- Their receives are a mess. Will Welker even play this season? Moss is also getting older and I hope the aligator arms routine doesn't continue. However, I like the potential of Edelman but I don't expect jack from Tate. They need to draft another WR.

- Their TE's are a joke. If they can re-sign Watson, great but I'd be shocked if he wanted to return to New England. Why don't they just use another OL on passing downs because they never throw to the TE?

- I don't think anybody noticed this, but Maroney could've had a 1,000 season easy had the Pats ran the football more often. Maroney isn't the gamebreaker we all thought he was, but he can get the job done if given enough carries. However, Taylor and Morris should take a hike. This draft is deep, find another RB or two.

Vollmer is the best LT on the team but if he starts as LT who do we put at RT? I would opt to draft Jared Veldheer in the 2nd and train him up ASAP.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I believe that we are NOT close to being a SB team, but that the issues are on defense. If we were to sign a top WR receiver tomorrow (only necessary because of Welker's injury), I'd stop worrying about the offense until August. We certainly can pick up a couple of TE's in free agency and a 3rd down running back (and another WR or two for camp competition).

What if the offense commits turnovers and leaves the defense hung out to dry?

 

[emoney_33]

-Their offensive play calling is terrible and will derail their 2010 season if it continues.

Just accept that play calling will be terrible in your eyes every year for eternity, this will never change no matter what.

- Who starts at LT? Vollmer better win the starting job.

Light

- They need to find a replacement for Kaczur quickly. He gets worse by the day.

Wasn't he injured last season? And we have Vollmer to win RT

- I've seen enough of Koppen getting blown up after the snap. He is worthless on running plays. Find a replacement.

According to splits at ESPN, Maroney had 4.5 YPC up the middle (best of any of the splits). Although if you take out the long of 45 it plummets to 3.4 YPC.

PFF has the splits at 2.8 between C-RG and 6.0 (4.4 minus long of 45) between C-LG.

Laurence Maroney Splits - New England Patriots - ESPN

ProFootballFocus.com - Cumulative Team Statistics

- Their receives are a mess. Will Welker even play this season? Moss is also getting older and I hope the aligator arms routine doesn't continue. However, I like the potential of Edelman but I don't expect jack from Tate. They need to draft another WR.

Moss is fine, Welker is a question mark and Edelman has shown enough to be confident in. I wouldn't say the receivers are a mess, just sorely lacking in depth. Tate has a lot of potential, they definitely should draft another and pick up a couple in FA. I don't agree with others that we need a dominant #2 but we do need to have 4-5 quality receivers. At this point the "knowns" are Moss, Edelmen and hopefully at some point Welker.

- Their TE's are a joke. If they can re-sign Watson, great but I'd be shocked if he wanted to return to New England. Why don't they just use another OL on passing downs because they never throw to the TE?

It's still beneficial to run routes even though they only get thrown to 10% of the time, at least the last couple of years. They will have to replace the TEs though I'm not much worried about it.

- I don't think anybody noticed this, but Maroney could've had a 1,000 season easy had the Pats ran the football more often. Maroney isn't the gamebreaker we all thought he was, but he can get the job done if given enough carries. However, Taylor and Morris should take a hike. This draft is deep, find another RB or two.

I think the splits were like 55%-45% for pass-run. I would like a rookie to split carries with Maroney to combine for 1,000+ yards but I don't think BB is going to hand the ball enough to any single RB to get 1,000 yards.

 

[VJCPatriot]

How many leads did the Patriots blow in 2009? I think we had more blown 2nd half leads in 2009 then we did combined in previous BB years. Was that the fault of the offense, the defense, or both?

 

[emoney_33]

How many leads did the Patriots blow in 2009? I think we had more blown 2nd half leads in 2009 then we did combined in previous BB years. Was that the fault of the offense, the defense, or both?

Depends how you define "fault". A significant improvement in either the offense or defense in the 4th quarter of those games would have generated more wins. However I -blame- the defense more than the offense for them.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

How many leads did the Patriots blow in 2009? I think we had more blown 2nd half leads in 2009 then we did combined in previous BB years. Was that the fault of the offense, the defense, or both?

Both. Aside from the Bills comeback in week 1, Brady became a 4th loser (which doesn't happen too often). But again, I blame the offense for getting lazy with a lead and not finishing teams off and I blame the defense for allowing teams back in the game. As much as I can't stand their philosophy on defense, the players overachieved big time in 2009. I expected their defense to be much worse.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

If you go down the list, both the defense and offense are to blame. The offense struggled mightily in the 2nd half all year long, uncharacteristic of a BB team. Brady also turned the ball over more often in spots that he hasn't in the past. The playcalling was subpar due to a rookie playcaller.

The defense struggled a lot against good passing teams due to the lack of a pass rush and conservative defense. The defense couldn't consistently get stops or get off the field on 3rd downs. That's why I loved the five and dime package. It was nice to see an aggressive and chaotic package like that added.

The Miami loss was the perfect example. Brady throws a pick in the red zone as we are going in to pretty much ice the game. He never makes that mistake. The offense scored only once in the 2nd half on that sick catch by Aiken. The offense gets the ball back up 21-19 with a chance to run out the clock and ice the game like they have so many times before in the past, and they go 3 and out.

The defense then got chopped up by Henne and couldn't get off the field. We needed to get a stop at the end of that game to prevent the FG, and we couldn't do it. 335 yards to Henne? That's abysmal. Butler had close to 10 tackles in that game IIRC. And that wasn't b/c he was coming up great in run support, it was b/c he was getting smoked all day.

The good thing is, with BB taking over on defense, the young guys on O and D making progress, a good amount of draft picks in the first two rounds, a year of playcalling experience for O'Brien, and a few good pickups via FA/trade, the team should be better in most areas. The killer is Welker's knee. What a devastating blow for him and the team. When will he be back? Will he ever be the same player? That's why I thought the Boldin trade was a must. Moss is probably gone after 2010, Welker's future is still up in the air. Boldin would be a great weapon to add for the next 3-4 years at a pretty reasonable price too.

 

[DocE]

We have FOUR obvious holes at WR, RB, TE and backup TE that will likely be filled in free agency in next six weeks. This is not a large laundry list. The other TWENTY-ONE players could be upgraded, or they could be ready to play in a few weeks without addition.
==========

OFFENSE (25)
QB Brady, Hoyer, Stanback/Rowe
I agree tha Pats are "set" here, but we have Brady and UDFA in Hoyer, so they are spending nothing on a backup QB and hoping Hoyer is the answer. I am fine with that strategy.
RB Taylor, Maroney, OPEN, Morris, Green-Ellis
Maroney is the only RB in this group that is dynamic with the ball in his hands. One of Taylor/Morris needs to go in favor of a more explosive, younger option.
OL Light, Mankins, Koppen, Neal, Vollmer
Kaczur, Connolly, Levoir, Ohrnberger/Bussey/Wendell
Seems like the Patriots like their Oline more than most of the "experts". I see a slightly above average NFL Oline as currently constructed. I'd like an upgrade at RT or C
TE OPEN, OPEN
This is quite a hole. My guess is that Belichick likes what he saw from at least on of the practice squad TE's.
WR Moss, OPEN, Edelman, Tate/Patten, Aiken, Slater
This group needs more than one addition. Patten couldn't find a job last year, Tate will now have missed about 2 years of football after two consecutive knee injuries, Aiken is a number 5 and Slater is special teams only. The Patriots need a signficant proven addition here and a draft pick

PUP Welker

I can't think of many teams who have a less impressive depth chart at WR currently (Chiefs and Rams for sure, maybe the Bears, maybe the Ravens) We've got Moss and then Edelman is the closest thing to a proven performer on the roster. We have the worst TE depth chart in the league currently. At RB, the Patriots are old and injury prone or young and mistake prone (Maroney as much as I love him can't be trusted at the goal line). On the Oline, the Patriots don't get much push in the run game, and struggled to protect Brady against the Jets/Ravens style defense. At most, the team currently has two players that can make a big play in Moss and Maroney. Lots of work to be on offense, unless the Patriots plan to be dominant defensively in 2010.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Depends how you define "fault". A significant improvement in either the offense or defense in the 4th quarter of those games would have generated more wins. However I -blame- the defense more than the offense for them.

mmmmmm......kool-aid

 

[screamingPatsFan]

We have FOUR obvious holes at WR, RB, TE and backup TE that will likely be filled in free agency in next six weeks. This is not a large laundry list. The other TWENTY-ONE players could be upgraded, or they could be ready to play in a few weeks without addition.
==========

OFFENSE (25)
QB Brady, Hoyer, Stanback/Rowe
RB Taylor, Maroney, OPEN, Morris, Green-Ellis
OL Light, Mankins, Koppen, Neal, Vollmer
Kaczur, Connolly, Levoir, Ohrnberger/Bussey/Wendell
TE OPEN, OPEN
WR Moss, OPEN, Edelman, Tate/Patten, Aiken, Slater

PUP Welker

I just want to know what you're smoking??

 

[DonBlackmon55]

If you go down the list, both the defense and offense are to blame. The offense struggled mightily in the 2nd half all year long, uncharacteristic of a BB team. Brady also turned the ball over more often in spots that he hasn't in the past. The playcalling was subpar due to a rookie playcaller.

The defense struggled a lot against good passing teams due to the lack of a pass rush and conservative defense. The defense couldn't consistently get stops or get off the field on 3rd downs. That's why I loved the five and dime package. It was nice to see an aggressive and chaotic package like that added.

The Miami loss was the perfect example. Brady throws a pick in the red zone as we are going in to pretty much ice the game. He never makes that mistake. The offense scored only once in the 2nd half on that sick catch by Aiken. The offense gets the ball back up 21-19 with a chance to run out the clock and ice the game like they have so many times before in the past, and they go 3 and out.

The defense then got chopped up by Henne and couldn't get off the field. We needed to get a stop at the end of that game to prevent the FG, and we couldn't do it. 335 yards to Henne? That's abysmal. Butler had close to 10 tackles in that game IIRC. And that wasn't b/c he was coming up great in run support, it was b/c he was getting smoked all day.

The good thing is, with BB taking over on defense, the young guys on O and D making progress, a good amount of draft picks in the first two rounds, a year of playcalling experience for O'Brien, and a few good pickups via FA/trade, the team should be better in most areas. The killer is Welker's knee. What a devastating blow for him and the team. When will he be back? Will he ever be the same player? That's why I thought the Boldin trade was a must. Moss is probably gone after 2010, Welker's future is still up in the air. Boldin would be a great weapon to add for the next 3-4 years at a pretty reasonable price too.

Here's the summary of blame
- Offense Inconsistent
- Defense No pass rush
- OC Idiot (same dumb plays, no run, no TE)
- HC (BB) Poor strategy of roster development
- FO(BB) Pathetic drafting of 2006/7/8, poor FA and trades