To all the "Kraft is cheap" "we need Vjax" "trade for Fitzgerald/Johnson" folks

[chasa]

How silly do you feel right now?

the past few weeks I've sat back and watched some of the typical posters rail against BB and Kraft about not spending enough money, not giving Brady weapons, How BB ruined any chance this team had by trading Mankins.

How this team "isn't very good", and how it has "not played any good teams".

Well after Sundays win the Patriots are now Number 1 in offense(tied). This team doesn't need an expensive old Wide reciever(vjax/Johnson/Fitzgerald) It's got size all over the place(Lafell, Wright, Gronk) to mix in with its speed(Amendola/Minitron)

And they did it by playing teams mostly in the top half of the league in defense(chiefs 2nd, dolphins 3rd, bills 6th, vikings 13th, broncos 16th)

This is a more complete team then what we had last year, and its a team that was built in a way that its going to remain complete for a few years to come.

 

[Brit patriot]

Yep, our weapons are just fine....Gronk getting fit, Lafell learning all the time, Minitron excellent, Amendola doing his bit and Wright getting plenty of catched.

What is equally importatn is that Brady has time to target them now the OL is actually giving him a pocket

 

[BradyManny]

The problem was never the weapons; it was the OL, and the lack of healthy Gronk. When your team isn't playing like you know it can, you can make mistakes about trying to pinpoint why. I don't think it makes one fan better or worse than another for failing to identify the problem.

The much more egregious diagnosis was blaming Brady. It should have been obvious he was not the issue.

Since 2011, whenever Gronk has been healthy, we've basically been the #1 offense in the league. I don't know why people overlook this fact. He basically is single-handedly the difference between a little above average and best in the league. It's that stark. If he's finally healthy in January & February, then we will be favorites to win it all.

 

[Oswlek]

Very impressive when you consider where the ranked back in week 4.

I'm also encouraged by the appearance of offensive depth with Dobson, Tyms and Wright. Of course, it could be that these guys aren't getting a lot of snaps because they simply aren't all that good, but for now I'll believe it has more to do with how well the guys above them are playing, TYVM.

 

[JMC00]

Nope. Not all. I don't really understand the stubbornness by some of not wanting to make the offense better if a fair deal would have been there to make a move.

So essentially you would rather have Amendola and Tyms out there over Johnson, Jackson, or Fitzgerald?

 

[deters]

I'd still rather have the caliber of player that Vjax, AJ or Fitz are on this roster as insurance.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I will say for the 76th time. We dont need a deep threat to win the SB

 

[Saint Pat]

I saw Brandon LaFell burned Denver's DBs on two plays deep, if it wasn't for the wind he could have had one or two more TDs.

 

[Bruins29]

Nope. Not all. I don't really understand the stubbornness by some of not wanting to make the offense better if a fair deal would have been there to make a move.

So essentially you would rather have Amendola and Tyms out there over Johnson, Jackson, or Fitzgerald?

No but what I think people are saying is that they would rather have Gronk, LaFell and Edleman out there instead of those guys because our guys "get it" and they shiny new toys may not.

In a perfect world it would be great to to have one of those guys, but there would be cap considerations that could hinder the team someplace else plus the "get the offense" factor. The world isnt perfect though.

We just put up how many points against (at the time) maybe 2nd best team in the league?? If anything, you would want them to spend money on the running game.

 

[Deus Irae]

Why the hell would anyone feel silly for wanting the Patriots to upgrade? Tyms and Dobson have combined for 4 receptions this season, and even adding Thompkins only gets you to 10 catches. Toss in Amendola, and you have a whopping 19 receptions from those 4 receivers. I'd feel silly if I didn't want to upgrade that.

 

[rochrist]

Why the hell would anyone feel silly for wanting the Patriots to upgrade? Tyms and Dobson have combined for 4 receptions this season, and even adding Thompkins only gets you to 10 catches. Toss in Amendola, and you have a whopping 19 receptions from those 4 receivers. I'd feel silly if I didn't want to upgrade that.

They have that low number of catches because, aside from Amendola, they aren't playing. Because the players in front of them are doing the job.

 

[Marinlik]

Didn't really understand the line of thought that we don't spend money when we payed Revis and Browner in the off-season.

 

[Deus Irae]

They have that low number of catches because, aside from Amendola, they aren't playing. Because the players in front of them are doing the job.

Even ignoring any 4 wide sets and considering every catch there to be from the WR3, the Patriots WR3 position has fewer than 20 catches. And it's not because the players in front of them are doing their jobs, because, for much of the early part of the season, they weren't.

 

[50-yard-line]

Would love to upgrade anywhere and everywhere - but there's this thing called the Cap...

And SIGN REVIS AND MCCOURTY!!!!!!! That's Job #1.

Everyone contributing mightily to the Pats right now is signed for next year and beyond except those two. Well, maybe Vereen, but I'm not losing sleep over running backs.

After this year's SB win, this team is positioned perfectly going into the post-season to be even better next year. I'm getting greedy.

 

[Bruins29]

Didn't really understand the line of thought that we don't spend money when we payed Revis and Browner in the off-season.

Because a lot of Patriots fans are just clueless bigmouths who like to shoot off their mouth. They know little about the game and cap management.

They only see spending money when its big name wide receivers or running backs etc. Great defensive players like BB and DR don't count because these clowns only relate to their fantasy BS football garbage.

We still have a poster on this site who constantly criticizes the FO for not honoring contracts or spending money the way it should be spent while admitting he doesn't even understand how a hard cap works

 

[Oswlek]

I don't begrudge anyone for wanting the team to improve, but I know I'd much rather have the $5mm or so that Jackson would have cost (and the pick) for a Revis extension. Or even a McCourty one.

 

[Rob0729]

If anyone needs to do a mea culpa today, it is the people who killed the Pats for trading Mankins or letting Welker walk away.

I think we have seen enough of Welker over the last year and a half to see that the Pats' final offer to him might have been too high and they were right not to offer him more than they did. Welker isn't much better than Amendola at this point and people here hate that deal. Welker gave the Broncos a good, not great, half a season and now he is basically a JAG.

And the interior of the Pats' o-line right now is the best I have seen since 2011. I don't even know if Mankins would start on this team based on what I am hearing from Tampa where he probably wouldn't be starting if they had any talent on their o-line.

Hindsight says that the Pats were probably dead on with both those moves.

 

[Bruins29]

I don't begrudge anyone for wanting the team to improve, but I know I'd much rather have the $5mm or so that Jackson would have cost (and the pick) for a Revis extension. Or even a McCourty one.

Ghost also. Guy is only the best kicker we have ever had.

The team already has several elite players at crucial positions. If anything as stated spend money on a running game. They made an investment in the DBs and look how that turned out. They got the Megatron of CBs and probably one of the most physical guys to compliment him. That is big league spending on quality players.

 

[RobAllan]

If anyone needs to do a mea culpa today, it is the people who killed the Pats for trading Mankins or letting Welker walk away.

I think we have seen enough of Welker over the last year and a half to see that the Pats' final offer to him might have been too high and they were right not to offer him more than they did. Welker isn't much better than Amendola at this point and people here hate that deal. Welker gave the Broncos a good, not great, half a season and now he is basically a JAG.

And the interior of the Pats' o-line right now is the best I have seen since 2011. I don't even know if Mankins would start on this team based on what I am hearing from Tampa where he probably wouldn't be starting if they had any talent on their o-line.

Hindsight says that the Pats were probably dead on with both those moves.

Welker is still Welker and still 500 million times better than Amendola. Welker's "decline" is because of 3 things:

1. He's not nearly the best WR on his new team. (This speaks to the mantra of Tom doing more with less... our star receivers like Welker and Branch move to other teams where they're utterly silent. Hell, even Caldwell was huge on our team. Bug eyes and all.)
2. Manning isn't as good as Brady, so can't get Welker the ball in some ideal "Welkah" situations. (He can't zip the ball through a tight window and low to a running Welker the same.) Again, this is because Brady is better.
3. Manning leads receivers into injuries for the sake of one play. With a little guy like Welker, that leads to predictable injuries and hence less playing time and confidence/aggression when on the field.

I'm not saying letting Welker go wasn't the right thing to do. It was, but the reason isn't because he's not the same player and all that nonsense. Welker's performance after leaving (and pretty well the performance of every receiver after the leave here) is pointing to EXACTLY what the so-called whiners are complaining about: Brady never has elite weapons. (Gronk the exception but he's not a WR so hence not on-topic.) Even the guys we think are elite prove not to be on other teams. His 1 true full season with Moss they re-wrote the recordbook. So investing a little coin in 1 legit #1 like a VJax or Fitzgerald is certainly a tantalizing option and probably still advisable.

 

[rochrist]

Welker is still Welker and still 500 million times better than Amendola. Welker's "decline" is because of 3 things:

1. He's not nearly the best WR on his new team. (This speaks to the mantra of Tom doing more with less... our star receivers like Welker and Branch move to other teams where they're utterly silent. Hell, even Caldwell was huge on our team. Bug eyes and all.)
2. Manning isn't as good as Brady, so can't get Welker the ball in some ideal "Welkah" situations. (He can't zip the ball through a tight window and low to a running Welker the same.) Again, this is because Brady is better.
3. Manning leads receivers into injuries for the sake of one play. With a little guy like Welker, that leads to predictable injuries and hence less playing time and confidence/aggression when on the field.

I'm not saying letting Welker go wasn't the right thing to do. It was, but the reason isn't because he's not the same player and all that nonsense. Welker's performance after leaving (and pretty well the performance of every receiver after the leave here) is pointing to EXACTLY what the so-called whiners are complaining about: Brady never has elite weapons. (Gronk the exception but he's not a WR so hence not on-topic.) Even the guys we think are elite prove not to be on other teams. His 1 true full season with Moss they re-wrote the recordbook. So investing a little coin in 1 legit #1 like a VJax or Fitzgerald is certainly a tantalizing option and probably still advisable.

I'm not sure how he's better than Amendola at this point. He appears to be pretty close to useless.