I was talking to a New England fan today and he was ticked that they gave Hernandez an extension yet were unable (or refused) to match Denver's offer to Welker. Boy is that decision starting to look very interesting right now. Also he made this comment while walking out the door of my office, " Well, so much for Bob Craft saying we only sign high moral character players."
The Pats don't scare me, even with Hernandez. The dolphins are a team on the upswing and I think they may take the East this season. Idzik will make his mark next season, good or bad.
I think they are in serious trouble. Yes, Brady will always pose as a threat, but who is he going to throw to? The only true threat is Amendola, who is injury prone as said before. Ballard is not a Gronk or Hernandez and their running game is nothing to preach about. Dolphins? I am not worried about them at all. Why? Because they still have a question mark at QB and no real threats at RB. Yes, Tannehill had a good season last year and he looks to be improving, especially with the receivers they have now, but he is still unproven. For all we know, he turns into a bust, which a lot of Dolphins are fearing right now. We have had a bad ass defense for a number of years, and I think this years defense will be one of the best we've had in a while. We have a potent DL and have always had an awesome secondary. The question mark for us is on offense. Sanchez seems to be improving, even though we have all heard that before, and we have serious threats at RB with Ivory and Goodson. We are going to have a much quicker and efficient offense, again, all dependent on the QB situation. I think people are making Miami into some juggernaut that they are nowhere near. Unproven QB, unproven backfield, and an iffy defense. This is Idzik's time to take over and I feel in the next couple of years we will. Gronk is never going to be the same. He has had numerous arm surgeries including multiple back surgeries. He is a great TE when he's healthy, which he seems to have trouble staying.
If Hernandez is gone this season, the Patriots will use Ballard in their two-TE sets, but they will use those sets less frequently. I would expect Edelman to be the one receiving most of those extra snaps. Obviously it would hurt to be going from a more talented player to less talented players, but IMO the bigger question is still whether rookies Dobson or Boyce are ready to fill in the remaining WR spot. If the answer is yes, we'll be fine. If the answer is no, then things start to look dicey with Donald Jones or Michael Jenkins being the only remaining viable options, and with little depth behind them.
Ballard would be the #2 receiver on the Jets behind a healthy Winslow until Holmes returns. Pats won't miss a beat. Don't they also have Shiancoe? He's pretty good too.
Hernandez had 1 rushing attempt for 5 yards last season. We might have to reach deep, but I have a feeling we can replace that production if we really need to.
Ballard is coming off a torn ACL and microfracture surgery in addition to hobbling off the field favoring that same leg during OTA's. It doesn't look like he is 100% yet. He looked good in 2011 but I think he is being given a bit too much hype for a TE with 38 career catches who hasn't played in a real game in over a year.
Miami, gets the wet sloppy media BJ every off season, unless Buffalo signs the missing link like Super Mario. Tannehill, sucks.
All things come to an endpoint eventually. Whether it's this year or next I don't expect the Pats to be the team standing in the way of the Jets rise when we start to ascend. Football is cyclical. The Pats have been on top now for 12 years. It's very rare for a team to just keep going after a big up cycle. Even the Steelers had a pretty flat 80's after their great run in the 70's.
The point I was making was again his versatility, but he lined up in the backfield more often than his number of carries. I think he was doing that more frequently towards the end of the season and in the playoffs. It's difficult for a DC to send in the right personnel package when you don't know if a player is going to be a WR, TE or HB. It's also an obvious mismatch of a passing threat coming out of the backfield. You guys talk about Ballard like it's a slight downgrade. It's more than just a downgrade at the TE position. Ahern is as true an H-back as the NFL as seen yet.
New England will still finish first, imo, although I dont think they'll have the 12-13 win season they're accustomed to. They very well could win the division with 9 or 10 wins. The team that finishes 2nd and potentially challenges for a wild card will be whoever gets the best QB play between Tannehill, Kolb/Manuel, Sanchez/Smith. I think it is as simple as that. You can basically flip a coin. These teams are impossible to predict. I think Miami is likely to be the more consistent team, while the Bills and Jets have higher potential ceilings for wins and also lower floors for losses. The Bills and Jets could win 9-10 games or win 2, and I have no idea which is more likely at this point.
Do you think the bills will finally beat the pats this year? How long has it been?? Two decades? Do they serve crepes at your Toronto stadium? Nothing better than a French Canadian football team :lol:
Uh... the Bills have actually beaten the Pats more recently than the Jets. What a smarty-pants you are.
The Pats live and die by the mighty Brady. The quality of the supporting cast help make his job easier, that's it. Without Hernandez another layer of flexibility is taken away. He will still make the offense look good, but little by little he will loose the split second edge that makes him indefensible. Best option for the Jets is to collapse their OL and get Brady off his rhythm...no matter who the receivers are. Less time to think, find open receivers, and without TE that can give you YAC he might struggle enough to make mistakes. Of course the absolute best way to beat him is to keep our offense on the field longer and score some real points......that part of the equation is a big question mark right now,
Hernandez and Gronk aren't even losses. They'll just find two other guys to fill their spots. The Pats went 11-5 with Matt fucking Cassel!!! It's easy to win with JAGS when you are a master of cheating.
If you think Matt Cassel could go 11-5 with THIS Patriots team, you are insane! It is more dependent on Brady than it's ever been.
My post had less to do with how good Ballard really is than it did the fact that the Pats are not in trouble at TE because of the Hernandez situation. As a Jets fan, I'm still more worried about the Jets TE group, which I feel is inferior to the Pats TE group even sans Gronk and Hernandez.
