Struggling Offense

[RobertWeathers]

If Connolly comes back healthy, it will make a huge difference. Might not seem like it, but one man on that line can change everything.

It really is amazing how with an offense that consists of Brady, Gronk, Edelman, LaFell, etc that the difference between being a good offense and a great one is Dan Connolly.

 

[RobertWeathers]

This is like ground hog day all over again. The Pats go into the playoffs with an offense that has been steadily declining over the last month of the season and is now pretty much stopped in its tracks. Other than one good half against Miami, the offense has struggled consistently. I have no idea what has unravelled.

Any ideas what the Pats can do going forward:

1) Practice gaining more than 1 yard on a 2nd & 2 or 3rd & 2 running play?

2) Go full 2001 dink and dunk and try to win 13 to 10 in the playoffs?

3) Go full Flacco? Just have Brady close his eyes and heave it deep on every series, hoping to connect 3 or 4 times per game?

4) Switch to the wildcat offense?

5) Run nothing but trick plays?

Beats me. Belichick and McDaniels need to go into their secret lair and mix up some kind of offensive potion. The defense is stout, but the Pats aren't going far without scoring some TDs.

What's the solution?

The solution is that you spend some time with your family, friends, enjoy the holidays and be thankful for what you have in life. Which is....

1) A team that just finished 12-4 and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
2) The best damn football coach on the planet
3) A Pats defense that can actually stop people when it matters
4) Two weeks for the team to rest, get healthy and prepare for the next opponent.
5) A 100% healthy Gronk for the playoffs

 

[kennyb]

Offense isn't struggling at all. See all the points against the mighty jets for instance.

 

[sb1]

Any concerns about the offense should start and end with the OL. THAT is where the offense has failed in recent years IMO. I think it's fair to be a little concerned about that group.

A healthy Connolly will help. And hopefully some of the mixing and matching we've seen recently will reveal a good formula for success.

I have no doubt that if their OL plays well we'll be much happier with the result of a big Patriots game in Arizona than we were last time. If they don't, well...we won't have much of a playoff story to tell.

 

[sb1]

It's nice to have a defense that can stop a nosebleed.

 

[Double TE]

Schedule was brutal and division games are usually difficult. Could have scored more vs. Jets as they sat on the ball during the last drive and didn't have Edelman.

Bills game was meaningless. Please don't play Klein anymore.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Offense isn't struggling at all. See all the points against the mighty jets for instance.

Troll,,.....

 

[SyN65]

Um...so wait...no one sees a problem with the offense going into the playoffs? Offense has been garbage the past couple weeks. Defense/Special teams has saved this team.

 

[libra957]

Another year another 12-4 season. Until we cash in, those questions will never go away. We had our share of top offenses over the years but failed to win the Superbowl, so i'm not that worry because my expectation are not as high as 2007 and 2010.

 

[Fixit]

Um...so wait...no one sees a problem with the offense going into the playoffs? Offense has been garbage the past couple weeks. Defense/Special teams has saved this team.

Here's the two-game sample (because we have to exclude the 43 points the previous week, for some reason) that's making you clutch your pearls:

1) against a division rival, on the road, against a coach who always makes the Pats struggle (in his last game against them, no less) with no Edelman or Connolly.

2) a game that literally meant nothing in which the Pats sat half of their offense for the entire game and played the backup QB for the second half

I mean, seriously. WTF?

 

[SyN65]

Here's the two-game sample (because we have to exclude the 43 points the previous week, for some reason) that's making you clutch your pearls:

1) against a division rival, on the road, against a coach who always makes the Pats struggle (in his last game against them, no less) with no Edelman or Connolly.

2) a game that literally meant nothing in which the Pats sat half of their offense for the entire game and played the backup QB for the second half

I mean, seriously. WTF?

So you're OK with the Pats starting slow, again and again? You think they can just turn it around because "its the playoffs" and they have to? You're OK that the Pats can't afford to lose ANYONE on the O-line (that hasn't looked so hot recently even with the "great Dan Connolly" playing anyways)? You're OK that without Gronk/Edelman the offense sputters and has trouble putting up points?

I'm not going to act like the sky is falling like OP...but there's definitely some concern here.

 

[Fixit]

So you're OK with the Pats starting slow, again and again? You think they can just turn it around because "its the playoffs" and they have to? You're OK that the Pats can't afford to lose ANYONE on the O-line (that hasn't looked so hot recently even with the "great Dan Connolly" playing anyways)? You're OK that without Gronk/Edelman the offense sputters and has trouble putting up points?

I'm not going to act like the sky is falling like OP...but there's definitely some concern here.

Oh, where to begin?

1) Skip past your straw man.
2) Point out that any team who sits its top two receivers is probably going to struggle on offense IN A MEANINGLESS GAME THAT THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT WINNING.
3) Acknowledge that losing a key lineman is almost always a big deal, which is why he's resting for the playoffs.
4) Restate your two-game sample.
5) Remind you that, even though the Pats are the highest scoring team in the league, good teams have to scratch out ugly ones.
6) Once again point out your two-game sample.
7) Watch you watching the sky with a worried look on your face.

 

[SyN65]

Oh, where to begin?

1) Skip past your straw man.
2) Point out that any team who sits its top two receivers is probably going to struggle on offense IN A MEANINGLESS GAME THAT THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT WINNING.
3) Acknowledge that losing a key lineman is almost always a big deal, which is why he's resting for the playoffs.
4) Restate your two-game sample.
5) Remind you that, even though the Pats are the highest scoring team in the league, good teams have to scratch out ugly ones.
6) Once again point out your two-game sample.
7) Watch you watching the sky with a worried look on your face.

I'm not basing this off of yesterdays game. I'm basing this off of all the games since Green Bay. Best point output was against Miami and the offense started slow in that game too. Can't do that in the playoffs. Defense/Special teams has made some key plays (INT's, blocked FG's) to score points and create a short field for our offense. Thankfully this team is great at complementary football. Am I really out of line for suggesting the Pats have had some trouble sustaining long scoring drives recently?

Edit-

1. What Straw Man?
2. No game is "meaningless". Every game is an opportunity to work on something.
3. No one on the O-line is playing particularly well. And when they do, they don't sustain that level of production for more than a couple games at a time. Way too streaky of play. Connolly being out isn't affecting Solder's inability to pick up a block.
4. My sample is from GB to now.
5. Of course they do, and I'm happy the Pats got the W even though some of them were ugly.
6. See 4? lol.
7. My apologies for being a fan that can objectively look at the team. Nothing wrong with criticizing the Pats when they aren't doing well.

 

[Fixit]

I'm not basing this off of yesterdays game. I'm basing this off of all the games since Green Bay. Best point output was against Miami and the offense started slow in that game too. Can't do that in the playoffs. Defense/Special teams has made some key plays (INT's, blocked FG's) to score points and create a short field for our offense. Thankfully this team is great at complementary football. Am I really out of line for suggesting the Pats have had some trouble sustaining long scoring drives recently?

And now you're switching gears to whining about "long scoring drives" in a now three game sample, one of which they won by 28, and another which was meaningless.

But yes, I hate it when defense and special teams have to play a big role in wins from time to time. It should be all offense, all the time.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Um...so wait...no one sees a problem with the offense going into the playoffs? Offense has been garbage the past couple weeks. Defense/Special teams has saved this team.

They played one of the toughest schedules in football and were third in scoring, and the people shrieking loudest about them now are the exact same people who claimed they sucked, Brady should be traded, Belichick should be fired, the Kraft's are cheap, and the Patriots had absolutely no chance this season because Belichick had built such a horrible team. Given that track record of ignorance why should any rational fan listen to any of the shrieking v and crying coming from them now?

Is their OL their Achilles heel? Maybe. However Patriot game heard the exact same whine when they were going up against Carolina and had Hochstein starting, and all that for them was a Lombardi. The bottom line is that every team has strengths and weaknesses and the Patriots like every other team in the tournament v will have to figure out how to maximize their strengths, minimize their weaknesses and win 3 games, nothing else matters.

People should go back and read the idiocy spouted on n this forum after the loss to the Chiefs, that the very same people expect to have any credibility in this forum is absolutely unbelievable.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I'm not basing this off of yesterdays game. I'm basing this off of all the games since Green Bay. Best point output was against Miami and the offense started slow in that game too. Can't do that in the playoffs. Defense/Special teams has made some key plays (INT's, blocked FG's) to score points and create a short field for our offense. Thankfully this team is great at complementary football. Am I really out of line for suggesting the Pats have had some trouble sustaining long scoring drives recently?

You were one of the people talking absolute garbage after the KC game, you have no credibility now.

 

[SyN65]

You were one of the people talking absolute garbage after the KC game, you have no credibility now.

Unless I blacked out I don't remember that. I was in the "I'm concerned but in BB we trust" camp. Nothing in my post history suggests that either. I barely posted here in the beginning on the season. You're just making **** up. And with that, you lose all credibility.

 

[Oswlek]

The solution is that you spend some time with your family, friends, enjoy the holidays and be thankful for what you have in life. Which is....

1) A team that just finished 12-4 and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
2) The best damn football coach on the planet
3) A Pats defense that can actually stop people when it matters
4) Two weeks for the team to rest, get healthy and prepare for the next opponent.
5) A 100% healthy Gronk for the playoffs

Absolutely. And the giant piece that the OP is overlooking is that the reason the offensive issues in the playoffs have been so disheartening is because they didn't happen beforehand. In 2007, we all went into the SB thinking 30 points was a minimum. I never expected 13 points in 2012. I didn't think there was any way NY could hold NE to 14 meaningful points.

So, there are some legitimate issues, but the team has been winning despite them. If anything, that should create optimism going into the playoffs, not the reverse.

 

[BradyManny]

So, there are some legitimate issues, but the team has been winning despite them. If anything, that should create optimism going into the playoffs, not the reverse.

This. This is how you win in the postseason, by having three units good enough to win a game for you.

We also do not have to be as concerned with games shrinking and having these 8 possession games where one play (ie, a safety on your first offensive possession) kills you. This D gets off the field.

Brady just has to take care of the ball, that's his priority #1. The OL could struggle at times depending on who is healthy and which defenses we face, but Brady has to take the safe play, take sacks and throw it away if he has to.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Absolutely. And the giant piece that the OP is overlooking is that the reason the offensive issues in the playoffs have been so disheartening is because they didn't happen beforehand. In 2007, we all went into the SB thinking 30 points was a minimum. I never expected 13 points in 2012. I didn't think there was any way NY could hold NE to 14 meaningful points.

So, there are some legitimate issues, but the team has been winning despite them. If anything, that should create optimism going into the playoffs, not the reverse.

Yep. I genuinely think that the team was a little tuckered out at the end of the year mentally. They really needed this bye week.