Looking At The Patriots - 2013

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Not good enough, need someone better, bigger, faster, stronger.


/Spoiled


In all seriousness this is quite a solid signing and a step in improving our interior pass rush.
 
The Hoodie said:
Not good enough, need someone better, bigger, faster, stronger.


/Spoiled


In all seriousness this is quite a solid signing and a step in improving our interior pass rush.
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I assume you're talking about Armstead. I agree. Another example of the Pats working while others are thinking about the SB. At the very least, he represents the 3rd round pick we don't have this year.

Add in Ballard and Demps and BB is off to a great start in this draft.
 
When former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison assesses areas in which the team needs help, he highlighted his former position.

“I think they need an enforcer at the safety position,” Harrison said on Tuesday’s edition of PFT Live. “The tight ends and wide receivers running across the middle, they’re not afraid of getting hit. They need someone like a [Bernard] Pollard to really make a statement, set the tone, and really make them fear coming across the middle. They don’t have that.”

The Patriots finished the season with Devin McCourty and Steve Gregory at safety. They also had 2011 second-round draft choice Tavon Wilson and four-year veteran Patrick Chung at the position, with rookie Nate Ebner as the No. 5 option.

Of the group, Chung is the hardest hitter, but he fell out of favor with the coaching staff in the second half of the season. He played just two snaps in the AFC Championship Game, as part of the goal-line defense.

The lack of an enforcer at safety highlighted why Harrison felt the Patriots lost.
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http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4739140/rodney-safety-enforcer-needed

An enforcer would be nice but we have more pressing needs, imo.
It's not surprising to me that a former great S sees S as the problem. Reminds me of this..."When your only tool is a hammer, you see every problem as a nail."
 
I think rodney is right tho. Safety problems that we're having makes cb problems much worse. And many times this season we got heavily abused down the middle because our safeties simply arent good enough. Stud safety would help a lot.
 
anderson said:
I think rodney is right tho. Safety problems that we're having makes cb problems much worse. And many times this season we got heavily abused down the middle because our safeties simply arent good enough. Stud safety would help a lot.
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Agreed with this, also agreed with Chev. Coverage issues have been a huge problem with the S position, something that might not even make a whole lot of sense because they have generally practiced against the best TE duo in the league. McCourty looks like a good fit at S, so they found some good there but to me, the Gregory/Chung/Wilson revolving door has just been bizarre.

Perhaps also the abysmal play at S this year has an effect on the way the DBs play and think. For example, McCourty's sophomore slump has widely been attributed to the horrible play at safety that year--clearly, he was not confident with the help at S so maybe he placed an added pressure on himself to perform and lock down his man. And then there's the thing where they think they have help at S but they really don't. So perhaps it is also discipline that needs to be practiced.

I'm not too worried about not having a "hard hitting" safety, but rather a good, solid, coverage safety that will surely break up those +20 yard receptions.
 
anderson said:
I think rodney is right tho. Safety problems that we're having makes cb problems much worse. And many times this season we got heavily abused down the middle because our safeties simply arent good enough. Stud safety would help a lot.
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Chung isn't the answer since he began to follow the path of Meriweather. Gregory has been inconsistent. He started pretty well then had a span of 4-5 games of playing poorly then had another 2-3 games of playing well. In the AFCCG, he played poss his worst game of the year. Just keep in mind Tavon Wilson played pretty well in the beginning of the year but didn't have the experience to be paired up with Gregory. McCourty did so Wilson was the odd man out. Hopefully Wilson's experience this year helps him get on the field more. At 6', 210, he's comparable in size to Chung & has shown he is capable of giving a good hit. I'm not as worried about the S position as I am the CB position. Right now we have Dennard & Arrington (as the nickel guy). Most would agree Arrington isn't an answer at outside CB. We need to sign Talib or someone similar. It's possible that Talib has played himself into a big contract from another team.

CB has to be addressed.
 
I wonder what the Patriots will do with Jake Ballard this coming season?
 
HarpoonIPA said:
I wonder what the Patriots will do with Jake Ballard this coming season?
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Getting rid of Fells will be the first thing they do. Maybe they see Hernandez transitioning into a receiver role full time, can Ballard block? Maybe they use Ballard to block, he's certainly got the build for it at 6'6"/275 (makes him same height but 5 lbs heavier than Gronk!)

Hoomanawanui has proven himself to be a useful tool, and a decent blocker, I think that Hooman could become a solid blocker and has shown that he can catch balls too when called upon, also showed an ability to play lead blocking FB if desired.

Gonna be an interesting season
 
chevss454 said:
Chung isn't the answer since he began to follow the path of Meriweather. Gregory has been inconsistent. He started pretty well then had a span of 4-5 games of playing poorly then had another 2-3 games of playing well. In the AFCCG, he played poss his worst game of the year. Just keep in mind Tavon Wilson played pretty well in the beginning of the year but didn't have the experience to be paired up with Gregory. McCourty did so Wilson was the odd man out. Hopefully Wilson's experience this year helps him get on the field more. At 6', 210, he's comparable in size to Chung & has shown he is capable of giving a good hit. I'm not as worried about the S position as I am the CB position. Right now we have Dennard & Arrington (as the nickel guy). Most would agree Arrington isn't an answer at outside CB. We need to sign Talib or someone similar. It's possible that Talib has played himself into a big contract from another team.

CB has to be addressed.
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CB has to be addressed. If Talib isn't renewed, we need a stud corner more than we need a stud safety. If Talib stays, safety is the bigger need of the two.
 
I'm going to throw this out there just as a thought.

Does Brady need to make another dime in his career? No. Does Brady see his window of opportunity running out? Yes. So what if Brady agrees to rip up his current deal and play for more like a vet minimum type contract. Maybe with a huge bonus for winning the superbowl, but otherwise peanuts. Is there a rule against this? If he could go from $20M against the cap to $5M against the cap or so, imagine what the team could put around him. They could keep Welker, sign a stud FA or two, etc. If I were him and in his situation, I'd have no problem doing that.
 
grog said:
Oh come on, she wears the pants in that family anyway. She wouldn't mind if it makes Tommy happy and a winner again.
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Yeah, I think she has an estimated net worth around a quarter of a billion dollars. I'm pretty sure Tommy could pay Welker's salary on top of playing for free for the remainder of his time, and they'd still not go hungry :)
 
NuggetPalooza has stuff from 2012 that we should pay attention to for 2013 about our team.

72.1: While he had another remarkable run where he spent the bulk of the year in the MVP discussion, Tom Brady and the Patriots were dismissed after a sloppy performance against Baltimore. In eight games (five regular season and three postseason), Brady's career passer rating against the Ravens is 72.1, which represents his lowest mark against any opponent. While Brady has a 5-3 record in games played against Baltimore, he has consistently turned in some of the worst performances of his career against the Ravens. In addition to the passer rating, his 57.7 completion percentage and 8:10 touchdown-to-interception ratio in eight games against Baltimore both represent his worst showing against any NFL opponent. (For what it’s worth, the Patriots are scheduled to travel to Baltimore for a game against the Ravens in 2013.)
3.9: The 2012 Patriots had the sixth-best rush defense in the league at 3.9 yards per rush. (Last season, the Patriots’ rush defense allowed 4.6 yards per rush, ranked 24th in the NFL.) In addition, despite facing 10 more rushes in the regular season this year (415) than last year (405), the Patriots’ defense allowed five rushes of at least 20 yards this season, half as many as last year. While the New England pass defense struggled at times, the run defense was equal to the task for most of the 2012 season. Only one running back (Ray Rice) hit them for 100 yards or more. (He finished with 101 yards in Baltimore’s win in September.) Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork was his usual steady self up front, while linebacker Brandon Spikes emerged as one of the most potent run stoppers in the league.
35.4: Before acquiring cornerback Aqib Talib in a trade with Tampa Bay November, the Patriots sent at least five rushers on 15.0 percent of plays, the most conservative defense in the league, and allowed an 85.6 Total QBR with at least five rushers (fourth-worst in NFL). After acquiring Talib, they sent added pressure on 35.4 percent of dropbacks, ninth-most aggressive in the league, and allowed an 18.2 Total QBR (seventh-best). The change in numbers is not completely because of Talib, but it’s not coincidental. The addition of the veteran corner allowed the Patriots to do some things that they couldn’t or wouldn’t do before he arrived, such as shuffling Devin McCourty from corner to safety and bumping Kyle Arrington into the slot. And while there are many variables in play when it comes to judging a successful pass defense, there’s no debate that all of the defensive numbers (including passing yards allowed per game, number of pass plays that went for 20 yards or more and total yards allowed per game) improved after Talib showed up.
-7: From 2010-2012, the Patriots are a combined plus-70 in turnover margin in the regular season, by far the best in the league in that span. (That included a league-high plus-25 this past regular season, a year where they had 20 interceptions and 21 fumbles recovered.) But during that same span in the postseason (six games), New England has a minus-seven turnover margin, the worst in the league in that stretch. That series includes seven interceptions thrown by quarterback Tom Brady, and a minus-three (including two picks by Brady) in last Sunday’s AFC title game defeat at the hands of the Ravens.
6: Patriots receivers had six drops on 72 targets deeper than 20 yards downfield this season. New England’s 8.3 drop percentage on those throws was the second highest in the league (trailing only the Bears, 8.6 percent). While STATS indicates that Wes Welker led the team in dropped passes with nine (tied for sixth in the league), it was Brandon Lloyd who had four drops on 26 deep (20 yards downfield) targets, a 15.4 drop percentage that ranked last among 86 players with at least eight targets. (One other odd statistical quirk about Lloyd: his lack of YAC, or yards after catch. On an offense that has annually had several pass catchers in the Top 20 when it comes to YAC -- Welker finished the year with 668 YAC, best in the league -- Lloyd ended the regular season with 180 YAC, the lowest total of any receiver who had at least 70 catches on the season.)
6: Stevan Ridley was one of six running backs in the NFL this season to finish with at least 290 carries, 1,200 yards, 4 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. The LSU product, who ended the season with 290 carries, 1,263 rushing yards, 4.4 yards per carry and 12 touchdowns, joined a group of elite-level backs that included Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Alfred Morris, Doug Martin and Marshawn Lynch. The last New England running back to hit all those marks in the same season was Corey Dillion in 2004, who had 345 carries, 1.635 yards, 4.7 yards per carry and 12 touchdowns that season.
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http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/f...01/24/numbers-ten-stats-help-tell-story-2012-

For me an X Factor in every game was turnovers, big plays by the defense. We became too reliant on them to win close games. That was never more evident than vs the Ravens. -3 sealed our fate. Turnovers are great but relying on them is like walking on thin ice. When turnovers go against us, our O isn't explosive enough to score quick TDs to make up for them. Our O is very efficient moving the ball but that's not the quick strike explosiveness we need to make up for 3 turnovers in 1 game.
 
Totally agree on the turnover point. YEs the team works on creating them, but there is still a large element of luck involved in creating and recovering a fumble or getting an interception. The defense needs to be built to create turnovers on downs.
 
BB is slowly building the 80 man roster. At 6'4" and 223 lbs let's hope Holmes becomes a player. Kafka. Interesting.

The Patriots have signed DE Marcus Benard, RB James Develin, WR Jeremy Ebert, WR Andre Holmes, QB Mike Kafka, DL Tracy Robertson and LB Jeff Tarpinian to future contracts today.

500x305-marcus-benard-20130124.jpg
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots have signed DE Marcus Benard, RB <nobr>James Develin</nobr>, WR <nobr>Jeremy Ebert</nobr>, WR <nobr>Andre Holmes</nobr>, QB Mike Kafka, DL <nobr>Tracy Robertson</nobr> and LB <nobr>Jeff Tarpinian</nobr> to future contracts today. Develin, Ebert, Holmes, Robertson and Tarpinian ended the season on the New England practice squad.

Benard, 27, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns. The 6-foot-2, 256-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Cleveland out of Jackson State. He has played in 25 NFL games with two starts and has registered 39 total tackles, 11.5 sacks and two passes defensed. Benard began last season on the reserve/non-football injury list and was then released by Cleveland on Oct. 10.
Holmes, 24, was signed to the New England practice squad on Jan. 8, 2013. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Minnesota out of Hillsdale in 2011. The 6-foot-4, 223-pounder was released by Minnesota after training camp and was signed to the Dallas practice squad. Holmes was signed to the Dallas 53-man roster late in the 2011 season but was inactive for the final four games of the season. He made the Dallas 53-man roster out of training camp in 2012 and played seven games, registering two receptions for 11 yards. Holmes was released by Dallas on Nov. 25 and signed back to the practice squad on Nov. 27.

Kafka, 25, was originally a fourth-round draft pick (122nd overall) by Philadelphia out of Northwestern in the 2011 NFL Draft. He played in four games as a rookie, completing 11 of 16 passes for 107 yards. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder, was released by Philadelphia on Aug. 31, 2012 and spent the season out of football.

Robertson, 23, was signed to the New England practice squad on Jan. 1, 2013. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Houston out of Baylor in 2012. The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder was released by the Texans on July 29 and signed with the Detroit Lions on Aug. 1. He was released by the Lions at the end of training camp on Aug. 31 and has not appeared in an NFL game.
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http://www.patriots.com/news/articl...ontracts/8e895b70-001e-4775-a965-8b96bfc3dcb9
 
chevss454 said:
NuggetPalooza has stuff from 2012 that we should pay attention to for 2013 about our team.

http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/f...01/24/numbers-ten-stats-help-tell-story-2012-

For me an X Factor in every game was turnovers, big plays by the defense. We became too reliant on them to win close games. That was never more evident than vs the Ravens. -3 sealed our fate. Turnovers are great but relying on them is like walking on thin ice. When turnovers go against us, our O isn't explosive enough to score quick TDs to make up for them. Our O is very efficient moving the ball but that's not the quick strike explosiveness we need to make up for 3 turnovers in 1 game.
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How can we have a quick strike offense if we have no quick strike playmakers? Lloyd, welker and Bracnh will never be confused for quick strike weapons.
 
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