MrNathanDrake
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2009
- Messages
- 2,898
- Reaction score
- 1,703
-Belichick coaching the defense. This is barely mentioned, but its a huge factor. Dean Pees was flat out terrible as DC. Sure our stats are not good, but the D make plays when they need to and are getting a lot of turn overs. A lot of yards/points have also been garbage time - bend but dont break defense. Like BB once said, Stats are for losers. Our defense has come up with huge plays when we needed them the most (game ending INT vs Colts, Ninkovich early INTs vs. Miami that kept us in the game and led to a blowout, etc)
-Brady is back. A lot of people dont realize how hard it is to come back physically, but more importantly MENTALLY, from a traumatic injury and sitting out of football for a year and a half.
-Mayo is healthy. Last year he was playing injured and mightve had the sophomore jinx. He still looked like he was learning out there. Now he seems comfortable and confident as a Captain on the team. This year he's one of the best Linebackers in the entire league.
-We got rid of every cancer on the team. Adalius Thomas, gone. Randy Moss, while praised by BB and Brady, was always seen moping on the sidelines and plays off and on whenever he feels like it. Laurence Maroney, another hot and cold moody player. Gone. We replaced all those guys with humble, CONSISTENT team players (Branch, BJGE, Cunningham). Watching the Pats play it is clear that every player is 100% buying into everything BB is telling them. Chemistry is important and it is way better than last year.
-Lower Risk, Same Reward. Brady has barely thrown any INT's since Moss has been gone. He isnt bombing it out. He doesnt have to worry about babysitting and keeping Moss happy. Instead he's gone back to spreading it out. Our Offense is far less predictable than the "Moss goes Deep, Welker goes Under" Offense that we had the past few years. I thought we might have Redzone scoring issues without the height/jumping of Moss, but the Reward is the same as when he was here, but without the high Risk. We're still scoring a lot, and have the best offense in the league.
-Dominant Offensive Line. They're playing better than I've seen them play in recent years. Vollmer hasnt gotten enough credit. He's a huge upgrade over Kaczur. Having Light/Vollmer lock down the edges has given Brady a clean pocket and lots of time to throw.
-New Starting CornerBacks. Bodden was decent last year, but at times we saw him and the other side get picked on with ease. Now this year we have 2 new starters. McCourty is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He's shutting down deep balls thrown at him and quickly reaching "Shut Down" status where QB's won't even attempt throwing deep on him. The majority of his INT's look identical. WR runs a streak down the sideline, McCourty runs step for step with them, turns and plays the ball perfectly. Arrington isn't getting picked on like we've seen Butler/Wilhite/Wheatley get picked on in past years. He's no McCourty, but he's been playing pretty damn good in his own right and supports the run well. Brandon Marshall, Santonio Holmes, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson.... None of them had good games against us.
-Brady is back. A lot of people dont realize how hard it is to come back physically, but more importantly MENTALLY, from a traumatic injury and sitting out of football for a year and a half.
-Mayo is healthy. Last year he was playing injured and mightve had the sophomore jinx. He still looked like he was learning out there. Now he seems comfortable and confident as a Captain on the team. This year he's one of the best Linebackers in the entire league.
-We got rid of every cancer on the team. Adalius Thomas, gone. Randy Moss, while praised by BB and Brady, was always seen moping on the sidelines and plays off and on whenever he feels like it. Laurence Maroney, another hot and cold moody player. Gone. We replaced all those guys with humble, CONSISTENT team players (Branch, BJGE, Cunningham). Watching the Pats play it is clear that every player is 100% buying into everything BB is telling them. Chemistry is important and it is way better than last year.
-Lower Risk, Same Reward. Brady has barely thrown any INT's since Moss has been gone. He isnt bombing it out. He doesnt have to worry about babysitting and keeping Moss happy. Instead he's gone back to spreading it out. Our Offense is far less predictable than the "Moss goes Deep, Welker goes Under" Offense that we had the past few years. I thought we might have Redzone scoring issues without the height/jumping of Moss, but the Reward is the same as when he was here, but without the high Risk. We're still scoring a lot, and have the best offense in the league.
-Dominant Offensive Line. They're playing better than I've seen them play in recent years. Vollmer hasnt gotten enough credit. He's a huge upgrade over Kaczur. Having Light/Vollmer lock down the edges has given Brady a clean pocket and lots of time to throw.
-New Starting CornerBacks. Bodden was decent last year, but at times we saw him and the other side get picked on with ease. Now this year we have 2 new starters. McCourty is playing at a Pro Bowl level. He's shutting down deep balls thrown at him and quickly reaching "Shut Down" status where QB's won't even attempt throwing deep on him. The majority of his INT's look identical. WR runs a streak down the sideline, McCourty runs step for step with them, turns and plays the ball perfectly. Arrington isn't getting picked on like we've seen Butler/Wilhite/Wheatley get picked on in past years. He's no McCourty, but he's been playing pretty damn good in his own right and supports the run well. Brandon Marshall, Santonio Holmes, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson.... None of them had good games against us.
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