Looking at the Patriots - 2014

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O_P_T said:
Oh ye of little faith.

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Is this that joke about the agnostic Chinaman?

Cheers
 
Tomorrow finally gets to see. How well the rebuilt defense plays. The players I going to be looking at the most. The secondary play. Revis , Dennard & Arrington at CB.
 
king of kings said:
Tomorrow finally gets to see. How well the rebuilt defense plays. The players I going to be looking at the most. The secondary play. Revis , Dennard & Arrington at CB.
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Totally stoked.

For me on defense .... Revis, Easley and Collins.
For me on offense .... Gronk, Wright and Amendola.
 
I can't wait too see how well the WR play. Let's face it . Only Edelman could stay healthy or not struggle with drops. I see Thompkins & Edelman outside . Amendola the slot. Big question can Amendola finally stay heathly.
 
king of kings said:
I can't wait too see how well the WR play. Let's face it . Only Edelman could stay healthy or not struggle with drops. I see Thompkins & Edelman outside . Amendola the slot. Big question can Amendola finally stay heathly.
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Re: Amendola. If he can stay healthy ..... I keep thinking back to the start of last year when he exploded out of the blocks only to get hurt and play at a pedestrian like level thereafter.
 
KT keeps getting underestimated and that's what fuels him.
 
king of kings said:
I can't wait too see how well the WR play. Let's face it . Only Edelman could stay healthy or not struggle with drops. I see Thompkins & Edelman outside . Amendola the slot. Big question can Amendola finally stay heathly.
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I'm really excited to see what Amendola can do this year. I remember reading somewhere that he's been working with a new trainer this offseason that specializes in helping present injuries and he actually had a pretty good 2013 for a guy who missed 12 games and was playing hurt when he was on the field.
 
The WR I hope has the biggest year is Dobson . He was becoming Brady big play WR. Until he reinjuried his foot.
 
chevss454 said:
KT keeps getting underestimated and that's what fuels him.
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His drive and desire to succeed will make him one of the best receivers in the league if he continues to stick around (I hope he does, kid's a baller)
 
12over4 said:
I'm really excited to see what Amendola can do this year. I remember reading somewhere that he's been working with a new trainer this offseason that specializes in helping present injuries and he actually had a pretty good 2013 for a guy who missed 12 games and was playing hurt when he was on the field.
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Yeah he's working with TB's trainer, who Edelperson worked with for the first time last year and he made it through all the games. Fingers crossed for DA. Love that kid.
 
chevss454 said:
KT keeps getting underestimated and that's what fuels him.
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Seems to me that one of the ways that KT is underestimated most often is that his "route portfolio" may now be the broadest on the team. It seems like he can now lineup anywhere and run any route equally well. That alone may get him more snaps (and success) than some folks are projecting for him.
 
MaineMan said:
Seems to me that one of the ways that KT is underestimated most often is that his "route portfolio" may now be the broadest on the team. It seems like he can now lineup anywhere and run any route equally well. That alone may get him more snaps (and success) than some folks are projecting for him.
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I thought KT was a bright spot today in an otherwise dark place.
 
I made mention in the game thread of the Pats playing a 3/4 with 4/3 personnel. It made no sense to me. Here's an article that goes in more depth about it.

I'm not sure how they did it, but the Patriots coaching staff put together the worst possible mix of their starting defensive players. Apart from nose tackle Vince Wilfork, the Patriots decided to play a full unit of 4-3 players and insert them into a 3-4 front.
No one has any idea why and it's unlikely Bill Belichick will disclose the reason at a later date.


Let's start with the basic fact of the 3-4: either the defensive line or the linebackers will have to two-gap.
That's just how the defense functions if either of the linebackers drop into coverage. There are six gaps with the basic five man offensive line, seven gaps if there's a tight end (in between each player and then to the outside of the last person on the line). With three defensive linemen and four linebackers, either all seven will have to commit to maintain a single-gap assignment, or someone in the front seven will have to two gap.
Vince Wilfork can two gap, even if he didn't play his best. He plays the nose and he covers both A gaps (to either side of the center). Chandler Jones and Joe Vellano, on the other hand, cannot two gap.
Jones is 265 pounds and asking him to hold his ground against an offensive tackle and guard (assuming a two-gapping principle) is just asinine. In fact, it makes running the ball even easier for the Dolphins because the tackle and guard can seal Jones out of the play, while the Guard can break off into the second level to take on a linebacker; it's an easy five yards.
Let's also ignore that the Patriots are taking their most dangerous pass rusher and asking him to have multiple-gap responsibility.
Vellano is 300 pounds, but he's the new edition of Kyle Love at 6'1. He doesn't have the length to maintain multiple gaps and he was overwhelmed even in single protection.
With both Jones and Vellano unable to guard multiple gaps, it allowed the Dolphins to run at will, which they did.
But let's say that the Patriots didn't ask the defensive linemen to cover multiple gaps. Let's assume the defensive line was operating under single-gap ideas, and that it was the linebackers responsibility to cover two gaps. They have the speed, so they should be able to, right?
The issue comes with their strength. There's no Brandon Spikes on the roster, the only linebacker capable of standing up an offensive lineman. Even if Jamie Collins or Jerod Mayo were able to get in the right position to stop the running back, they were met head-on with an offensive lineman, who had no trouble sealing them out of the play.
By assigning the linebackers multiple gaps, they have to approach the rushing lanes from an angle, instead of directly, allowing blockers to seal the pathway.
There's no question that the best solution for this defense is to go back to the 4-3 front. The coaches fielded a defensive line too small to sustain a 3-4 front. They have linebackers too weak to stand-up offensive linemen.
Jones and Vellano were put in terrible situations and their production showed. They were the least effective players on defense, and that is not their fault; the blame lies with the coaches.
When the Patriots face the Vikings and Adrian Peterson, they cannot afford to give the same running lanes that they gave Knowshon Moreno and the Dolphins. They need to field a defensive line of Chandler Jones, Vince Wilfork, Sealver Siliga, and Rob Ninkovich. They need to operate the way the roster intended.
http://www.patspulpit.com/2014/9/8/6121041/the-patriots-didnt-have-3-4-personnel-but-tried-anyways
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I also think the coaching for this game was terrible. From the game plan, to the offensive calls, to the defensive formations and to the adjustments made, the coaching was possibly the worst I've seen for a BB team.

It was a poor showing. The Patriots interior line was deplorable, the defense couldn't stop a leaky faucet, and Tom Brady totally needs to shave that beard and work on his body language.
But the worst performance of the day goes directly to the Patriots coaching staff.
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Beyond just the offensive line, the rest of the offensive play calling was atrocious in the second half. Rob Gronkowski saw two snaps as the Patriots 20-10 lead slipped into a 30-20 deficit. Coordinator Josh McDaniels called upon the infamous "Wheel Route just beyond Shane Vereen's finger tips" play that always seems to place the offense in a 3rd-and-long situation, and that was with the game in a manageable 23-20 situation.
However they deemed it necessary to throw bombs to Brandon LaFell with a zero percent success rate. And they gave some of Vereen's snaps to Brandon Bolden. And they gave Julian Edelman's slip screens to Danny Amendola. And they stopped throwing it to Kenbrell Thompkins, even though he was the only outside receiver to generate any sort of offense for the team.
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http://www.patspulpit.com/2014/9/7/6118985/week-1-patriots-vs-dolphins-reaction-blame-the-coaches
 
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