Reiss talks to former NFL people about 2008 Pats

[dhamz]

I apologize if I'm not allowed to interrupt the "I'm a better Pats fan than you are debate" with some actual talk about the team.

Early reads on Patriots - The Boston Globe

 

[billdog3484]

Good read. I really think the only thing that we know is nobody really has an idea of what to expect. Especially considering the Pats are so tight lipped on everything they do

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Good read. I really think the only thing that we know is nobody really has an idea of what to expect. Especially considering the Pats are so tight lipped on everything they do

And I don't believe that the Pats KNOW. It really depends on how people play on Sunday week after week.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Interesting piece, thanks
All in all if we're going to be beset with major problems it's better to have them exposed early in the season. The team's got 2 weeks (+ -) to work on difficulties so far plus prepare for the wc.
Time's on our side at least-the season's barely begun-though it seems long already for some strange reason .

Truth-we can only go UP from Sunday!

 

[FalconHeavy]

Interesting piece, thanks
All in all if we're going to be beset with major problems it's better to have them exposed early in the season. The team's got 2 weeks (+ -) to work on difficulties so far plus prepare for the wc.
Time's on our side at least-the season's barely begun-though it seems long already for some strange reason .

Truth-we can only go UP from Sunday!

Exactly my thought. I really hope that we just bottomed out and only way out is to go up from here.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Exactly my thought. I really hope that we just bottomed out and only way out is to go up from here.

From our keyboards to God's ears:eat3:

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That was an incredibly balanced and rational assessment.

Bill faced the same situation in 2003 when the team started with the crushing loss to Buffalo and rebounded the following week only to lose again and be left wondering if they were going to be an up and down .500 team. They didn't lose again for like a year...

The biggest problem they face and the one that appears most difficult to correct suffficiently isn't the QB but the OL. Lombardi opined prior to the draft that Bill could not let that situation continue, it had to be dealt with. He based that on his own instinct and his knowledge of the man. I think that more than planning for an uber-backup behind an iron man was his shortcoming. There is an old saying that just because you get away with something doesn't make it right. We've gotten away with an inconsistent OL because they played in front of a HOF QB who made them look better than they were. Our opponents down the stretch last season decided to take a shot at proving that. They each oddly had what it took to force the issue - a great defense and nothing to lose... And in the process they created a plausible blueprint for beating this team even with Brady at the helm. Bill rolled the dice that not enough other teams could make that committment in 2008 and Neal would be back and depth would continue to develop because he needed youth and speed on defense too. Once Brady went down he was effectively screwed. A lot more teams can and will make the committment early on with any QB not named Brady behind a suspect OL.

It will be interesting to see what Bill does to counter the obvious. Neal will return and that will help but that's still over a month away and no saying he can stay on the field. We don't have a true blocking TE. Who knows what will hit the scrap heap but little has stuck convincingly from that source recently... So it's kinda gonna hafta come from coaching. Better scheme and execution in all three phases (although ST seems to have received the early memo). Defense has to step up and not just preventing scores but creating and scoring on turnovers. But if anyone can make a silk purse out of a sows ear it's Bill...

 

[Zeke_Mowatt]

That was an incredibly balanced and rational assessment.

Bill faced the same situation in 2003 when the team started with the crushing loss to Buffalo and rebounded the following week only to lose again and be left wondering if they were going to be an up and down .500 team. They didn't lose again for like a year...

The biggest problem they face and the one that appears most difficult to correct suffficiently isn't the QB but the OL. Lombardi opined prior to the draft that Bill could not let that situation continue, it had to be dealt with. He based that on his own instinct and his knowledge of the man. I think that more than planning for an uber-backup behind an iron man was his shortcoming. There is an old saying that just because you get away with something doesn't make it right. We've gotten away with an inconsistent OL because they played in front of a HOF QB who made them look better than they were. Our opponents down the stretch last season decided to take a shot at proving that. They each oddly had what it took to force the issue - a great defense and nothing to lose... And in the process they created a plausible blueprint for beating this team even with Brady at the helm. Bill rolled the dice that not enough other teams could make that committment in 2008 and Neal would be back and depth would continue to develop because he needed youth and speed on defense too. Once Brady went down he was effectively screwed. A lot more teams can and will make the committment early on with any QB not named Brady behind a suspect OL.

It will be interesting to see what Bill does to counter the obvious. Neal will return and that will help but that's still over a month away and no saying he can stay on the field. We don't have a true blocking TE. Who knows what will hit the scrap heap but little has stuck convincingly from that source recently... So it's kinda gonna hafta come from coaching. Better scheme and execution in all three phases (although ST seems to have received the early memo). Defense has to step up and not just preventing scores but creating and scoring on turnovers. But if anyone can make a silk purse out of a sows ear it's Bill...

Great analysis Mo, Any word on Kyle Brady? I know he was a huge salary cap issue, but is it possible he might be available at a discount to his last years' rate? Or is the general consensus his pride would get in the way of coming back (I know there were plenty of malcontent rumors last year, but I'm not necessarily sold on malcontent rumors)? Thoughts?

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Great analysis Mo, Any word on Kyle Brady? I know he was a huge salary cap issue, but is it possible he might be available at a discount to his last years' rate? Or is the general consensus his pride would get in the way of coming back (I know there were plenty of malcontent rumors last year, but I'm not necessarily sold on malcontent rumors)? Thoughts?

I'm not expecting Kyle Brady. I don't know if there is a decent blocking TE on the street or on a Practice Squad.

What we may see more of is an OL at TE to help run blocking. It may "telegraph" run plays, but they still have to account for the fact the Pats are a 62% pass first team even with Cassel. I'd look for them to find a way to send the RB into the pattern and use that "TE" for pass protection - motion them as needed or line them up at FB if they can pick up the RB blitz reads. Motion them as if they will be "wham" blocking to telegraph a run then play action and look for Moss behind the "box" defenders. With a little ingenuity and execution they could have some fun.

 

[captain stone]

Thanks for the link, dhamz. Because I have Reiss' Pieces bookmarked, I sometimes forget to go to the actual Pats page. I can dig articles like this; football talk from football people, e.g.: coaches, evaluators and the occasional clear-thinking jock.

IMHO, the main problem for the Pats, who are a mediocre 2-2 their last 4 games, is the one to which Wilcots, Sundquist and MLR alluded: the offensive Line. John Hannah & Bruce Armstrong aren't walking through the door, so the coaches will have to, as Mo put it, make a silk purse out of what is already here. The linemen themselves must play with a heckuva lot more pride & attitude than they've shown. Or, have they been showing their best and are really this bad? If that question can be truthfully answered by anything other than No Way, then the FO should have been much more pro-active this off-season.

As for the thoughts of finding help at Blocking TE, the pickings are slim and getting slimmer. Since the time I posted a list of potential candidates in another thread, Sean Ryan has been signed by NO, Joe Haynos by Miami, and Martrez Milner by the jints' PS. Sometimes I really don't understand the FO's moves, or lack thereof.