Pats Went 1-4 to End Season. What Was The Cause of Implosion?

[Guts]

With another solid draft like the 2020 class I think we in contention within 2-3 years.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

With another solid draft like the 2020 class I think we in contention within 2-3 years.

You mean 2021 ?

 

[Guts]

You mean 2021 ?

Yes my mistake

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Yes my mistake

It's all good.

Agree the upcoming draft is critical. Need a CB, ILB, NT. Their man cover-1 defense doesn't work without enough corners and they ran out this year. And the run defense was pathetic which starts up the middle in fixing NT and ILB.

It's just too bad we had so many crappy drafts before 2021. That NKeal Harry + SloJuan 2019 draft is the worst ever in the bb era.

 

[Toofy]

Wearing the cynical hat, I want to know how was this season a coaching success ? It seemed a mirage in the middle but in retrospect it looks to be the case of us getting lucky during the 7 game stretch similar to the 8-0 start of the Boogeymen season.

With the way offenses are playing , are defenses useless in today's world unless you have an Aaron Donald and von Miller tandem?

Now coming to coaching, we just don't seem to be developing enough players. Yes we have Jonathan Jones, JC and Meyers and Onwenu. Outside of that it's pretty Barren.

I have noticed that all teams give drafted players 2 years to prove and if not, they cut bait. Patriots seem to just over indulge - Harry and joejuan . I just feel by sticking with Harry we lost a year to potentially try out Wilkerson and Nixon.

The same issues happened on a linebackers as well. Did not trust uche, wino enough and we have a lost year. So now we need to play them when their confidence is at the lowest and without adequate game day practices .

Coaching should allow us to help build a strong base from the drafted class but we seem content on hiring middle of the pack free agents and hoping the other teams mistakes outnumber ours.

Bill has done a great job but just feels like we are slipping more and more into mediocrity and might end up wasting Mac Jones rookie years and rookie contract benefits .

If we need to have a shot at Superbowl, 2023 and 2024 are our best bets and I hope the coaching pulls it's socks to help players over perform. That does not seem to happen. We are hardly creating any difference makers. JC J is the last of them and most likely he might leave this year .

 

[PatsFan2]

"It’s unfathomable now that Bill Belichick would choose N’Keal Harry over him. It was pretty close to unfathomable then, too.
The Patriots couldn’t have botched the top of that ‘19 draft more if they were trying to..."

Quoted for Truth.

Thanks Billy!
Thanks Stevie! (he probably recommended SloJuan)
And thanks to the 3 (John Carrol) Stooges!

Oops, and thanks Nike!

You tell em coach cap.

 

[PatsFan2]

It's all good.

Agree the upcoming draft is critical. Need a CB, ILB, NT. Their man cover-1 defense doesn't work without enough corners and they ran out this year. And the run defense was pathetic which starts up the middle in fixing NT and ILB.

It's just too bad we had so many crappy drafts before 2021. That NKeal Harry + SloJuan 2019 draft is the worst ever in the bb era.

The Homers would disagree with that... I hope we can sign and trade JC Jackson and get a extra pick. We are not ready for prime time unless we hit on some gems. We can't tag JC with so many holes and bad contracts on a untalented Team. We couldn't keep with Buffalo much less KC.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

The Homers would disagree with that... I hope we can sign and trade JC Jackson and get a extra pick. We are not ready for prime time unless we hit on some gems. We can't tag JC with so many holes and bad contracts on a untalented Team. We couldn't keep with Buffalo much less KC.

Imagine how crappy the defense will be without JC Jackson. Their whole defense relies on good man-corner CBs for man cover-1. They're going back to the lost decade where they thought Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden were good enough.

 

[Nehalem]

Imagine how crappy the defense will be without JC Jackson. Their whole defense relies on good man-corner CBs for man cover-1. They're going back to the lost decade where they thought Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden were good enough.

The sad/funny thing is if Bodden doesn't get hurt the Patriots would have 2 more SB victories

 

[DropKickFlutie]

The sad/funny thing is if Bodden doesn't get hurt the Patriots would have 2 more SB victories

It played out as expected back then. You can't mess with the CB position and think you can patch it together with retreads, old guy FA's, and crappy draft picks. The league is a passing league more than ever.

 

[borg]

It's all good.

Agree the upcoming draft is critical. Need a CB, ILB, NT. Their man cover-1 defense doesn't work without enough corners and they ran out this year. And the run defense was pathetic which starts up the middle in fixing NT and ILB.

It's just too bad we had so many crappy drafts before 2021. That NKeal Harry + SloJuan 2019 draft is the worst ever in the bb era.

Should be pointed out....

Despite having Wynn signed through '22
And despite having traded for Trent Brown on March 9, 2021.......51 days before NFL draft
NE's "plan B" in the '21 draft was OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern (trust me on this one 100%)

Since then.....
Wynn has maintained his half man/half glass composition and added a turnstyle element to his repertoire
And Trent Brown is a free agent who missed 7 games due to injury

Regarding Offensive tackles:
Future success has proven to be more easily identifiable than other positions, at least for NE.
A plug 'n play position for high rounders giving teams tremendous value during their rookie contract.

Can Bill pull off another short term/low cost tackle deal/signing comparable to the Trent Brown $6 mill reclamation signing?
Will Trent Brown play on a $6 mill contract again? ("Cincy on the phone, say hi to Joe")
Will Bill want to pay a starting FA tackle 8 figures/yr when he can look in the draft for a $5 mill or less plug 'n play long term replacement ?

My point....
If drafting an OT was definitely on the table in '21 despite a settled positional group, why would it be neglected now given deteriorating conditions

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Should be pointed out....

Despite having Wynn signed through '22
And despite having traded for Trent Brown on March 9, 2021.......51 days before NFL draft
NE's "plan B" in the '21 draft was OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern (trust me on this one 100%)

Since then.....
Wynn has maintained his half man/half glass composition and added a turnstyle element to his repertoire
And Trent Brown is a free agent who missed 7 games due to injury

Regarding Offensive tackles:
Future success has proven to be more easily identifiable than other positions, at least for NE.
A plug 'n play position for high rounders giving teams tremendous value during their rookie contract.

Can Bill pull off another short term/low cost tackle deal/signing comparable to the Trent Brown $6 mill reclamation signing?
Will Trent Brown play on a $6 mill contract again? ("Cincy on the phone, say hi to Joe")
Will Bill want to pay a starting FA tackle 8 figures/yr when he can look in the draft for a $5 mill or less plug 'n play long term replacement ?

My point....
If drafting an OT was definitely on the table in '21 despite a settled positional group, why would it be neglected now given deteriorating conditions

Good post.

My response is, OT is not a need because you have a Superbowl winning left tackle in Trent Brown and a 2-year-documented all-pro talent at right tackle with Michael Onwenu.

So OT is a self inflicted issue created by idiots who insist on playing Wynn at LT so they don't look bad for pushing to draft him and also hand him 11M.

It's analagous to the other crappt argument that the Pats need a speedster when they just got the best speedster in 2020 (Agholor) and misused him all year as well. The issue is the use of good players already here.

 

[borg]

you have a Superbowl winning left tackle in Trent Brown

No I don't....and neither does NE

 

[sb1]

I think Bill is paying very close attention to what he's seen in the playoffs. We will see a very different football team over the next couple of years.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

No I don't....and neither does NE

I hear you. I'm not sure Trent earned a big payday with this last season. One option is keep him if he'll come at a reasonable number and then play him at LT. He's only 28. Trent+Onwenu the next several years.
Part of the reason I'm pushing back is they have too many needs to draft/fix on defense.

 

[203Pat]

I think Bill is paying very close attention to what he's seen in the playoffs. We will see a very different football team over the next couple of years.

I hope so because watching some of the playoff games over the weekend we look pretty far behind those teams. The way the Bills and Chiefs were able to score at will is a stark contrast to watching our offense sputter up and down the field trying to muster up 25 points.

 

[Nehalem]

It played out as expected back then. You can't mess with the CB position and think you can patch it together with retreads, old guy FA's, and crappy draft picks. The league is a passing league more than ever.

Except Bodden wasn't exactly old.

He played in 47/48 games in 07-09.

A healthy Bodden paired with McCourty, even with Bust Butler, and Glass-IR Dowling would have been decent and would likely have resulted in 1-2 more SB wins.

 

[Nehalem]

I hope so because watching some of the playoff games over the weekend we look pretty far behind those teams. The way the Bills and Chiefs were able to score at will is a stark contrast to watching our offense sputter up and down the field trying to muster up 25 points.

On the plus side our defense doesn't look quite as bad

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Except Bodden wasn't exactly old.

He played in 47/48 games in 07-09.

A healthy Bodden paired with McCourty, even with Bust Butler, and Glass-IR Dowling would have been decent and would likely have resulted in 1-2 more SB wins.

So should the Pats retry the experiment of patching together CBs? I dunno. Seems like every ring had an all pro talent at CB1 except for a couple smoke and mirror games covering for Ty Law while hurt

 

[sb1]

I hope so because watching some of the playoff games over the weekend we look pretty far behind those teams. The way the Bills and Chiefs were able to score at will is a stark contrast to watching our offense sputter up and down the field trying to muster up 25 points.

Yup.

Bill always was and always will be a defensive guru but I think it might be too much to ask even for him to innovate a way to stop this trend. They were completely exposed in the last month of the season. So maybe the best way is the idea that the best defense is a great offense. Force the other offense to go one dimensional to keep up.

To get there it could be changes in personnel, coaching or philosophy or a combination. But I think we will see a lot of changes in the next couple of years.