We need more leaders on this team

[PatriotSpy]

Somebody with some 'tude. Rodney Harrison had it. James Harrison has it. Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins in his prime. There's just nobody like that on D right now.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I disagree. Our defense is way overrated on this board. Bottom 3rd defense. Every team has some pieces but the Pats are thin on all 3 levels.

Mccourty and Wilfork are by far our best two players. Behind that there aren't any guys near elite players. Mayo has peaked and doesn't make impact plays. We have no legitimate pass rushers. We have some solid young pieces but I don't see this group being world beaters in 3-4 years.

They are what they are. 25th.

The Jets started in our territory 4 times. Our offense did not move the ball much out of 2 or 3 drives. The defense was hung out to dry today, our 2003 defense would have had trouble winning this game.

 

[NewFeep]

I know it's tough for all true fans after a loss like this at home, BUT I see a very, very young defense that is going to get better next year.

3 studs in the first 33 picks won't hurt either........

Plenty of leaders on this team and leaders - in - training.

Face it, we can't win every playoff game indefinitely.....

I like the look of a very young team! The sting will diminish.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Somebody with some 'tude. Rodney Harrison had it. James Harrison has it. Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins in his prime. There's just nobody like that on D right now.

That may be true but it was the offense who blew this game and they're chock full of veterans. That's why their poor performance is so troubling.
That offense lacked energy and urgency all night long.

 

[JFK]

Our D wasn't the problem today so maybe its Offensive leaders we need eventhough Crumpler, Brady, and Light are leaders. Even Taylor and Morris to an extent.
Leadership isn't the problem

 

[PatriotSpy]

That may be true but it was the offense who blew this game and they're chock full of veterans. That's why their poor performance is so troubling.
That offense lacked energy and urgency all night long.

sure the offense stunk it up but if you have a strong D, you can cover up a struggling offense. With a strong D, maybe the Jets don't score couple of their td's and we hold them to FG's.

 

[mcgraw_wv]

Guys, I'm not even talking about performance, I mean someone on the sideline... someone getting the players to play up when they are "down"

Look... why is Brady going Nuts up 21 in Pitt, but in this game, his head is down the entire game on the sideline?

That's what i'm talking about, someone to be a leader along with Brady, there were 4-6, maybe even 8 leaders on those Pats teams that won rings. We have 1, and that's Brady, and when he isn't feeling it, we need more people to step up, take the game and situation on their shoulders, and get the team to respond to them.

It's not inspiring when your leader, is just sitting by himself, with a shell shocked look in the 2nd Quarter, only down by 4 points.

 

[JFK]

sure the offense stunk it up but if you have a strong D, you can cover up a struggling offense. With a strong D, maybe the Jets don't score couple of their td's and we hold them to FG's.

The D played well. They really gave up 14 points which is fine. The last TD was just a bad play call. They sold out to stop an inside run.

 

[Titanium Coate Hanger]

IMHO, winning playoff football is not complicated.

Run the ball with authority, play tough D and hit the enemy QB until he's paste.

This is a good team. There are a lot of good pieces of in place. They need effective pass rushers. They've needed them for 3-4 years now and frankly Belichick continues to neglect the position. To be fair, he had a ton of other holes to fill as well.

The Patriots won Superbowls because they have tough defenses and could run the ball. Pass heavy teams ( current Patriots, Colts, Eagles, etc) will tend to struggle in the playoffs. This is why the hurry up/Red Gun/Run and Shoot variations of offense were not sustainable over the long haul as a base offense.

I'm not sure this team needs "leaders" as much as guys who simply change up into a higher gear for the playoffs and excel in the spotlight and under immense pressure. Otis Smith was not a regular season all world threat as a DB, but come playoffs, the guy turned it up a notch.

Mark Sanchez is not, IMHO, a good NFL QB. He's young and raw and shouldn't throw three TDs against your D. The Patriots simply need more guys who can rush the passer and beat the living hell out of opposing QBs. A bell cow back wouldn't hurt either to grind the ball into the ground and pound a defense and make them weary later in the game.

I don't think the formula is super complicated honestly. Run the ball down their throat with authority and beat the living hell out of their QB and good things will happen for you.

 

[JFK]

Guys, I'm not even talking about performance, I mean someone on the sideline... someone getting the players to play up when they are "down"

Look... why is Brady going Nuts up 21 in Pitt, but in this game, his head is down the entire game on the sideline?

That's what i'm talking about, someone to be a leader along with Brady, there were 4-6, maybe even 8 leaders on those Pats teams that won rings. We have 1, and that's Brady, and when he isn't feeling it, we need more people to step up, take the game and situation on their shoulders, and get the team to respond to them.

It's not inspiring when your leader, is just sitting by himself, with a shell shocked look in the 2nd Quarter, only down by 4 points.

It's hard to go nuts when you are part of the problem. The Running game was fine and the Offense is full of vets who really don't need anyone telling them what to do. Gronk played fine so i don't buy this vocal leader talk.

 

[Rossmci90]

The team needs more talent simply. There are a lot of good character guys, a lot of people who do their job. But other than Brady, do we have anyone who can take a game over? Make a play that completely changes the game? We we have anyone who makes that Holmes catch? Unfortunately the answer is no. You can have all the good character guys you want, but you need to suplement them with great talents.

 

[mcgraw_wv]

I'm not sure this team needs "leaders" as much as guys who simply change up into a higher gear for the playoffs and excel in the spotlight and under immense pressure. Otis Smith was not a regular season all world threat as a DB, but come playoffs, the guy turned it up a notch.

That is what you call a Leader. You nailed it, players who sense the pressure and react over and above themselves in the biggest games. Leaders, players who take it personally, players who take it as a personal insult when a team talks trash and comes and backs it up.

We needed to respond, even the Bart Scott interview pregame, it's embarrassing. They talked all week, like they beat us 45-3, and we stayed quiet, and came our meek. Very un-leader like.

 

[mcgraw_wv]

It's hard to go nuts when you are part of the problem. The Running game was fine and the Offense is full of vets who really don't need anyone telling them what to do. Gronk played fine so i don't buy this vocal leader talk.

You may not buy it, but pop in a Pats DVD, and watch the leaders on the sidelines in big games, or even their body language in the huddles. In big games we play big and win, it's there. In games where they aren't competing as they should, there is a lack of answers, emotions, and leadership when the chips are down.

 

[BlueString94]

You may not buy it, but pop in a Pats DVD, and watch the leaders on the sidelines in big games, or even their body language in the huddles. In big games we play big and win, it's there. In games where they aren't competing as they should, there is a lack of answers, emotions, and leadership when the chips are down.

I remember watching the 01' DVD, when the Patriots were down by 10 in the Snow Bowl, with Brady (no-ring, non-elite 24 year old Brady!) yelling on the sidelines "that's a great comeback!" and spiking the ball in the endzone.

Where did that go?

 

[ATippett56]

The New England Patriots don't need more leaders on this team, the Patriots need more talent. Please remember that Leigh Bodden and Ty Warren should be back for the 2011 NFL Season. Those two players should assist in the leadership department for the defense along with Vince Wilfork.

Dan Connolly is not the long term solution at right offensive guard and Stephen Neal, at the age of 34, cannot be depended on for 16 regular season games let alone the AFC Playoffs. If the Patriots are going to beat the Jets, Ravens, Steelers in the playoffs, a serious upgrade via the 2011 NFL Draft at right offensive guard is needed. Since the New England Patriots have two second round draft picks, one of two second round draft picks could be expended on a offensive guard.

Tom Brady was sacked five times against the New York Jets while Mark Sanchez was not sacked once.

The New England Patriots need to upgrade the 5-technique defensive end position opposite of Ty Warren next year. Marcell Dareus from Alabama (hint Nick Saban) could be the long term solution at the 5-technique defensive end position however he may not last until the 17th pick. It's possible the New England Patriots could trade up in the first round to land Marcell Dareus, however Belichick would have to believe that Marcell Dareus is the next Richard Seymour. Also, the New England Patriots have been lately trading down in the first round not trading up.

The New England Patriots need to draft 3-4 outside linebackers who can set the edge in the running game while also be able to rush the passer. Tully Banta-Cain is not the solution in the running game and did not come up big today applying pressure on the New York Jets quarterback. Cunningham and Ninkovich are adequate 3-4 outside linebackers however neither are explosive pass rushers. Cunningham may develop his pass rushing skills in the future. Tully Banta-Cain and Eric Moore are expendable. Conversely, the New England Patriots are set at the inside linebacker position for the 2011 NFL season.

 

[JMarr]

It simply kills me when we watch these games and brady looks the way he does. He Doesn't pout, but the whole "not in the game" act stinks. I hate seeing it, I want to know why, I want to know how that happens in such big games.

What happens to create that atmosphere when your in such a big stage game, at home, and it's 7-3... or even 14-11.

No one was there to pick him up...

Bingo. Knowing how competitive a guy that Brady is, I would so like to know how he can show up at big games like this and SB42 [granted, the whole team came out flat vs. the Giants] and look either like he is sick, or he just doesn't care that much. This is truly one of the biggest WTFs in the world right now. Obviously there was some dissention between coaches and coaches and coaches and players, but that's nothing new in the NFL.

Did the Welker 'discipline' have anything to do with it? Man I'd love to know WTF was going on with Brady. It took the rest of the team quite awhile to wake up and get pissed, but Brady never did.

 

[mcgraw_wv]

This year was the most enjoyable season since 06 in my opinion. I didn't really fall in love with the 07 team, the grind it out seasons with Corey Dillion in my opinion were the most fun to watch. This team had elements of it.

But again, when you go back and watch the year in review of the championship teams, and you hear Willie Mac, and Brushci, and Rodney... that team was full of leader types on defense.

This team has 0 leaders on defense. Wilfork is not, his a teddy bear, I want someone who will make a QB nervous ( Wille Mac ), someone who makes a WR nervous ( Rodney Harrison ) and someone who comes up clutch ( Bruschi ), and players who, when disrespected, take it as a personal challenge, and respond.

The entire week was pathetic... Our leaders CAN NOT be skill position players, they are too easy to take out of a game. That's why our past teams were so good, our leaders were on defense, and they took it personally when someone said something, and they believed no one believed in them.

Since 07, I feel the immortal words of "Were only going to score 14 points" is our form of leadership now.

I think Spikes can be that guy, he just looks like a man amongst men out there, but he needs to feel he can step up in his game and leadership.

With the draft, I believe we draft a lot of defense. The offense needs no help other than an O-Linemen. We need 2 first round Dlinemen to come in and compete, everything else on defense will look better with a dominate d-line, including our young secondary.

But most importantly, we need 1 or 2 hungry vets to come in and compete on defense.

There is a large void right now on this team, someone who's going to come in and say this if our house, someone whos going to respond to the other team and make them worry about them.

Just go back to the Brian Cox hit against the Colts, how the defense took it as a personal challenge to stop Manning all those years, they took it personally, felt disrespected, and made them feel it on the feild.

Yet Welker, a 175 lb skill player is the voice of our team when another team personally disrespects us, and we respond with tongue in cheek comments about feet.

Football, especially playoff football is a game that requires you to over physical your competition, it's why defense wins championships ( 95% ) and not cute offense, becuase its the defenders who man up beyond the stage, and go all out to force their will on the defense.

 

[upstater1]

Patriots came in overconfident after beating the Jets 45-3.

Look no further than that. They were not emotionally prepared for the game, especially the offensive line (which should know better) and the defense other than Wilfork (they are after all a bunch of 1st and 2nd year players). People forget that by the time 2001 came around, Tedy Bruschi was already in his 6th year, Vrabel his 5th, Milloy his 6th, McGinest his 9th, Ted Johnson his 9th, Ty Law his 7th, Roman Phifer who knows? That defense that won 3 Super Bowls had exactly one newcomer on it, Richard Seymour. Put it this way, Vince Wilfork is the graybeard on the Patriots D. He doesn't have a Super Bowl ring yet.

 

[Rossmci90]

Patriots came in overconfident after beating the Jets 45-3.

Look no further than that. They were not emotionally prepared for the game, especially the offensive line (which should know better) and the defense other than Wilfork (they are after all a bunch of 1st and 2nd year players). People forget that by the time 2001 came around, Tedy Bruschi was already in his 6th year, Vrabel his 5th, Milloy his 6th, McGinest his 9th, Ted Johnson his 9th, Ty Law his 7th, Roman Phifer who knows? That defense that won 3 Super Bowls had exactly one newcomer on it, Richard Seymour. Put it this way, Vince Wilfork is the graybeard on the Patriots D. He doesn't have a Super Bowl ring yet.

Wilfork was drafted in 2004 and started in the Superbowl against the Eagles.

 

[patsfan-1982]

it's not about leadership... geams are won and lost upfront and the pats lost that battle on both sides of the ball you cant win in the playoffs like that