Antonio Brown

Nehalem said:

You can mitigate A great WR schematically. If you have a great CB you can maybe mitigate 2 great WR schematically.

But how do you deal with 3 great WRs schematically? That is why BB got AB.

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patfanken said:

Well I see where Tommy would disagree with me, because it doesn't matter what I write, he will disagree with what I say. However I'm surprised with your big red X.

I believe you missed my point by a mile, so let me try and explain. My point to DI was that IF we have another injury or two to the OL, it will be MORE than a 2 team race. Also If your OL isn't able to protect your 42 year old QB, it won't matter who you have at WR. All you have to do is look at the Cleveland game. OBJ was a non-factor in that game.

That's what I'm trying to explain about AB's addition. YES, it should help the offense. YES, it will make everyone else's job a bit easier. But the fact remains, adding great WR's to your offense isn't the immediate panacea that people think for reasons, we as Pats fans, should know more than most.

Good defenses can mitigate great WR's schematically. Haven't we seen Bill do that so often over the years? What's the phrase? "Bill will stop what you like to do most". Sometimes he'll do it by using 2 lesser players to cover your BEST player, or as he did Sunday and if he has someone good enough, take his best player to cover your best player and stifle everyone else. Your best player IS going have SOME success, but it will be hard going, and no one else will get squat...until garbage time.

My point is that great WR's are a LUXURY. Good OL play is a necessity. Thus my comment that if we have another OL injury or 2, when we face a good DL again, if our OL isn't playing well because of those injuries, it won't matter who is on the outside.

I don't know how you came up with the take that I thought KC was an overwhelming favorite to beat the Ravens 4 months into the future. I wasn't thinking about any other team when I made that comment. I just know that OUR offense is predicated on good OL play more than good WR play. I hope that explains it better.

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LJRomanoff said:

Brown is good but he isn't that good.

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aluminum seats said:

Really? I feel like he’s going to be a choirboy for the rest of the year. Seriously, he was crazy like a fox getting out of Oakland. Really lousy behavior, but it’s not like he can’t control his impulses. He knew exactly what he was doing.

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fnordcircle said:

I am genuinely unsure if we are going to get significant jersey number drama from him or not.

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mgteich said:

1) IMHO, disagreements shouldn't be viewed as being combative or negative. I simply disagree. However, since you take such as a negative, I changed it.

Obviously, your views are well respected by us all, and certainly by me.

2) Yes, WR's are overvalued, especially on a team that already have lots of receivers. However, when we are talking about a player that is rated as the best in the league by his peers (and 3rd best by me). I think that such a player is a game changer. Obviously, no one player can make the difference, with the possible exception of a quarterback (check out BALT yesterday).

3) With regard to the OL, I agree that any team cannot afford injuries. However, we are head and shoulders above the rest. And yes I think AB helps in this situation. If we lost another OL or 2, we'd trade for help, and Brady would throw 50 times from the shotgun.
I think this would still make us one of the top 2 teams. Teams would have great difficulty defending against our offense, in this case with no TE's on field, just White/Burkhead, Develin and 3 receivers.

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jboston19 said:

... we’ll have only the 5th round comp pick to show for it.

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shmessy said:

Awesome, he's ALREADY being a menace on our roads!

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UptownPatsFan said:

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PatsFan2 said:

Love the Top of our WR Dept chart a legit #1 and two legit #2's. Number Two and Three CB's get out your Maalox.

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UptownPatsFan said:

Wow; yet another season in which Brady has no weapons

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patfanken said:

I think my point was made in reaction to the common wisdom that somehow adding an elite WR suddenly made us invincible. Part of it is a general reaction to my PERSONAL opinion that all WR's are vastly over rated in this FF era.

What do I base this on. Just 20 years of general observations of the most successful franchise in NFL history. What seems to get lost in this opinion is the fact that I'm FINE with having great receivers. And even though I say it over and over, it gets lost in translation. However trying to acquire great receivers at the EXPENSE of having good OL's and DL,'s and DB's etc is just plain stupidity.

AB's addition is fine because we AREN'T doing that. AB's acquisition only comes with a $5-6MM risk which is more than just a bargain for this season, its a fire sale. However if we choose to pick up his $20MM next year instead of reupping Thuney, I'd have a problem with that. But that is a discussion best left for next March.

But if we do encounter more OL injuries the "we'll just trade for someone" response isn't going to work. Any trades or acquisitions with this little cap space are going to be hard. I'm afraid what we got is what we have to run with for this season. And quite frankly, I'm not entirely comfortable with that passed the first 5 BTW- I'm STILL trying to figure out how we added the Jones and Brown contracts and ADDED cap room. Miguel has yet to inform me.

BTW- It is fine to disagree with me. I don't want to give away any trade secrets, but JUST between you and me, I get it wrong sometimes. . It's just THIS is not one of those times.

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