New England Patriots Discussion - Page 305

descendency · 01-07-2012, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepg

Maroney ran 14 times for 36 yards (2.6ypc) with a long of 9.

That's probably only half true. He probably ran for 50 yards, but only 36 yards forward.

ElectricEye · 01-07-2012, 01:35 PM

Maroney was incredibly gifted. Particularly at fumbling on the goal line in key situations.

nepg · 01-07-2012, 01:41 PM

Yeah, there's no way it's a bad hire. Great way to supplement O'Brien juggling two gigs.

descendency · 01-07-2012, 01:46 PM

Maybe Patriots fans should write an open letter to Eric Mangini begging him to come back and be the DC in NE...

We might have a shot at a Super Bowl again before Brady dies.

ElectricEye · 01-07-2012, 01:49 PM

I still think that bridge is burned, unfortunately. I would absolutely love that too though...but I just can't see that happening this century. He would be a better potential Belichick replacement than McDaniels though. I don't want him anywhere near our personnel decisions, except maybe with wide receivers.

Also, on the subject of impossible ideas;

1. Find a time machine
2. Sign 2007 Randy Moss.
3. **** **** up.

nepg · 01-07-2012, 01:58 PM

I think the bridge has been rebuilt with Mangini-Belichick. Really want to see him back in New England. He got hosed in his first two gigs. Never had a QB.

His personnel decisions were actually pretty solid overall.

ElectricEye · 01-07-2012, 03:58 PM

I'm posting this here since I don't want to be murdered by fans who picked in the top ten under McDaniel's watch(I wouldn't like the guy either if that were to happen)....but I really feel like most of his failings in other places had to do with bad personnel decisions and just a general lack of grounding. With the personnel we have on offense(and hopefully the additions we make to sure up the wide receivers) and Tom Brady, I think we'll be able to maintain the pace on offense into next year and perhaps even get better. Just a really, really solid hire for us and it should help both parties involved.

I think the tight end factor is getting overblown a little bit. Gronkosaurus is the best tight end in the NFL(and coming off the best season a tight end has ever had), and we didn't have anyone even close to his ability threshold with us when McDaniel's made his first tour of duty. Ben Watson should have been better than he was, but I'll always remember him for proving that 4.4 speed at tight end doesn't make you Vernon Davis. Watson was actually fairly productive in 2006 as well, catching quite a few balls. Hernandez working underneath and in the middle after the catch seems to play well into his/our system as well.

ElectricEye · 01-07-2012, 06:19 PM

So it looks like we'll be playing Pittsburgh or the fighting Tebow's.

descendency · 01-07-2012, 06:23 PM

Go Tebow Go?

BradysKnee · 01-07-2012, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by descendency

Go Tebow Go?

Go Tebow Go.

nepg · 01-07-2012, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElectricEye

I'm posting this here since I don't want to be murdered by fans who picked in the top ten under McDaniel's watch(I wouldn't like the guy either if that were to happen)....but I really feel like most of his failings in other places had to do with bad personnel decisions and just a general lack of grounding.

He was just a terrible fit in Denver from the beginning. That team needed a defensive coach to come in and just fix the defense and let Jeremy Bates run his offense. It was a pretty simple equation for the Broncos, especially with a few very good defensive coaching candidates available.

Still, he got his people in there and ran a nice offense with sub-par talent. He didn't get along with Mike Nolan, and that killed the defense, and people just got a terrible perception of the guy.

In StL, he was just kind of plugged in to the staff that was already there - people he's never worked with before. And he was asked to implement his offense with a 2nd-year QB, a staff he's never worked with before (all incumbents from Shurmur), and zero off-season.

People refuse to put anything about the guy in perspective or listen to reason. I know this first-hand having dealt with trying to educate KC fans. You bring all the factors and facts to people, give analytical explanations, and they come back with "he sucks".

Happy to have the guy back in New England.

descendency · 01-07-2012, 08:43 PM

The offensive weapons in St Louis could be high school bad. Sam Bradford is a joke too.

I don't think you can blame Josh for that. Denver however... they just gave up too soon.

ElectricEye · 01-07-2012, 10:02 PM

Disagree about Bradford. He's had some tough breaks so far...and it's awfully hard to put up numbers when your offensive line gets trainwrecked every play and you have no one to throw it to. But yeah, that situation in St. Louis was awful. With another year or two and some decent drafts, maybe it turns around...but I have a real hard time finding fault with McDaniel's there. Denver put up some decent(albeit hollow) passing numbers during his tenure there with an overall talent level that isn't close to what we have here. So yeah, I don't buy the McDaniel's sucks thing. It's awfully hard to screw up what we have here right now anyway.

nepg · 01-07-2012, 11:14 PM

I think Bradford clearly struggled with the offense and the responsibility within it to make pre-snap reads and adjust protections and routes. I think he'd be fine with a full off-season to learn it and with assistants that understand it.

I wonder how much of the problem in StL was the assistants just refusing to work with the new offense or just not being able to comprehend it.

descendency · 01-07-2012, 11:35 PM

Bradford can't make pre-snap or post-snap reads. McDaniels can't be faulted for that.

If Bradford is bottom 3 in the NFL again this year, the Rams need to prepare to move on. It's one thing to be bad as a rookie. It's another to show no progression.

BradysKnee · 01-08-2012, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by descendency

Bradford can't make pre-snap or post-snap reads. McDaniels can't be faulted for that.

If Bradford is bottom 3 in the NFL again this year, the Rams need to prepare to move on. It's one thing to be bad as a rookie. It's another to show no progression.

Wow that's harsh.

I personally think Bradford will be a top 10 qb with some reinforcements at OL/WR.

ElectricEye · 01-08-2012, 03:19 PM

The great thing about the Steelers playing the Broncos this week is that they'll have to completely flip the gameplan around for us. Completely different styles of offenses. I'm just hoping the Broncos get to Big Ben a few times and beat him up a little bit more. It should be a very physical game in general, Denver well could soften them up a bit.

The Steelers still scare the **** out of him if Ben is healthy. We don't have near the pass rush we had when we first played them and he's tough to get to anyway. They can spread us out and go vertical with the likes of Brown, Wallace, and Sanders too.

Razor · 01-08-2012, 04:59 PM

So... As of this minute we're playing the Donkeys next week. Oh, the joy.

EDIT: Although with all the injurezzz to Steelers I'd rather face them I think.. But I digress.

BradysKnee · 01-08-2012, 07:11 PM

Can we handle Tebow time again? lol

Razor · 01-08-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradysKnee

Can we handle Tebow time again? lol

Sure we can. I love this....

Vaylor · 01-08-2012, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradysKnee

Can we handle Tebow time again? lol

Having Chung and Spikes will help immensely.

ElectricEye · 01-08-2012, 07:16 PM

I'm not scared. Really. I promise.

BradysKnee · 01-08-2012, 07:18 PM

Being realistic. The Broncos won because the steelers played really bad. Not cause the broncos played really well.

Blackluck · 01-08-2012, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradysKnee

Being realistic. The Broncos won because the steelers played really bad. Not cause the broncos played really well.

I agree. The Steelers were totally decimated with injuries. They sure didn't look like a number one defense out there tonight. Even if the Broncos drive the ball on us, they don't seem to be a very good red zone offense. I'm always nervous with any game, but this is what fans wanted. (Course last year I wanted to play the Jets lol.) Fairly confident we can win against Denver.

Interestingly the Ravens fans are totally discounting the Patriots. They were already talking about playing the Steelers in the championship before tonight's game. While I just want to beat Denver and don't really care who we play after that, here's hoping Houston spanks the Ravens.

descendency · 01-08-2012, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradysKnee

Being realistic. The Broncos won because the steelers played really bad. Not cause the broncos played really well.

I'd say this is false.

The Broncos won because the Steelers put 11 in the box and Tebow hit a few deep balls. When you have 6 passes for 30+ and only 11 completions, there is something wrong with your coverage. The Steelers tried to pretend Tebow wasn't a QB and got burned.

I'm not saying he couldn't have done it against cover 1, cover 2, cover 3, cover 4... etc, but he was basically doing it against a "0 blitz" minus the blitz. No one would ever dream of doing that against any other QB.

The Patriots aren't that arrogant.