Why are the PATS and BB so hesitant to get a deep threat?

[ATippett56]

The question should not be whether or not the Pats could use an upgrade over Branch; of course they would like that.

The pertinent question is at what position do the Pats most need to upgrade?

Are we really more comfortable with Arrington, Moore, and Dowling/McCourty at corner than with Welker and Branch or whomever his replacement may be at wide receiver?

Are we really more comfortable with Chung, Ihedigbo and McCourty/Dowling at safety than with Welker and Branch at wide receiver?

Same deal at OLB and DE; if you could only pick one, what position would you want the team to upgrade?

Whatever it is, that's your number one priority.

In my opinion it is not wide receiver.

Why can't you maintain/upgrade the offense via unrestricted free agency (Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Dan Connolly, Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis) and the defense via the 2012 NFL Draft?

 

[skinnydog]

Its kind of a cirular argument to say the receivers suck because you eliminate 3 guys who caught 291 passes for 3800 yards and 33 TDs becaue you want to pretend those 3 don't count.
And the 4th guy caught 51 for 700 and 5.
Can you find a 4th guy who came close to those numbers behind 3 that were close to our top 3?

Its silly that we are arguing we need someone to stretch the field because defenses are taking away our other recievers who caught 291 passes for 3800 yards and 33 TDs.
To put it in perspective that is more receiving yards and TDs between those 3 than the entire team had on any of our SB winners. Somehow, I think we have other priorities.

And btw how does Edelman even enter the discussion? He is a special teamer who probably had less than 100 snaps on offense all year.

I agree with your points that the offense suffered because the defense could not get off the field, but I also think you are kind of missing he point about the problems the offense suffers from the lack a wideout that can stretch the field deep and to the outside. It doesn't matter so much during the regular season, but come playoff time when you have to play 2 or 3 top defenses back to back, you will run into a defense that can that one thing you can do really well. Both Baltimore were good enough to concentrate on stopping the Pats short range, middle of the field passing attack.

 

[Joker]

Again, I agree with that BUT I'm just saying that a WR that can demand attention from the safety on the outside is an area we can improve. My first priority is defense...personally,after watching this game a few times, an outside edge rusher with premier skills would either have gotten to Manning or forced him to throw with less than the pinpoint accuracy he showed. Belichick WANTED that exact play to Manningham in THAT defense...he calls it on the NFLN taped video....they got WHAT they wanted but the safety was a step too slow and Manning had a half second too long to throw a perfect pass...so, give me THAT edge presence, and THEN a TRUE physical cover corner and I can live without the outside deep threat...but I'm greedy and want all three

 

[PittPatriot]

I think his point is that when we just threw for the 2nd most yards in NFL history there are probably bigger issues to deal with.

The Pats feasted on a favorable schedule and struggled against good teams. A good defense can simply bear down and focus on taking away the underneath stuff that TB specializes in and basically single cover our slow outside receivers knowing that:
1. our receivers can't gain separation or win a 50-50 battle for the ball
2. TB is quite average when trying to throw the ball farther then 25yards in the air.

So, perhaps having a guy who can "take the top off" and keep safeties honest will help an already great offense and add different threat.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Why can't you maintain/upgrade the offense via unrestricted free agency (Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Dan Connolly, Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis) and the defense via the 2012 NFL Draft?

That is certainly one method that is worth considering. Personally I would prefer to fill the biggest needs on either side of the ball prior to the draft. That way you don't put yourself in a position of having to count on a rookie starting and producing right from week one the following year, but more importantly you don't end up in a situation where you have to reach for a certain player (i.e., draft him higher than he deserves to be drafted) because you have a gaping hole to fill at a position of need - while passing on a better player at the same time.

The only other alternative at that point is to trade for a player, and if a team is desperate to upgrade a position their potential trade partners will notice that - and leverage in the trade negotiations is lost. An example of that kind of leverage helping the Pats would be when they traded Laurence Maroney away; an example of that type of leverage being used against them would be when they for Derrick Burgess.