The problems with this team are numerous, and my concern is that some may see my post as dripping with pessimism, when that isn't the case at all. I am proud of what they've accomplished under the circumstances, and am just answering the question as honestly as possible.
--They aren't winning in the trenches, establishing control, or imposing their will physically. This is leading to a poor run game on a consistent level, allowing increased stress and pressure on Brady, and we aren't getting enough pressure on the opposing QB on a regular enough basis--especially when it matters.
--The inability to stop the run, and poor performance on defense in general. Yes, we've seen some improvements the past week or arguably two (at times), but giving up an average of 27 points per game since Wilfork/Mayo went down just isn't acceptable. It's a huge problem, and the defense needs to play out of their minds just to be mediocre, at least that's what I am afraid of anyway.
--Lack of an outsider receiver who has speed, can force the defense to play honest, and stretch the field just to open up some underneath routes more. Hopefully this will improve if/when one or both of Dobson or Thompkins return, but in the meantime having a bunch of slow white guys (nothing against white guys, I am one myself) isn't allowing us enough options in my opinion. Yes, we've done a pretty good job under the circumstances, but there's also a predictability issue that we must attempt to overcome.
--The most obvious answer, which is that the team is completely decimated; and that's a word that I'm getting tired of hearing and using. The latest injuries have occurred on the offensive side of the ball, and that's after all of the defense went down in a ball of flames. I am afraid that Solder may not return at all, and if he does it won't be until the post-season. That is just speculation of course, but he recently suffered his 4th concussion and his 2nd in a couple/few games.
--Lack of turnover production this season. In past years we've been able to rely on the turnovers that the defense has nabbed for us, as we've been leading the league or at least been high up in that category a lot recently. That isn't happening lately, and it's costing us possessions and chances. More importantly, we are allowing the opposition to drive down the field at a higher rate of opportunity, which leads to more chances to score pts.
--The most disturbing to me personally...the lack of core pee-wee football values such as proper tackling, etc. At one point even the penalties were up, although that didn't seem to be consistent enough to read into, so at least that is helping to see that they are playing smarter ball and not getting so many bad calls. The lack of physicality is not something that you'd expect from a Bill Belichick coached team, but not only are we failing in that area, we're also missing a lot of tackles, taking poor angles, and doing things that you don't normally see, especially at this point in the season. That is very concerning to me.
--Slow starts is a huge negative, and that may be due in part to a lack of proper preparation. I know it's a stretch and basically blasphemy to suggest such a thing, but the writing may be on the wall due to the enormous sample size at this point. That seemed to improve a bit this past week, although the team couldn't keep up the 10-0 lead worth a damn. I do think that coaching comes into play a bit here however, and that is terribly difficult for me to admit, not to mention unfortunate. Perhaps it is simply the lack of talent and some bad breaks. Either way, it's not something I am overly concerned about moving forward beyond this season.
--Too many close games. The more close games you have, the more weird things can happen. That includes getting bad penalty calls, having obvious penalties missed like Gronk and Hooman in the EZ the past few games, etc. The fact remains that we've had 11/14 games decided by a score or less, and 10/11 games have gone down into the final minute of regulation or overtime. That is going to increase the odds of losing games obviously. We cannot expect to have Brady overcome the world on his shoulders and lead the team from a come from behind victory every time we have the ball and are losing. It's just the law of averages. We need to get some breathing room in these games, or we'll have to rely on having calls go our way (the thought repulses me), along with good luck and bounces. It's simply too much to ask in my opinion.
--Another year of terrible coverage at the positions of linebacker/safety. This was supposedly addressed in the draft with Collins, the retaining of Fletcher, some weird off-season training by Spikes, and the selection of Harmon and T.Wilson in the past 2 drafts at high draft slots. Obviously, Adrian Wilson may have helped in some way too, although I don't personally believe it'd be this aspect as much as others. This lack of talent is allowing for game winning TD catches like the one we saw yesterday, along with the successful 4th down attempt which won the game for them. Last week's insanely terrible coverage on Jordan Cameron who went 9/9 in targets highlights this point even more.
