The Pats interior OL lacks strength at the point of attack. That's really the main problem. Koppen has very good technique but I think we've all seen his physical limitations to man the center position. If you kick out help to Koppen with a guard, then you open a new gap for the defense to attack. It's a catch-22. Do you help Koppen so you don't get the defender straight up the gut on Brady. Or do you help and watch a defender come through free from the opening created by the help?
I'm not blaming the loss to the Jets all on Koppen. The entire OL played pretty poorly. Also the fact that Brady was confused by the Jets defensive schemes meant he held onto the ball longer than usual, also meaning that the OL had to hold their blocks longer, and they were just not up to the task.
The playoff losess boil down to play in the trenches. OL poor play yields in low amount of points scored, and lack of sustained drives. DL being unable to pressure Sanchez, allows him to carve up the secondary and no turnovers forced. TOs were the story of the game where the Pats could not overcome a 2 score deficit. IF we don't have the debacle of the fake punt, the Pats have an excellent chance to win that game going into the half down only 7-3.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that although the loss was devastating, it was a really close game and if the Pats don't make those critical mistakes: INT pass by Brady, dropped TD catch by Crumpler, and the fake punt, they still could have very well won that game. We need upgrades on both lines, yes. We need a better pass rush, yes. But we're not that far away. We don't need to blow things up. But we do need to focus on serious upgrades.
