Why don't the Pats USE some of their talent ?**Nothing to do with today's loss***

[ATippett56]

Sheesh in the old days of the forum a few would
whine :cry2: about 'Play Action' :idea2: and 'Screen Passes' :rolleyes2: ... times they are a-changin'.

A banned poster "not to be named" always complained about Charlie Weis and the offensive play calls.

 

[Sciz]

I refuse to believe that Vereen or Price can be any worse on the KR than what we've tried thus far. Have we had a single return past the 30 that wasn't a short kick? In a game like today we really could've used an actual threat back there.

Remember. The coaches don't have to "believe" that Vereen or Price could be worse. They get to see it an extra 4 days a week in practice behind closed doors.

 

[strongside]

The worst part is that we will now have to spend yet another 1st/2nd rd pick on a CB in next years draft.

 

[randomk1]

The worst part is that we will now have to spend yet another 1st/2nd rd pick on a CB in next years draft.

Forget CB..our defense needs talent on every level.

 

[PatsChamp88]

I agree.

I think Price would be an improvement over Ochocinco. What was seen from preseason should be enough.

I think Faulk is the best blocker of the 4 RBs. I think Brady/Belichick trust him the most.

The Patriots didn't have the luxury of running the ball today. They barely got the ball.

I agree with this assessment for the most part.

 

[Lansdowne]

Problem is our defense doesn't have a Darrelle Revis or a Demarcus Ware or a Troy Polamalu, a guy who can dominate on defense every single week. I mean Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo are top guys at their respective positions, but even with them aboard, there isn't enough help. We may not use our talent because it may not be ready, like someone alluded to with Shane Vereen and Taylor Price.

 

[ivanvamp]

I agree.

I think Price would be an improvement over Ochocinco. What was seen from preseason should be enough.

I think Faulk is the best blocker of the 4 RBs. I think Brady/Belichick trust him the most.

The Patriots didn't have the luxury of running the ball today. They barely got the ball.

In general, I was very excited this year at the prospect of four quality young RB (BJGE, Woodhead, Ridley, and Vereen) sharing the load at that position, and I was fully prepared to move on from Faulk.

But yesterday, Faulk was quite productive:

6 rushes, 32 yds (5.3 avg)
5 rec, 20 yds (4.0 avg)

I dunno....not as many ypc as I'd like, but overall, he did his job. He certainly wasn't the problem yesterday, that's for sure.

 

[ivanvamp]

I agree with this assessment for the most part.

This is true in part. The defense did have a hard time getting off the field. But here were the Pats' drives:

3 plays, 7 yds, 1:24, punt
9 plays, 18 yds, 4:38, punt
2 plays, 8 yds, 0:33, TD
10 plays, 52 yds, 2:12, FG
3 plays, 9 yds, 1:43, punt
8 plays, 55 yds, 3:51, missed FG
6 plays, 14 yds, 2:38, punt
10 plays, 67 yds, 3:28, TD

I won't count their last "drive" with a few seconds left on the clock. So that's 8 drives. Seven of them lasted less than 4 minutes. Only 3 of them went longer than 50 yards. They had two 3-and-outs (first possession of each half).

I mean, they got as many possessions as the Steelers did, but the offense simply did not do much with the ball yesterday.

For example, here were the first four drives of the game:

Pit - 11 plays, 68 yds, 5:52, TD
NE - 3 plays, 7 yds, 1:24, punt
Pit - 16 plays, 72 yds, 7:47, FG
NE - 9 plays, 18 yds, 4:38, punt

At that point, Pit had run 27 plays to NE's 12. Pit gained 140 yds to NE's 25. Pit possessed the ball for 13:39 to NE's 6:02. Each team had two possessions. If NE had kept the ball longer on offense, Pit would have had less time to have the ball themselves.

These things can tend to go hand-in-hand.