The OL Is NOT The Problem

[MainePatsFan26]

Brady's 3.25 seconds per pass, tonight, is the most time he's had to pass all season.

With Wynn back the OLine is OK. Could be good.

Need to RUN the ball more. Stop abandoning the run for no reason Josh.

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The first drive looked good with the running. I guess the reason we abandoned the run is because we went down 7-3.

Whenever the Patriots get down, Josh and/or Tom seem to get pass happy. It's as if they trick themselves into believing we're better off spreading other teams out and throwing like in past years. But this isn't anywhere near that caliber or style of offense and we only can succeed now if we have a consistent ground game.

Even if we're down 14-3, the defense can be good enough to allow us to stick to the original gameplan. This offense is way too quick to get frustrated and change things up. With Wynn back, I'd like to see us hammer the ball all game to force us to at least try to control the line of scrimmage and make the play action a legitimate threat.

 

[fightingirish595]

The weekly reminder that Brady gets a a run and a pass play and has the authority to switch to either depending on the defensive look. Brady decided against a sneak (most probably because there has not been not enough experience with Ferentz) and against a run given the defense.

Can't blame McDaniels any more than Brady for going with a pass.

The same people that complain about playcalling will defend Seattle throwing the ball on the goal line. It’s all execution.

 

[Sicilian]

The weekly reminder that Brady gets a a run and a pass play and has the authority to switch to either depending on the defensive look. Brady decided against a sneak (most probably because there has not been not enough experience with Ferentz) and against a run given the defense.

Can't blame McDaniels any more than Brady for going with a pass.

It also looked (from my TV viewing, be interested if someone looked closely on the A22), that the Texans were waiting for that sneak. They had the linemen in TIGHT, and given who's on their coaching staff, you can be damn sure a sneak was never going to catch them off guard. I didn't like the pass play (almost never do on 3rd/4th and 1), but I doubt the sneak would have had a better shot on that play.

 

[luuked]

The same people that complain about playcalling will defend Seattle throwing the ball on the goal line. It’s all execution.

I don't know. I can see the logic behind not running it against the defensive look the Pats showed in the SB. What I can't understand is the pass play they went with. That being said the probability for an INT on it is so small that there is an argument even for that.

Outcomes color the way we think about decision making too much. Sound decisions can have negative outcomes and idiotic decisions can work out. The beauty and fatal flaw of sports and life really.

 

[condon84]

OL played well last night.

Gave Brady time for the most part and opened holes for our RBs.

We should have kept running the ball. We were effective after the first drive. Trying to force our passing game to work lost us the game.

Brady, our WRs, they're just not playing well together.

 

[supafly]

If Ferentz has to play any significant time that will surely add to the “problem.” And it’s been pretty obvious that Mason is hurt or has taken a step back in some capacity. That, combined with Cannon’s inconsistency is certainly something to take into account. Really, Thuney has been our only staple.

 

[luuked]

If Ferentz has to play any significant time that will surely add to the “problem.” And it’s been pretty obvious that Mason is hurt or has taken a step back in some capacity. That, combined with Cannon’s inconsistency is certainly something to take into account. Really, Thuney has been our only staple.

I am curious how Ferentz will look with a full week of practice at center. Or if someone else entirely will end up playing center. People seemed at times so negative towards Karras so lets how much of a downgrade this really ends up being.

Hopefully once everyone has that bug out of their system the OL can stay healthy for the rest of the year and we can go into the postseason with a month+ of continuity. Maybe that ends up jump starting the power run game. That's maybe more hopefully thinking than anything else but it is Scar working with them afterall.

 

[Sicilian]

Everything on offense is part of the problem, just to varying degrees. Right now, I would rank them in this order:

1) WR's (sans Edelman) not getting open.
2) Lack of receiving threats at FB/TE.
3) Astonishing level of flux week to week on personnel (doesn't overshadow some talent deficiencies, but severely mitigates the ability to gameplan around them).
4) Injuries/illnesses on OL.
5) Sony Michel in general (not all his fault, I thought they abandoned him too soon last night after a solid 1st quarter, so it's 70% him and 30% McDaniels).
6) McDaniels' playcalling.
7) Edelman with more drops than we're used to seeing (better last night and could still be injury related).
8) Brady being less accurate than we're used to, but given #1-7, hard to pin that on him. There's just been no rhythm for him to get into this season.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Brady had more time to throw than he has had all year. And that is with Roberts at FB, and Watson/LeCosse at TE. And the problem isn't the running game.
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The offense simply hasn't had enough time together. HOU put a top corner on our #2 receiver (White) and doubled our #1 (Edelman). HOU dared Brady to throw to anyone else; all were covered one-on-one all night.

How much time do you want together? There are only 4 games left

I sure hope you are right .. it's the only hope

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

The Texans had 3 sacks and 12 hits. That’s a lot of hits on the QB. I don’t know if that was brady hanging on to find a wide open receiver.

 

[Betterthanmost]

Brady had more time to throw than he has had all year. And that is with Roberts at FB, and Watson/LeCosse at TE. And the problem isn't the running game.
===============
The offense simply hasn't had enough time together. HOU put a top corner on our #2 receiver (White) and doubled our #1 (Edelman). HOU dared Brady to throw to anyone else; all were covered one-on-one all night.

Outside Sanu, all these new receiving Corp were available during the summer for team building, norming, forming. Our QB has given his soul to this team and can't give anymore. I understand Brady, it appears I am bashing him but I am not. I am just pointing out our situation that we have to deal with.

 

[Kontradiction]

The OL has had an injury problem. WR and TE have a talent problem. Two of those (OL and WR) could get better as the season winds on, the other one needs to wait until the offseason.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

He’s getting mentioned in every single thread. We get it, people want him back. It’s taken over this board. Its unclear if he’d even be able to play this year if we signed him tomorrow. The content is largely venting about Kraft and making stupid * jokes. None of this is productive or fun to read. Continually bringing up AB is lame, boring, and drastically decreases the quality of this otherwise superb forum.

Best comment I've ever read on this site.

 

[Kontradiction]

He’s getting mentioned in every single thread. We get it, people want him back. It’s taken over this board. Its unclear if he’d even be able to play this year if we signed him tomorrow. The content is largely venting about Kraft and making stupid * jokes. None of this is productive or fun to read. Continually bringing up AB is lame, boring, and drastically decreases the quality of this otherwise superb forum.

I’ve been thoroughly on that train, but he ain’t coming back. They’re going to roll with what they have. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t call a spade a spade re: Kraft. It’s a good example of why:

1. The owner needs to have nothing to do with football ops decisions, and...

2. One shouldn’t make ****ty, reactionary decisions.

We need to hope Harry and Meyers improve to present Brady with options he can at least trust to run the right routes.

 

[Sicilian]

How much time do you want together? There are only 4 games left

I sure hope you are right .. it's the only hope

You're right that there's only 4 weeks left. But there hasn't been a stretch of even 3 games in a row this year that didn't involve multiple moving parts on offense. At this point, I would kill to have the same OL and skill players for each of the last 4 games and see what happens. It would be something we (remarkably) haven't seen yet this year.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

I wonder if the illness had anything to do with it? They probably had very little practice last week, as a whole.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

You're right that there's only 4 weeks left. But there hasn't been a stretch of even 3 games in a row this year that didn't involve multiple moving parts on offense. At this point, I would kill to have the same OL and skill players for each of the last 4 games and see what happens. It would be something we (remarkably) haven't seen yet this year.

My fear is it's just A fact of Brady not throwing to the open guy. If Edelman is getting a double team then somebody needs to emerge

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Everything on offense is part of the problem, just to varying degrees. Right now, I would rank them in this order:

1) WR's (sans Edelman) not getting open.
2) Lack of receiving threats at FB/TE.
3) Astonishing level of flux week to week on personnel (doesn't overshadow some talent deficiencies, but severely mitigates the ability to gameplan around them).
4) Injuries/illnesses on OL.
5) Sony Michel in general (not all his fault, I thought they abandoned him too soon last night after a solid 1st quarter, so it's 70% him and 30% McDaniels).
6) McDaniels' playcalling.
7) Edelman with more drops than we're used to seeing (better last night and could still be injury related).
8) Brady being less accurate than we're used to, but given #1-7, hard to pin that on him. There's just been no rhythm for him to get into this season.

Josh usually makes it work but just reread your post.

0 TE options to look at. Biggest failure on this team. Rec, blocking, versatility just isn't there.

Besides White we have no consistent Rec threat at RB despite using a 1st on Sony. Houston was smart to use a CB on him & double 11.
Now play that out a little more & think abt the matchups that we couldn't win. 1 on 1 outside w our WRS & LB in coverage.

Josh/Brady have very little to work w & that's being polite.

This stretch was always going to be rough when you consider the personnel, injuries so it's not breaking news.

There is a possibility, more than just hope, that the offense looks better. How much better, who knows? Good enough to win a few playoff games & the SB is a tall task rn but again I have a hard time believing this is our finished product.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

 

[Sicilian]

Josh usually makes it work but just reread your post.

0 TE options to look at. Biggest failure on this team. Rec, blocking, versatility just isn't there.

Besides White we have no consistent Rec threat at RB despite using a 1st on Sony. Houston was smart to use a CB on him & double 11.
Now play that out a little more & think abt the matchups that we couldn't win. 1 on 1 outside w our WRS & LB in coverage.

Josh/Brady have very little to work w & that's being polite.

This stretch was always going to be rough when you consider the personnel, injuries so it's not breaking news.

There is a possibility, more than just hope, that the offense looks better. How much better, who knows? Good enough to win a few playoff games & the SB is a tall task rn but again I have a hard time believing this is our finished product.

Fair points, and you're probably right. I think what it comes down to for me is it looks totally out of sync. It's not just that the results aren't there, it looks choppy, like they're all fighting themselves to get the yards they need (not fighting against each other, just everyone looks TIGHT). I think when I mention McD's playcalling, what I really mean is strategy/playcalling combined.

I think this group can get better if they can get some f'in luck and string a few healthy weeks together to build some chemistry. But at some point they're going to need to run an offense that suits the personnel (even if it's limited), rather than continually trying to get players that don't have the experience yet to run the offense they've preferred to run in the past.

I say this all knowing that is a drastic oversimplification though, which doesn't offer any real tactical breakdown. It's just musings in my head from someone who understands football in very broad terms.