The OL Is NOT The Problem

[ensoul]

Last nights game the O-line was decent and was not a major issue. Here is the issue though:

Great receiver:
Edelman

JAG Receivers
Dorsett
Harry
Meyers
Sanu

Awful TE
Watson (Although he is old and has played forever. Regardless BB should have known better)
Lacosse
Izzo

So the pats have 1 good receiver and and the rest are steaming piles of garbage. No wonder the offense is in the shape it is in.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

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.

No you're 100% right in your first few points. I wasn't trying to critique your post, not that you were defensive or w/e.
It absolutely looks rough & is tough to watch. Like you said it's not just results, it's the entire process.

Imo Brady is absolutely good enough to win another SB w. No question abt it. Whether he's good enough to raise everyone else's game, who knows? Probably not working miracles at 40+.

To me it's all abt the lack of variety in our weapons. Lack trust/chemistry & familiarity. Moving parts.

Nothing has been easy this year on O. Everything has been a struggle.

We absolutely have to make **** easier on 12. Again 40+ dealing w rookies, udfa, absolutely no TE's to work w. 1 Rec threat out of the backfield. Injuries.

Maybe I'm bias but those aren't excuses to me?

 

[Ladypatsfan]

Last nights game the O-line was decent and was not a major issue. Here is the issue though:

Great receiver:
Edelman

JAG Receivers
Dorsett
Harry
Meyers
Sanu

Awful TE
Watson (Although he is old and has played forever. Regardless BB should have known better)
Lacosse
Izzo

So the pats have 1 good receiver and and the rest are steaming piles of garbage. No wonder the offense is in the shape it is in.

Amen brother. I am not mad at any of these players. They are what they are. I blame the GM for bringing them here and the coaches for not coaching them up. The tightend position is a black hole in the offense. Thank goodness for Watson or there would be no production at all.

 

[aluminum seats]

Maybe I'm bias but those aren't excuses to me?

Not excuses at all, reasons. It's a bit of everything, so the OP idea here that the O line is NOT the problem is wrong. It's partly the line, partly injuries, partly illness, partly inexperience, partly talent, partly Brady, etc. etc.

 

[Froob]

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 play seemed great....is anybody *****ing if Sanu gets a big gain?

 

[ashley]

Don't think the O-line has been nearly as good as it was last year. Cannon had a rough game last night and if Newhouse wasn't so bad, I think everyone would be talking about him. I also think Mason has been spotty this year, especially compared to last year. Karras I think is a notch below Andrews. Thuney has been our best O-lineman this year and I believe that Wynn will be really good if he can stay healthy.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Don't think the O-line has been nearly as good as it was last year. Cannon had a rough game last year and if Newhouse wasn't so bad, I think everyone would be talking about him. I also think Mason has been spotty this year, especially compared to last year. Karras I think is a notch below Andrews. Thuney has been our best O-lineman this year and I believe that Wynn will be really good if he can stay healthy.

Our OL last year was at least, as good as we've seen during this run.
Maybe not the best but right there w any we've had.

Brown got paid & Thuney will be loaded in a few months. I think the Fins will make him a huge offer. He's been our best OL'm since last year.

 

[ashley]

BCG,

Thoughts on Karras this year? I wasn't a huge fan of Andrews but I think he played on a different level than Karras has. Doesn't help that Mason and Cannon aren't as good as well.

Our OL last year was at least, as good as we've seen during this run.
Maybe not the best but right there w any we've had.

Brown got paid & Thuney will be loaded in a few months. I think the Fins will make him a huge offer. He's been our best OL'm since last year.

 

[Sicilian]

Don't think the O-line has been nearly as good as it was last year. Cannon had a rough game last year and if Newhouse wasn't so bad, I think everyone would be talking about him. I also think Mason has been spotty this year, especially compared to last year. Karras I think is a notch below Andrews. Thuney has been our best O-lineman this year and I believe that Wynn will be really good if he can stay healthy.

I'm having a hard time judging Cannon right now. He hasn't looked the same, there's no denying that at all. But the last two games it's been clear he got hit hardest by whatever bug is going around, and before that Mason was struggling next to him (possibly due to injury). We can only evaluate based on what we see, so obviously we need him to be better, but put a healthy Cannon next to a Mason we recognize and I'll bet he rebounds. This last month is going to be very revealing (one way or the other).

 

[luuked]

The play seemed great....is anybody *****ing if Sanu gets a big gain?

No most probably not.

It is the usual dilemma where people crave clever plays but at the same time any failure that doesn't occur within the bounds of status quo is a sign of someone getting too cute or showing off.

To use a non Patriots spin. Imagine what the reception to the Dolphins trick play is if the kicker gets stonewalled and it fails with the punter getting swallowed by the approaching defensive players. Contrast it with how everyone is in awe of it because it worked.

As usual people pay way too much attention to the outcome than whether the call and design itself were a sound decision.

To connect it back to the Sanu fourth down play.. it looked like the Texans were more than ready for a sneak (of course with Crennel as DC) and it didn't look like particularly inviting front to run into. So they went with the best play they had and if it weren't for a illegal contact no-call it would have worked.

Getting interfered without a flag is part of the risk you take with going with a pass. In Brady and McDaniels opinion that still outweighed running or sneaking it. End of story.

 

[jah]

I just held back from starting a sarcastic thread called "The WRs are NOT the problem". Of course, they are, but they're not the only problem. The same could be said for all other positions on this offense. I don't understand why we're trying to hard to find an exempt position group from the offensive struggles. It's problematic across the board, and no player is performing well right now on our offense. There's a thread about why the OL isn't the problem. There's a thread about why Brady isn't the problem. Then what the **** is?

 

[varjao]

We have 2 good guys on the left side and 2 banged up/playing bad guys on the right side and a revolving door at Center. It is what it is now, we are rolling with these guys till the end.

Mason has played left guard before, not a good time to make experiments but maybe playing him alongside Wynn will make him less of a liability and kicking Thuney to right will make that side stronger.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

BCG,

Thoughts on Karras this year? I wasn't a huge fan of Andrews but I think he played on a different level than Karras has. Doesn't help that Mason and Cannon aren't as good as well.

Better then expected. My first reaction to him getting the nod was the effects it'll have on our run game in terms of working in space, reaching the 2nd level etc. Unfortunately we saw that a lot but he wasn't a disaster at all. You work w him & win like we saw all year. Run game hasn't been great but like you & others have said there's so much going on there w other injuries, replacements etc

Just an incredibly f'd up year on offense all around.

 

[reflexblue]

I think we have to throw personnel management into the pot too. First no TE drafted to replace gronk, just bargan basement FAs
Then a brown is signed, the next day Thomas is traded to the jest, brown plays one game then is released. Flash Gordon has a big game against the jete but is injured (hand) then gets injured further against the giants and is released a few weeks later and replaced by Sanu.. who gets injured. Its wide receiver musical chairs. No wonder brady can't get in sync,

 

[ohiopatsfan]

To evaluate why this team is looking so vulnerable now, look at what we had last year. Go from a world class TE to basically nothing. Go from the top blocking FB in the league to a reserve LB. Go from one of the fastest WR's and KR's in the game (Patterson) to nothing.