Does Tom Brady have the right targets?

by MaPatsFan on Oct 15, 2009 8:21 PM EDT in New England Patriots News

There are many moving parts to the offense this year. The touchstone seems to be Tom Brady. If he equals Peyton Manning's 4-4 of 2008, I will declare Brady the better quarterback. Manning missed time during the preseason while recovering from bursa sac surgery. Tom Brady missed A WHOLE YEAR recovering from a torn ACL and MCL! To recover from that AND perform on the field is a testament to a guaranteed legend. Tom's was the harder recovery. That can't be argued.

Another factor in the offense? The running game was going gangbusters. Everything was firing on all cylinders and then...BOOM! Our leading rusher, Fast Freddy Taylor, blows an ankle. Back to the Dancing El Mo, Laurence Maroney. At least we have Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Can you say backfield-by-committee? I knew you could.

Everyone is looking for 2007. Or, at the very least, they WERE at the beginning of the season. Tom's back, so this shouldn't be a problem, right? Everything's in place to make another run for it, right? Wrong. Watch Tom in the Denver game. After a few failed attempts to get Randy the ball, he consistently looks for Wes. What's the problem with that? The little engine that can is going to get worn out; he's going to get hammered on a regular basis. And defenses will figure out that if you blanket Randy and Wes Welker, you've taken away Brady's weapons.

Joey Galloway, for all intents and purposes, is a bust. I feel bad for the man because he has to walk into the locker room every day, knowing he's not contributing. He has to travel with the team and not suit up on gameday. That's gotta hurt. Compassion is called for in these situations. Unfortunately, this is a cold, heartless business and us fans are no less heartless. Drop after drop, disconnect after disconnect, and we move on.

Unfortunately, it's not all Galloway. He just happens to be the poster child for an overall lack of on field communication. Take a pass to Wes Welker in the Denver game which appeared to be thrown at his ankles. Brady later went on to explain he was thinking Wes was running one route when Wes made an adjustment based on the coverage he saw. Is it truly only Galloway who's having issues?

The difference between this passing offense and that of 2007 is other receivers. Don't get me wrong. Julian Edelman is no slouch and has a bright future with this team. But he's not Donte Stallworth and he's not Jabar Gaffney. Neither Donte nor Jabar are #1 or #2 guys. On a good day, they're solid #3's. Which is exactly why we were so successful in 2007. Many more capable targets.

When either Randy or Wes were blanketed with coverage, which often happened towards the end of the year, Brady knew he had a high percentage third and fourth look. Teams who didn't respect that got burned. A perfect example of this was the 2007 Ravens game, when Jabar made a toenail scraper of a catch in the fourth quarter to preserve the perfect regular season. After Wes and Randy, there's simply not a lot of wide receiver talent. Sam Aiken is very capable and I get stoked when he catches a good ball, but who else is there...NOW? Julian Edleman is a long-term prospect as is Terrence Nunn and Brandon Tate. Shun White? He owes the government some years of active duty for his Naval Academy education.

We lack a serious third and fourth option for Wonderboy. On 98.5's Felger and Mazz show, a caller asked, "Do you think T.O. would be a good option?" Wait...give it 30 seconds. Now, I have written in the past that I think T.O. is toxic. He's at singer/starlet diva high maintenance level. Maybe even worse than Mariah Carey. But the dude has skills. I'm not lobbying for it, but I'm just saying...

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TO and the third-WR problem.

They could trade for TO on the proviso that they give him a shot at a Superbowl in exchange for supergluing his lips together so he can’t talk, ever again. Seems fair consideration to me.

I’d still like to see either/both Maroney and Watson start working out in the 3/4WR role. Maroney’s fast, catches the ball when it’s put in his direction most of the time (he caught a few in 2006 as a rookie, remember) and I still think he’d show the breakaway ability he was assumed to have pre-draft if he was put into space and allowed to run around people, since he’s shown such reticence to run through them as a RB.

As for the guy some call “Stone Hands,” Benjamin Watson, I still think he could show some value in that Dallas Clark type big-body WR/TE hybrid role. He’s definitely quick enough – just ask Champ Bailey. He’s got good hands on the proviso that he’s running downfield and not in flats because he isn’t worried about blindside hits – the two TDs he got on TE post routes aren’t all that different from a lot of the routes the Pats call upon their third WR to run. Even if he doesn’t catch it, he’s an interesting matchup problem for the defence to solve, and could well draw safeties out of deep coverage into bumping him on the line, which can only help Randy Moss.

That’s only if the Pats don’t seek outside help at WR in a trade or free agency, or if they don’t activate Nunn or Tate at some point.

by Comedic.Sans on Oct 15, 2009 8:52 PM EDT reply actions

Heck no on T.O.

He’s a big body Galloway at this point. They have close to the same number of catches and Galloway has sat out two games.
NEXT!

The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 15, 2009 9:02 PM EDT reply actions

Except Galloway doesn't self-destruct and take his team with him

TO’s going to be frustrated as hell, I’d rather have him in Buffalo and waiting for him to blow his cork like cheap wine on a hot day. It’d be more entertaining than having a big, slow, dead-hands guy replacing Galloway.

by Comedic.Sans on Oct 15, 2009 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Some guys need time, some don't

Brady and Moss had instant (and I mean, instant) rapport in 2007. Moss sat the pre-season games, Brady and Moss get on the field and they put up a 100+ yard combination at the first attempt.

Brady and Welker get together in the same year and put on a record 112 catch season, the first time out of the blocks.

Third time lucky with Galloway? No. Lightning’s hard enough to convince to strike in the same place twice, let alone three times. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality.

by Comedic.Sans on Oct 15, 2009 9:12 PM EDT reply actions

no T.O. The targets are fine

we can look at what teams can do to our WR’s, but there’s more to a situation. we have to look at the teams talent at the secondary. also i think we have a #3 WR in edelman, who clearly is a welker prototype. we have to wonder about our offensive schemes vs. the opponents defensive schemes. i think we have a GREAT offensive scheme that only a select few defenses can match. teams can’t just say double cover moss and welker, and the have nothing, because that simply is FAR from easy. not to mention, brady, when healthy is smart enough and hopefully accurate enough to make the right decisions as to where to throw it, and to whom, whether it be moss, welker, or any other WR. Or TE for that matter. Running game has a lot to do with whether they should double cover the our not, because all moss and welker have to do is run down the field while the RB is getting yards, and the secondary has to retreat back. play-action is big too.

looking at certain factors, there’s no easy way to take out moss and welker at the same time, and if they do, brady is smart enough to either throw it to a TE or 3rd WR, or if moss and welker get open regardless, BOOM! pass completion!

by patriotguy on Oct 15, 2009 9:37 PM EDT reply actions