Offense, Not Defense, Let the Patriots Down on Sunday

[The Brandon Five]

BB's roster management philosophy seems to have a lot to do with playoff wins. I love how we're competitive every season. Injury bug? Next man up. He is well known for devoting more to the bottom third of his roster than most other franchises. That means we have great depth with solid players, and can withstand injuries to key players and keep on being competitive. But you can't have everything. What the Pats roster seems to lack is the statistical outlier, the four or five or six players who are electric, game changing players. The players who command lots of money, but who are the only ones who can do what they do. Downside to that type of roster management is that when a few injuries hit, the next man up is a huge step down. The upside is being able to beat the best. Can't have it both ways with current salary cap rules.

There are seven former Pro Bowlers on IR and one in jail. One other got injured in the second quarter.

Gronkowski
Hernandez
Kelly
Mayo
Talib
Vollmer
Wilfork
Wilson


We still had Brady, Gostkowski and Mankins. Are you saying that we really need to have 10-12 of those marquee players in case half of them go down with injury? Wouldn't that make it impossible to fill that bottom third of the rosters with anything but the dregs of the league? Do you see the issue for the team dealing with a salary cap?

 

[DSting]

There are seven former Pro Bowlers on IR and one in jail. One other got injured in the second quarter.

Gronkowski
Hernandez
Kelly
Mayo
Talib
Vollmer
Wilfork
Wilson


We still had Brady, Gostkowski and Mankins. Are you saying that we really need to have 10-12 of those marquee players in case half of them go down with injury? Wouldn't that make it impossible to fill that bottom third of the rosters with anything but the dregs of the league? Do you see the issue for the team dealing with a salary cap?

I do see the issue; that's exactly my point. Amazing job staying competitive with injuries, but are there enough game-changing players to beat every other team in the league?

 

[DropKickFlutie]

This team used to overcome injuries not use them as an excuse.
Broncos had Clady and Von Miller out.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I do see the issue; that's exactly my point. Amazing job staying competitive with injuries, but are there enough game-changing players to beat every other team in the league?

How many more do you want? We don't get salary cap relief when a top-tier player ends up on IR? How do you make that work? Not too many pro-bowlers available in October.

They didn't know that Hernandez was going to turn into a serial killer, otherwise they possibly could have addressed the need for another playmaker on offense during the draft in FA. In July? Not so much.

You saw how the offense clicked once Gronk came back. His loss once again sidelined a championship run (becoming a recurring theme).