We Do Not Need Any More Receivers

[maverick4]

Brady is good but he can't make chicken salad out of chicken shoot every year. The Pats have a brutal schedule this year and can't afford to start hitting their stride 1/2 half through the season.

Last time I checked, Brady had almost identical passing numbers this past year compared to 2003. I fail to see how our offense or our receivers were 'chicken sh*t' last year, as you put it.

 

[satz]

I still think we do not need a big WR ......we also need to give bam ,kight a shot either cut them or keep them.last year reche and jabbar got all the snaps and this guys never did .Now reche and jabbar in the books as stables i want to move this guys in rotation to develop them.

A wr touches a ball 3-4 times in our offence unless we go 3-4 WR set and then in the viking ,sd and other games where brady went to the shotgun has proved that we can win the current setup.C.J was a not factor even those games.

If we never had good WR then we should have never scored 30 pts in any games where our Running game was less than 100 yrds , so the whole discussion is a little over emphasised.

What we need a good stable of 4 #2/#3 WR with 2 or 3 WR set with 1 or 2 TE and letting brady pick coverage apart with spreading the ball to all driviing the defences crazy.

 

[maverick4]

I am haking my head, what is your plan for the WRs? More street free agents?

cst, I think we could go after a 2nd/3rd tier guy who comes in for certain situational plays as a possession receiver, or as a speed burner. But I don't think getting a big time WR through free agency, trade, or draft, is going to translate into more wins.

 

[shirtsleeve]

Well I'm saying the same thing about our offensive players. We have stacked this team with top offensive draft picks over the past two years, and they just need to gel now. We don't need to be like the Redskins or Lions and try to throw big money or high picks on a receiver.

Big money? Depends on what you mean by big. Decent money on Curtis, yeah. Stupid funny money, no.

I agree about drafting WR's high. That is why I would rather pay decent money to a proven WR who fits the system, than take a crap shoot at any high profile college one. Too high a risk of failure at that position. Not that every high draft pick at that pos will fail, just more do than at other positions in a direct comparison.

 

[PaulNEPats]

I think you have to draft a WR within the first 3 rounds, now that CJ has suffered yet another setback. You're crazy if you think Caldwell/Gaffney are going to get the job done. Do you want Maroney to get mugged at the LOS with 8 men in the box, for half the season again? I don't.

 

[cstjohn17]

Last time I checked, Brady had almost identical passing numbers this past year compared to 2003. I fail to see how our offense or our receivers were 'chicken sh*t' last year, as you put it.

I think I said it before, 2003 & 2006 were his worst years since becoming a starter. And 2006 was the first year where the trend in his production went down.

When trends go down it indicates that there is a problem.

Aside from numbers what do you eyes tell you? The offense was inconsistent all year, compare the Patriots WRs against other teams and it is not pretty.

 

[Brady to Brown]

I think you have to draft a WR within the first 3 rounds, now that CJ has suffered yet another setback. You're crazy if you think Caldwell/Gaffney are going to get the job done. Do you want Maroney to get mugged at the LOS with 8 men in the box, for half the season again? I don't.

You see it, I see it, but others can't. Belichick tried to get Mason while Givens and Branch were still on the team and Troy Brown was much younger. So its safe to say he sees it to.

 

[notex]

i think we MUST draft another WR or sign a FA now with jacksons injury....i would love dewayne bowe...i really feel like jackson isnt going to be that receiver for us next year, guy just cant stay healthy...

 

[AzPatsFan]

Rob, that's some nice work, but I'm curious: is there any breakdown on the conversion rates in the first half compared to the second half? I don't remember the Pats in 03 ever being shut out in the 2nd half of any playoff game like we were this year (a pitiful 2 first downs against the Colts in the second half).

For the record, I do know that McDaniels is a work in progress. I fully expect him to improve, just like I expect our other young players to improve. However, acknowledging McDaniels' potential for improvement doesn't change the fact that McDaniels could have adjusted better this year.

1. Brady's 03 and 06 stats are almost identical
2. After working out kinks, our receivers going into the 06 playoffs were comparable to any other unit we have had, and they led playoff receiving yards going into the Colts game
3. Despite a much better backfield, and lots of high offensive draft picks over the past two years, our offense has less ability to make important plays, or to make teams pay for crowding the box, than in the past.

Come On, Mav. Grow Up, We lost. Period.

The Colts caught the Pats coming off a fatiguing cross country trip and a tough,physical game at San Diego. Kraft said there were 15 guys down with the flu; please credit Belichick and the rest of the Team for not making any excuses. The congratulated the Colts. You should too.

 

[maverick4]

Come On, Mav. Grow Up, We lost. Period.

The Colts caught the Pats coming off a fatiguing cross country trip and a tough,physical game at San Diego. Kraft said there were 15 guys down with the flu; please credit Belichick and the rest of the Team for not making any excuses. The congratulated the Colts. You should too.

Az, sorry, but when we only generated 2 first downs in the entire second half, giving away a historic playoff lead, it indicates a bigger problem than simply getting a speed burner at WR in the off-season. It is possible to acknowledge this without taking anything away from Peyton Manning or the Colts.

 

[Ring 6]

I have no doubt that if Branch were on the team for the second half, we would have won. Even if he were on the team for the last four minutes, Brady would have passed twice instead of setting up for the field goal. Would you bet for or against Brady, Branch and the rest of the team gaining 11 yards on two tries.

We NEEDED better receivers against the colts.

I still find i incredulous to blame the offense for a loss when the defense allowed 32 points in a half. Could the offense have helped the D more, sure, but that doesnt take away from allowing 32 points in a half. An offense can go 3 andout every series and the d still shouldnt allow 32 points in a half.
We did score 13 points in that 2nd half also.
I think if an offense gets you up 21-6 at half and puts 13 more on the board in the 2nd half, it kinda did its job. Sure it was a game where we were 'one play away' but 95% of the potential plays that didnt get made were on the defensive side of the ball.
Its kind of like arguing the when you lose a 7-6 game that the defense is at fault for giving up a TD.

 

[maverick4]

I still find i incredulous to blame the offense for a loss when the defense allowed 32 points in a half. Could the offense have helped the D more, sure, but that doesnt take away from allowing 32 points in a half. An offense can go 3 andout every series and the d still shouldnt allow 32 points in a half.
We did score 13 points in that 2nd half also.
I think if an offense gets you up 21-6 at half and puts 13 more on the board in the 2nd half, it kinda did its job. Sure it was a game where we were 'one play away' but 95% of the potential plays that didnt get made were on the defensive side of the ball.
Its kind of like arguing the when you lose a 7-6 game that the defense is at fault for giving up a TD.

Exactly, which is why the focus this off-season should be on defensive depth rather than spending big money or picks on WR talent. Our offense puts up more than enough points; it just needs to run better plays and come through more often in more situations than we did in 2005 and 2006.

 

[mb6592]

I still find i incredulous to blame the offense for a loss when the defense allowed 32 points in a half. Could the offense have helped the D more, sure, but that doesnt take away from allowing 32 points in a half. An offense can go 3 andout every series and the d still shouldnt allow 32 points in a half.
We did score 13 points in that 2nd half also.
I think if an offense gets you up 21-6 at half and puts 13 more on the board in the 2nd half, it kinda did its job. Sure it was a game where we were 'one play away' but 95% of the potential plays that didnt get made were on the defensive side of the ball.
Its kind of like arguing the when you lose a 7-6 game that the defense is at fault for giving up a TD.

I see your point, but I remember sitting there, watching a gassed defense getting torched, and saying to myself all we need is a few first downs and either the colts will run out of time or the defense may find a second wind, alas, those first downs never materialized.

 

[Ring 6]

I see your point, but I remember sitting there, watching a gassed defense getting torched, and saying to myself all we need is a few first downs and either the colts will run out of time or the defense may find a second wind, alas, those first downs never materialized.

No doubt, but its hard to blame the offense for needing the defense to simply do a mediocre, or just not horrible job, and it couldn't.
Everyone is to blame in a loss, but its hard for me to say blame the offense for not preventing the defense from having to do its job.

 

[mb6592]

No doubt, but its hard to blame the offense for needing the defense to simply do a mediocre, or just not horrible job, and it couldn't.
Everyone is to blame in a loss, but its hard for me to say blame the offense for not preventing the defense from having to do its job.

agreed, the defense was far from mediocre.

 

[JoeSixPat]

No doubt, but its hard to blame the offense for needing the defense to simply do a mediocre, or just not horrible job, and it couldn't.
Everyone is to blame in a loss, but its hard for me to say blame the offense for not preventing the defense from having to do its job.

Actually it seems to me that the Patriots offense failed to get a 1st down or two when it really counted, that would have kept Indy off the field and secured the game. An aging Troy Brown was Brady's go to guy at crunch time in the playoffs and his "next best" go to guy is Reche Caldwell.

I'll give Caldwell credit for a good season but when it counted most he didn;t deliver.

These are the two go to guys. They make one of any number of plays and we don't lose that game.

Maverick doesn't want a player who could have made those plays happen. I do. (though obviously the Defense deserves their share of credit/blame - it is a team sport after all)

But again, what we were lacking was not a 80 catch 12 yard per catch guy - we were lacking a healthy Tim Dwight or a Donte Stallworth that has the net effect of keeping pressure off everyone else, and making the other players on the field better.

We plain and simply did not have a deep threat last year. This is not debateable, and I think a deep threat could have made the difference in the outcome of a few games (giving us a bye or home field), including the AFC outcome of the championship.

Maybe others don't agree with that, but I just can't understand the actual OPPOSITION to a legitimate deep threat by quite a few fans. It makes no sense to me.

 

[maverick4]

Actually it seems to me that the Patriots offense failed to get a 1st down or two when it really counted, that would have kept Indy off the field and secured the game. An aging Troy Brown was Brady's go to guy at crunch time in the playoffs and his "next best" go to guy is Reche Caldwell.

Actually, the inability to generate more than 2 first downs in an entire second half was indicative of a brain-freeze in calling the proper plays to defeat a defense that stacked the box against us.

And it's great that you point out Troy Brown, Joe, because Brady went on record on a radio show after the game where he said he wanted to throw an out pattern to Caldwell on the last offensive play, but McDaniels called the pass play which ended in an interception to Brown.

We have a lot of offensive talent, and we put lots of points on the board all season, but McDaniels is a mediocre coach working with top talent that can score points but gets shut down in big situations.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Actually, the inability to generate more than 2 first downs in an entire second half was indicative of a brain-freeze in calling the proper plays to defeat a defense that stacked the box against us.

And it's great that you point out Troy Brown, Joe, because Brady went on record on a radio show after the game where he said he wanted to throw an out pattern to Caldwell on the last offensive play, but McDaniels called the pass play which ended in an interception to Brown.

We have a lot of offensive talent, and we put lots of points on the board all season, but McDaniels is a mediocre coach working with top talent.

do you have a link to the rdio show where brady states that?

 

[patsfan55]

ill be the first to say we need some young talent at linebacker, and safety

but, we do need more at wr too

with chad jack out we def need one more young guy that could be great, and one solid vet
i say bobby engram and either donte stallworth or a day one draft pick

 

[maverick4]

ill be the first to say we need some young talent at linebacker, and safety

but, we do need more at wr too

with chad jack out we def need one more young guy that could be great, and one solid vet
i say bobby engram and either donte stallworth or a day one draft pick

I wish I could generate a poll in an already-made thread. My question would be: Who is more to blame for only 2 first downs in the entire second half against the Colts? A) Proper offensive play-calls and adjustments, or B) Lack of a 'stud' receiver.

A follow-up question would be: we were among NFL leaders in regular season offensive points and first downs, but shut down in the playoffs more likely because we had: A) Great offensive talent but mediocre offensive coaching, or B) Mediocre talent but world-class offensive coaching.