CHEATriots (get it!) Offseason Thread

[monosylab1k]

So we need to

1. Re-sign Talib
2. Let someone else overpay for Welker
3. Get a WR with some size and playmaking ability in.
4. For seemingly the umpteenth year in a row, improve the pass rush

As far as a receiver goes, i have one idea. Green Bay needs a running back. Maybe work a trade where the main pieces being moved are Stevan Ridley for Jordy Nelson. Throw in draft picks and whatever else to get the cap figures to work. They get a young 1000 yd back, we're still set with Vereen/Bolden. Although if they plan to let Jennings go, they may be reluctant to move Nelson.

[DeadlyDynasty]

All that said, congrats on another AFC East title next season.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Resigning Talib is definitely priority #1 however he's injury prone as hell and Matt Patricia's ass tightens up like Mookie's at a TING family reunion with Talib on the sidelines. Kyle Arrington will get overpaid by some stupid team and quite frankly I'm fine with that. Patrick Chung is also a goner imo.

I think at this point the rest of the NFL knows how shitty Welker would be on another team and there won't be a team that overpays him. I want him gone no matter what, but fortunately he won't have any bargaining power.

I'm now convinced that the only way New England is winning another superbowl is with an elite defense that can compensate for the 1-2 inevitable shitty performances Brady has in the playoffs every year, which is only gonna happen if Belichick doesn't completely overhaul the secondary so it actually has some continuity. McCourty's switch to safety needs to be permanent and they need an upgrade over Gregory on the other side. Corner completely depends on resigning Talib and if Ras-I Dowling is any good.

[Trainwreck2100]

Maybe work a trade where the main pieces being moved are Stevan Ridley for Jordy Nelson.

that's a very gnsf trade idea

[Ghazi]

1. Resign the Muslim

2. Get a psychotherapist for Tom Brady's narcissistic faggot ass. Perhaps consider electroshock therapy.

[monosylab1k]

Forgot about Gregory. What's funny is he usually makes the right play on the ball, he's just too fucking slow to get there. :lol white DB's

[Trainwreck2100]

Don't have your best receiver block extra points.......................ever

[monosylab1k]

that's a very gnsf trade idea

How?

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

They need someone better than Jordy Nelson. White receivers with mediocre physical abilities who run great routes only get you so far (evident by Nelson's and Welker's performance in the playoffs this year). There aren't any receivers in the draft who I think can immediately fill the void, I'd be inclined to suggest Greg Jennings except I don't want another short receiver. Either him or Dwayne Bowe.

This 4-3 experiment on defense is a huge failure and needs to be scrapped. Running a 4-3 requires multiple players who are freaks and can generate pressure regardless of the scheme. Outside of a healthy Chandler Jones, no one on New England can generate pressure without a well designed scheme that confuses the defense. Switching back to a 3-4 and convincing Romeo Crennel to not retire is their only hope on that side of the ball but it's not happening.

[monosylab1k]

It's the annual Pats fan pipe dream, but this year should they give real thought to Fitzgerald? Capwise it should be okay if Welker is out of the picture.

[monosylab1k]

Brady for Fitzgerald tbh. Let the Ryan Mallett era begin imho.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

It's the annual Pats fan pipe dream, but this year should they give real thought to Fitzgerald? Capwise it should be okay if Welker is out of the picture.
As I said, if that game doesn't convince Belichick they need a real outside receiving threat who can catch passes that aren't perfectly thrown, nothing ever will, so yeah Fitz should be considered, however his contract is THAT ridiculous and the Cardinals would be asking for THAT much it's not worth it. The move they'll regret not making is not going after Vincent Jackson a year ago. He's one of the most underrated receivers in the league. Philbilly immediately went to shit without him and Freeman looked like he actually belonged in the NFL with Jackson as a weapon. As for this year, I'd rather they go after Bowe or Jennings then negotiate a multi-1st round pick package for Fitz.

Even though I'd lose $20 if San Fran wins it, I kinda hope they do just for Moss. Even current day Randy Moss would be a huge upgrade over what New England has at receiver and he deserves one after the defense blowing it for him in 2007, only for Rodney Harrison to get on TV 3 years later and say, "Well it's a good trade cause we never won anything with Moss!" as if Moss was the one who let a 5th string receiver catch a ball with his helmet.

[Clipper Nation]

If you think Welker's a playoff choke artist, you haven't seen Vincent Jackson in the playoffs... he'd have been run out of Foxboro quicker than Ochocinco, tbh...

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

If you think Welker's a playoff choke artist, you haven't seen Vincent Jackson in the playoffs... he'd have been run out of Foxboro quicker than Ochocinco, tbh...

Actually that's true I remember how awful he was for the Chargers against the Jets in 2009.

I'd offer Greg Jennings a contract similar to what Jackson was offered a year ago since that's what he'll be looking for. That'll require some cap maneuvering but not too much if they let Arrington and Welker leave. I'd be OK with resigning Welker as a true #3 receiver who Brady won't need to rely on every 3rd down, but as long as he's here Brady's habit of staring him down and forcing the ball to him won't die.

[Clipper Nation]

Actually that's true I remember how awful he was for the Chargers against the Jets in 2009.

:lol VJax
:lol Kicking the challenge flag
:lol Overrated, overpaid (thankfully not by us)

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

:lol VJax
:lol Kicking the challenge flag
:lol Overrated, overpaid (thankfully not by us)

I don't remember him kicking the challenge flag, I just remember he did something really retarded that resulted in a Revis interception.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

It sucks Ray Horton got hired by Cleveland so fast as their DC, I would have loved to replace Patricia with him.

My ideal coaching structure is pretty much a white head coach who comes from a defensive background and has a defensive scheme for the coordinator to build around, an elite offensive coordinator (so a white one) who's allowed to do his job without any meddling, and a brotha as the defensive coordinator who can get the defense really pumped up and isn't afraid to call aggressive plays (with some exceptions, black defensive coordinators have much more guts with their play calling than white ones). This is why I want Romeo Crennel back since Horton is unavailable.

[Monostradamus]

It sucks Ray Horton got hired by Cleveland so fast as their DC, I would have loved to replace Patricia with him.

My ideal coaching structure is pretty much a white head coach who comes from a defensive background and has a defensive scheme for the coordinator to build around, an elite offensive coordinator (so a white one) who's allowed to do his job without any meddling, and a brotha as the defensive coordinator who can get the defense really pumped up and isn't afraid to call aggressive plays (with some exceptions, black defensive coordinators have much more guts with their play calling than white ones). This is why I want Romeo Crennel back since Horton is unavailable.

Crennel would be ideal but it seems like Pepper Johnson is a guy who consistently does a great job and then never gets the DC job.

[LnGrrrR]

You could probably just put whatever I said last year. Pass rush, secondary etc etc. though with our track record picking secondary lately, maybe we should just trade the pick for a decent cornerback/safety/pass rusher.

[Avante]

Amazing.

Any team that makes it to their conference title game as often as the Pats do don't need fixing because it ain't broke.

[stretch]

Amazing.

Any team that makes it to their conference title game as often as the Pats do don't need fixing because it ain't broke.

If you can't win the big one, then obviously something does need to be fixed.

In the Pats case, their defense has been the single biggest reason they haven't won anything since their 3 in 4 years. As soon as the Ravens started airing it out yesterday, the Pats no longer were getting good field position, their possessions reduced, and it allowed the Ravens defense to get plenty of rest and play much more physical.

Once the Ravens took the lead later in the game, the Pats went really pass happy, and the Ravens were focused heavily on allowing nothing deep, while giving up 5 yard gains consistently in both the run and short pass game. This is where they really felt the loss of Gronk, imo. They didn't have anyone exposing the short passing game, and Welker seemed to melt down and do very little after his bad drop.

If they had gone back to some dink and dunk in the 4th, they probably could have made it a much better game. But they seemed to keep looking to attack downfield into heavy coverage, and I just couldn't understand it.

OTOH, Baltimore executed extremely well in the second half. Boldin was tearing the secondary apart, and the Ravens defense got very physical and no one on the Pats really stepped up to help Brady out. Brady didn't have his best game, but his picks came late, and there was several really bad drops by his receivers, which in the end could have made a huge difference.

[stretch]

Also, does any single player own an entire team as much as Bernard Pollard owns the Pats?

This is the 4th time he perhaps found a way to end the Patriots season with some sort of injury, lol.

[Fabbs]

Maybe you could hire Norv Turner to be head coach or offensive coordinator.
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Original_Photo/2012/06/02/Lee_bestbuddies5_g.jpg__1338671748_8290.jpg

[Monostradamus]

If you can't win the big one, then obviously something does need to be fixed.

In the Pats case, their defense has been the single biggest reason they haven't won anything since their 3 in 4 years. As soon as the Ravens started airing it out yesterday, the Pats no longer were getting good field position, their possessions reduced, and it allowed the Ravens defense to get plenty of rest and play much more physical.

Once the Ravens took the lead later in the game, the Pats went really pass happy, and the Ravens were focused heavily on allowing nothing deep, while giving up 5 yard gains consistently in both the run and short pass game. This is where they really felt the loss of Gronk, imo. They didn't have anyone exposing the short passing game, and Welker seemed to melt down and do very little after his bad drop.

If they had gone back to some dink and dunk in the 4th, they probably could have made it a much better game. But they seemed to keep looking to attack downfield into heavy coverage, and I just couldn't understand it.

OTOH, Baltimore executed extremely well in the second half. Boldin was tearing the secondary apart, and the Ravens defense got very physical and no one on the Pats really stepped up to help Brady out. Brady didn't have his best game, but his picks came late, and there was several really bad drops by his receivers, which in the end could have made a huge difference.

Eh, Brady was terrible. Flat out terrible. His receivers had drops, but there were at least half a dozen times where Brady had an open guy, sometimes so wide open nobody was within 8 yards of the guy, and he threw it in the dirt or overthrew the guy badly. The drops didn't start coming till the second half. In the first half Flacco was awful and the Patriots had so many opportunities to jump on them. If Brady would have taken advantage of those opportunities in the 1st half, they would have been up 21-7 or 24-7, then it's a different ballgame in the second half. Brady sucked hard and that trickled down to everybody, including the defense.

[stretch]

Eh, Brady was terrible. Flat out terrible. His receivers had drops, but there were at least half a dozen times where Brady had an open guy, sometimes so wide open nobody was within 8 yards of the guy, and he threw it in the dirt or overthrew the guy badly. The drops didn't start coming till the second half. In the first half Flacco was awful and the Patriots had so many opportunities to jump on them. If Brady would have taken advantage of those opportunities in the 1st half, they would have been up 21-7 or 24-7, then it's a different ballgame in the second half. Brady sucked hard and that trickled down to everybody, including the defense.

Point is, Brady has sucked before in playoff games, and the team still won, because their defense was able to hold it together.

It's nearly impossible for a QB to play well in every game of the playoffs, especially when every team you play is very good. Usually there is at least one game every playoff run for championship teams where the defense carries the team to victory. If you are relying on your QB to put up +100 QB rating games every game of the playoffs, then your team is terribly flawed. You should not have to be that reliant on your QB.

If their defense was more stout in the second half, then Brady and co wouldn't have to march 80+ yards to score TDs, which is incredibly hard to do against a very good defense like Baltimore, especially if you are having an off day as the QB. And again, not having Gronk definitely hurt in this one too. It may not have been able to get the win, but definitely would have been closer, and I'm sure Brady would have had a better day.

[Monostradamus]

I don't think it's asking too much to demand that your supposed top 3 QB of all time hit wide open guys. A bad game is if you can't complete passes in tight windows. If you can't complete the most routine of passes, that has to affect the rest of the team. If he was under a ton of pressure I might agree as well, but for the most part Brady had plenty of time.

The defense was garbage in the 2nd half, but in the NFL these days, very few defenses can shut a team down for 4 quarters. They played very well in the first half, and if the offense executed as well as the defense in the 1st half, it would have been a much larger lead. Baltimore's offense would have had a different gameplan going into the second half, knowing they needed to score multiple times to get back in the game. And then the defense can sell out on the pass since Baltimore couldn't afford to stick with the running game.

[Monostradamus]

New England's defense was terrible for 2 quarters, the offense was terrible for 4 quarters. The majority of the blame has to go to the offense this game, and in this case I think it's absolutely fair to put this game on Brady.

[stretch]

I don't think it's asking too much to demand that your supposed top 3 QB of all time hit wide open guys. A bad game is if you can't complete passes in tight windows. If you can't complete the most routine of passes, that has to affect the rest of the team. If he was under a ton of pressure I might agree as well, but for the most part Brady had plenty of time.

I think you are exaggerating this a bit. He might have missed a couple passes, but even on good days, QBs will occasionally miss wide open guys. If Wes Welker catches that wide open pass on 3rd down, the game could have turned out much differently. If Ridley wasn't stupid and tried to lower his shoulder against a safety known for hard hitting who had WAY more momentum than he did, that fumble and injury probably doesn't happen and things could have turned out differently there as well. The offense as a whole were failing, not just Brady.


The defense was garbage in the 2nd half, but in the NFL these days, very few defenses can shut a team down for 4 quarters. They played very well in the first half, and if the offense executed as well as the defense in the 1st half, it would have been a much larger lead. Baltimore's offense would have had a different gameplan going into the second half, knowing they needed to score multiple times to get back in the game. And then the defense can sell out on the pass since Baltimore couldn't afford to stick with the running game.

IMO, it wasn't so much that the defense was good in the first half, as opposed to awful playcalling. The Ravens weren't running the ball effectively nor hitting short passes effectively, and kept forcing that. The game changed once they started attacking downfield more and making New England respect the pass game. Once that happened, everything opened up.

Again, I don't disagree that the offense and Brady did not do their job well in the first half. But that's exactly why I said that the team as a whole is flawed. They rely too much on their offense. Plus, they still went into halftime with the lead. There is almost no way that the defense of the Pats from 03-05 would have allowed this Ravens offense to dominate an entire half like that.

The Patriots simply are built with too much focus on Brady playing mistake free football. If the team loses virtually every time he has an less than stellar day, that is a flawed team.

[Monostradamus]

I counted at least 5 times where he flat out missed a wide open guy. Not to mention the infamous 4th and 4 where he could have run for a first down but instead threw it to nobody.

[stretch]

I counted at least 5 times where he flat out missed a wide open guy. Not to mention the infamous 4th and 4 where he could have run for a first down but instead threw it to nobody.

Regardless, the team is flawed. They won't win a Superbowl until they fix that defense up. Brady should be the absolute least of their worries.

[BUMP]

I don't get the OP. Did the Patriots cheat or something?

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Regardless, the team is flawed. They won't win a Superbowl until they fix that defense up. Brady should be the absolute least of their worries.

Exactly what does the defense have to do with only scoring 13 points and 0 points in the 2nd half? Expecting to win a playoff game by scoring 13 points in today's NFL is totally ridiculous. The defense fell apart but the offense was easily a bigger culprit for the loss.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

If you can't win the big one, then obviously something does need to be fixed.

In the Pats case, their defense has been the single biggest reason they haven't won anything since their 3 in 4 years.
Points scored by the Patriots in their last 5 playoff exits:

13
17
21
14
14

To say their defense is the biggest reason why doesn't make any sense. The NFL has become a league dominated by passing and offense. No team can expect to win playoff games only scoring 14-17 points, especially when said team's identity is its pass happy offense led by a HOF QB.


As soon as the Ravens started airing it out yesterday, the Pats no longer were getting good field position, their possessions reduced, and it allowed the Ravens defense to get plenty of rest and play much more physical.
The Patriots are an offense first team with a HOF QB. The identity of the Patriots isn't a team with an offense that capitalizes on good defense, it's the other way around. If the Patriots' offense needs the defense to set them up with a short field and a low scoring game, it's a much bigger problem with the offense than the defense.


Once the Ravens took the lead later in the game, the Pats went really pass happy, and the Ravens were focused heavily on allowing nothing deep, while giving up 5 yard gains consistently in both the run and short pass game. This is where they really felt the loss of Gronk, imo. They didn't have anyone exposing the short passing game, and Welker seemed to melt down and do very little after his bad drop.
What game were you watching? The Ravens were jamming up the middle of the field the whole game and begging Brady to throw deep and to the outside. The problem being all of New England's receivers are too short and physically inferior they require perfectly precise deep balls in order to catch them. Brady attempted several deep passes where a receiver got behind the defense, the window was just too tight and no receiver on the team is capable of catching balls that aren't perfectly thrown.

Also prior to the Ravens taking the lead, New England squandered multiple redzone opportunities and Welker dropped 2 passes on 3rd down that were both momentum killers. When Welker dropped the 3rd down pass that led to a 21-0 Baltimore run, it was 13-7 with New England punting and it should have been 21-7 with New England driving.


If they had gone back to some dink and dunk in the 4th, they probably could have made it a much better game. But they seemed to keep looking to attack downfield into heavy coverage, and I just couldn't understand it.
Again, what game were you watching? The Ravens were jamming up the middle of the field. It looked like heavy coverage downfield because it's easy as hell to cover deep passing attempts from New England.


OTOH, Baltimore executed extremely well in the second half. Boldin was tearing the secondary apart, and the Ravens defense got very physical and no one on the Pats really stepped up to help Brady out. Brady didn't have his best game, but his picks came late, and there was several really bad drops by his receivers, which in the end could have made a huge difference.
I agree in the sense Brady didn't play well but I blame this game on a lot more things before blaming him.

[Monostradamus]

Sorry, I just thought Brady was horrendous. Basically every pass Brandon Lloyd caught, he was diving for it. I know Lloyd isn't great at getting good separation, and many times those dives are out of necessity, but I thought most of those plays last night, he should have been getting a pass right between the numbers because he had plenty of separation. If Brady puts it on target, Lloyd has the ability to shake a defender and get upfield. Instead, he has to dive for a shitty pass and gets tagged down for an 8 yard gain.

[stretch]

Points scored by the Patriots in their last 5 playoff exits:

13
17
21
14
14

To say their defense is the biggest reason why doesn't make any sense. The NFL has become a league dominated by passing and offense. No team can expect to win playoff games only scoring 14-17 points, especially when said team's identity is its pass happy offense led by a HOF QB.

They also allowed an average of almost 26 points per game that they were giving up. Can't win giving up that many points a game either.

I agree that their offense has sputtered at times, but look at their championship runs, they won 4 out of 9 games scoring 20 points or less. Why? Their defense. And that is my point, is that you can't expect to win championship after championship as some people expect the Pats to do, if your defense can't occasionally cover up for your offense not putting many points up. If you are expecting your offense to win a championship almost by itself, you are basically just hoping that your offense gets lucky and has 3 or 4 games in a row of nearly mistake free football, or that your opponent just totally shits the bed in 3 or 4 games in a row.

They won those championships by having a good medium between their offense being able to carry the team to wins, as well as the defense being able to carry the team to wins. But the way they are currently constructed, if their offense has a bad day, they are completely incapable of winning, unlike in the past.


The Patriots are an offense first team with a HOF QB. The identity of the Patriots isn't a team with an offense that capitalizes on good defense, it's the other way around. If the Patriots' offense needs the defense to set them up with a short field and a low scoring game, it's a much bigger problem with the offense than the defense.

IMO, they need to change that identity and work on their defense.


What game were you watching? The Ravens were jamming up the middle of the field the whole game and begging Brady to throw deep and to the outside. The problem being all of New England's receivers are too short and physically inferior they require perfectly precise deep balls in order to catch them. Brady attempted several deep passes where a receiver got behind the defense, the window was just too tight and no receiver on the team is capable of catching balls that aren't perfectly thrown.

Also prior to the Ravens taking the lead, New England squandered multiple redzone opportunities and Welker dropped 2 passes on 3rd down that were both momentum killers. When Welker dropped the 3rd down pass that led to a 21-0 Baltimore run, it was 13-7 with New England punting and it should have been 21-7 with New England driving.


Again, what game were you watching? The Ravens were jamming up the middle of the field. It looked like heavy coverage downfield because it's easy as hell to cover deep passing attempts from New England.

Perhaps we saw it differently. To me, it seemed they they could have done more adjustment to the Ravens jamming and use tactics such as natural picks to get their receivers open, as well as getting some YAC. Regardless, I think we both agree that the offense was poor this game. But my point is that if they want to have championship success again, they need to have a better defense, and not rely so much on the offense.


I agree in the sense Brady didn't play well but I blame this game on a lot more things before blaming him.

:tu

[Monostradamus]

I agree that their offense has sputtered at times, but look at their championship runs, they won 4 out of 9 games scoring 20 points or less. Why? Their defense.
They also won games where the defense played like ass, because Brady stepped up. That "dominant" defense allowed 29 points to Jake freakin Delhomme. They won because Brady stepped up and put 32 points on the board.

And even in just 7 or 8 years, offenses have grown exponentially. A dominant defense now is different than a dominant defense back then. Nowadays I think even a dominant defense can't be blamed for giving up over 20 points in a game, because the game is even more tailored to offenses. the Niners gave up 24 points, the difference maker is that their QB stepped up and made plays. More often in today's NFL, if an offense scores less than 20 points in a game, it's due to their ineptness more than defensive dominance.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Point is, Brady has sucked before in playoff games, and the team still won, because their defense was able to hold it together.
And also because back from 2001-2004 the Patriots were still a team that had the identity of elite defense with a ball control offense that wasn't expected to score a lot of points.


It's nearly impossible for a QB to play well in every game of the playoffs, especially when every team you play is very good. Usually there is at least one game every playoff run for championship teams where the defense carries the team to victory. If you are relying on your QB to put up +100 QB rating games every game of the playoffs, then your team is terribly flawed. You should not have to be that reliant on your QB.

So far in the playoffs this year, Flacco has a passer rating over 100 in his 3 games. Kaepernick's passer rating against Green Bay was 91 but his performance was equivalent to a 100+ passer rating when you factor rushing in.
2011 Eli Manning:
129.3 passer rating against Atlanta
114.5 passer rating against Green Bay
82.3 passer rating against San Fran (so his worse passer rating was a 300 yard game with 2 TDs and no picks)
103.7 passer rating against New England

2009 Drew Brees:
125.4 passer rating against Arizona
106.5 passer rating against Minnesota
114.5 passer rating against Indy

Not only is it possible for a QB to play well in every playoff game, it's almost required these days.


If their defense was more stout in the second half, then Brady and co wouldn't have to march 80+ yards to score TDs, which is incredibly hard to do against a very good defense like Baltimore, especially if you are having an off day as the QB.
Baltimore just gave up 35 points to Indy and haven't played good defense all year. Earlier this year New England scored 30 points in Baltimore. A HOF QB should also be capable of having an 80+ yard drive. You talk about New England as if it's structured as a defense first team with a game managing QB who can't be expected to make plays on his own.


And again, not having Gronk definitely hurt in this one too. It may not have been able to get the win, but definitely would have been closer, and I'm sure Brady would have had a better day.
Gronk being healthy definitely makes at least 1 of their field goals a touchdown so they go into halftime with at least a 2 possession lead. It doesn't matter as injuries are part of the game and Gronk's injury isn't an excuse for a lot of what happened.

[stretch]

They also won games where the defense played like ass, because Brady stepped up. That "dominant" defense allowed 29 points to Jake freakin Delhomme. They won because Brady stepped up and put 32 points on the board.

And even in just 7 or 8 years, offenses have grown exponentially. A dominant defense now is different than a dominant defense back then. Nowadays I think even a dominant defense can't be blamed for giving up over 20 points in a game, because the game is even more tailored to offenses. the Niners gave up 24 points, the difference maker is that their QB stepped up and made plays. More often in today's NFL, if an offense scores less than 20 points in a game, it's due to their ineptness more than defensive dominance.

I agree completely which is why I said you have to have a balance between the two.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

And even in just 7 or 8 years, offenses have grown exponentially. A dominant defense now is different than a dominant defense back then. Nowadays I think even a dominant defense can't be blamed for giving up over 20 points in a game, because the game is even more tailored to offenses. the Niners gave up 24 points, the difference maker is that their QB stepped up and made plays. More often in today's NFL, if an offense scores less than 20 points in a game, it's due to their ineptness more than defensive dominance.

This. The NFL in 2004 is much different than it is now. Winning playoff games when the offense doesn't score into the 20s doesn't happen very often regardless of the team. It especially doesn't happen very often when the team's identity is an elite passing offense and an opportunistic defense that's used to playing with a lead.

[Monostradamus]

Baltimore's defense gave up more points than New England's defense this season. It's not like they're dominant. Brady should have been able to engineer more than 13 points.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

They also allowed an average of almost 26 points per game that they were giving up. Can't win giving up that many points a game either.
They gave up 17 points and 21 points in their last two superbowls. A team with an elite QB that averaged 30+ PPG during the regular season should be more than capable of winning at least 1 of the 2 superbowls with that defensive performance.


I agree that their offense has sputtered at times, but look at their championship runs, they won 4 out of 9 games scoring 20 points or less. Why? Their defense. And that is my point, is that you can't expect to win championship after championship as some people expect the Pats to do, if your defense can't occasionally cover up for your offense not putting many points up. If you are expecting your offense to win a championship almost by itself, you are basically just hoping that your offense gets lucky and has 3 or 4 games in a row of nearly mistake free football, or that your opponent just totally shits the bed in 3 or 4 games in a row.
No team in recent years has consistently won playoff games scoring 20 points or less. This year, outside of the Bengals Texans game, every playoff game has been won by a team scoring 24 points or more. Playoff games where each team scores less than 20 points rarely happen anymore. Why do you ignore this point?


IMO, they need to change that identity and work on their defense.
If you think there's any way in the current day NFL to "work on defense" enough where you can consistently win playoff games scoring 20 points or less, idk what to say.



Perhaps we saw it differently. To me, it seemed they they could have done more adjustment to the Ravens jamming and use tactics such as natural picks to get their receivers open, as well as getting some YAC. Regardless, I think we both agree that the offense was poor this game. But my point is that if they want to have championship success again, they need to have a better defense, and not rely so much on the offense.
They had no way of adjusting to the Ravens jamming because all of their receivers are runts who can't handle press coverage. Their safeties were up on every play because they had more than enough time to react if Welker or Branch or Lloyd were gonna go deep.

[Monostradamus]

The defense definitely needs improvement, especially rushing the passer. Chandler Jones had a nice start to the year, but after his injury he was total crap. One ankle injury shouldn't completely shut down your entire game, so I'm led to believe offenses adjusted to him and shut him down, the ankle injury was just a convenient excuse. Hopefully he makes the adjustments and improves his game, as he was looking impressive early on. Still, they need at least one more guy getting pressure on the QB.

I don't think the secondary is as bad as they seem. Of course a guy with an arm like Flacco's will make passes downfield when he has all day to throw it. The only major change to the secondary that has to happen is to get Gregory out of there. John Lynch aside, you can't win with white defensive backs. With McCourty playing free safety it seems logical for Chung to play strong, since that suits him more. Then again, he's just played like shit no matter what this season, so maybe find a new safety altogether.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

The defense definitely needs improvement, especially rushing the passer. Chandler Jones had a nice start to the year, but after his injury he was total crap. One ankle injury shouldn't completely shut down your entire game, so I'm led to believe defenses adjusted to him and shut him down, the ankle injury was just a convenient excuse.
Not to sound like a homer, but idk how many times Chandler Jones got held this year. I know holding gets ignored a lot, but a lot of them were holding penalties with an arm wrapped around Jones' neck. Hopefully he'll add strength and learn to start bitching at the refs like players who always get held need to.

The biggest problem with the pass rush is no presence on the D-line other than Wilfork who can consistenty draw double teams. Additionally Matt Patricia either is too scared to blitz at all or sends middle linebacker blitzes that don't get there quick enough.


I don't think the secondary is as bad as they seem. Of course a guy with an arm like Flacco's will make passes downfield when he has all day to throw it. The only major change to the secondary that has to happen is to get Gregory out of there. John Lynch aside, you can't win with white defensive backs. With McCourty playing free safety it seems logical for Chung to play strong, since that suits him more. Then again, he's just played like shit no matter what this season, so maybe find a new safety altogether.
They need a strong safety who can calls plays in the secondary, isn't undersized and can scare offenses (basically bernard pollard). They don't have anyone like that and they shouldn't hope to find an immediate leader in the draft. Their priorities in free agency should be Greg Jennings, Kenny Phillips, and whoever the best interior rushing D-linemen is. If they wanna win another superbowl with brady they need to change their conservative philosophy and start mortgaging the future.

[AaronY]

1. Resign the Muslim

2. Get a psychotherapist for Tom Brady's narcissistic faggot ass. Perhaps consider electroshock therapy.
Lol'd at #2

[DeadlyDynasty]

:lolJets fans already have their offseason wishlist... http://www.forums.theganggreen.com/showthread.php?t=76632

[jeebus]

:lolJets fans already have their offseason wishlist... http://www.forums.theganggreen.com/showthread.php?t=76632

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APSGIeOR6zQ

:lmao