Assuming are defense is in the middle of the pack next year..

[Rocky11]

It will be hard to repeat the offensive greatness that we achieved this year. I agree that we will still have a great offense but the defense must have the ability go get off the field by holding up on third down. Third down is a major problem. It didn't seem to matter how many yards they needed on third down either. A quick little pass across the middle often times did the trick. Special teams too. We gave up too many yards on returns. Crosby can't kick them all out of the end zone.

Quick question. How do you all get those pictures into your signature. I am new here.

Thanks.

 

[TJV]

Patriots are in no way the favorites to win it all next year, they have way too many holes to fill, 20!! players that are FA's for them, including Welker.

I heard that on sports radio. This site has the Packers as the favorites and the Patriots #2:

http://www.bankrollsports.com/blog/2012-superbowl-odds/

Green Bay Packers 6.25 to 1
New England Patriots 7.25 to 1

 

[fettpett]

I heard that on sports radio. This site has the Packers as the favorites and the Patriots #2:

http://www.bankrollsports.com/blog/2012-superbowl-odds/

Green Bay Packers 6.25 to 1
New England Patriots 7.25 to 1

then they are smoking something, unless NE can pull some fancy magic, they aren't going to have that good of a team, even if Moss comes back and Welker. Hell idk how much longer Brady can hold up with his messed up shoulder

 

[TJV]

fettpett, I know one can bet on almost anything NFL-related in Vegas but I don't know if they allow "shorting" teams (betting they won't win their division, making playoffs, winning a title, etc.). If they do and your opinion on the Pats is correct, you could make a killing since it looks like the bookies and (although it's early) the public hasn't caught up with your opinion.

Rocky11, Crosby kicked off 110 times. Two were onsides kicks and the Packers recovered one of those. 49 were touch backs and 59 were returned for an average of 23.4 yards. The punt team was not as good but IMO the Packers have finally found a competent punter. All the punt team has to do is learn to consistently tackle, just like the entire defense. IMO the special teams are not a problem.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

Again.. 0 first downs yielded in the entire 3rd quarter. That means the defense kept NY to a 3 and out every single posession.

And that hail mary was a fluke.

Fluke or no fluke, it counted for 7 points... 7 very important points

And please, look past the 3rd quarter. The first half was dreadful. The opening drive set the tone for the game when the Giants were completing 3rd-and-longs like they were 3rd-and-1.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

the defense definitely did not help us out; however, the offense had 4 turnovers and a tremendous amount of calls given to them(Jennings fumble, roughing the passer). The offense played terrible that game and were the reason why we lost. We either won the game or lost the game all season by our offenses performance.

I'll agree with the statement that the team went as the offense went. The offense had one bad game (NY Giants playoffs) and one average game (Kansas City) and lost both.

 

[fettpett]

fettpett, I know one can bet on almost anything NFL-related in Vegas but I don't know if they allow "shorting" teams (betting they won't win their division, making playoffs, winning a title, etc.). If they do and your opinion on the Pats is correct, you could make a killing since it looks like the bookies and (although it's early) the public hasn't caught up with your opinion.

they can have all the odds they want, but NE has got a lot of issues to sort out over the offseason.

 

[13 Times Champs]

Right, and the end result was a 15-1 record, the top seed in the division and an offense that couldn't get out of their own way come playoff time.

And a defense that sucked all year long. Unfortunately, the O couldn't bring it and cover their sorry ***** two times.

 

[TJV]

fettpett, I am not disagreeing with you: I haven’t looked into the Pats situation this off season and don’t plan to. I’m just encouraging you to make some money since you have a very firm opinion of New England’s chances.

 

[AaronShockley]

My point earlier was that you do need a defense, as one poster showed the last 7 SB victors or so, only two were crappy. Most are good. For instance the Giants this year, they had a crap ranked Defense, but they were paying top 3 defense in the playoffs. Rank is important, but it isn't the tell all for how good a defense is. How they play in the Playoffs is the tell all, and we sucked.

 

[Rocky11]

TxsJackVainisi, I guess that is what I am talking about. The special teams were not terrible but I thought they could tackle much better. I agree that the punt team's tackling was worse. Third down is so critical. We stunk it up on third down this year.

 

[fettpett]

fettpett, I am not disagreeing with you: I haven’t looked into the Pats situation this off season and don’t plan to. I’m just encouraging you to make some money since you have a very firm opinion of New England’s chances.

lol, well idk how much I would make...just think with all their issues that they shouldn't be as heavily favored to win as they are.

 

[SpartaChris]

Fluke or no fluke, it counted for 7 points... 7 very important points

And please, look past the 3rd quarter. The first half was dreadful. The opening drive set the tone for the game when the Giants were completing 3rd-and-longs like they were 3rd-and-1.

Only when you acknowledge that the defense wasn't as bad as you like to make it out to be and kept us in the game. Even with the fluke hail mary, we were down 10 going into the half. With an offense as potent as our was supposed to be, that should have been no big deal, especially when you consider that 3rd quarter I keep correctly pointing out.

You don't have to be the best in every facet of the game to win. Sure, it's nice, but the fact is you don't have to be. A middle of the pack defense with a top notch offense WILL win games and CAN win a championship. The converse is also true. Really not that hard to figure out.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

You don't have to be the best in every facet of the game to win. Sure, it's nice, but the fact is you don't have to be. A middle of the pack defense with a top notch offense WILL win games and CAN win a championship. The converse is also true. Really not that hard to figure out.

I know you don't need to be the best in every facet, but a historically bad defense doesn't help. Really not that hard to figure out.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

lol, well idk how much I would make...just think with all their issues that they shouldn't be as heavily favored to win as they are.

Why not?

The AFC is weak. The best two teams are the Patriots and Texans. Think about it. The Jets are a .500 team with Mark Sanchez as their QB. You can throw out the Bills and Dolphins. The Texans are a Super Bowl team. You can throw out the Colts, Titans and Jaguars. The AFC West is beyond bad. The Ravens, Steelers and Bengals are playoff teams, but all have holes. Joe Flacco ***** himself in the playoffs. The Steelers are without Mendenhall for most of 2012. The Bengals are still coached by Marvin Lewis. You can throw out the Browns.

The Pats should be a #1 or #2 seed barring injury to Tom Brady.

 

[SpartaChris]

Sure. Then explain to me how New England managed to become one dropped pass away from winning the Super Bowl this year? And explain to me how we managed to win 15 games with our "Historically bad defense?"

Folks, our defense wasn't nearly as bad as you guys make it out to be, so you should ttop trying to pin the loss on them when it was clearly a lack of offensive execution that cause us to lose. I'm not suggesting our defense was great, but most of these comments are pure knee-jerk reaction. Even a slight improvement in our defense next year makes this a very dangerous team. Couple that with the inevitable chip on our shoulder and I'd put us right up there as the favorites to get back to the big dance.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

Sure. Then explain to me how New England managed to become one dropped pass away from winning the Super Bowl this year?

Mix Tim Tebow with a little Joe Flacco!

 

[Norwegian_packer]

Too bad the 15-1 is "forgotten" because of a ****** game against the Giants. Some has already pointed out that we had a low ranked defence and still made 15-1. That's pretty darned good if you ask me. Next year may not be as smooth as this, but we will still reach the play-offs and hopefully win the NFC N again and we will be out of the pressure zone that we were in this year. They can get more workspace.

 

[AaronShockley]

Sure. Then explain to me how New England managed to become one dropped pass away from winning the Super Bowl this year? And explain to me how we managed to win 15 games with our "Historically bad defense?"

Folks, our defense wasn't nearly as bad as you guys make it out to be, so you should ttop trying to pin the loss on them when it was clearly a lack of offensive execution that cause us to lose. I'm not suggesting our defense was great, but most of these comments are pure knee-jerk reaction. Even a slight improvement in our defense next year makes this a very dangerous team. Couple that with the inevitable chip on our shoulder and I'd put us right up there as the favorites to get back to the big dance.

I agree and disagree, yards given up matter but isn't everything. We did start to lack in turnovers and sacks late though and that does matter. The Giants game was just as much offense as defense.

 

[Rocky11]

I think the answer is consistency. We survived a bad defense because we consistently took the ball away for most of the year. Toward the end that started tailing off and we struggled. The other thing was getting off the field on third down. I think that killed our defense and forced the offense to score high point totals to win.

 

[fettpett]

Why not?

The AFC is weak. The best two teams are the Patriots and Texans. Think about it. The Jets are a .500 team with Mark Sanchez as their QB. You can throw out the Bills and Dolphins. The Texans are a Super Bowl team. You can throw out the Colts, Titans and Jaguars. The AFC West is beyond bad. The Ravens, Steelers and Bengals are playoff teams, but all have holes. Joe Flacco ***** himself in the playoffs. The Steelers are without Mendenhall for most of 2012. The Bengals are still coached by Marvin Lewis. You can throw out the Browns.

The Pats should be a #1 or #2 seed barring injury to Tom Brady.

Yes, the AFC is weak, nor am I saying that the Pats can't go back, I just don't think they are going to be that good next year.

Bills and Dolphins are going to be better this year. Bills had a lot of injuries in the second half of the season and why they fell off, I see them as a 10 win team. Dolphins, with Philbin there I think they will be better, 9-10 wins are possible for them, they have a good defense and their offense will be better. Jets...are a joke and may be a .500 team. I see the Pats as a 11-12 win team.

AFC South, be the Texans even if Peyton comes back to Indy. Jags might be better with a new owner and spending money, but don't see it being that much. Titans have only legit chance to upset the Texans for the division as the Colts will maybe be a .500 team.


my point about the Pats was that I just don't see them as the 2nd best in the NFL, let alone the AFC, I see the Ravens, Texans, Steelers all being better than the Pats. The AFC East will be a better and stronger division, though do see them winning it.

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

Yes, the AFC is weak, nor am I saying that the Pats can't go back, I just don't think they are going to be that good next year.

Bills and Dolphins are going to be better this year. Bills had a lot of injuries in the second half of the season and why they fell off, I see them as a 10 win team. Dolphins, with Philbin there I think they will be better, 9-10 wins are possible for them, they have a good defense and their offense will be better. Jets...are a joke and may be a .500 team. I see the Pats as a 11-12 win team.

So what you're saying is this:

Pats 11-5
Bills 10-6
Phins 9-7
Jets 8-8

If the AFC East doesn't have a sub-.500 team, they'd be the best division in football.

 

[Bagadeez04]

Does ANYONE touch us? Our offense is not going to change very much next year, I'm pretty confident of that. It's hard to imagine A-Rod having a better year, but the unit as a whole will probably put up similar numbers next year.

If our defense goes from 32 to say 18 next year overall, how do you stop us? It seems the only real way to win against that type of game is to PRAY nerves take hold and players drop balls like as we saw in the playoff game, or match that same fire power.

Thoughts?

(topic should have been OUR, not ARE.. damn grammar)

I have a hard time seeing how this defense improves, honestly. The pass rush problem won't be fixed in an off-season. If we can land a good pass rusher in the draft, and that's a big if, it probably takes a couple two tree years before he's a true pass rush threat. Free agency aint happening. I don't see anyone on the roster right now that I think would make a big leap this off season...maybe So'Oto (but he probably went undrafted for a reason)...maybe Neal (think I've about given up on him being a productive player...let a lone consistant pass rush threat).

In the secondary the question is...is the real Tramon Williams the one from 2011 or 2010? If it's the one from 2011...we're pretty screwed at cornerback I would say...depending on how Sam Shields develops (if he has another mediocre year I'd say what you see is what you get). And if Collins can't come back...there's another big problem.

I really believe that the team we saw this past year...strengths and weaknesses...will be more or less what we'll be dealing with the next couple of seasons. I see no reason why this offense can't keep getting better...the weapons are there, and there's still room for improvement (pass catching, develop a better run game). But defensively I'm pretty pessimistic...I can't see where major improvement can come from. It will take time.

 

[13 Times Champs]

I have a hard time seeing how this defense improves, honestly. The pass rush problem won't be fixed in an off-season. If we can land a good pass rusher in the draft, and that's a big if, it probably takes a couple two tree years before he's a true pass rush threat. Free agency aint happening. I don't see anyone on the roster right now that I think would make a big leap this off season...maybe So'Oto (but he probably went undrafted for a reason)...maybe Neal (think I've about given up on him being a productive player...let a lone consistant pass rush threat).

In the secondary the question is...is the real Tramon Williams the one from 2011 or 2010? If it's the one from 2011...we're pretty screwed at cornerback I would say...depending on how Sam Shields develops (if he has another mediocre year I'd say what you see is what you get). And if Collins can't come back...there's another big problem.

I really believe that the team we saw this past year...strengths and weaknesses...will be more or less what we'll be dealing with the next couple of seasons. I see no reason why this offense can't keep getting better...the weapons are there, and there's still room for improvement (pass catching, develop a better run game). But defensively I'm pretty pessimistic...I can't see where major improvement can come from. It will take time.

You're even more pessimistic than me.

 

[fettpett]

So what you're saying is this:

Pats 11-5
Bills 10-6
Phins 9-7
Jets 8-8

If the AFC East doesn't have a sub-.500 team, they'd be the best division in football.

possibly,though I see it more like the Jets will be a sub .500 team and probably only win 5 games...they are getting old on Defense and Sanchez is not good enough to carry the team, so 5-11 is better fit for them.

All I'm really saying is the Pats are going to take a step back and the Dolphins and Bills are taking steps forward.