Patriots 2020 Season

[ozgod]

I guess playoffs officially out of reach now?

[RPGenerate]

I guess playoffs officially out of reach now?

Yeah, it's pretty much over. I just wish Bill would stop being so dang stubborn and just play Stidham for the rest of the year. Might as well see what Stidham's got, starting the game and having the gameplan centered around him.

[Redz]

I guess playoffs officially out of reach now?

Yeah, it's pretty much over. I just wish Bill would stop being so dang stubborn and just play Stidham for the rest of the year. Might as well see what Stidham's got, starting the game and having the gameplan centered around him.

Never mind for development purposes.  I thought when they went down 3 scores in the 4th he should have gone in two possessions sooner, because he gave them the best chance at winning (slim though it may have been).  They had to pass the ball at that point and Cam could not.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

This season has pretty much been the train wreck I expected. There have been a couple of surprise bright spots—Gunner, Harris, and Winovich—but that's about it. We have a "running quarterback" who's no longer good at running or quarterbacking, no tight end, and a paper-thin receiving corps, and Bill's poor drafting is really showing, IMO.

[nickagneta]

This season has pretty much been the train wreck I expected. There have been a couple of surprise bright spots—Gunner, Harris, and Winovich—but that's about it. We have a "running quarterback" who's no longer good at running or quarterbacking, no tight end, and a paper-thin receiving corps, and Bill's poor drafting is really showing, IMO.

I really like the way some of the rookies have played. Onwenu, Dugger and Jennings are having great rookie seasons. And watching the development of Harris, JC Jackson, Bently, Joejuan Williams, Cowart and a few others has been good.

[PhoSita]

I'm so ready to be done with the Cam experience and this offense from 1950 that they've been running this year.

It's cool that they got it to work a handful of times.  It's not a recipe for future success.  Cam is not good enough to be the long term starter at QB.  Stidham almost certainly isn't the answer, either.

I really want to see them draft a QB (or two) and, if necessary, sign a QB in free agency who can at least run the kind of offense they expect to install long term.  This team is in for an extended rebuild.  It's time to start putting in place the infrastructure for the next successful version of the team.


I wish Cam well.  I hope he can find success on another team with more talent.  The Patriots don't have a good enough team to be relevant with him under center.

[Vermont Green]

I think Newton's arm is hurt or permanently damaged.  His motion is slow and awkward.  I don't remember well enough to know if it was always like this but something doesn't look right to me.  And the results certainly would support this.  People aren't getting open either so it is not all his fault but I think there is an issue with his arm.

I also don't understand why the defense is so inconsistent.  Teams are pretty much running over us when they want to.  They keep running the same plays at us and we keep giving up yards.  The defense shouldn't be this bad, even without Hightower and Chung.

Yeah, this is the lost season.

[PhoSita]

This season has pretty much been the train wreck I expected. There have been a couple of surprise bright spots—Gunner, Harris, and Winovich—but that's about it. We have a "running quarterback" who's no longer good at running or quarterbacking, no tight end, and a paper-thin receiving corps, and Bill's poor drafting is really showing, IMO.

It's depressing and frustrating thinking about just how bare this roster is in terms of skill positions.  I get that they've been drafting at the end of rounds for a while because they were good, but how can you so completely fail to find anybody who makes a difference in the draft?  Virtually every team in the league is able to find guys who can catch the ball and make plays even in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th round.

The Pats have consistently been able to add guys on defense, the offensive line, and at running back / full back.  They seem to be really good at identifying special teams stars.  That's nice, but you need to have a passing offense to win games in the modern NFL.  Why can't they draft a WR or TE?  Bill's always been bad at finding good WRs, I guess, but since Gronkowski they haven't added anybody worthwhile at TE, either.

I know people point to the system as an issue.  It's a hard system for young WRs to pick up.  OK -- that was fine while Brady was here.  Now we don't have a superstar QB entrenched at the position.  Maybe it's time to change up the playbook so you can integrate talented young receivers!  You can't have an inexperienced  / flawed QB (as the Pats are likely to have for the near future) and still run an offensive system that any young player you draft will struggle to figure out.

[nickagneta]

I'm so ready to be done with the Cam experience and this offense from 1950 that they've been running this year.

It's cool that they got it to work a handful of times.  It's not a recipe for future success.  Cam is not good enough to be the long term starter at QB.  Stidham almost certainly isn't the answer, either.

I really want to see them draft a QB (or two) and, if necessary, sign a QB in free agency who can at least run the kind of offense they expect to install long term.  This team is in for an extended rebuild.  It's time to start putting in place the infrastructure for the next successful version of the team.


I wish Cam well.  I hope he can find success on another team with more talent.  The Patriots don't have a good enough team to be relevant with him under center.

Lawrence and Fields will go 1 and 2 in the draft. But Mac Jones from Alabama and Zach Wilson from BYU, both projected as 1st rounders should be gettable for where New England could be drafting if they finish 1-2. Of course, you just take one of those guys and then make them the starting QB day 1 next season.

[Neurotic Guy]

I think Newton's arm is hurt or permanently damaged.  His motion is slow and awkward.  I don't remember well enough to know if it was always like this but something doesn't look right to me.  And the results certainly would support this.  People aren't getting open either so it is not all his fault but I think there is an issue with his arm.



Yeah, this is the lost season.

Yes -- the motion is so slow.  He stands in the pocket, seems to have little feel for where pressure is coming, reacts slowly, winds-up to throw, and then is frequently inaccurate.   It almost always feels as though he's going to lose the ball, throw an interception or get sacked. 

BUT -- O-line is not bad at all and Harris is a really good runner -- quick and has some power.  I even like the receivers as 3rd or 4th receivers.

A good tight end, a couple of high end receivers and a quarterback.  Obviously a tall order but I think BB can make good progress this off-season.   If Pats lose their final 3 games (not likely) they have a shot at 10th in the draft.

[PhoSita]

A good tight end, a couple of high end receivers and a quarterback.  Obviously a tall order but I think BB can make good progress this off-season.   If Pats lose their final 3 games (not likely) they have a shot at 10th in the draft.

In other words, they just need to find the core pieces of a functional passing offense all in one off-season.  Tall order indeed.  Especially since they've failed to add players at those spots in the past when they've needed to via the draft.  Are they going to pay huge bucks in free agency when they don't have a franchise QB in place?


They won't start Stidham, but they should.  Say that Cam is banged up and needs to rehab his arm for next season.  If they did start Stidham, they'd definitely lose the remaining three games.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

A good tight end, a couple of high end receivers and a quarterback.  Obviously a tall order but I think BB can make good progress this off-season.   If Pats lose their final 3 games (not likely) they have a shot at 10th in the draft.

In other words, they just need to find the core pieces of a functional passing offense all in one off-season.  Tall order indeed.  Especially since they've failed to add players at those spots in the past when they've needed to via the draft.  Are they going to pay huge bucks in free agency when they don't have a franchise QB in place?


They won't start Stidham, but they should.  Say that Cam is banged up and needs to rehab his arm for next season.  If they did start Stidham, they'd definitely lose the remaining three games.

Cam should absolutely be benched. I understand that Bill is a competitor, but he should've made this season a "competitive tank"—meaning, he could still coach up his players, development them, etc., and in that way legitimately try to win, but don't acquire any star players (even if they are basically washed up) in a full-blown effort to make the playoffs with a patchwork team. Because even if Cam had been "old Cam" (instead of just old), this team wasn't getting anywhere near the Super Bowl; it doesn't have enough high-quality pieces to support Cam.

All this time, Bill could've been playing Stidham and seeing just what Stidham's capable of—knowing that Cam was never going to be here beyond one year anyway, because if he's bad, they don't re-sign him, and if he's good, Bill wouldn't pay big bucks to keep him—but what we now have instead is Stidham being 12 games behind in his development, meaning we still don't know if he's worth keeping, and the Pats aren't going to get a high draft pick. So, of all possible courses Bill had to choose from this season, he chose the worst one—no playoffs/no legit chance at winning, and no high draft pick. And we still don't have a good tight end or a No. 1 receiver (or even a dependable No. 2).

And maybe Bill's already decided that Stidham's not the man for the job, which is fine, but in that case, he still should've let Stidham play—to make sure that Stidham's not the man for the job, and because Cam was never more than a one-year experiment to begin with. This team had so many flaws last season, and brought all of those flaws into this season ... but without Brady to help hide them. Why not just let the kids play and then take a high pick?

[CelticsElite]

I guess playoffs officially out of reach now?

no. There’s still a 3.7% chance of making the playoffs

[PhoSita]

A good tight end, a couple of high end receivers and a quarterback.  Obviously a tall order but I think BB can make good progress this off-season.   If Pats lose their final 3 games (not likely) they have a shot at 10th in the draft.

In other words, they just need to find the core pieces of a functional passing offense all in one off-season.  Tall order indeed.  Especially since they've failed to add players at those spots in the past when they've needed to via the draft.  Are they going to pay huge bucks in free agency when they don't have a franchise QB in place?


They won't start Stidham, but they should.  Say that Cam is banged up and needs to rehab his arm for next season.  If they did start Stidham, they'd definitely lose the remaining three games.

Cam should absolutely be benched. I understand that Bill is a competitor, but he should've made this season a "competitive tank"—meaning, he could still coach up his players, development them, etc., and in that way legitimately try to win, but don't acquire any star players (even if they are basically washed up) in a full-blown effort to make the playoffs with a patchwork team. Because even if Cam had been "old Cam" (instead of just old), this team wasn't getting anywhere near the Super Bowl; it doesn't have enough high-quality pieces to support Cam.

All this time, Bill could've been playing Stidham and seeing just what Stidham's capable of—knowing that Cam was never going to be here beyond one year anyway, because if he's bad, they don't re-sign him, and if he's good, Bill wouldn't pay big bucks to keep him—but what we now have instead is Stidham being 12 games behind in his development, meaning we still don't know if he's worth keeping, and the Pats aren't going to get a high draft pick. So, of all possible courses Bill had to choose from this season, he chose the worst one—no playoffs/no legit chance at winning, and no high draft pick. And we still don't have a good tight end or a No. 1 receiver (or even a dependable No. 2).

And maybe Bill's already decided that Stidham's not the man for the job, which is fine, but in that case, he still should've let Stidham play—to make sure that Stidham's not the man for the job, and because Cam was never more than a one-year experiment to begin with. This team had so many flaws last season, and brought all of those flaws into this season ... but without Brady to help hide them. Why not just let the kids play and then take a high pick?

I honestly don't know.

At one point I was thinking well, if they try their best to be respectable with what they've got, that can give them a foundation to build on for next season.

The problem is they're going to spend this whole season executing a gameplan built around a QB who can't make quick, short passes.  Their red zone offense is entirely QB draws, iso runs, and sweeps.  There should be basically nothing that they take from the offense this season into the future, because this offense is premised on having a QB who can't really play QB.

[nickagneta]

And maybe Bill's already decided that Stidham's not the man for the job, which is fine, but in that case, he still should've let Stidham play—to make sure that Stidham's not the man for the job, and because Cam was never more than a one-year experiment to begin with.

If Belichick has already decided that Stidham is not the long term solution at QB, the only reason to play him is to prove to fans that he, Belichick, is correct. Belichick certainly doesn't have to prove it to himself that he is right in not playing Stidham.