After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play well

[Gunnails]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Wilfork, not a lot of depth behind him and IMHO he makes the D line.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Most definitely Wilfork. After Brady, the FO should pay him his market value when his contract is up. If he was to go down then we would see this defense exposed like never before. He is the cork in the middle of the field and allows the linebackers to be more flexible in mid-field coverage.

 

[patsfanofNC12]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

I chose Seymour because he is a key part to the d-line, he has been down the last couple of years from injury, and he can really help the CB's if healthy by putting pressure on the opposing teams QB

 

[JoePats]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

8 specific players are mentioned. Two are Hanson and Gostowski. None are Wilfork. What is wrong with this?

 

[PATRIOT64]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

8 specific players are mentioned. Two are Hanson and Gostowski. None are Wilfork. What is wrong with this?

Not enough sleep before posting the poll

 

[fgssand]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

I chose Seymour because he is a key part to the d-line, he has been down the last couple of years from injury, and he can really help the CB's if healthy by putting pressure on the opposing teams QB

Agreed......RS is crucial.

 

[jmt57]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Matt Light

 

[Richter]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Can't believe you didn't include Wilfork by name in the poll. He is number 2 behind Brady and no one else is close. He goes down for an extended period, the linebackers get abused, the run defense goes to poop, and the team is looking at 10 wins instead of 14, maybe worse.

 

[PATRIOT64]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Can't believe you didn't include Wilfork by name in the poll. He is number 2 behind Brady and no one else is close. He goes down for an extended period, the linebackers get abused, the run defense goes to poop, and the team is looking at 10 wins instead of 14, maybe worse.

Well it was not exactly the same team as it is now but in 2006 Vince was out for the final 3 regular season games and NE won all 3

Not saying that means anything but NE did win those games without the big man -
Can they do that again this year if Vince was hurt? - Probably not but just an FYI

 

[TheComeback]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Vince Wilfork. You need a perennial pro-bowler at nose tackle to have a good 3-4 defense. What do all the good 3-4 systems in the league have? A good nose tackle. And the bad ones? Well, they don't have one. It makes a big difference because the NT opens everything up for the rest of the front seven.

 

[demerit]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

I hate to sound redundant but I gotta cast my vote for Wilfork as well. I once saw a great quote about Wilfork on another Patriots site: "If Wilfork goes down, the defense will fold up like a cheap suitcase." Very true.

 

[DarrylS]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

The loss of any of these will have a significant impact, Wilfork, Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour, Light, Koppen, Mankins... to say one if one would be loss is more significant is difficult.

 

[Joker]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

c'mon...Randy Moss...jeezus

 

[PatsFan24]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

moss for sure, not only is he tom bradys best target but he stretches the field and makes life easier for the other WRs.

 

[Joker]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

I didn't mean that as any shot at the other vital Patriots players, but let's be honest...Randy Moss with his head screwed on straight is THE best WR in the NFL and MADE TB's job a helluva lot easier than it's ever been...I'd put Welker 2nd in that equation and I'd even go as far as to say the BIGGEST injury, offensively last season was Sammy Morris...remember, if Bugeyes makes that candy catch against Indy, the Pats play in the Bowl against Seattle.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Football is so team orientated it's difficult. For me Welker springs to mind to keep the offence ticking with or without Brady, getting those short yardage plays but also Wes tends to sip on the YAC. Then again would Welker get so open without some dude, Moss I think his name is, who also has a tendancy to be one of the best recievers ever. The O'Line, would Brady be as comfortable without the likes of Koppen, Light or Mankins. Then you look at lineman on the D and you look at the impact Wilfork and Warren have, big Sey hasn't been himself for a while now but when he's on song he's also one of the best and also versatile ends in football.

Very, very difficult question so I'm enjoying the fence

 

[Sicilian]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Other: Wilfork.

He's the main cog in that line the last couple years, and we're going to NEED to control the LOS to stay effective on D.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Re: After Brady who is second on your list of a player who must stay healthy & play w

Lot of choices, I voted for Moss, only for the simple fact teams will not respect the other WR, and that includes welker who will be double teamed..