If you could fix one thing, what would it be and why?

grog

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Ok, so we are 1-2 and haven't really played that bad but haven't lived up to expectations either. Excluding officiating, if you could make one adjustment/change to the Pats at this point, what would it be and why?

I'll go first. While I have been on the 'improve the oline bandwagon' since before the draft, i realize at this point in the season there isn't much that can be done there. So, if I could fix one thing, it would be offensive play calling. I have scratched my head more than ever after some of the unusual calls the first three weeks. From ill timed trick plays to going too conservative at times to not conservative enough at other times. The offense really doesn't have an identity at this point and I don't know if it's because we are experimenting with things in the early going or is it because we have taken a step backward.

I'd like to see more blitz calls on defense too, but since the question limits me to one thing, I'm going with offensive play calling.
 
Ok, so we are 1-2 and haven't really played that bad but haven't lived up to expectations either. Excluding officiating, if you could make one adjustment/change to the Pats at this point, what would it be and why?

I'll go first. While I have been on the 'improve the oline bandwagon' since before the draft, i realize at this point in the season there isn't much that can be done there. So, if I could fix one thing, it would be offensive play calling. I have scratched my head more than ever after some of the unusual calls the first three weeks. From ill timed trick plays to going too conservative at times to not conservative enough at other times. The offense really doesn't have an identity at this point and I don't know if it's because we are experimenting with things in the early going or is it because we have taken a step backward.

I'd like to see more blitz calls on defense too, but since the question limits me to one thing, I'm going with offensive play calling.
I'd get a true shutdown CB.
 
I just think its been a couple very unlucky breaks so far this year, and I do not see it continuing on. I actually thought the pats played great Sunday night, but I think some bad calls killed some momentum on defense, plus not knowing what they were able to do and not do. The playcalling has been...I guess odd is the word, more so in the Cardinal game though....Basically at this point I see two games that could have easily been won against two very good teams, so as of now at least I am not in panic mode...I guess if I have to say I want one change its, can we for freaking once get pressure on a QB? Every year its the same thing....3 sacks this year...sorry its not going to get it, and if it does not improve, and I do not mean more sacks, I mean some kind of pressure...then say hello the last two years. When was the last time we did not have a turnover, Brady had a Qb rating over 110, and we scored 30 points that we did not win?
 
I'd get a true shutdown CB.

He is just going to be chasing around a wideout for 5 minutes like the rest of them....I will start blaming our secondary when we stop allowing a Qb to stand in the pocket for 10 seconds and wait for someone to get open.
 
I'll go with strengthening the O Line if limited to just 1 thing. Waters would fix it in a hurry.

1b would be playcalling; esp. less Woodhead and moar Ridley (which means Ridley would have to get up to speed with the no huddle calls).
 
I'd fix two things.

First, I'd abandon the soft D we often see when the Pats try to kill the clock too early. I want more agressive blitzes and I want tight coverage on the outside, not hanging back trying to keep the play in front of them. It's schematic more than personnel failure at this point, imo. Roll the dice and don't let anybody get any rhythm. Crush somebody for a change. The talent is there. We need to create more chaos and the rope-a-dope doesn't do that.

Second, I don't think the "O line" is responsible for a lot of the play breakdowns as much as people think they are. I believe a lot of plays are getting blown up because our backup TEs and backs just aren't blocking anybody. I would think that after sorting through 10 TEs and 6 fullbacks this year they would have found one of each that can take on a LB. We need a big improvement there and I don't know if the guys we have can get it done. Find somebody. Stat.
 
What adjustment would you make to get that?


Have the DBs play more aggressively to the ball, game plan more hurries on the QB, surer tackling with an eye on stripping the ball, just to name a few.
 
Make better in game adjustments.

It seems that teams make adjustments and we don't respond as well as we used to.

Some of this may be due to the loss of people on the coaching staff through the years, but we need to do a better job at this.

Related to this, we need to do more setup plays.

For example, in the Arizona game, Brady threw multiple quick hits to Lloyd when the DB was lined up 5- 8 yards from him.

We should have followed that up with a pump and go later in the game.
 
Oh good its worse than last year. :pFL:
Well having shitting calls called on your defense giving the opposing offenses 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances doesn't help either. I'm going to give the D a pass until I see how they perform the next 3 games with real refs,and not some lingerie reject...
 
What adjustment would you make to get that?

Based on last week, I would think an extra smattering of pine tar on the gloves of the secondary would be a reasonable first step in the right direction. :coffee:
 
Related to this, we need to do more setup plays.

For example, in the Arizona game, Brady threw multiple quick hits to Lloyd when the DB was lined up 5- 8 yards from him.

We should have followed that up with a pump and go later in the game.
I was RIPPING MY HAIR out watching those...they didn't garner much IIRC and I was screaming THOSE BETTER BE TO SET UP SOMETHING LATER! Lloyd isn't a YAC guy.
 
For me it would be the fact the defense hasn't been able to hold a lead with the game on the line since Super Bowl XXXIX

Why? Because we'd have 3 more rings!

Why do you think that is though? What do they need to fix to hold the lead?
 
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