USA Today Punks McDaniels

[Brownfan80]

Originally Posted by Brownfan80
NEM, we've been over this a million and a half times, and yet still you deny your own words. I won't even bother posting the link again because obviously it's pointless. But seriously, all the 'right and wrong' out the window, if you try to say that your pre-game prediction of the Bengal game is what occured then sir, you are either completely senile, or lying to yourself.

Because you sure aren't lying to any of us, at least not successfully. We've seen the posts and know what really occured.

It is bizarre. If NE has success, he claims that they did what he wanted. If they don't he lambasts them. All of this is completely irrelevent of whether they actually followed his blueprint.

At this point I am considering not even replying to him anymore.

Indeed. Bizarre is quite a good word to use in this instance. I think that the only way one can repeatedly reply to NEM is to accept that it's an exercise in futility.

 

[Brownfan80]

The offensive play calling has kept our opponents close enough to win.

Have you not watched the Patriots for the past six years?

One of the big knocks on our dynasty is that we rarely EVER blow anyone out, we just win close game after close game. This is not a new trend. And is not something to have a stroke over.

SB XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17 (+3) Could just as easily been a loss because of bad playcalling OH EM GEE!!!

SB XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29 (+3) DITTO, HOLY CRAP DON'T WE BLOW ANYONE OUT, WE COULD HAVE LOST THIS GAME, BAD PLAYCALLING!@!!@#

SB XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21 (+3) AGAIN??? WTF CAN'T THIS TEAM PUT ANYONE AWAY?????

You call out posters often for being 'blinded by the wins' as to how playcalling has made the games 'too close', but are you blinded to the fact that games just like you complain about have occured as the NORM during each of the SB runs?

This is not a team that blows people out. It happens once and a while, but for the most part, this is a team that just does enough to win. I think it's YOU that needs to pay attention. Winning is all that matters, not by how much. This team WINS.

2001 - 11-5
2002 - 9-7
2003 - 14-2
2004 - 14-2
2005 - 10-6
2006 - 4-1

You've been complaining about bad playcalling since I've been on this website. During that span we're 62 - 23 with 3 SB Championships and ZERO count them ZERO losing seasons, missing the playoffs only once, and losing in the playoffs only once (in a game where TURNOVERS and MISTAKES told the story, not offensive playcalling).

If it is really the ones that only pay attention to the winning that need to wake up, then I'll just keep dreaming.

Are you simply going to keep throwing it against the wall that offensive playcalling will eventually cost us in the win column until it finally happens and we actually have a losing season and then try to claim that you were right all along? Because, so far you're just blowing smoke in the face of the most successful team in the NFL over the last six years.

It's sad, really. If you can't enjoy this success now, how will you handle it when we finally do start to fall off?

 

[ChockBlkr]

It's sad, really. If you can't enjoy this success now, how will you handle it when we finally do start to fall off?

Hopefully we never will!
Just taking your post a little further back and seeing that in 12 seasons we have only had 2 losing seasons. I don't know about anyone else but if you had told me back in 93' that within the next 12 years we would go 117 - 75 in the regular season and 13 -5 in the playoffs with 4 SB appearances and 3 SB wins, I would have said you'd had too many Zimas. With all that said, I think its hard as a New England sports fan to sit back and relax when everything isn't perfect due to the adversity some of our teams have faced in the past. I also think it is a testament to the dedication of our fan base
that because we are so emotionally tied to our teams success, maybe we get a bit too concerned about a percieved lack of commitment from our team. I don't disagree that the team needs to play better, but I think we can all relax just a little bit. The sky isn't falling...yet.

 

[Brownfan80]

You still dont get ;it do you. With what I believe could be, and could have been, better play calling, most of our wins would not have, and should not have, been so close.

Game after game we sweat out the outcome because of bad play calling onthe offensive side of the line. Thanbk GOD our defense rose to the occasion, time after time, to bail us out.

Sorry, but your argument holds no water.

Just think of all the games you sweated out right down to the wire, when perhaps it would have been easier on all those fgs we settled for in the red zone instead of td's and with quicker adjustments and changes rather than wait till it is almost too late.

Thats the crux of my argument...however, because we won the games, which is great, , blinds too many people to the truth.

I am going out now. Back in 5 or 6 hours.

My argument holds no water? Your argument is: It's too close, could have put it away more, we might lose! My argument is that if we keep winning what does it matter? How am I wrong? The team itself has been proving you wrong for years, it has nothing to do with my thoughts.

You keep worrying about every play as though it could cause a loss, but the Patriots keep winning, proving you wrong. I don't see how pointing that out can be anything but factual.

Could we win by more? Probably. Do we need to? No.

I don't care if we win by 3 or by 50. A Superbowl win is a Superbowl win is a Superbowl win. And a Winning Season is a Winning Season is a Winning Season. And AFCE Championships are ... well, you get the point.

Your point seems to be that the games are 'too close' so therefor they are wrong. My point, in turn, is that Wins aren't judged by score as they are in college, they're judged by who has more points at the end of the game. You could win by 1 point, you could win by 100 points. It's just a W either way. And this team WINS regardless of your bellyaching about not winning by enough.

You call me blinded. I'm blinded by the winning. Well, if your point is that we're keeping it too close and we might lose, and I'm blinded by the wins, how do you even HAVE a point?

The point in the NFL is to win games. You think that because we could win by MORE that something is being done wrong. This is not the BCS, you don't get a better bowl bid for the amount of points you score. Winning is all that matters in the NFL, and this team has consistently done that better than any team in the NFL since the turn of the Mellinium.

Are you too blinded by playcalling to see THAT?

You say my argument holds no water, but actually it's yours that is empty.

You say the playcalling results in too many close games and that will one day lead to our downfall, but the simple fact is that it's always been that way through a 62-23 record. The simple black and white fact is that all of your worry is just that. Naybob Nancy grumbling. We've won three times as many games as we've lost. Won 3 SBs, Won 10 playoff games. Won Four AFCE Championships. All using this flawed offensive system called "JUST SCORE ENOUGH TO WIN".

The winning, sir, is what makes you wrong.

"WE DIDN'T WIN BY ENOUGH BECAUSE OF BAD PLAYCALLING, WE MIGHT LOSE!!" is your complaint. I get your point, we could win by more if every game was called perfectly.

But my point is that UNTIL WE ACTUALLY START LOSING WHY DOES IT MATTER? A WIN IS ALL THAT COUNTS.

We aren't the Colts, we don't need to post 42 points a game to bail our D out. We have a better D and we can play like it. The defense goes into the offensive gameplan. Teams like Indy NEED to ultra-outscore their opponents. We haven't needed to for the most part. And usually when over 40 points has been needed, we get it. There's the trick about this team: They know what they need to get to win, and usually get it.

If the Dolphins score 10, we usually score 13. If the Colts score 34, we usually score 35.

We have a good Defense, why would we play as though we have a chump squad? You make no sense NEM.

9/10 W Bills 19-17 (+2)
9/17 W Jets 24-17 (+7)
9/24 L Broncos 17-7 (-10)
10/1 W Bengals 38-13 (+25)
10/8 W Dolphins 20-10 (+10)

So far this season we are +34 in point differential after five games. We've only won ONE game by less than a TD out of 4 wins. You explain to me how that is too many games that are too close. I don't remember a SINGLE game winning FG attempt. I don't remember a SINGLE 'do or die' drive this season. Explain how it's so bad.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

But my point is that UNTIL WE ACTUALLY START LOSING WHY DOES IT MATTER? A WIN IS ALL THAT COUNTS.

Careful, prolonged exposure to NEM can cause one to repeat themselves and type in capital letters.

 

[Brownfan80]

Careful, prolonged exposure to NEM can cause one to repeat themselves and type in capital letters.

AHH CRAP NOW MY FACE IS STUCK THIS WAY!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Have you not watched the Patriots for the past six years?

One of the big knocks on our dynasty is that we rarely EVER blow anyone out, we just win close game after close game. This is not a new trend. And is not something to have a stroke over.

SB XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17 (+3) Could just as easily been a loss because of bad playcalling OH EM GEE!!!

SB XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29 (+3) DITTO, HOLY CRAP DON'T WE BLOW ANYONE OUT, WE COULD HAVE LOST THIS GAME, BAD PLAYCALLING!@!!@#

SB XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21 (+3) AGAIN??? WTF CAN'T THIS TEAM PUT ANYONE AWAY?????

You call out posters often for being 'blinded by the wins' as to how playcalling has made the games 'too close', but are you blinded to the fact that games just like you complain about have occured as the NORM during each of the SB runs?

This is not a team that blows people out. It happens once and a while, but for the most part, this is a team that just does enough to win. I think it's YOU that needs to pay attention. Winning is all that matters, not by how much. This team WINS.

2001 - 11-5
2002 - 9-7
2003 - 14-2
2004 - 14-2
2005 - 10-6
2006 - 4-1

You've been complaining about bad playcalling since I've been on this website. During that span we're 62 - 23 with 3 SB Championships and ZERO count them ZERO losing seasons, missing the playoffs only once, and losing in the playoffs only once (in a game where TURNOVERS and MISTAKES told the story, not offensive playcalling).

If it is really the ones that only pay attention to the winning that need to wake up, then I'll just keep dreaming.

Are you simply going to keep throwing it against the wall that offensive playcalling will eventually cost us in the win column until it finally happens and we actually have a losing season and then try to claim that you were right all along? Because, so far you're just blowing smoke in the face of the most successful team in the NFL over the last six years.

It's sad, really. If you can't enjoy this success now, how will you handle it when we finally do start to fall off?

NEM and I did this same dance a few years ago when I tried to open his mind (now there's a losing proposition right out of the gate) to the fact that this offense is and always was Belichick's vision of what an offense can and should be, developed by Charlie out of a basic philosophy that margin didn't matter but efficiency and controlling or managing the game, being capable of adapting to take what each defense gives you, and protecting the football did. That is why Bledsoe had to go and why with a QB like Brady on board we don't invest heavily in positions like WR.

NEM has never bothered to try to understand why we do what we do. For him the biggest part fandom is wailing about why we don't do what he thinks we should do. NEM's game plans and play calling revolve around doing what you do and in his view a dominant passing offense, which he has always insisted we have access to regardless of who all is actually on this roster at any given time, always trumps whatever defense it faces. And players are always assumed to execute. NEM wants to dominate through the air while Belichick lives to exploit with balance utilizing the actual skill set of the players actually at his disposal while accounting for the unfortunate fact that they don't always execute.

Belichick had the great good fortune to hook up with a QB who posesses the unique combination of skill set and temperment to take advantage of playing for a defensive genius and allowed BB to incorporate that knowledge into an offense. Locating players who can execute consistently within that system is as much art (and luck) as science. And when you overhaul a receiving corps by design or out of necessity it will take more time to fully integrate them into that system than it will others. Because it is a system that relies more heavily on teaching and player capacity to grasp concepts and on their posessing certain difficult to quantify early on intangibles than sheer talent.

NEM should just give us all a break and go post on Indy Star. They have an offensive aerial juggernaut there he could follow through the regular season, and then he could just come back here and ***** and moan and pitch a fit about our not winning big enough during the playoffs.

I wish at times NEM was still local and could watch and listen to Belichick's post game analysis. On Monday he explained on WEEI why the QB and his WR continue to struggle. Timing and adjustments just aren't in synch yet. Pony did a thread on it although I believe NEM lambasted the HC's assessment in that thread as bunk too. He singles out the OC because he knows that to trash the HC will get him nowhere. And he exempts the players from his ire because if it were on them they couldn't make his system work either.

I think when he coined the phrase "it is what it is" BB had trying to have a rational discussion of offensive strategy with NEM in mind. What it is is a waste of time. Where NEM is concerned there is only his way and the wrong way and you couldn't convince him otherwise if you assembled a panel of HOF HC's chaired by Dr. Phil to present the alternate view.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I don't think it's as easy as you guys are thinking it is. This isn't a west coast offense where you're slashing and playing angles. This offense is based on timing and creating opportunities down-field. The receivers run their patterns. Brady has progressions he goes through to determine who to throw to. If the safety doubles down on the primary, he goes to the secondary hoping that he's the single guy and that safety moving to the primary created some seam. The receiver may be running a completely different pattern because of that and Brady knows that because when he looked at the primary, he saw the double. The receivers adjust their routes based on the secondary reaction He can go through any number of progressions and each time, he's expecting something based on the coverage. The patterns that NE run are complicated. They take advantage of the secondary moving to cover receivers and the receivers do different things depending on how the secondary is playing that situation. Brady's checks are quick and are based on adjustments the receivers make. Safety's on primary so that means secondary should be single covered and cutting this way, etc. If the safety comes down and helps cover Gabrial for instance, that might mean that Chad runs a post instead of a slant and so on. Brady can't just start looking for receivers because they don't know the routes. If guys are out of position or don't adjust to what the secondary is reacting to, Brady doesn't know if the safety or corner or whoever bit or if he's hiding just out of his view. New England expects certain things to happen downfield and the way the receivers run their patterns is based on the expectation that the secondary will be moved out of position. The kind of passing you're asking Brady to do is west coast style and it is completely different. If Brady started adjusting in real-time, he would be holding the ball much longer because now he's doing what the receivers are supposed to help him with. .Have patience. It will take time but when it comes together, you're going to see the old Brady.

I agree with what you are saying. What I am talking about is more attitude than anything else. I think Brady just has to make a few more plays, and I don't think we can expect his WRs to get it right every time. It's about the attitude.

He clearly has missed a lot of seemingly open WRs this year. You can talk about all the reasons and get as technical as you please, and I still believe that he could have made some of those passes if he paid more attention to the WR in real time.

Some QBs are great in a system, like Brady. Some WBs 'wing it' with varying results, from Favre to Bledsoe to McNabb. I think Brady just needs to make a few more plays when the guy is open. He has flat out missed some of those opportunities, and it wasn't always as simple as saying that the guy ran the wrong route, because there were STILL plays to be made.

I have plenty of patience, and I won't worry about the offense until the Colts game. But Brady has missed some nice opportunities this year because he is playing the role of system QB. I would like to see him complete a few more passes to guys that are open. At the end of the day, great QBs can make stuff happen. Kurt Warner's excuse for losing the superbowl was that we broke down the timing of their offense. I would hate to think that Brady can be so easily 'punked' as well, because you can bet Denver and the Bears and a few other teams will 'punk' our timing if given the chance, down the road. Brady will still have to try to connect his passes if things break down around him. So far, he hasn't done that at all. I see that as a little bit of attitude when things are going south quickly in a game.

This is a re-occuring theme from previous years. When we face good defenses that take away our timing or precise routes, Brady really struggles. I just happen to believe that this is an area of his game that can be improved upon. That way we won't rely on our defense so heavily in games against teams that punk our WRs routes.

Brady seems to summon this attitude at the end of games he is losing, which makes him dangerous.

 

[Brownfan80]

NEM and I did this same dance a few years ago when I tried to open his mind (now there's a losing proposition right out of the gate) to the fact that this offense is and always was Belichick's vision of what an offense can and should be, developed by Charlie out of a basic philosophy that margin didn't matter but efficiency and controlling or managing the game, being capable of adapting to take what each defense gives you, and protecting the football did. That is why Bledsoe had to go and why with a QB like Brady on board we don't invest heavily in positions like WR.

NEM has never bothered to try to understand why we do what we do. For him the biggest part fandom is wailing about why we don't do what he thinks we should do. NEM's game plans and play calling revolve around doing what you do and in his view a dominant passing offense, which he has always insisted we have access to regardless of who all is actually on this roster at any given time, always trumps whatever defense it faces. And players are always assumed to execute. NEM wants to dominate through the air while Belichick lives to exploit with balance utilizing the actual skill set of the players actually at his disposal while accounting for the unfortunate fact that they don't always execute.

Belichick had the great good fortune to hook up with a QB who posesses the unique combination of skill set and temperment to take advantage of playing for a defensive genius and allowed BB to incorporate that knowledge into an offense. Locating players who can execute consistently within that system is as much art (and luck) as science. And when you overhaul a receiving corps by design or out of necessity it will take more time to fully integrate them into that system than it will others. Because it is a system that relies more heavily on teaching and player capacity to grasp concepts and on their posessing certain difficult to quantify early on intangibles than sheer talent.

NEM should just give us all a break and go post on Indy Star. They have an offensive aerial juggernaut there he could follow through the regular season, and then he could just come back here and ***** and moan and pitch a fit about our not winning big enough during the playoffs.

I wish at times NEM was still local and could watch and listen to Belichick's post game analysis. On Monday he explained on WEEI why the QB and his WR continue to struggle. Timing and adjustments just aren't in synch yet. Pony did a thread on it although I believe NEM lambasted the HC's assessment in that thread as bunk too. He singles out the OC because he knows that to trash the HC will get him nowhere. And he exempts the players from his ire because if it were on them they couldn't make his system work either.

I think when he coined the phrase "it is what it is" BB had trying to have a rational discussion of offensive strategy with NEM in mind. What it is is a waste of time. Where NEM is concerned there is only his way and the wrong way and you couldn't convince him otherwise if you assembled a panel of HOF HC's chaired by Dr. Phil to present the alternate view.

Yes indeed, it is an excersize futility. I just can't fathom how someone can be confronted with sound logic that opposes their view and only respond with 'you are wrong' or 'you still don't see my point, you are blinded' and then repeat his same argument again as though the logic just used to confront that position does not exist. It's very strange how he can be so set even when he's so off base. It's really almost a sociological experiment for me everytime I confront him.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

It's really almost a sociological experiment for me everytime I confront him.

Are you sure you didn't mean a sociopathic experiment?

 

[Brownfan80]

Are you sure you didn't mean a sociopathic experiment?

The last guy that called me a sociopath didn't say much after that. Don't make me find you.

 

[DESERTPAT]

From their Inside Slant following the Miami game:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/patriots/home.htm

""The offense continues to lack imagination . . . Dean Pees is showing why he was promoted to defensive coordinator. . . The defense has shown they can make adjustments on the fly but the offense seems to be running the same plays whether they work or not. If the Patriots can't just line up and run the football, they're in trouble. Some of the blame has to be put on Josh McDaniels and the offensive coaches for lack of imagination in their play calling."

Agree?

QB12

Doubt if anybody in the pats organization even heard about anti USA TODAY.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The last guy that called me a sociopath didn't say much after that. Don't make me find you.

My version of the hippocratic oath starts out with 'all force necessary to instill compliance'...besides, "you" were conducting the experiment with the sociopath - but if the glove fits you too.

 

[Brownfan80]

My version of the hippocratic oath starts out with 'all force necessary to instill compliance'...besides, "you" were conducting the experiment with the sociopath - but if the glove fits you too.

Haha, nice addendum to the oath. Yeah I figured that's how you meant it, but I decided to be a little liberal with your wording and have some fun with it.

But on the other hand, those conversations with NEM are quite masochistic on my part, I suppose.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Haha, nice addendum to the oath. Yeah I figured that's how you meant it, but I decided to be a little liberal with your wording and have some fun with it.

But on the other hand, those conversations with NEM are quite masochistic on my part, I suppose.

I was going to credit you with pure sadism for the affect on innocent bystanders...

 

[Brownfan80]

I was going to credit you with pure sadism for the affect on innocent bystanders...

Haha. Touche. Hey, I'm getting to the point where I'm trying to ignore him again.

 

[Brownfan80]

you are doing EXACTLY what I said you, and others are doing. You are being BLINDED by the fact that we are winning, and that is not the point I have been attempting to get through.

Winning is great, and yes, a win is a win, whether its by 1 point or by 50 points.

MJy point is that, far too many of our games are much closer than they should have been, especially late in the games.

Three of ouor four wins this season could easily have been losses with one crucial fumble, or one crucial interception against us.

These games were such that we could have, and should have, opened up bigger leads considering the teams we were playing, but the weak offensive play calling cost us points on the scoreboard which would have made the final quarter of those games much more tolerable.

I am sure that in all of those games that even you were sweating out the final quarters, knowing that at any time, our lead could have become a deficit and the game would have been lost.

That is my point, it has nothing do do with our winning, it has nothing to do with Super Bowls, it has nothbing to do with 10 out of 12 seasons being winning seasons... that is all great, and no one appreciates it any more than I do..and that is a fact.

But, on far too many occasions we have been involved in games that we should have taken control of earlier in the game, forcing the other team into mistakes and not worrying if we were going to make one.

Just think how many times we have nursed a close lead land watched us go back to return a punt, and all of us, I am sure, inside our minds are saying, damn it, dont fumble it, get a good grip on it, ect...because we knew that the ONE mistake could have turned the win into a loss.

And that is my point, far too many games called by McDaniels are far too close onthe scoreboard. And, if it doesnt change it WILL come back and bite us in the ass.

His playcalling, mainly in the first halves of games, is pitiful, far too conservative, and quite frankly, piss poor, with lack of change and adjustment. Often times he carrries the futility into the third quarter, too, before willing to adjust.

We have gotten away with it so far, but it can turn on us at any time...and it will. I certainly hope not, but it seems, IMO, to be inevitable, unless the offense changes what it has been doing.

Perhaps the bye will help. I hope so.

So your point, still, is that the games are 'too close' and that may end in a loss, even though we keep winning?

Okay, I gotcha, I guess we've just gotta agree to disagree. I think the W trumps all, and 62-23 says it all for me. That's enough for me, and nothing you've said changes my mind. It's okay to disagree, as long as we're all happy.

Well, I can say that I'm not unhappy about much as far as the Pats go.. you on the otherhand... lol

 

[Oswlek]

you are doing EXACTLY what I said you, and others are doing. You are being BLINDED by the fact that we are winning, and that is not the point I have been attempting to get through.

Winning is great, and yes, a win is a win, whether its by 1 point or by 50 points.

MJy point is that, far too many of our games are much closer than they should have been, especially late in the games.

Three of ouor four wins this season could easily have been losses with one crucial fumble, or one crucial interception against us.

These games were such that we could have, and should have, opened up bigger leads considering the teams we were playing, but the weak offensive play calling cost us points on the scoreboard which would have made the final quarter of those games much more tolerable.

I am sure that in all of those games that even you were sweating out the final quarters, knowing that at any time, our lead could have become a deficit and the game would have been lost.

That is my point, it has nothing do do with our winning, it has nothing to do with Super Bowls, it has nothbing to do with 10 out of 12 seasons being winning seasons... that is all great, and no one appreciates it any more than I do..and that is a fact.

But, on far too many occasions we have been involved in games that we should have taken control of earlier in the game, forcing the other team into mistakes and not worrying if we were going to make one.

Just think how many times we have nursed a close lead land watched us go back to return a punt, and all of us, I am sure, inside our minds are saying, damn it, dont fumble it, get a good grip on it, ect...because we knew that the ONE mistake could have turned the win into a loss.

And that is my point, far too many games called by McDaniels are far too close onthe scoreboard. And, if it doesnt change it WILL come back and bite us in the ass.

His playcalling, mainly in the first halves of games, is pitiful, far too conservative, and quite frankly, piss poor, with lack of change and adjustment. Often times he carrries the futility into the third quarter, too, before willing to adjust.

We have gotten away with it so far, but it can turn on us at any time...and it will. I certainly hope not, but it seems, IMO, to be inevitable, unless the offense changes what it has been doing.

Perhaps the bye will help. I hope so.

OK, let's actually take a look at the three games:

1) Buffalo - NE did have a killer fumble, right off the bat which led to 7-0 deficit before the season was even 15 seconds old. Lest you forget, it was on a pass play that this fumble occured. Lest you also forget, NE's pass blocking was poor, leaving Brady to be sacked a few more times and be pressured often. By comparison, NE's line was openening big holes in the running game and NE hit 183 yards in a game that they never led until late in the 4th quarter and were down by 10 points for almost 30 minutes. Not only that, but NE went into the game with only three WRs, Brown, Caldwell and Chldress.

So, maybe the OL's crappy pass blocking but great run blocking as well as the dearth of WRs led to NE going run heavy? Possibly?

2) NYJ - Again the killer play(s) did happen, with the fluke TDs by Crotchery and Coles. Also, you seem to forget that NE had scored 24 points midway threw the third quarter and most likely could have tacked on another TD at the end if they weren't more concerned with running down the clock. Even then, scoring 27 points against even a D like the jets without a meaningful turnover is bad in what way?

3) If you cannot see how NE was playing "protect the ball at all costs" with Miami, I don't know what to say. You complain that they didn't use the deep middle much, but that was clearly by design. What plays are more likely to be picked off if a WR doesn't get to his spot in time or runs the wrong route, sideline of midfield passes? You said it yourself, against Cincy they used the middle more. This was because Cincy has a much better offense and NE knew they had to put up some points. Against Miami, and particularly when NE got up 13-0, NE was never all that worried that Miami would score enough to win, so they scaled back the risk.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Getting back to the premise of the article

Regardless of how personal everyone makes their attacks, I think it's evident there is some truth to the original article.

I understand that the Pats have a bunch of new recievers. I understand that receivers in the Pats offense have to read the defense just as the QB does.
I understand that it takes time to learn the different options from those reads.
And I understand that taking all those things together requires Josh to dumb down the playbook until Brady and the coaching staff are comfortable that the receivers can run the correct routes and make the correct route option desicions.

However the receivers learning the playbook is not like a light switch. It's not an all or nothing kind of thing. It's a gradual process of learning and repeting over and over in practice and games.

So I think the point the article is making about Josh is this. If the receivers are gradually growing and learning and executing properly, then why isn't the Pats offense delving deeper into the playbook and becoming gradually more intricate and diverse.

Either a.) The receivers are not getting it and are rock stupid. or B.) Josh is holding back and purposely keeping the playbook dumbed down. or C.) Some combination of A abd B.

Either way if we don't see the Pats offensive play calling expanding soon, it becomes very difficult to envision a scenario where the Pats are comtinuing to squeak out victories.

 

[Brownfan80]

I really dont think that you are comprehending this. I never said I was not happy with the wins, as all of us are.

But just winning is not what I am attempting to get through to you.

You've gotten through, your logic simply does not compute.

If you are satisfied with most of those wins coming down to the wire where ONE mistake can turn the game the other way, so be it..But for most fans that I talk to, they would prefer more breathing room, and the fault for that, most of the time, lays with poor offensiveplay calling making games much closer than they should be.

Fans that really find room to complain about 'breathing room' in the face of a 4-1 record considering the way this season could have started are simply too short sighted for me to care about.

Sure, hanging on to win is great, and that is all that counts in the end. But I dont believe that you can tell me that You havent sat there and sweated out game after game after game BECAUSE it was much closer than it really should have been... and that ONE mistake, one fumble, one interception, one missed tackle could be a loss instead of a win.

Hey, I'm not saying that in my dreams we don't coast over every team in the league, what I'm saying is that I've gotten used to riding by the seat of my pants with this team. Ever since we started winning consistently it's been that way. I think the fact that this team just knows how to WIN is the most important part. Many teams have an up season and then a down season, and so forth. The Patriots for the most part have avoided that by winning in games that many other teams would have lost. This is a skill. Most othe teams DO give up that INT or Fumble or Missed Tackle that ruins their game, we come close, but for the most part have found ways to win. That's more important to me.

Thats my point, and I wont repeat it again, cause I just dont think you even want to understand it...Have a nice day. I am through with this thread.

Again, you feign that I don't understand you, but that's not the case. I understand you perfectly. I just think that in the face of what this team HAS done compared to what most teams actually DO, to worry about what MIGHT have been is silly. For most teams the MIGHT have been is reality, for us it's not. We find a way to win the games most teams find a way to lose. And I feel good about that.

See, you see reasons to complain or be upset where for me I see what you are talking about, but see a bigger picture that makes me not care about those tiny details out of a much bigger painting. TEAM football NEM. We win TEAM football games, not offensive ones. That's what makes the Patriots so great and teams like the Colts keep falling short. I don't care much if you agree, I'm happy with this team's direction. That's all that matters to me.