Unless many deals have been made with the devil, very possible. I don't see Brady making it through an entire season. 1year older, 1year slower, no more Welker, no more Hernandez, Gronk is about as smart as the football thrown to him and who do you guys have at running back?? Get your cameras Bill. not looking good in spygatriotland :sad:
Dennard is, at best, an idiot. This would be dumb 100 times out of 100, but to pull this kind of shit now? Of all times? Friggen moron. I know you guys are enjoying the negative spotlight... can't blame you! I still think the Patriots win the division handily unless something happens to Brady, but at least for an offseason, you can delight in some patriotic chicanery. :beer:
I also think that the Pats will win the division, although "handily" may be an overstatement. You cannot deny the impact of the tight end situation. Belichick has been focusing his offense toward the middle of the field for a couple of years, and he has been drafting tight ends for a decade to try to fit that focus. He found both of them in one draft. I know it seemed as much like a dream to Pats fans as it seemed a nightmare to Jets fans. Now Gronk is dealing with chronic physical ailments (I called that) and Hernandez... That goes without saying. The Pats have a HOF QB. That also goes without saying. But to assume that the Pats will handily win the division without some very key components to their recent successes... I don't see it. They may win a key game with over-performance by a defense that has not lived up to expectations, and that key game may propel them toward a couple of home games in the playoffs, but I really don't see them running away with anything at this point.
I don't think the Pats offense is going to take a massive downturn like some people imagine. Having a HOF QB erases a lot of problems on offense, and they also run a very fast offense that can tire out non elite defenses. It's similar to the system that Chip Kelly runs, in that the system and the speed at which the plays are run cause problems for the defense, even when his recruits weren't all super stars. Against mediocre offenses, Brady and the pace alone will let the offense score at a good rate. The speed at which the offense sets prevents the defense from changing their personnel and catching them unprepared for the snap can cause even mediocre talented WRs to become open more often. There are plenty of times against the Pats where the ball is snapped while some of the CBs are still looking around to figure out what the coverage is. The Packers and Saints also employ something similar, albeit not at quite the same pace. This is also one of things that I just can't comprehend why we don't resort to as well. Both Geno and Sanchez played in an open offense that was used to playing out of the shotgun. Geno is also used to running a no-huddle offense, and I think if there was any situation where Sanchez has looked decent in at times, it's the no huddle at the ends of a half or 2 minute drills. I don't know why we actually have to go and slow the game down as much as possible. On Dennard, he's an idiot. He already has a prior incident, and this is terrible timing on his part. I think the Pats hold onto him, because the Hernandez situation is still ongoing and such a big story, that no one is really going to care about Dennard as much. Time will heal this infraction, similarly to how the Woodson incident doesn't seem as ominous now as it seemed when it first occurred. For a team that is low on quality CBs, I doubt they let him go, although if they really cared about the Pats way, it would actually be refreshing if they did let him go.
Yeah they aren't cutting a guy over a DUI. That would be a pretty massive overreaction, especially since there is a pretty sad acceptance of DUI among the general public and they get shrugged off unless someone is killed.
Agreed. Will they take a hit, yes, but not a massive one as you mentioned. Hernandez sat out the final 2 regular season games in 2010 with a hip injury and NE still averaged 425 yards and 36 points in those games. Hernandez was often used as an H-back who they could also split wide (probably doing that as we speak) so they'll use a combination of multiple personnel groups and formations. Expect Edelman's workload to increase. And lost in the Brady worship, don't forget that NE ran the ball very well in 2012 with Stevan Ridley rushing for 1,263 yards (4.6 yd av.) while adding a former 1,000+ rusher LeGarrette Blount (from TB) to their 2013 roster as well.
^ I disagree. I think this their offense is severely exposed. Brady has zero continuity with amendola. He has no more safety in Welker. Edleman and Amendola will miss games with injuries. Gronk is now bionic and one hit away from closing out a fast career. Hernandez gone, Welker gone, Brady another year older, another year slower. Timing is going to take longer to develop, plays are going to take longer to develop, this is going to give defenses more time to create pressure. Brady, may be a year smarter, but he's also a year slower. He is going to get hit and it will create turnovers.
Really dissapointed in Dennard, but want him to stay! If he and Talib straighten out the defense will be light years better then years past. Every year I read the same thing here, the Patriots are dead. Hernadez is gone, OK I see 27 yr old Amendola fill in nicely for an 32 yr old Welker. No reason to believe Gronk wont make full recovery. Brady will be Brady.
The Patriots offense will be fine, they have one of the better running games in the league, one of the best QBs in the league, and a bunch of good pass catching options: Ballard is a good TE, Amendola is a very good WR, Jenkins is just a solid pro, and they added two pretty promising rookies, brought back Edelman etc. Obviously if Gronkowski isn't back they might not be the best offense in football but they'll be in the top 5-7 in all likelihood.
The big thing as always with the Pats is getting pressure on Brady. The Giants ended the Pats epic 17-1 failure season by making Brady uneasy. With less weapons, new faces and another year; of the only thing Brady can't control (age), there is high probability Brady doesn't make it through an entire season. The clock is ticking over there, LOUD, Bill hears it too.
its not just a dui. he just got put on probation for punching a cop. he may end up having to serve time for violation and most definitely looking at a couple of games suspension at the minimum
This is the beginning of the end for the pats, not only have they lost AH, Welker, etc., they don't have their usual creme puff schedule this year! I expect to see teams go after Brady and get to him, and when they do its all over for the Pats!
NE has a more balanced offense than is the general perception ("air Brady"). Their rushing attack will free it up for Brady to better pick and choose his spots, and not rely solely on him to make plays. Look at what a strong rushing attack did for Sanchez....affording that same advantage for Brady yields even better money. As for "zero continuity with Amendola," Wes Welker went from 67 catches his last year with Miami to 112 catches his 1st year with NE, so no reason why Amendola can't develop that same continuity with Brady. Not a 12-13 win team maybe, but still the (heavily) odds on favorite to win the AFC East. Buffalo blows. Miami with some decent DB's could make for an interesting game vs NE, except I'll believe it when I see it from Tannehill, and while the Jets will not be the doormats some predict, they're another year away from filling the still existing holes in their starting roster (TE, LB, S, question marks on OL, WRs) ...
Brady, is by far the only thing keeping that offense alive. I am not sold on their rushing attack without Brady. A big reason they can run the football is bc every defense is dropping back in coverage. With arsenal of weapons they could catch a defense off guard with counters, traps, draw plays.. Now, that the air attack has fewer trusted weapons, the running game becomes easier to identify and guard against. The pats are in trouble, whether they want to believe it or not.
IF their defense can't step up for another year, the Pats instead of grabbing 13-14 wins, are going to get 10-11. They will still take the AFC EAST because well Phins, Jets, Bills can't win that many games in my opinion. Playoffs, maybe the defense gets it together the same time as the offense and they go on a run, but instead of being the favorite from the AFC they are one of the favorites.
