Where The Patriots Go From Here
by ProfessorTodd on Dec 1, 2009 12:34 AM EST
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Back to basics: Blocking. Tackling. Passing. Catching. Route-running. Defending the seams. After a beatdown like the Patriots suffered Monday night, they need to go back to the fundamentals and clean up some major, major problems. It wasn't just the defensive breakdowns, it wasn't just the offensive breakdowns--it was everything. You have to go back to December 10, 2006 to find the last time a Tom Brady-led Patriots team got beat by 21 points like tonight. It was brutal, and there's so much to fix--and a short week coming up to prepare for a road game in the division at Miami.
It could be that the Patriots will have to, first, win the division and get into the playoffs and then hope that they can generate a run of good luck and solid play like recent Super Bowl champions Pittsburgh (2005), Indianapolis (2006), and New York (2007)--surprising wild-card teams that got hot at the right time. How ironic would it be if the Patriots of 2009 became the Giants of 2007--deeply flawed but able to hang in there, tough out some wins, and be in a position where a play or two could make all the difference?
Stranger things have happened. But first things first. A short week to work on blocking, tackling, passing, catching, covering. Then a crucial game at Miami Sunday. Maybe by late afternoon Sunday we'll begin to have a few answers and a glimpse of a possible future for this team the remainder of the year.
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Junior Seau's tackling school is now open for business.
He was almost always a wrap-up tackler instead of dive at your legs and hope you trip or bump you and hope you fall down.
Fundamentals are desperately missing. The game plan against New Orleans sucked on both sides.
To disrupt quick draw McBrees, you have to slow the receivers off the line. Instead, we gave them a 10 yard free release. Mr. Brees probably thought it was his flipping birthday. The only pressure we came close to creating was right before he’d kill us with a 60 yard bomb. Hit them on the line, those would probably be sacks.
Who, sitting at home, could tell our pass plays from our running plays? If you could, so could they. Absolutely vanilla offense.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 1, 2009 12:46 AM EST reply actions
Can you say inexperience?
I knew you could.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 1, 2009 1:52 AM EST up reply actions
Why am I up?
I mean, inexperience can only go so far. I didn’t see that from the Dolphins’ secondary in the last game, I didn’t see it from the Colts’ secondary. Inexperience as an excuse can only go so far. Brees was committing to the point where the ball was halfway to the receiver’s hands, but he pulled it back and fired it deep. Brees may be the best QB in the game.
They also showed a play where he faked the pass to PT and got the lineman, the linebackers AND the secondary to all rush to him, only to have him go “JK :D” and throw it deep. It hurt to watch.
I actually wonder if James Sanders would've made a difference
The guy with the most experience – Meriweather – was the guy who got annihilated in that long pass to Devery Henderson. That was just ugly. The secondary didn’t ever look like they knew what was going on.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
they were also getting burned
on the receiver pivots at the catch — three different times, a 20 yard reception turned into a ridiculous 60 yard gain because the DBs let their momentum carry them way past the original tackling point. brutal.
He truly sucks.
Makes one yearn for Hobbs. Get this chump off the f’n field BB!
Warm up the Duck Boats!!!
You're probably right, sadly
but I do hope that both Hobbs and Wilhite have put Hoodie off the whole undersized CB thing. Might’ve worked before, but there are just too many 6’4, super-quick receivers around who can out-jump, manhandle them, and generally outplay them. If they were getting a bunch of picks it might be another story (re: Asante Samuel) but Hobbs and Wilhite don’t even have that going for them.
It’s all the more apparent that they’re just too small when they’re forced to give up 10 yard cushions for no better reason than the ability of the WRs to just throw them around like dolls if the CBs try to bump them on the line.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Both Hobbs and Wilhite were decent value, I suppose
They both can return kicks, both had good speed, decent hands, okay tackling, and most importantly, they were both mid-round picks (Hobbs being a 3rd, Wilhite a 4th). I suppose Hoodie thinks it better to get a servicable, cheap player than it is to break the bank and spend a first rounder on someone like Nnamdi Asomugha (6’2", 31st pick overall) or Charles Woodson (6’1", 4th pick overall).
It just happens that the ones with the necessary attributes (speed, acceleration, agility, tackling, ball-hawking) who slip down to the rounds Hoodie likes to draft from (late 2nd, 3rd) are often the smaller guys who other teams pass over because of their lack of size.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
I'm not knocking anyone on your team
But i believe adding a vetren like sharper makes our young db’s look better Malcolm Jenkins played light’s out,And Mike Mckenzie has been sitting home since training camp just waiting for a call we saint fans knew what he was about since he’s been here i cant believe a team who needs vetren db’s like the Pats didnt get him
by mississippisaintsfan on Dec 1, 2009 6:26 AM EST up reply actions
Now do you still think i was being another angry fan
Or do you see i was right about everything i said
Including the score
by mississippisaintsfan on Dec 1, 2009 7:41 AM EST up reply actions
guess it's just not my style
I’ll go lurk at another blog after a win by the Patriots – just to get the other side’s take on why they think they lost and read the post-game buzz – but I don’t post, rarely comment, and if I do it’s never, ever to gloat.
Keep the faith!
Seriously,
if the Pats didn’t take the field with their defense, the Saints would have scored 4 more points than they did. Pathetic is too kind a word to describe this.
Warm up the Duck Boats!!!
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