Pape
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- May 20, 2008
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Way back when, 2002, the Patriots were coming into the season flying high, having won the first ever Super Bowl in New England's long and storied history...
In 2002, we opened the season, christening Gillette by decimating the stealers 30-14... That was pretty fantastic, if you can remember back that far...
Things didn't turn out so well though over the course of the regular season... we went on a 4 game slide, 3 before the bye, 1 after... standing 3-4 after week 8... If you remember back, we had offensive troubles in those losses, scoring 14, 13, 10 & 16 respectively... The team was able to adjust though, and made a game of it for the rest of the season...
2020 is shaping up much like 2002 did... the offensive problems can be fixed... but it all starts with Cam... we can't win unless we have at the very least the threat of a passing game... Otherwise, we will see teams just stack the box on offense ... If all we do is run ... yeah... you know the answer to that... Our tailbacks are ok, but they aren't great ... a run heavy offense can work, but there has to be the threat of a pass working...
How do the Pats turn it around?
Gotta simplify whats going on in the offense... More Options, if thats possible, RPO with short to intermediate passes... effectively forcing Cam to make a decision early if he is going to throw it or run with the ball... Cant let him think too much, got to force him to just play... either way we need to freeze / move the LB's and/or Safeties off the line... Cam gets into trouble when he holds the ball too long... The line is patch work right now, and cant sustain a clean pocket for 5-6 seconds he needs to make reads over the course of 60 minutes... I was actually half-elated in the last game when he threw the ball away instead of taking a sack... Can he get back into a rhythm though? we don't need 350 yard passing games... but we do need at the very least 190-250 yards on a consistent basis...
On defense... If the defense gets a chance to rest a bit they will be a bit more effective... Do we have any bodies to move back onto the line? run a base 4 down linemen defense? The lack of linebacker depth is killing us... Phillips is playing well, but when your dbacks are playing linebacker, things aren't gonna go well over the long run... Uche, man I hope this kid gets well soon.. we need something... and I hope he can contribute... Gotta get Winovich back into the mix... the last few weeks his snap count has dropped, and he has been lining up on the inside of the tackle in some sets... that's not his strength... he's not a d tackle... got to get him back on the edge...
Oh, and at the end of the season, think long and hard about poaching a free agent QB from another team... though the only quality qb hitting FA in 2021 is Dak... guy can throw the ball though... otherwise not much there...
If I am all wet behind the ears in my thought process here, let me know... what do you guys see as being the key to sparking a turn around? I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on 2020 quite yet...
.
In 2002, we opened the season, christening Gillette by decimating the stealers 30-14... That was pretty fantastic, if you can remember back that far...
Things didn't turn out so well though over the course of the regular season... we went on a 4 game slide, 3 before the bye, 1 after... standing 3-4 after week 8... If you remember back, we had offensive troubles in those losses, scoring 14, 13, 10 & 16 respectively... The team was able to adjust though, and made a game of it for the rest of the season...
2020 is shaping up much like 2002 did... the offensive problems can be fixed... but it all starts with Cam... we can't win unless we have at the very least the threat of a passing game... Otherwise, we will see teams just stack the box on offense ... If all we do is run ... yeah... you know the answer to that... Our tailbacks are ok, but they aren't great ... a run heavy offense can work, but there has to be the threat of a pass working...
How do the Pats turn it around?
Gotta simplify whats going on in the offense... More Options, if thats possible, RPO with short to intermediate passes... effectively forcing Cam to make a decision early if he is going to throw it or run with the ball... Cant let him think too much, got to force him to just play... either way we need to freeze / move the LB's and/or Safeties off the line... Cam gets into trouble when he holds the ball too long... The line is patch work right now, and cant sustain a clean pocket for 5-6 seconds he needs to make reads over the course of 60 minutes... I was actually half-elated in the last game when he threw the ball away instead of taking a sack... Can he get back into a rhythm though? we don't need 350 yard passing games... but we do need at the very least 190-250 yards on a consistent basis...
On defense... If the defense gets a chance to rest a bit they will be a bit more effective... Do we have any bodies to move back onto the line? run a base 4 down linemen defense? The lack of linebacker depth is killing us... Phillips is playing well, but when your dbacks are playing linebacker, things aren't gonna go well over the long run... Uche, man I hope this kid gets well soon.. we need something... and I hope he can contribute... Gotta get Winovich back into the mix... the last few weeks his snap count has dropped, and he has been lining up on the inside of the tackle in some sets... that's not his strength... he's not a d tackle... got to get him back on the edge...
Oh, and at the end of the season, think long and hard about poaching a free agent QB from another team... though the only quality qb hitting FA in 2021 is Dak... guy can throw the ball though... otherwise not much there...
If I am all wet behind the ears in my thought process here, let me know... what do you guys see as being the key to sparking a turn around? I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on 2020 quite yet...
.