The problem with the Patriots is lack of top end talent

[ctpatsfan77]

As I've said before, given how close all of their losses have been, you can blame all of them on one Aaron Hernandez.

 

[chasa]

Does the team even have any cap money left to add more bodies? We have to be over by this point just by adding people to replace Ir'd folks at vet minimum.

 

[BradyManny]

As I've said before, given how close all of their losses have been, you can blame all of them on one Aaron Hernandez.

We need to replace Hernandez this offseason. We were blindsided by his loss, but this team could really use that hybrid move guy. I don't know who the draft has to offer, but that's the most sensible place to start looking.

 

[Brady6]

The problem with the Patriots is....

As I've said before, given how close all of their losses have been, you can blame all of them on one Aaron Hernandez.

Well I guess it's only fair that him, friends and family are all currently awaiting some type of trial

 

[PatsDeb]

The problem with the Patriots is that they have suffered major injuries to key positions and they are trotting out there each week with a great QB, a usually great kicker, a few banged up veterans, a bunch of rookies and free agents and trying to hold everything together with bandaids and tape. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's always interesting. Just have to keep moving forward.

 

[SVN]

Upon Further Review: Patriots Week 15 - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Defining this team: After 15 weeks, the identity of teams come into sharper focus and our view of the Patriots is clear-cut. They can beat any team ... and lose to any team as well. They get the most out of their talent, and in this case, some days it just won't be good enough because of some of the personnel losses. Most of the team's games are coming down to one or two plays in the fourth quarter and it's a dangerous way to live. So basically, here's the outlook for the remainder of the season: Hang on for what could be a wild ride.

 

[manxman2601]

1) They need better players in the front 7.

2) They need a stud across from Chandler Jones at the other DE spot. Rob N. is a nice player, but they need another double digit sack guy on that side of the line.

Rob Ninkovich actually has more pressures than Chandler Jones so far this season. jones' length and athleticism helps him to get the QB down but Ninkovich is equally disruptive.

http://nesn.com/2013/12/josh-boyces...-among-five-takeaways-from-patriots-dolphins/

 

[RayClay]

Problem is Brady didn't make one more completion yesterday.

 

[Zeus]

they lost their left tackle in the middle of the game yesterday and still had a chance to win the game. The prpblem with the patriots is that they dont have any bodies left. We should stop with this talent evaluation after every game...other teams also have good players and ours are on IR. As curran wrote yesterday
Curran: Patriots flat out got beat by Dolphins | Comcast SportsNet - CSNNE.com

I am as disappointed as anyone and even Iam worried if they make the playoffs ,because they can beat anyone right now or lose to anyone . They just dont have healthy players. I wouldve respected this thread more if it was written before gronk got injured.

Did Mr. Curran watch the same game I saw yesterday?

I thought the Dolphins played well, but let's face facts. The Patriots made a ton of mistakes (Wallace TD, 4th and 5, missed FG, kickoff out of bounds to name just a few). Unless I was hallucinating, the game was in doubt until the final 2 seconds. That was not a dominating performance by Miami by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Bingo, you can't lose 4 Pro Bowl caliber players, 2 on offense (Gronk and Vollmer) and 2 on D (Wilfork & Mayo), then add various other injuries to our receivers and secondary and both lines. Just WAY too many injuries. Even if we only had HALF as many injuries, this would be a team destined for the SB. Just too many to overcome. When you replace Wilfork and Kelly with Vellone and Chris Jones, and then Mayo with Hightower. Add in the fact, Talib and Dennard have been hurt several times. Even though they may be on the field, they are probably at 60-80%. Our 4 receivers on the last play of the Miami game were Edelman, Amendola, Collie and Hooman. I'm sure that wasn't supposed to be our top 4 when they went into the season gameplanning.

Yup! Well Said/Typed, and then there's A.Hern.....
Tradin in his TD CELLibration for a CELL. Hits just keep on comin!

 

[Rob0729]

Pretty much. The problem is letting Welker go and replacing him with Amendola who then got injured, unfortunately. Dobson and Thompkins got injured just when both of them were beginning to put it together. Hopefully they don't take a step back because of it. Almost the entire OL is going to be reshuffled now that Solder is injured. Gronk's loss is huge, both for pass protection purposes and in the red zone. Losing Wilfork was bad for a while, but it looks like the team may be able to stop the run. Collins is having to learn on the fly now that Mayo is gone and Hightower, on top of maybe having to shed 15-20 pounds to be a fit in the 4-3, is not in his natural role. Dennard, Talib, and Arrington are all banged up and it's showing in the back end.

IDK, Edelman has replaced Welker pretty well. I don't think this team has missed Welker all that much. Maybe in the beginning of the year, but in the last month I can't see Welker giving this team much more than Edelman has given. If the Pats didn't decide to move away from Edelman towards the middle of the year, he would probably have a typical Welker type of year. He is on track for an 107 catch, 1,045 yards, and 7 TD season and that is with the Pats minimizing his workload at times this year.

 

[jmt57]

Does the team even have any cap money left to add more bodies? We have to be over by this point just by adding people to replace Ir'd folks at vet minimum.

The problem is not available cap space (about $4.18 million remains); the problem is that any veteran player that is available as a free agent is unlikely to add much of anything in such a short time span. A player off the practice squad who has been training and learning with the team all season, though short on experience, will probably be more productive than a street free agent.

In other words, no help is on the way until the spring of 2014.

 

[Rob0729]

Rob Ninkovich actually has more pressures than Chandler Jones so far this season. jones' length and athleticism helps him to get the QB down but Ninkovich is equally disruptive.

Josh Boyce?s Drops, Defense?s Lack of Turnovers Among Five Takeaways From Patriots-Dolphins | New England Patriots | NESN.com

The problem isn't the edges on the pass rush. It is up the middle pass rushing. Chris Jones for a while was a stud pass rusher but looks to have hit the rookie wall. What they need is Tommy Kelly to come back as a situational pass rusher next year (assuming he has much left) or draft a good pass rushing DT.

 

[BradyBranch39]

Injuries.

Without Brady and BB, we'd be 3-11.

 

[Ring 6]

My opinion of this years patriot team is that they are a team that lacks the gamebreaking talent(due to injuries, the murderer, and the dog house) but makes up for it by being the best situational football team in the NFL. For the most part, this team plays poorly for 3 1/2 quarters and suddenly plays top notch football for the final minutes of games. the curcumstances that the Patriots face in the final minutes of games calls for a situational brand of football. At this point in the season situational football (or crisis managment as I call it) is the only thing we're close to excelling in. That is where the must improve because that $25M worth of talent on IR aint suiting up 'till next fall. I would like to hear some thoughts on this or other explanations for the teams issues.

I'm not sure I see a need for an explanation for a teams issues when they are leading their division, currently in place for a first round bye, because they just lost a close game to a good team that is a division rival, on the road.
I mean, are we expecting they never lose, and if they ever do we need a full introspective analysis of why they can't win every game?

I think its pretty clear, the team, like every other has strengths and weaknesses. I don't think there is a lot of dispute over what the strengths and weaknesses are, and the fact that many were created by injuries.

Someone stated the Patriots are easy to find an identity of (Reiss maybe).
They could beat anyone. They could lose to anyone.

 

[reflexblue]

Re: The problem with the Patriots is.... To many friking injuries thats what.

 

[dhamz]

When mini-camp ended, when the overwhelming majority of roster moves are done, you could have made a very good case these were the top 5 players on the roster:

Brady
Wilfork
Gronk
Mayo
Hernandez

3 on IR, 1 in jail, and combined they end up with roughly 16 total games played from them out of a possible 64. Then you throw in losing the starting right tackle in Volmer. Lose that much top shelf talent for most of the year and you are going to have issues.

Being 10-4 is a testament to the depth of talent on the roster, the quality of the coaching staff, and Brady.

 

[Deus Irae]

... the 'big' part of FA was mostly a bust, half the team's on the shelf, and their best WR is playing for Denver this year.

 

[BradyManny]

... the 'big' part of FA was mostly a bust, half the team's on the shelf, and their best WR is playing for Denver this year.

Welker's position in this offense has not been the issue.

Whether manned by Edelman (who is having a more productive season than Wes Welker is) or by Amendola, Brady has not had issues going to those guys. You are putting too much on the loss of Welker.

"Half the team's on the shelf" is the only part there that really matters.

 

[BradyManny]

Brady
Wilfork
Gronk
Mayo
Hernandez

3 on IR, 1 in jail, and combined they end up with roughly 16 total games played from them out of a possible 64. Then you throw in losing the starting right tackle in Volmer. Lose that much top shelf talent for most of the year and you are going to have issues.

Being 10-4 is a testament to the depth of talent on the roster, the quality of the coaching staff, and Brady.

Well said - go a step further. You could argue that Welker and Vollmer would've been 6 & 7 on that list. So, yeah, you lose six of your best seven players, that's just nuts. That, plus your interior OL is inadequate. It's a lot of adversity. Kudos to the HC, QB and everybody else holding it together.