What position? Not the specific player, just curious what people think would make the biggest difference on this team right now.
If The Patriots Could Add A Player At One Position On Offense
- Thread starter IdiotKicker
- Start date
For the record, I would and did vote an OT. I know the interior of the line has been spotty, but I think a really solid LT would do absolutely huge things for Brady's confidence and allow the team to use RBs in pass protection to slow down the interior pass rush when necessary. I don't deny that the interior line is a weak spot, but I think that fixing the tackle position gives you the flexibility to deal with the interior rush as well. Fixing the interior rush does nothing to help with what is going on on the edges.
Edit: I also realize that the ability to add a quality OT at this point is limited, but we're just spitballing for shits and giggles here.
Edit: I also realize that the ability to add a quality OT at this point is limited, but we're just spitballing for shits and giggles here.
Depends how good the player is.
An Average NFL starter I'd say OL, probably G.
A top player? QB no doubt.
An Average NFL starter I'd say OL, probably G.
A top player? QB no doubt.
I think they have enough tackles between Fleming, Cannon, Solder and Vollmer to straighten it out if they T was their sole focus.
Not sure they have enough guards to solve this in-season, which is why we are seeing Fleming and Cannon at the guard spot. Get one solid guard and I think it would simplify the line problem quite a bit.
Also, there would be the added bonus of banishing Devey to the waiver wire.
Not sure they have enough guards to solve this in-season, which is why we are seeing Fleming and Cannon at the guard spot. Get one solid guard and I think it would simplify the line problem quite a bit.
Also, there would be the added bonus of banishing Devey to the waiver wire.
I interpreted "player" as meaning a roughly average starter at their position. interior OL seems like the place where such a player would have the biggest impact relative to what we have, so that is what I chose.
If this hypothetical player were an upper-echelon talent I probably would have gone with a WR.
If this hypothetical player were an upper-echelon talent I probably would have gone with a WR.
I chose coordinator. McD isn't cutting it and its not just this year. I miss the Chip Kellyesque, up tempo, beat you death with 5 yard gains and break some of those for longer when the opposing D wore down type offense. What happened to the no huddle? They have the players to run it and it would take less pressure off the o-line if there were more quick reads. The gameplan is often vanilla and adjustments are rarely made when things aren't working. Not to go off topic but this happens on both sides of the ball so I would say Bill has to take some of the blame here as well. The games don't seem to be much of a chess match anymore.
I'm not sure about this. They don't have the players to run a regular offense right now. No-huddle requires and offense that is on the same page about what is going on and able to make adjustments quickly on the fly based on what they are seeing. Right now, they can't even do that at a slow pace, so I would imagine this is a major reason why there has been so little of this so far.Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Chuck Z said:
They do.They're not being used correctly. Vereen, Ridley, Edelman and Gronk have been around long enough to have a great rapport with Brady and Amendola, Dobson, Lafell, Thompkins, White, Wright etc can all be taught to run a few different patterns depending on the read from Brady. It's honestly not that difficult. It's what makes it so good.
So you think a coordinator who as you said, had most of the same weapons last year and the year before, simply lost his fastball this year and forgot how to run an offense that was ranked 3rd and 1st in the league in terms of points the last two years? Show your work.
Chuck Z said:
Ok. First two years ago with a decent gameplan. Doesn't adjust last year and drops to third. Doesn't adjust again and you have what we have now.
Adjust to what? The offensive line being terrible and his QB not being able to throw accurate passes beyond 7 yards? Can any O-coordinator adjust to that?Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Cellar-Door said:
Didn't we just play the Chiefs?
Edit: To Roethlisberger it, their o-line isn't good and Alex Smith is their QB.
Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Much simpler explanations: Last year we lost Weedz and Welker. This year we lost Healthy Gronk and Mankins and the OL has totally crapped the bed under a new position coach.
McDaniels is ultimately a constant in this equation. What has changed is personnel, health, and age (plus Scarnecchia if you want to throw him in).
What do you mean "doesn't adjust"? They completely retooled the offense without Welker, Hernandez, and Gronk for a portion of the season, and still finished third in points scored. McDaniels should have a medal for the performance he got out of the offense.Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Their O-line is better at run blocking than ours sadly, and they have a much better run game (Jamaal Charles helps). It's easy to say we should run more, but the run game isn't producing all that well.Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Additionally, for all that KC's line gives up as much pressure as ours and actually more sacks, Alex Smith is doing a much better job of completing passes downfield than Brady, (and completing passes in general). And KC isn't exactly loaded with top end WR talent.
Not precisely on this topic, but for all the talk about the Pats not having a WR to stretch the field, looking at stats for Alex Smith v Brady points out exactly how terrible Brady is at throwing down the field at this point in his career.
48.3% on passes over 10 yards for Smith this year compared to Brady's 35.9%.
Last year it was 46.2% versus.38.8%
Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Chuck Z said:
Welker has been replaced with Edelman. Sweetleaf has yet to be replaced but I would hope one guy other than the QB doesn't make or break this offense. Healthy Gronk is a big deal but 80% Gronk is no slouch either. Mankins wasn't good last year and hasn't been good this year. Solder is overrated but a shit o-line hasn't stopped the production before. Wendell was a sieve last year as was most of the middle of the line. They have the same issues as last year and are performing way worse. If it's not McD's gameplan then Brady has literally fallen off a cliff.
There is no Rev said:
They have a shitty o-line and Smith is an average QB with Bowe, Kelce and Charles as the only talent on offense.
Cellar-Door said:
Our run defense is fucking awful. They weren't getting that kind of production the previous 3 games.
We should be handing off more, but running Vereen up the middle is the same bullshit as running Woodhead between the tackles. It was dumb then and it's dumb now. That's on McD.
Alex Smith is doing a better job because of the offensive strategy. If he has less than Brady talent wise and has better stats that speaks volumes about our plan of attack doesn't it?
The offenses don't play against each other, though.Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
I'm not saying you don't have a point, but I am saying that if you do, I have no idea what it is, which is doubly weird since you invoked Roethlisberger. The post you responded to was responding to a post you made about adjustments; it eludes me how the answer to questions about adjustments on offense can be found in the opponents' offense.
Again, I'm not saying you don't know what you're talking about, but I am willing to saybthatbyourbposts don't make any sense to me.
Sorry, the artist formerly known as Rev, I guess it wasn't as clear as I thought. I was responding to the part of the post that asked if any coordinator could adjust to a terrible o-line and a QB with seemingly no arm. I brought up the Chiefs because they just put 41 on the board with a below average o-line, some talent on offense, and a mediocre QB going up against one of the best defenses in the league, statistically anyway. I understand that players can have shitty games but the talent on the Pats is there.There is no Rev said:
The thought of this team being out-coached by any other team used to be blasphemous.
It would seem that in previous years, especially after the half, the Pats strategy would change as the game went on. They seem stubborn now when it comes to altering their attack. The play on the field is troubling but the coaching right now is equally awful.
Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
I swear McDaniels read these posts. As much as I was on his case, I applaud him for last nights game. He finally figured it out.