Letting Leaders Go: Lessons Learned?

[MainePatsFan26]

Unlike the Seahawks and Falcons championship wins, yesterday represented a Super Bowl where we faced down two of our own -- Blount and Long -- who were integral pieces of the prior Super Bowl run(s). These weren't fringe players, but key veteran pieces who still had something left in the tank.

My question is whether Belichick learns anything as a GM from this loss. We can't continue to hemorrhage veteran leadership because it is what puts teams over the top. Guys like Amendola, for example, are key members of the locker room and get it done in the playoffs. We need to keep our locker room leaders. We also need to consider keeping at least some of our talented young players like Jones and Collins so we can keep up with quick teams like the Eagles.

This season was a mess if you subtract Brady's phenomenal play. His leadership and skill set kept that defense off the field and fresh. Without Brady, that defense turns this team into a 5-11 or 6-10 clunker if we had an average NFL quarterback. Picture Joe Flacco leading this Patriots roster sans Edelman and Hightower. We need to find some new guys on defense and look for -- and keep -- veterans like Blount and James Harrison who help to anchor the locker room.

Because the killer of this dynasty isn't going to be time or external forces like Roger Goodell. It is going to be from within because Belichick didn't value key Patriots leaders. With Brady's career entering its final year or two, isn't it time to pay those veteran leaders rather than rolling the dice with unproven guys? And, maybe while we're at it, we can get some more young talent on the defense?

 

[Tony2046]

Pretty ****ty hawt take.

They lost in the super bowl.

Your post would only be possibly relevant if they didn't make the playoffs or went one and done.

Holy cow man .

 

[supafly]

Chris Long wanted a different role in a different defensive scheme. He didn’t want to stay here.

Chandler Jones is making 17m dollars a year, and was hardly a core leader during him time here. Actually, he was known to disappear in the 2nd half of the season and showed up to the police station stoned on synthetic weed during what was then the biggest week of the season.

Blount could have helped, although Lewis seemed to do just fine, and the offense itself always seems to go through Brady, where it thrived with a 15-3 record prior to Sunday’s loss.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Lesson learned: Don't bench your starting CB for the Super Bowl for no reason.

 

[Soliel]

Lesson learned: Don't bench your starting CB for the Super Bowl for no reason.

The equation makes no sense without a reason

 

[DarrylS]

Because the killer of this dynasty isn't going to be time or external forces like Roger Goodell. It is going to be from within. And it is going to be caused by not having enough veteran leadership from the likes of the Amendolas and Blounts.

Devon McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung, Donta Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Michael Brown, Matthew Slater, James White, Nate Solder etc. all send you warm regards..

How do you quantify "veteran leadership", is there some metric that I am not aware of.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Devon McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung, Donta Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Michael Brown, Matthew Slater, James White, Nate Solder etc. all send you warm regards..

How do you quantify "veteran leadership", is there some metric that I am not aware of.

The point of the intangibility of "leadership" and "winning attitude" is that there is no easy metric. This intangibility helps to explain, at least in part, the increased failure (!) of the Browns when they turned to an analytics approach. Those guys you listed are all key leaders, and this post is about how it will be important to keep them around and happy. The more of those key guys we lose, the less chance we have to win a title.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Pretty ****ty hawt take.

They lost in the super bowl.

Your post would only be possibly relevant if they didn't make the playoffs or went one and done.

Holy cow man .

If you read my post from top to bottom, you'd realize I stated that a major lesson for this team is remembering to keep that key group of veteran leaders. If we continue to jettison guys like Amendola and replace them with players like Gillislee, we'll be headed to 8-8 or 9-7 sooner than we'll be headed back to the Super Bowl.

Teams like the Jaguars are a Kirk Cousins away from being a force. And the Texans, if they get healthy, and the Raiders, if they recover under Gruden, could be other major threats. This is no time to just assume that Brady will put us over the top without respecting the core group of winners who got us to 3 Super Bowls in 4 seasons.

 

[IllegalContact]

It’s a lack of quality on defense

Mindset was not the problem

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Chris Long wanted a different role in a different defensive scheme. He didn’t want to stay here.

Chandler Jones is making 17m dollars a year, and was hardly a core leader during him time here. Actually, he was known to disappear in the 2nd half of the season and showed up to the police station stoned on synthetic weed during what was then the biggest week of the season.

Blount could have helped, although Lewis seemed to do just fine, and the offense itself always seems to go through Brady, where it thrived with a 15-3 record prior to Sunday’s loss.

The offense was great and there isn't any trouble on that side of the ball unless we get a major retirement or Amendola leaves. We can't just assume Edelman will be himself again, making Amendola a priority in my mind.

The defense, as we witnessed in the Super Bowl, is a fiasco when it faces a quarterback with half a brain. We got to the Super Bowl beating terrible quarterbacks. Can you imagine if we played a Rodgers, Brees, or even Matt Stafford surrounded by a solid roster we make it out of there with the win? We've just gotten too weak on defense and Hightower returning is a guarantee of success. Although Jones was a dummy and would vanish, he was making plays that season and had a huge upside. And we didn't get much out of dealing him. Those are the types of situations, much like with Jimmy G., where we didn't get the full value for players and keeping them would likely have netted us more success.

Belichick has done a great job historically bringing in new talent. And this year was no different. But the problems this Super Bowl expose more than jut an issue of a player being kept on the sideline.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

It’s a lack of quality on defense

Mindset was not the problem

I'd argue it was both. We needed guys like a Jones or Hightower out there making plays. But we also needed someone out there to yell at the guys in the huddle and give them a reassuring nod. It was chaos out there and no one seemed to be able to calm the team down. With a someone to help refocus the guys out there and provide leadership, we limit the Eagles to 28-31 points. And that is enough to get us the win. With actual talent across the 11 guys on the field, maybe we hold a hot Foles to 21-24.

 

[IllegalContact]

I'd argue it was both. We needed guys like a Jones or Hightower out there making plays. But we also needed someone out there to yell at the guys in the huddle and give them a reassuring nod. It was chaos out there and no one seemed to be able to calm the team down. With a someone to help refocus the guys out there and provide leadership, we limit the Eagles to 28-31 points. And that is enough to get us the win. With actual talent across the 11 guys on the field, maybe we hold a hot Foles to 21-24.

Reassuring nod is meaningless when you can’t stop anything and can’t get near the QB

THe Eagles OL did not need to respect the perimeter of the front 7

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Reassuring nod is meaningless when you can’t stop anything and can’t get near the QB

THe Eagles OL did not need to respect the perimeter of the front 7

I was honestly confused we didn't jailbreak blitz and not worry about roughing the passer calls with late hits. We weren't stopping an untouched Foles, so why not get after him with different overloaded blitzes and risk the penalties for late hits or offsides from trying to time the blitzes just right?

 

[Ross12]

I mean if you wanna talk about leadership, I would say that the team’s biggest offensive leaders are Brady and Edelman, the defensive leaders are McCourty and Hightower, and they spent almost the entire season without half of those four... I don’t understand how having Blount and Chris Long would have made up for missing Edelman and Hightower. “Attitude” was not the difference between a win and a loss on Sunday. Talent on one side of the ball was the difference.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

I mean if you wanna talk about leadership, I would say that the team’s biggest offensive leaders are Brady and Edelman, the defensive leaders are McCourty and Hightower, and they spent almost the entire season without half of those four... I don’t understand how having Blount and Chris Long would have made up for missing Edelman and Hightower. “Attitude” was not the difference between a win and a loss on Sunday. Talent on one side of the ball was the difference.

Talent was an issue. But even with Butler and his swagger/leadership, I believe we would have gotten the win. That defense was psychologically shocked and there weren't the guys out there to settle everyone down. If we resign James Harrison, he could become that guy. But he was new. I'm sure with each additional veteran guy like Hightower and Long this defense doesn't panic as much. McCourty being out there helped, but it wasn't enough without both Hightower and Butler gone.

In terms of Chris Long, his presence also would have ensured we had someone to rush opposite Harrison. That pass rush was sad yesterday.

 

[Tony2046]

If you read my post from top to bottom, you'd realize I stated that a major lesson for this team is remembering to keep that key group of veteran leaders. If we continue to jettison guys like Amendola and replace them with players like Gillislee, we'll be headed to 8-8 or 9-7 sooner than we'll be headed back to the Super Bowl.

Teams like the Jaguars are a Kirk Cousins away from being a force. And the Texans, if they get healthy, and the Raiders, if they recover under Gruden, could be other major threats. This is no time to just assume that Brady will put us over the top without respecting the core group of winners who got us to 3 Super Bowls in 4 seasons.

I did read your hawt take from top to bottom.

Blount and Long would not have changed the outcome of the game from both a leadership and a playing perspective .

There is plenty of leadership on this team.

Winning reinforces the system.

The worst thing about this loss is that the trolls come out in full force. From the Cliff Kellermans to your post. It's as if losing a close game in the super bowl validates their delusions.

But come next year the Pats will be back in the playoffs and the trolls will have to once again redefine their delusional positions.

 

[Tony2046]

Lesson learned: Don't bench your starting CB for the Super Bowl for no reason.

You know, after thinking about it for a couple of days I think BB simply didn't like what he saw from Butler all week playing wise.

 

[IllegalContact]

I was honestly confused we didn't jailbreak blitz and not worry about roughing the passer calls with late hits. We weren't stopping an untouched Foles, so why not get after him with different overloaded blitzes and risk the penalties for late hits or offsides from trying to time the blitzes just right?

that order would come from the sideline.......

 

[Chasing greatness]

I think the issue this season in general was we had a lack of talent and it wasn't by design. We caught the injury bug but unfortunately it was to key players on both sides of the ball. The amazing thing to me is how much heart this team had. If you were to tell me that the defense from the first 5 weeks would successfully take this team to the championship I would be lying if I said I believed you.

That being said I don't usually like saying one player could change the outcome of Sundays game but I saw a disoriented group. This is one of those we'll look back at and want to place blame but the reality is this was a success not by Patriots standards but by NFL standards and I can accept that and will hope that we can avoid injuries next year and maybe get some camp players to gel on defense

 

[The Scrizz]

Teams without vet leadership don't come back from 28-3 in a SB and they didn't really lose any of those guys except the injured ones.