Author Topic: Patriots 2017 season  (Read 76790 times)

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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #60 on: October 01, 2017, 10:03:43 PM »

Offline green_bballers13

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Overreaction time. The Pats defense has looked bad this year, but Cam Newton should get credit. Deshaun Watson deserves credit, as does Drew Brees and Alex Smith. All four have looked good.

The best part of the defense looking bad is that it is early. They are 2-2 in the weakest division in football, so I'm not worried about their record yet.

They miss Ninkovich/Sheard/healthy Hightower. I think that Tom Brady will have to throw 4 TDs per win, which is asking a lot.

Luckily, he's Tom Brady.

Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #61 on: October 01, 2017, 10:15:38 PM »

Offline rocknrollforyoursoul

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Welp. The only real positive going forward is knowing that in the 2014-2015 season, LOTS of changes were made on defense (many departures, and additions of Revis, Browner, ETC.), and they lost season opener, then lost 4th game of season and started 2-2, BEFORE going on to WINNING the Super Bowl. (They gelled together and communicated better since)

But man.. this defense just looks WAY WORSE than that 2014-2015 team though.

Stephon Gilmore occasionally makes good plays, but then gets burned and has penalties like that. YEESH.

But as bad as the secondary was, lets be real.. they are forced to cover receivers for almost 10 seconds every single play just b/c our pass rush is TRASH. I mean, notice how once the Pats FINALLY got pressure on Cam.. the Panthers drives stalled quickly (and almost stalled again before that BS Gilmore penalty).

Unfortunately that pressure from pass rush only seems to come in spurts and the remaining 3.5 quarters are spent seeing a QB take 10 seconds to burn our defense.

Yeah, they let Sheard and Long go elsewhere, then Ninkovich retired (which is on him, not the team, but it's still a factor), and Rivers got injured, so there's virtually no pass rush. But let's be real: the Belichick-era Pats have tended to put very little emphasis on pass rushing, ever. My impression is Belichick/Patricia just think it's not a big deal, which I strongly disagree with. I guess the D has been able to cover that in the past by being strong in all other areas of D, but that's not happening this season (so far).
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #62 on: October 01, 2017, 10:32:47 PM »

Offline Ilikesports17

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Overreaction time. The Pats defense has looked bad this year, but Cam Newton should get credit. Deshaun Watson deserves credit, as does Drew Brees and Alex Smith. All four have looked good.

The best part of the defense looking bad is that it is early. They are 2-2 in the weakest division in football, so I'm not worried about their record yet.

They miss Ninkovich/Sheard/healthy Hightower. I think that Tom Brady will have to throw 4 TDs per win, which is asking a lot.

Luckily, he's Tom Brady.
not super sure I agree with the bolded. Cam Newton was very mediocre imo today. We just gave them everything.

Deshaun played pretty well but he really opened himself up to some huge mistakes, really risky running around with the ball making some dumbish decisions throwing on the run across the field etc. We just didnt make him pay.

Alex Smith is good, but we made him look like prime Peyton Manning. Hes a game manager. Thats on us.

Brees is a star, but his performance against us was much better than anyone else and he had a short week to prepare for us while we had a long one coming off Thursday night.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #63 on: October 01, 2017, 10:53:08 PM »

Offline rocknrollforyoursoul

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Overreaction time. The Pats defense has looked bad this year, but Cam Newton should get credit. Deshaun Watson deserves credit, as does Drew Brees and Alex Smith. All four have looked good.

The best part of the defense looking bad is that it is early. They are 2-2 in the weakest division in football, so I'm not worried about their record yet.

They miss Ninkovich/Sheard/healthy Hightower. I think that Tom Brady will have to throw 4 TDs per win, which is asking a lot.

Luckily, he's Tom Brady.
not super sure I agree with the bolded. Cam Newton was very mediocre imo today. We just gave them everything.

Deshaun played pretty well but he really opened himself up to some huge mistakes, really risky running around with the ball making some dumbish decisions throwing on the run across the field etc. We just didnt make him pay.

Alex Smith is good, but we made him look like prime Peyton Manning. Hes a game manager. Thats on us.

Brees is a star, but his performance against us was much better than anyone else and he had a short week to prepare for us while we had a long one coming off Thursday night.

The Panthers offense, before today, had been pretty dismal, so I see this game as being mostly about NE's D being terrible, not Carolina's O being anything special. And Alex Smith should never look as good as he did against us, because he isn't that good, or anywhere close to it. Watson is dynamic and perhaps has a bright future, but NE helped him out a lot.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #64 on: October 02, 2017, 12:29:03 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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Overreaction time. The Pats defense has looked bad this year, but Cam Newton should get credit. Deshaun Watson deserves credit, as does Drew Brees and Alex Smith. All four have looked good.

The best part of the defense looking bad is that it is early. They are 2-2 in the weakest division in football, so I'm not worried about their record yet.

They miss Ninkovich/Sheard/healthy Hightower. I think that Tom Brady will have to throw 4 TDs per win, which is asking a lot.

Luckily, he's Tom Brady.


Those guys are all decent QBs but they have looked like MVPs because the Pats' defense is completely hapless.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #65 on: October 02, 2017, 02:24:42 AM »

Offline SparzWizard

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Overreaction time. The Pats defense has looked bad this year, but Cam Newton should get credit. Deshaun Watson deserves credit, as does Drew Brees and Alex Smith. All four have looked good.

The best part of the defense looking bad is that it is early. They are 2-2 in the weakest division in football, so I'm not worried about their record yet.

They miss Ninkovich/Sheard/healthy Hightower. I think that Tom Brady will have to throw 4 TDs per win, which is asking a lot.

Luckily, he's Tom Brady.

And if this defense doesn't fix itself soon...Jameis Winston, Josh McCown, Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers, Trevor Siemian, and Derek Carr are each gonna look like Tom Brady the GOAT. They're coming up in the next 6 games.


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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #66 on: October 02, 2017, 10:12:16 AM »

Offline Phantom255x

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Unless I'm mistaken, I thought the defense started out shaky last year and got progressively better throughout the season.  I remember being surprised late season... like they had gotta sneaky-good with time.

Yeah as I said here:

Quote
Welp. The only real positive going forward is knowing that in the 2014-2015 season, LOTS of changes were made on defense (many departures, and additions of Revis, Browner, ETC.), and they lost season opener, then lost 4th game of season and started 2-2, BEFORE going on to WINNING the Super Bowl. (They gelled together and communicated better since)

Maybe it improves over time, and so does communication, and we forget about these past few weeks. But this will be no quick fix. Hopefully they take care of business and beat the Bucs and Jets. Now honestly if they lose one of the next 2, it could get real ugly, especially if defense still is bad after the Jets game (making McCown look like the GOAT).

I'm not saying this defense has to turn into 2013 Seahawks or 2015 Broncos, but at least play above average. Above average defense + TB12 offense = WINS and SUPER BOWL.

Unfortunately this defense might actually be the worst in the league statistically (truthfully, lucky to be 2-2 now and not 1-3).

It's also ironic how without TB12 last season first 4 games, the Pats went 3-1 LOL.  :laugh:
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #67 on: October 02, 2017, 10:16:40 AM »

Offline Donoghus

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People keep harping on the defense but the offensive line has been very suspect this year.  Solder, especially.   Pats need to get that shored up or you might be seeing Jimmy G by Week 10.

A lot of the defensive stuff is communication based, IMO.  I think much of it can be fixed by coaching but those guys need to be able to pick up on it & identify stuff in real life.  They were getting killed with motion stuff yesterday.   Luckily, Pats are only at the quarter pole of the season.

Thank god Brady isn't playing like a 40 year old.  This team could be 1-3 right now, easily.


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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #68 on: October 02, 2017, 10:56:40 AM »

Offline Phantom255x

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People keep harping on the defense but the offensive line has been very suspect this year.  Solder, especially.   Pats need to get that shored up or you might be seeing Jimmy G by Week 10.

A lot of the defensive stuff is communication based, IMO.  I think much of it can be fixed by coaching but those guys need to be able to pick up on it & identify stuff in real life.  They were getting killed with motion stuff yesterday.   Luckily, Pats are only at the quarter pole of the season.

Thank god Brady isn't playing like a 40 year old.  This team could be 1-3 right now, easily.

My friend (also a Pats fan) thinks the Patriots could surprise the league and trade for EITHER Joe Thomas (Browns O-Lineman) or Larry Fitzgerald (so a BIG NAME).

Now you can say they don't need a WR now, but come on, if Gronk or Amendola get hurt long term (which is possible), they may need to with Edelman already out for the season and Mitchell likely out until Week 10.

But yeah Solder is getting manhandled a lot more this year than before. That's where a Joe Thomas becomes a possibility.

And I think the biggest issue is COMMUNICATION for the defense. Many times the Panthers would audible or shift and some guys were confused on who to cover and who the other guy was covering (perfect example - that Panthers 30 yard TD on the screen pass - NO patriots CB was even in the area as they BOTH went the other way, when in reality one guy had to stay in the area).

I still think PASS RUSH is the BIGGEST WEAKNESS, because this secondary will get roasted all season if you give the QB 10 seconds to throw every single pass. Notice how when the pressure finally got to Newton late, Carolina's drives stalled quickly. Even the final drive was a 3-and-out BEFORE that BS Gilmore penalty gave them the 1st. Ugh.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #69 on: October 06, 2017, 04:08:16 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Defense was a bit better last night, but they really should have given up 20 points.  The Pats won because the other team didn't have a kicker.

Still, only giving up 20 should be enough.  I'm not sure how long Brady can stay upright behind this offensive line.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #70 on: October 06, 2017, 04:15:26 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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Defense was a bit better last night, but they really should have given up 20 points.  The Pats won because the other team didn't have a kicker.

Still, only giving up 20 should be enough.  I'm not sure how long Brady can stay upright behind this offensive line.

Far from perfect but agree, defense was a little better and that's at least encouraging.

Now they have 10 days between games. Bill and Patricia need to start working on making the adjustments and what not now.

Yesterday they played a lot more zone and conservative and fortunately it worked, but they only did it because they only had like 3 days to gameplan before Tampa (not enough time to fix an entire defense obviously LOL).

As for the O-Line.. yeah that's looking like a problem too. Solder especially is getting mauled out there and getting beat a ton. NOT GOOD.

Romo did think that Solder may be hurt and that he's battling it out, but it's still affecting his play (if that's true, then that's also not good).

Not saying blowout win, but I am confident they'll win vs. NYJ next Sunday, but right after that game... is Atlanta.. (YIKES)  :o
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #71 on: October 10, 2017, 08:45:42 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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Tom Brady missed practice today (1st time this season) and apparently, he has an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder (non-throwing shoulder).

He's not expected to miss time, but I think it's okay to feel a little worried.

He's been getting hit and sacked A TON now, and the O-Line looks real sluggish so far (Nate Solder in particular, though Cannon hasn't looked great either). Solder may be injured, which is unfortunate.

Defense is a concern, but if the Pats should do anything at the deadline, they should probably also look for a legit guard/tackle to beef up the O-Line and protect Brady. (Yeah I'll say it, make the big trade for Joe Thomas! - yeah it's a pipe dream I know).

But man if this O-Line keeps playing like this, then lord have mercy for what guys like Von Miller and Khalil Mack are going to do when they play the Patriots later this season  :o

Ultimately I think we'll be fine, but this game vs. the Jets also looks like a freakin' trap game. Jets are off to a 3-2 start and Pats still trying to figure things out. Jets might be catching us at the right time and this is a ROAD game. Ideally hope the Pats win comfortably and quell many of our doubts, but I doubt it.
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Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #72 on: October 10, 2017, 10:16:35 PM »

Offline green_bballers13

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I'm not worried about Tom's non-throwing shoulder. He has had shoulder issues throughout his career. I think he was on the medical report for around 10 years.

I'm more worried about the O-line continuing to let Brady get hit so frequently. This obv. increases the likelihood that his career will be shortened.

The Pats can shuffle in different defensive personnel. The one constant has been Brady.

Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #73 on: October 10, 2017, 10:27:37 PM »

Offline jambr380

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I'm not worried about Tom's non-throwing shoulder. He has had shoulder issues throughout his career. I think he was on the medical report for around 10 years.

I'm more worried about the O-line continuing to let Brady get hit so frequently. This obv. increases the likelihood that his career will be shortened.

The Pats can shuffle in different defensive personnel. The one constant has been Brady.

Yeah, I don't get it. Unless BB is trying to sabotage Brady's career so he can make a decision on Garoppolo, it doesn't make any sense to not put out the best offensive line possible (in spite of other high salaried players). I fully plan on Brady being the QB in NE for the next 5 seasons; the offensive line is foiling that plan.

Re: Patriots 2017 season
« Reply #74 on: October 15, 2017, 12:18:26 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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I know the Jets are 3-2 and Pats have lots of injuries (prayers out for Langi, and disappointed to suddenly hear Stephon Gilmore is out), but honestly, if they can't win today against the Jets, it might be time to really question if this team can even make the AFC Championship Game this year.

Might also get real ugly especially if the defense is the unit that struggles the most again (or O-Line too). By ugly, I mean lots of trades, yelling, etc. lol.

That being said, hope they win!  ;D
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