Possible reasons for this "soft" nonsense

[Fencer]

1. The rules have changed. No team plays as physically as the Patriots did a few years ago.

2. The Patriots' arch-rivals, the Colts, don't seem as soft as they used to be, mainly because A. Bob Sanders showed up. B. Manning got better at dealing with pressure. What was a large, obvious edge in physicality is now much reduced. Not coincidentally, the Colts now have rings too.

3. The Patriots play less of a power/ball-control game on offense than they used to, even beyond the general change in league trends. Obviously.

4. The Patriots' roster IS a little less physical than it used to be. Here's my breakdown.

• QB -- up slightly. One can only be a little bit more physical than Brady was from Day 1 of his career, but he rushes a little more than he used to, so I say up a little.
• RB -- down somewhat. No more Dillon, or before him Smith.
• TE -- probably level. K. Brady is a heckuva blocker, but he isn't used on those wham plays as much. And Grahambo OCCASIONALLY caught a pass and then broke tackles.
• WR -- flat to down slightly. Givens was pretty tough. Troy was almost as tough as Welker. Branch, so far as I can recall, made one great block (against Lee Flowers) in about his second game as a Patriot, then never hit anybody again.
• OL -- up. Logan Mankins is a beast.
• DL -- tough to call. Seymour varied between extremes (beast or out), vs. playing a bit impaired has he has been the past couple of seasons; Ted Washington at his healthy best may have exceeded even Wilfork's toughness at the LOS, but Wilfork ranges further on the field; Warren wasn't as good a player as he is now.
• LB -- down. Ted Johnson is gone. McGinest is gone. Bruschi hit hard on a lot more plays than he does now. Phifer was at least as physical as Seau. All that outweighs the not-quite-unleashed beast that is AD.
• DB -- down. Everybody was more physical than Hobbs. Law when healthy was particularly physical for a CB. Rodney was a little younger. When the injury plague hit, the guys left standing were typically the ones with more toughness than speed. Offsetting that, Asante seemed soft then, and doesn't today.

Bottom line: The Patriots are still a tough, physical team, but not as extremely and distinguishedly so as they used to be.

 

[FibSeq13478]

1. The rules have changed. No team plays as physically as the Patriots did a few years ago.

2. The Patriots' arch-rivals, the Colts, don't seem as soft as they used to be, mainly because A. Bob Sanders showed up. B. Manning got better at dealing with pressure. What was a large, obvious edge in physicality is now much reduced. Not coincidentally, the Colts now have rings too.

3. The Patriots play less of a power/ball-control game on offense than they used to, even beyond the general change in league trends. Obviously.

4. The Patriots' roster IS a little less physical than it used to be. Here's my breakdown.

• QB -- up slightly. One can only be a little bit more physical than Brady was from Day 1 of his career, but he rushes a little more than he used to, so I say up a little.
• RB -- down somewhat. No more Dillon, or before him Smith.
• TE -- probably level. K. Brady is a heckuva blocker, but he isn't used on those wham plays as much. And Grahambo OCCASIONALLY caught a pass and then broke tackles.
• WR -- flat to down slightly. Givens was pretty tough. Troy was almost as tough as Welker. Branch, so far as I can recall, made one great block (against Lee Flowers) in about his second game as a Patriot, then never hit anybody again.
• OL -- up. Logan Mankins is a beast.
• DL -- tough to call. Seymour varied between extremes (beast or out), vs. playing a bit impaired has he has been the past couple of seasons; Ted Washington at his healthy best may have exceeded even Wilfork's toughness at the LOS, but Wilfork ranges further on the field; Warren wasn't as good a player as he is now.
• LB -- down. Ted Johnson is gone. McGinest is gone. Bruschi hit hard on a lot more plays than he does now. Phifer was at least as physical as Seau. All that outweighs the not-quite-unleashed beast that is AD.
• DB -- down. Everybody was more physical than Hobbs. Law when healthy was particularly physical for a CB. Rodney was a little younger. When the injury plague hit, the guys left standing were typically the ones with more toughness than speed. Offsetting that, Asante seemed soft then, and doesn't today.

Bottom line: The Patriots are still a tough, physical team, but not as extremely and distinguishedly so as they used to be.

I think DB and line backer positions is where it has gone down in terms of physicality. Apart from Law, Otis Smith on the other side was also physical.

 

[FrontSeven]

I'll tell you what's soft: Anybody that thinks a 16-0 NFL team is soft.

 

[Miguel]

1. The rules have changed. No team plays as physically as the Patriots did a few years ago.

2. The Patriots' arch-rivals, the Colts, don't seem as soft as they used to be, mainly because A. Bob Sanders showed up. B. Manning got better at dealing with pressure. What was a large, obvious edge in physicality is now much reduced. Not coincidentally, the Colts now have rings too.

3. The Patriots play less of a power/ball-control game on offense than they used to, even beyond the general change in league trends. Obviously.

4. The Patriots' roster IS a little less physical than it used to be. Here's my breakdown.

• QB -- up slightly. One can only be a little bit more physical than Brady was from Day 1 of his career, but he rushes a little more than he used to, so I say up a little.
• RB -- down somewhat. No more Dillon, or before him Smith.
• TE -- probably level. K. Brady is a heckuva blocker, but he isn't used on those wham plays as much. And Grahambo OCCASIONALLY caught a pass and then broke tackles.
• WR -- flat to down slightly. Givens was pretty tough. Troy was almost as tough as Welker. Branch, so far as I can recall, made one great block (against Lee Flowers) in about his second game as a Patriot, then never hit anybody again.
• OL -- up. Logan Mankins is a beast.
• DL -- tough to call. Seymour varied between extremes (beast or out), vs. playing a bit impaired has he has been the past couple of seasons; Ted Washington at his healthy best may have exceeded even Wilfork's toughness at the LOS, but Wilfork ranges further on the field; Warren wasn't as good a player as he is now.
• LB -- down. Ted Johnson is gone. McGinest is gone. Bruschi hit hard on a lot more plays than he does now. Phifer was at least as physical as Seau. All that outweighs the not-quite-unleashed beast that is AD.
• DB -- down. Everybody was more physical than Hobbs. Law when healthy was particularly physical for a CB. Rodney was a little younger. When the injury plague hit, the guys left standing were typically the ones with more toughness than speed. Offsetting that, Asante seemed soft then, and doesn't today.

Bottom line: The Patriots are still a tough, physical team, but not as extremely and distinguishedly so as they used to be.

Well-thought out.

 

[patological]

If you want soft: “I just live my life,” Romo said. “I try and work hard at football. I try to do things the right way. And no one is even going to remember my name 10 years from now, anyway. So just enjoy it and go out and win some football games.”

Glad to see you've set your sights so high, Tony.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

If you want soft: “I just live my life,” Romo said. “I try and work hard at football. I try to do things the right way. And no one is even going to remember my name 10 years from now, anyway. So just enjoy it and go out and win some football games.”

Glad to see you've set your sights so high, Tony.

Ya no one in Dallas remembers Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman that is for sure.

 

[aluminum seats]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that the passing offense is so dominant, and passing teams are usually labelled soft.

 

[oldskool138]

I think it really just comes down to the fact that the passing offense is so dominant, and passing teams are usually labelled soft.

:yeahthat: :agree:

 

[RayClay]

1. The rules have changed. No team plays as physically as the Patriots did a few years ago.

2. The Patriots' arch-rivals, the Colts, don't seem as soft as they used to be, mainly because A. Bob Sanders showed up. B. Manning got better at dealing with pressure. What was a large, obvious edge in physicality is now much reduced. Not coincidentally, the Colts now have rings too.

3. The Patriots play less of a power/ball-control game on offense than they used to, even beyond the general change in league trends. Obviously.

4. The Patriots' roster IS a little less physical than it used to be. Here's my breakdown.

• QB -- up slightly. One can only be a little bit more physical than Brady was from Day 1 of his career, but he rushes a little more than he used to, so I say up a little.
• RB -- down somewhat. No more Dillon, or before him Smith.
• TE -- probably level. K. Brady is a heckuva blocker, but he isn't used on those wham plays as much. And Grahambo OCCASIONALLY caught a pass and then broke tackles.
• WR -- flat to down slightly. Givens was pretty tough. Troy was almost as tough as Welker. Branch, so far as I can recall, made one great block (against Lee Flowers) in about his second game as a Patriot, then never hit anybody again.
• OL -- up. Logan Mankins is a beast.
• DL -- tough to call. Seymour varied between extremes (beast or out), vs. playing a bit impaired has he has been the past couple of seasons; Ted Washington at his healthy best may have exceeded even Wilfork's toughness at the LOS, but Wilfork ranges further on the field; Warren wasn't as good a player as he is now.
• LB -- down. Ted Johnson is gone. McGinest is gone. Bruschi hit hard on a lot more plays than he does now. Phifer was at least as physical as Seau. All that outweighs the not-quite-unleashed beast that is AD.
• DB -- down. Everybody was more physical than Hobbs. Law when healthy was particularly physical for a CB. Rodney was a little younger. When the injury plague hit, the guys left standing were typically the ones with more toughness than speed. Offsetting that, Asante seemed soft then, and doesn't today.

Bottom line: The Patriots are still a tough, physical team, but not as extremely and distinguishedly so as they used to be.

I don't know about the conclusion, but I like your analysis. Good message board fodder.

I think Sanders > than post 2003 Geno and Meriweather probably is too.

Eugene has become a finesse safety, which should be an oxymoron.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

I think the only area I really disagree is at WR.

I agree that Moss is not a physical WR except in the sense that he is great at out jumping and out positioning CBs on jump balls. He doesn't block well and CBs try to out-physical him at the LOS.

But look at the rest of our WRs: Stallworth (perhaps the most physical WR we have had in a while), Welker (have you seen his blocks? and his toughness over the middle? I don't care if he is small), and Gaffney (is he any less physical than Branch or Patten?)

Add in Brown and Washington. Are we really down slightly from past years? I don't think so at all.

 

[onegameatatime]

Agree about WR being tough except Moss.

Passing teams feel soft whether they are or not. As has been pointed out here a number of times, this year's running game is second best (to 2004) in the BB era. The team ranked 3rd in points allowed and only by 12; and 4th in yards allowed.

 

[signbabybrady]

If we are soft what does that make jax..

they gave up more yards per game and more points per game.