2013 Patriots Football

[Smokeeye123]

Talib has to be the one resigned and it's not even close. See what happened when he was knocked out of the game in the first Q? Want that to be your defense for 16 games in a row next season? I'd hope we be getting an upgrade at WR anyways be it a trade or w/e. Now is the time to go allin with Brady getting up their in age.

[PhoSita]

Talib has to be the one resigned and it's not even close. See what happened when he was knocked out of the game in the first Q? Want that to be your defense for 16 games in a row next season? I'd hope we be getting an upgrade at WR anyways be it a trade or w/e. Now is the time to go allin with Brady getting up their in age.

That's the thing, though -- Talib is always getting knocked out of big games.

I agree that a shut-down corner is a major need, but the Pats need to stop investing in players that are unreliable.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The D was pretty bad. Sure, they surrendered only 26 points, but they had virtually no pressure on Manning, including no sacks, and forced zero turnovers. Losing Talib hurt, also.

That said, the D at least forced the Broncos into a bunch of field goals, giving the Patriots plenty of opportunities to win this. Yes, they overachieved this season; yes, it was a successful season, especially considering all the injuries; but they still could've won this game today.

Brady was pretty bad. He missed Edelman deep early on a play-action, a little while later missed Collie deep—both guys were wide open. He also missed a wide-open Edelman in the end zone in the fourth. Oh, and he failed to see a 335-pound defensive lineman coming straight at him untouched.

[Cman]

Big questions RE FAs:
(1) Talib
(2) Edelman
(3) Blount

How much to resign, who do you pick if you pick one?

If I have to pick one, I pick Edelman.

I don't know enough about NFL salaries to say how much each should get.

I'd pay market price (or a little bit above) to keep Edelman.  I'd only re-sign Talib if it's a bargain.  I'd pay market price to keep Blount if it's a short deal.

Yeah it all comes down to salaries.
I think Edelman will be around $4m a year, which might be out of Pats range.
Blount maybe $2m?
Talib most expensive of them. Maybe $6-7m?
Pats can't afford all of them.
Other issue is draft. I'd like to see a huge defensive lineman, an explosive safety, and Gronk 2.0 in that order.

To me it's essential that they keep Edelman because, as we've all seen, Brady really needs to have guys that he trusts.  He needs to have at least one or two targets that he has a history with.  Edelman and Gronk are the only guys left who fit the bill, and Gronk is perpetually injured.

I think Edelmans keepable. I think other teams will shy away from him bc of a worry that he's a system WR/ undersized/ injury prone.

Other than Edelman though the Pats don't need WR FAs. The rookies will progress, there needs to be some faith in this happening. And patience. It wasn't as if Eric Decker was a star WR from year one.

[SparzWizard]

Danny Amendola needs to go.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Nauseating that history repeated itself. After all the injuries, we were still in the hunt till Talib was hurt. D. Thomas got off just like A. Boldin (which cost us the AFC title against the Ravens as well, imo)

[kozlodoev]

Pats D played well, losing Talib hurt.

I don't know.  Zero sacks, very little pressure, no turnovers.  The Pats let the Broncos score on every drive other than their first one, and the final one where the Broncos ran out the clock.

Allowing points on six straight possessions isn't impressive, regardless of them only allowing two TDs.

The defense was horrible. It's not even the pass rush, but how about you make a tackle? They got so many 1st downs after the catch it wasn't even fun.

Also, the problem is not Talib getting hurt. The problem is having just 1 coverage corner on the roster that's worth his salt. This is a recipe for disaster.

[D.o.s.]

Pats D played well, losing Talib hurt.

I don't know.  Zero sacks, very little pressure, no turnovers.  The Pats let the Broncos score on every drive other than their first one, and the final one where the Broncos ran out the clock.

Allowing points on six straight possessions isn't impressive, regardless of them only allowing two TDs.

[PhoSita]

Pats D played well, losing Talib hurt.

I don't know.  Zero sacks, very little pressure, no turnovers.  The Pats let the Broncos score on every drive other than their first one, and the final one where the Broncos ran out the clock.

Allowing points on six straight possessions isn't impressive, regardless of them only allowing two TDs.

The defense was horrible. It's not even the pass rush, but how about you make a tackle? They got so many 1st downs after the catch it wasn't even fun.

Also, the problem is not Talib getting hurt. The problem is having just 1 coverage corner on the roster that's worth his salt. This is a recipe for disaster.

Trouble is, they've already invested a lot of draft resources in defensive backs over the last 4-5 years.  Can't keep burning draft picks trying to find better DBs.

I think the Pats really need to find a way to get bigger and tougher on the defensive line.  Belichick seem to like going for the smaller, faster, more versatile guys.  That's nice, but in the playoffs the teams that go farthest (and often overachieve compared to the regular season) are the ones with huge, bruising players at the line of scrimmage. 

Just look at what Terrance Knighton did against the Pats.  If the Broncos had Von Miller healthy for that game, it might have been even uglier.

[kozlodoev]

Pats D played well, losing Talib hurt.

I don't know.  Zero sacks, very little pressure, no turnovers.  The Pats let the Broncos score on every drive other than their first one, and the final one where the Broncos ran out the clock.

Allowing points on six straight possessions isn't impressive, regardless of them only allowing two TDs.

The defense was horrible. It's not even the pass rush, but how about you make a tackle? They got so many 1st downs after the catch it wasn't even fun.

Also, the problem is not Talib getting hurt. The problem is having just 1 coverage corner on the roster that's worth his salt. This is a recipe for disaster.

Trouble is, they've already invested a lot of draft resources in defensive backs over the last 4-5 years.  Can't keep burning draft picks trying to find better DBs.

I think the Pats really need to find a way to get bigger and tougher on the defensive line.  Belichick seem to like going for the smaller, faster, more versatile guys.  That's nice, but in the playoffs the teams that go farthest (and often overachieve compared to the regular season) are the ones with huge, bruising players at the line of scrimmage. 

Just look at what Terrance Knighton did against the Pats.  If the Broncos had Von Miller healthy for that game, it might have been even uglier.

Losing Wilfork and Kelly played a big role in this. I don't think Vellano and Sopoaga are small, they're just not as good.

[kozlodoev]

To me it's essential that they keep Edelman because, as we've all seen, Brady really needs to have guys that he trusts.  He needs to have at least one or two targets that he has a history with.  Edelman and Gronk are the only guys left who fit the bill, and Gronk is perpetually injured.

I don't know, he seems pretty comfortable with Vereen and Dobson, too.

[Jayman]

Danny Amendola needs to go.

He did nothing this year, was supposed to be our replacement for Welker 

[Cman]

I think the Pats really need to find a way to get bigger and tougher on the defensive line. 

Kelly and Wilfork back will help make the Pats bigger, if they are back to former strength. Nevertheless, Wilfork isn't getting any younger, and I agree that the Pats should try to draft a Wilfork type replacement. Of course, it is much easier said than done. Just like it is much easier to say "surround Tom Brady with better weapons" than it is to do.

[kozlodoev]

I think the Pats really need to find a way to get bigger and tougher on the defensive line. 

Kelly and Wilfork back will help make the Pats bigger, if they are back to former strength. Nevertheless, Wilfork isn't getting any younger, and I agree that the Pats should try to draft a Wilfork type replacement. Of course, it is much easier said than done. Just like it is much easier to say "surround Tom Brady with better weapons" than it is to do.

Siliga and Jones have been a decent combo and are both quite young. I don't think it's fair to estabilsh the criteria for failure as "they're not as good as Wilfork".

In related news, Siliga's real first name is "Tupaimoefitpo". True story.

[GreenWarrior]

gonna chime in here for what I think the pats should do.

one thing I've noticed over the past few yrs. is other than edleman, welker and vereen and gronk when healthy these receivers just plain suck.

when we were trying to get back in the game brady was putting a lot of his passes where they needed to be, in spots where his wr's should've been able to do more than just make the catch. sometimes brady's accuracy has been the issue but for the most part it's his wr's, they need to make the easy catches easy and do more than just catch it. what happen to YAC?

i'd really like to see larry fitzgerald here next yr.


as far as defense goes. like someone mentioned previously they have invested draft picks and FA to address their secondary. at some point these guys got to step up.

but one thing that's bothered them for quite a bit now is their D-line. yeah they had a lot of injuries this yr. but this problem has existed long before these injuries this yr.

I've always felt you build your teams from the lines out. a great D-line will make even a poor secondary unit look decent. like their secondary obviously some guys need to step up but maybe some of the guys that we thought were good aren't so good.