NY Times: Good analysis of Patriots

[Uncle Rico]

Hats off to Mike Reiss for the tip off; pretty good assessment here by The Times.

2011 New England Patriots Preview - NYTimes.com

I like the approach: Talks about "The Patriots Way" ("The phrase is mainly the outside world’s way of explaining the culture of this very successful organization") and really breaks down offense and defense.

Closing thought: "The system is outstanding. The talent stocking it is equally impressive. It’s just a matter of whether the Patriots can do something they surprisingly haven’t done well in recent years: hold serve in big games."

Enjoy.

 

[thenepatsrule]

very well written article.:rocker:

 

[BHSL2]

The national media's perception of some of our 'role players' is well...intriguing. Vollmer is "solid but unspectacular." Eric Moore is "just a guy."

 

[Mike the Brit]

Well, there you go. A well written, well informed and interesting article about the Patriots in a New York newspaper. Thanks for linking.

 

[Uncle Rico]

very well written article.:rocker:

Agreed. Might have to print a PDF of it and keep it on every device I own. For those who don't have time to read it all and want snippets:

Offense and Brady: "(B)ecause (Brady) has arguably the best pocket mechanics in football, the Patriots are able to first create a system and then find the players to run it. This is why they’re so good at surviving injuries, incorporating newcomers and, most overlooked, grooming young talent."

Receivers' role: "The patterns their receivers run are often determined by what the defense shows. It’s up to the receiver to correctly assess the coverage – often on the fly – and execute accordingly." Talks about how this is why receivers like Branch and Welker — maybe not the most gifted — use excellent fundamentals to succeed here. There's a lot more on the passing (and running) game in the article.

Defense: Gets into the whole 4/3-3/4 thing and why it doesn't matetr so much: " There are 11 guys executing assignments on each play. Some of those assignments might be 3-4-centric, while some could be 4-3-centric. Collectively, it doesn’t matter. All that matters to Belichick is that each guy is executing his specific assignment. When that happens, the defense naturally works."

I could go on and on and not cover everything this column says. Definitely deserves a click.

2011 New England Patriots Preview - NYTimes.com

 

[Uncle Rico]

The national media's perception of some of our 'role players' is well...intriguing. Vollmer is "solid but unspectacular." Eric Moore is "just a guy."

Yeah, guess we have to give the writer a 98 instead of 100.

Hope he's wrong on Anderson too. But I have to say overall it's a very good articulation of how this team works.

 

[TimU]

"The Fifth Down" is actually a very good football blog.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Yeah, guess we have to give the writer a 98 instead of 100.

Hope he's wrong on Anderson too. But I have to say overall it's a very good articulation of how this team works.

Actually, no better than a 95 . . . doesn't even mention Fletcher. [Actually, maybe that's a good thing. ]

 

[ctpatsfan77]

"The Fifth Down" is actually a very good football blog.

There's a certain eerie prescience in this post about Wes Welker.

 

[vyrago]

Agreed. Might have to print a PDF of it and keep it on every device I own. For those who don't have time to read it all and want snippets:

Don't have time to read 4 and 1/4 pages of ten point type? I don't believe it.

 

[BHSL2]

Yeah, guess we have to give the writer a 98 instead of 100.

Hope he's wrong on Anderson too. But I have to say overall it's a very good articulation of how this team works.

Yeah, I suppose we can't be too picky. It's one of the better write-ups on the Patriots anyways that I've seen this offseason.

 

[Bigatrop]

One of the better articles on the Pats I have read in years outside of New England. Equally surprising is that it comes from the NYTimes.

 

[Gwedd]

Clear, concise, well-written and objective.

Thanks for posting to this!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

This guy is pretty good. You can quibble here and there but he gets what each of the first two organizations he's previewed are trying to do better than many of their most blindly ardent or even self proclaimed knowledgeable fans do.

He also gets where the JETS risk coming up short. And while a clown like Felger will deny it, that is rooted in a cap problem... Some of their recent draft forays haven't exactly duplicated the Mangold/Revis results, and they'd traded away a lot of picks for veterans in their recent rush to win and now can't afford a lot of veteran or quality depth and don't have a lot of above average developmental talent and could not even retain some of the gems they uncovered in later rounds of recent drafts.

 

[AzPatsFan]

The NYT has become a cliche` and ruined by the current Sulzberger, in many respects but there are still capable writers there who, on occasion, do a fine job.

Naturally, as a Pats fan I liked the analysis and can imagine the gnashing of teeth and grinding of jaws in Jester land readers.

However, I think the really ominous points to be made, to the AFCE opponents and the League, is that the Times writer never even mentioned the rising stars, that Belichick is preparing to unleash on the League.

Players like Taylor Price, Dane Fletcher, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Myron Pryor and Kyle Love, to name but a half dozen.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

One of the better articles on the Pats I have read in years outside of New England. Equally surprising is that it comes from the NYTimes.

Would surpass anything inside of NE pretty easily. And while he blogs in the Times he's part of the CBS crew covering the NFL nationally.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The NYT has become a cliche` and ruined by the current Sulzberger, in many respects but there are still capable writers there who, on occasion, do a fine job.

Naturally, as a Pats fan I liked the analysis and can imagine the gnashing of teeth and grinding of jaws in Jester land readers.

However, I think the really ominous points to be made, to the AFCE opponents and the League, is that the Times writer never even mentioned the rising stars, that Belichick is preparing to unleash on the League.

Players like Taylor Price, Dane Fletcher, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Myron Pryor and Kyle Love, to name but a half dozen.

Maybe he didn't because they aren't quite that...at least yet. And many won't be unleashed and some may be inactive most of this season...

 

[Urgent]

Very well written, with an intention of both educating and providing opinion.

I then read his Jets piece, which was also good. He did a good job of describing Ryan's defensive approach - and the major flaw on the Jets team. They sorely lack back-ups at OL and across the defense. He mentions not a single drafted back-up linebacker, and not-ready-for-primetime OL backups.

That's a major difference with this current Patriots team. Outside a very few spots - maybe S, K/P - as we saw in the Jags preseason game, there is some significant depth. Mayo goes down, there is Spikes, Fletcher, Guyton. Wilfork goes down, there is Haynesworth, Love, Pryor, Deaderick, Brace. Welker goes down, there is Ochocinco, Taylor, Edelman. And so forth.

The Patriots have a far greater ability to change their approach game to game, as they love. They are better suited to survive the season's inevitable injuries.

 

[livinginthe past]

Was about to post the very same article.

Well thought out, well written.

Sure, the Vollmer comment kinda stood out but overall an excellent job - i'll bookmark that blog.

 

[billdog3484]

I have to agree with you guys. This article was well written, and the writer seems to have a good knowledge on football.

What is his background; anyone know?