OT: Official 2020 Tompa Bay Gronkaneers Thread

[203Pat]

Three things still give me pause:
1) OL (especially LT)
2) Bruce Arians
3) D is still inconsistent... they shut down one team and give up 30 points to another

But Brady looks amazing... Gronk is showing signs of life and AB is going to open up the middle of the field and running lanes for the backs

I agree with all of your points. Donavan Smith is definitely a liability at left tackle and I really cant believe they recently paid him like a higher end player. I used to be an Arians guy but so far I feel like they are winning in spite of him. The guy is such a blowhard and him throwing players under the bus in the media is a poor way to display leadership as far as I am concerned. He seems to point fingers when things go wrong.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Bucs are #1 in the NFL in PPG dif. For comparison:

Bucs (+11.4 PPG)

31.7 PPG
20.3 PPG against

2018 Pats (+7 PPG)

27.3 PPG
20.3 PPG against

2016 Pats (+12 PPG)

27.6 PPG
15.6 PPG against

2014 Pats (+9.7 PPG)

29.3 PPG
19.6 PPG against

2007 Pats (+19.7 PPG)

36.8 PPG
17.1 PPG against

2004 Pats (+11 PPG)

27.3 PPG
16.3 PPG against

2003 Pats (+6.9 PPG)

21.8 PPG
14.9 PPG against

2001 Pats (+6.2 PPG)

23.2 PPG
17.0 PPG against


They could be looking at a top 5 offense all time if Antonio Brown is the same player (34+ PPG) along with a pretty good defense.

 

[Midship]

Brady leaving is looking like an utter catastrophe. Can't believe it's come to this. He should have retired a Patriot. Beyond sad.

 

[sb1]

Brady leaving is looking like an utter catastrophe. Can't believe it's come to this. He should have retired a Patriot. Beyond sad.

I’ve criticized his play and attitude last year but man I’d take a “crappy” Brady over what I saw yesterday. Maybe even Bledsoe right now.

 

[1960Pats]

It is a miserable day for all the Brady haters in here

Off with their heads Ned.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Brady leaving is looking like an utter catastrophe. Can't believe it's come to this. He should have retired a Patriot. Beyond sad.

Kraft has done everything he can to fit in with the other 31. After making decisions for years with their interests in mind, and listening to the moronic “wisdom” that you’d be better off long-term with Belichick than Brady (few even argued otherwise), now he’s just like every other team. The Patriots are no longer special. Doubt they ever will be again, not like they were.

 

[wpdougie2180]

Yeah, their secondary sucks

And they have no pass rush

 

[venecol]

I can tell you my Brady rookie card is probably worth 20K lol...

OK big spender, is that why you can't find $25-$50 to contribute to Patsfans.

 

[RIpats88]

Brady leaving is looking like an utter catastrophe. Can't believe it's come to this. He should have retired a Patriot. Beyond sad.

Brady would not be having this season with the patriots. We would be talking about if brady is washed as he struggles game after game

 

[PatsBoy12]

 

[203Pat]

Brady would not be having this season with the patriots. We would be talking about if brady is washed as he struggles game after game

He wouldn't have 18 touchdowns right now but I refuse to believe we would be struggling to score double digit points the way we have the last few weeks. This offense used to be a timing offense and Cam doesn't seem to be able to make those throws as the receivers are coming out of their breaks. Brady would be pissed off and frustrated and doing all the things people whined about last year but I doubt we would be 2-4 right now.

 

[PatsBoy12]

 

[SHOWTIME15]

OK big spender, is that why you can't find $25-$50 to contribute to Patsfans.

If I do, my Hall of Fame poster label would disappear...I'd rather keep that. And I actually bought the Brady card for 7K and it just went up in value.

 

[catent]

Hope they enjoy Cam LMAO

This is why some people have an issue with this thread.

 

[amfootball]

Mazz: Brady or Belichick? It looks (and feels) like we have our answer

Simply put, the Patriots look slow, soft and woefully ill-prepared, which can’t help but bring one to a conclusion that Brady camp came to long ago. It was never Belichick the coach who covered for Belichick the GM. It was Brady the QB.

985thesportshub.com

 

[catent]

Kraft has done everything he can to fit in with the other 31. After making decisions for years with their interests in mind, and listening to the moronic “wisdom” that you’d be better off long-term with Belichick than Brady (few even argued otherwise), now he’s just like every other team. The Patriots are no longer special. Doubt they ever will be again, not like they were.

I don't know, man. This is pretty harsh.

I just don't get why it's this either/or thing. Why the need to trash Belichick? He's demonstrated himself to be a darn good coach, arguably the best ... they just don't have enough talent at some crucial spots.

I mean, imagine saying the Patriots will never be special again. That's pretty absurd. Look at the Bucs -- perennial dumpster fire that has received a shot in the arm from a top tier QB and some talent on both sides of the ball. At least for this season, they're special. There's nothing different about the Patriots -- get them a good QB and some talent and they'll perform really well with the coach they have.

Moronic to opt for Belichick over Brady long-term? I certainly don't consider sticking with the coach who's brought you 6 Super Bowls and is probably looking to coach another 8-12 years moronic, when compared to keeping a QB who's looking at 4-5 years left in his career.

It's an unfortunate situation and I wish things had been handled differently and Tom was still here. I really do. But the reactionary, binary, either/or mentality is a large part of what's been ruining this forum recently.

 

[catent]

Mazz: Brady or Belichick? It looks (and feels) like we have our answer

Simply put, the Patriots look slow, soft and woefully ill-prepared, which can’t help but bring one to a conclusion that Brady camp came to long ago. It was never Belichick the coach who covered for Belichick the GM. It was Brady the QB.

985thesportshub.com

Again, it's stuff like this that is ruining this forum. The binary, either/or perspectives. That's a bad article and it's that mindset that's made this place so insufferable recently.

Are the Patriots worse-off without Brady? Absolutely. Was Brady's presence the only reason they succeeded in the past, and is his absence the only reason they're struggling now? Absolutely not.

The Patriots haven't been really good since 2016'ish. You saw it in 2018 (they got lucky with a late-season push). You saw it in 2019. And you're seeing it now. They cannot reliably stop the run, their DL is light inside, the LBs are lacking athleticism, and there's a complete void of offensive talent. Brady is one (admittedly large) piece of the puzzle, but he's far from the whole story.

It doesn't mean Belichick sucks, nor does it mean Tom was the only reason for their success; it's a nuanced and complex situation managing a football team.

The Patriots are no different than any other team: give them a good QB and talent across the team, they'll succeed. Give them a poor roster with holes in places, they'll struggle.

There's still no coach I'd rather have than BB, and I can promise you that 31 other owners and fanbases feel similarly.

 

[venecol]

Three things still give me pause:
1) OL (especially LT)
2) Bruce Arians
3) D is still inconsistent... they shut down one team and give up 30 points to another

But Brady looks amazing... Gronk is showing signs of life and AB is going to open up the middle of the field and running lanes for the backs

Much love PB12 but:

1) OL has lowest sack rate in the league
2) It's pretty clear Arians has been willing to adapt to accommodate the GOAT
3) Bucs have a top 3 defense making Bucs one of most complete teams in NFL.

Please admit you were wrong about Gronk. He just needed a little time to get NFL game ready. I see him getting even better as the season goes on with TB12 getting more comfortable with the WRs and AB coming in.

 

[Zarozzor]

I don't know, man. This is pretty harsh.

I just don't get why it's this either/or thing. Why the need to trash Belichick? He's demonstrated himself to be a darn good coach, arguably the best ... they just don't have enough talent at some crucial spots.

I mean, imagine saying the Patriots will never be special again. That's pretty absurd. Look at the Bucs -- perennial dumpster fire that has received a shot in the arm from a top tier QB and some talent on both sides of the ball. At least for this season, they're special. There's nothing different about the Patriots -- get them a good QB and some talent and they'll perform really well with the coach they have.

Moronic to opt for Belichick over Brady long-term? I certainly don't consider sticking with the coach who's brought you 6 Super Bowls and is probably looking to coach another 8-12 years moronic, when compared to keeping a QB who's looking at 4-5 years left in his career.

It's an unfortunate situation and I wish things had been handled differently and Tom was still here. I really do. But the reactionary, binary, either/or mentality is a large part of what's been ruining this forum recently.

For me personally (and quite a few of the Brady supporters I’d wager) this all started with the Eagles Super Bowl. After that game I said screw this, Bill has something against Brady because the week prior he brushed off the question about his hand like it was no big deal. I mean they had been together 17 years, you would think he could have at least given him some props or something instead of saying “we’re not dealing with open heart surgery” Well obviously we know now that it was because of the book that came out this year. Knowing how messed up his hand was makes the comeback against the best defense in football with no Gronk or Edelman even more impressive.

Then on top of that all year he was ready to move on from Brady even though Brady had just won a Super Bowl the year prior and would go on to win Regular Season MVP in 2017. He obviously wanted Jimmy to be the quarterback for the Patriots by 2018.

Brady was probably already upset about them not committing to him for multiple years prior to that Super Bowl, but then Bill goes and benches Butler while Brady and Gronk put up a historical performance and still lose because of the defense. They’ll never say anything, but I would wager that they were fuming.

I’ve always been on the Brady side of this, even more so since that game. Bill is a great coach but we are going to see what it’s like when he doesn’t have Tom covering up massive holes and getting 12+ wins every single year because you have the luxury of the GOAT.

 

[203Pat]

I don't know, man. This is pretty harsh.

I just don't get why it's this either/or thing. Why the need to trash Belichick? He's demonstrated himself to be a darn good coach, arguably the best ... they just don't have enough talent at some crucial spots.

I mean, imagine saying the Patriots will never be special again. That's pretty absurd. Look at the Bucs -- perennial dumpster fire that has received a shot in the arm from a top tier QB and some talent on both sides of the ball. At least for this season, they're special. There's nothing different about the Patriots -- get them a good QB and some talent and they'll perform really well with the coach they have.

Moronic to opt for Belichick over Brady long-term? I certainly don't consider sticking with the coach who's brought you 6 Super Bowls and is probably looking to coach another 8-12 years moronic, when compared to keeping a QB who's looking at 4-5 years left in his career.

It's an unfortunate situation and I wish things had been handled differently and Tom was still here. I really do. But the reactionary, binary, either/or mentality is a large part of what's been ruining this forum recently.

I don't like the strict either/or when it comes to who gets credit for the last 20 years but at the same time you can only put the blame in one place for not having talent. Bill's GM decisions are why Brady is no longer here both in the fact that I believe he didn't want Brady anymore and the fact that Brady struggled (by his standards) with the horrendous "talent" at the skill positions that Bill provided him.