New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

BKWDR · 24-11-2014 11:21am

I asked the same question i think this time last year, albeit we are in a more advantageous position now but looking at the remainder of the schedule who do we think might take the wheels of this great run?

@Green Bay (defo a game that could be lost, although with most teams not liking the cold in lambeau. Just looked up and we are 5-4 in regular season against the Packers and coming off our streak, it could be a tight one!)
@ San Diego (have a tough schedule to finish so i think this could be ours for the taking)
Dolphins (In Foxboro i don't think it will be like last Decembers game, a W for sure)
@Jets (nothing but W)
Bills (W all the way...)

Problem is the Chargers and the Dolphins are in the hunt for post season football so could be making a push.

Finish 13-3?

bruschi · 24-11-2014 11:52am

BKWDR wrote: »

I asked the same question i think this time last year, albeit we are in a more advantageous position now but looking at the remainder of the schedule who do we think might take the wheels of this great run?

@Green Bay (defo a game that could be lost, although with most teams not liking the cold in lambeau. Just looked up and we are 5-4 in regular season against the Packers and coming off our streak, it could be a tight one!)
@ San Diego (have a tough schedule to finish so i think this could be ours for the taking)
Dolphins (In Foxboro i don't think it will be like last Decembers game, a W for sure)
@Jets (nothing but W)
Bills (W all the way...)

Problem is the Chargers and the Dolphins are in the hunt for post season football so could be making a push.

Finish 13-3?

yeah 13-3 would be great, and guaranteed top seed. I think Denver will drop another game too, so that will give us another bit of breathing space if did did drop 2 games.

Its a great position to be in, and to be honest, this is where I expected us to be around this stage. It may have come about after a poor start, but I'm more than happy about how the team is rolling right now. Just keep all the big names healthy into playoffs and I'll be very content.

kryogen · 24-11-2014 12:08pm

I am hoping we limit the number of losses to 1, I think we will lose on the run in, hoping to still have a good enough record to take the number 1 seed though, homefield advantage would be huge in the playoffs (obviously)

If we come through the rest of the games unbeaten I will really start to believe this team can get a ring

BKWDR · 24-11-2014 12:14pm

kryogen wrote: »

I am hoping we limit the number of losses to 1, I think we will lose on the run in, hoping to still have a good enough record to take the number 1 seed though, homefield advantage would be huge in the playoffs (obviously)

If we come through the rest of the games unbeaten I will really start to believe this team can get a ring

I have to say, from being so 'ah ****' earlier in September to actually feeling that we'll be watching this team in February...class.

Makes my trip for the Bills game all that special!

bruschi · 24-11-2014 2:07pm

BKWDR wrote: »

I have to say, from being so 'ah ****' earlier in September to actually feeling that we'll be watching this team in February...class.

Makes my trip for the Bills game all that special!

thats how I am too. At the start of the year, I was expecting good teams, a fit Gronk, Revis, a year under the belt of a few players, and then to see the dirge in Sepetember, and then back up to the peak again, its been a year of ups and downs. I just hope it stays on the up now for the remainder!

empacher · 24-11-2014 2:48pm

Id expect us to win at least 3 out of the 5 games remaining, I think we'll lose maybe to the packers and one of our division games possibly.

4-1 will guarantee us home field advantage.

I can also see the broncos losing to one of the chiefs, chargers, or bengals.

Possibly after losing the chiefs will come out and look to dominate the Broncos after losing to the riaders.

helimachoptor · 24-11-2014 3:09pm

its a pleasure to watch the patriots these days, next weeks game could really be a dress rehearsal for Feb and imo that would be awesome

Son Of A Vidic · 24-11-2014 3:51pm

BKWDR wrote: »

@Green Bay (defo a game that could be lost, although with most teams not liking the cold in lambeau. Just looked up and we are 5-4 in regular season against the Packers and coming off our streak, it could be a tight one!)

Our boys are well used to cold & bad weather and with Brady, the colder it gets the better he plays. Now throw in some strong winds and he'll raises his game even further. I think you're right though, it will be a close game and if we are to lose another game, this would be the one to lose since the Packers aren't in our Conference.

Hazys · 24-11-2014 4:05pm

The Patriots are 3 points underdogs against the Packers.

We were underdogs against the Bengals, Bills, Broncos & Colts...have the bookies learned nothing?

kryogen · 24-11-2014 4:09pm

Hazys wrote: »

The Patriots are 3 points underdogs against the Packers.

We were underdogs against the Bengals, Bills, Broncos & Colts...have the bookies learned nothing?

And long may it continue!

JaMarcusHustle · 24-11-2014 4:52pm

Packers run defence is pretty woeful. I'd be confident we can control the game and that Blount and Gray can dominate on the ground.

Hazys · 24-11-2014 5:04pm

I think we win too, not as easy as the past couple of weeks but we are certainly not even close to underdogs.

Who have the Packers played at that are good? The Sanchez led Eagles? They've played a lot of cupcake teams and barely beat them. The Packers aren't as good as their record suggests. Don't get me wrong, they have an explosive offense but so do the Lions and Colts supposedly and we shut them down but their Defense is average at best.

Hazys · 24-11-2014 5:06pm

BB on Raiola:

I’m sure there was a lot of frustration there from Raiola. That was obvious," he said. "He’s never beaten us. He had a tough day in there dealing with [Vince] Wilfork and [Dont’a] Hightower and those guys.

I’d say that was probably frustration. We saw a lot of that at the end of the game -- [Tahir] Whitehead on [LeGarrette] Blount’s touchdown, [C.J.] Mosley on the personal foul on the field goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObpcGNCU944

Son Of A Vidic · 24-11-2014 5:30pm

Yesterday was 14 years to the day when Brady played his first NFL game in a Pats uniform, when he played against the Lions. And yesterdays win against the Lions, gives us our 14th winning season since his reign began.

Lionbacker · 24-11-2014 6:05pm

Hazys wrote: »

BB on Raiola

To be honest, Raiola has always been a moron. Every year he's done something incredibly stupid.
Last year for example, before the packers game at Lambeau, he started throwing insults at a school marching band before the game even began. He had to later apologise & donated money to them after he was called out about it.
He just seems like a very unlikeable man.
Anyway this will probably be his last season in the NFL. His age, along with his poor play this year should see him retire after the current campaign.

UnitedIrishman · 24-11-2014 6:34pm

Hazys wrote: »

I think we win too, not as easy as the past couple of weeks but we are certainly not even close to underdogs.

Who have the Packers played at that are good? The Sanchez led Eagles? They've played a lot of cupcake teams and barely beat them. The Packers aren't as good as their record suggests. Don't get me wrong, they have an explosive offense but so do the Lions and Colts supposedly and we shut them down but their Defense is average at best.

I'm happy enough for us to beat cupcake teams until the playoffs arrive. Also, barely beating them? We won by 30 odd points in the two games before the Vikings. We've won 5 games by more than 20 points this year. Winning on the road to Miami was about the best result of our year but we have an easy enough schedule due to how bad the NFC South is this year (Saints win against us was mostly due to AR getting injured and some horrible reffing).

That said, if I was a neutral betting on the game I'd be all over the Pats. As Billy says, our defence is terrible against top QB's. Thankfully Brady isn't mobile or we'd be definitely shafted. Hope it turns into a shootout and we end up the right side of it. We'll definitely know more about our chances after this weekend anyways.

eagle eye · 24-11-2014 7:18pm

I think some of you are underrating the Packers. They are an excellent organisation and personally I'm of the opinion that this game, all things going as they are now, will be the first of two games between us this season. Tbh I wouldn't at all mind a soft showing here because I'd hate to give them a dress rehearsal of what they can expect to see in February.

SantryRed · 24-11-2014 8:26pm

Hazys wrote: »

I think we win too, not as easy as the past couple of weeks but we are certainly not even close to underdogs.

Who have the Packers played at that are good? The Sanchez led Eagles? They've played a lot of cupcake teams and barely beat them. The Packers aren't as good as their record suggests. Don't get me wrong, they have an explosive offense but so do the Lions and Colts supposedly and we shut them down but their Defense is average at best.

You're not really being called underdogs though. The bookies are basically saying that these two teams are even, and the 3 points is due to home advantage, so if it was in a neutral place, for example Phoenix

, it would be scratch.

I really think we'll be seeing the Superbowl rehearsal in Lambeau this Sunday.

Son Of A Vidic · 24-11-2014 10:28pm

I always thought the Lions fame would be our toughest defense to face all year. So I wasn't surprised when the game came around and the Lions D were the top ranked defense in the league. I wouldn't have been surprised if we had of scored less than 20 points, because the Lions have only been allowing an average of 15.6 points per game. So to score 34 points and with our offense still not reaching top gear, well that's pretty impressive. Once again, the O line did very good job yesterday.

The defense had a very good day and was excellent overall. The improvement in Chung and Arrington continues to impress. New boy Branch is doing a great job with Vince plugging the middle and our run defense has seriously improved. Hightower has been immense as our defensive QB with Mayo gone and I often think he gets overlooked for praise.

paulie21 · 24-11-2014 11:43pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHvPQu2QczM&spfreload=10

2 legends reminisce

j8wk2feszrnpao · 25-11-2014 1:07am

@AdamSchefter
"Since 2010, in the 2nd half of its regular-season schedule, New England is now an NFL-best 32-3"

How crazy a stat is that? Incredible record.

cosatron · 25-11-2014 12:05pm

Really looking forward to this. last time we played was a good game in Foxboro with Flynn at Q.B and Dan Connolly had the big run which made a huge difference. Some really interesting matchups, Nelson-revis, cobb-browner, I presume we will put Matthews on gronk cause AJ Hawk sucks, wilfork will test our o-line which has been playing well. I think whoever has the ball last will win and hoping for a shoot out.

j8wk2feszrnpao · 25-11-2014 1:03pm

cosatron wrote: »

Dan Connolly had the big run which made a huge difference.

cosatron wrote: »

Some really interesting matchups, Nelson-revis, cobb-browner, I presume we will put Matthews on gronk cause AJ Hawk sucks, wilfork will test our o-line which has been playing well. I think whoever has the ball last will win and hoping for a shoot out.

It should be a shootout with possibly the two best offences on display.
Gronk can beat anyone one-on-one, it may need more than Matthews to stop him.
Green Bay are 30th against the run, so we might see a lot of Blount and Gray with Vereen mixed in.
Nelson and Cobb are excellent, and with Rodgers at QB it'll be a really tough examination. I agree with your likely matchups and suspect Browner will need the safety help.
If the Pats 4 man DL can stop the run like they did against the Lions, then they can add further help in the secondary; it'll be needed against the GB passing offence.

Hazys · 25-11-2014 5:45pm

cosatron wrote: »

Really looking forward to this. last time we played was a good game in Foxboro with Flynn at Q.B and Dan Connolly had the big run which made a huge difference. Some really interesting matchups, Nelson-revis, cobb-browner, I presume we will put Matthews on gronk cause AJ Hawk sucks, wilfork will test our o-line which has been playing well. I think whoever has the ball last will win and hoping for a shoot out.

I think it will be mostly Revis on Cobb and Browner on Nelson with Safety help just because Cobb is faster and Nelson is a little slower but bigger.

eagle eye · 26-11-2014 2:18pm

Ayers has turned into another great signing by the Patriots. He is one of the key men on Sunday. Rodgers cannot be allowed all day to deliver or he will kill us, if Ayers can get to him a couple of times we will win this one.

Son Of A Vidic · 26-11-2014 3:04pm

eagle eye wrote: »

Ayers has turned into another great signing by the Patriots. He is one of the key men on Sunday. Rodgers cannot be allowed all day to deliver or he will kill us, if Ayers can get to him a couple of times we will win this one.

Spot on Eagle, I was just thinking I probably should have mentioned him in my post the other day and then I read your post. Ayers has done very well since he arrived and Bill really has shown the Midas touch when it comes to FA.

me89 · 26-11-2014 3:13pm

Slater gets a new 2 year deal worth 4 million. Well deserved, one of the best special team players in the league.

Son Of A Vidic · 26-11-2014 3:34pm

me89 wrote: »

Slater gets a new 2 year deal worth 4 million. Well deserved, one of for the best special team player in the league.

Fyp.:)

Hazys · 26-11-2014 4:29pm

Every week, BB just crushes the media when they are looking for some pointless sound bite

When asked if he sees any similarities between quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, Belichick was quick with the response.

"They both wear number 12," he deadpanned, before walking off.

TO. · 26-11-2014 4:34pm

If we play smart on Sunday we will win. It's all about jamming up as many options as we can for Rodgers. I expect Browner, Arrington and Revis to rotate around Cobb and Nelson obviously depending on the front the Packers give us. Just like we did with Detroit.

Killing their run game will be key also. Idealy we want to force their offense into a situation of throwing football after football.

Also one thing we need to stop is Rodgers leaving the pocket on 3rd down. Not letting those chains move when he decides to run with it. His speed is underated and he quite able to skin us for some cheap 1st downs.

bruschi · 26-11-2014 4:39pm

I do think we can win, and I think we will win. I do think we have played potentially tougher teams than the Packers, but this is one game I really dont mind if we end up losing. Its not going to be easy to go to Lambeu and win there, and their offence is rolling, and by the laws of percentages, I expect us to lose at least one more this season, so if that is to happen, I'd prefer if it is this one to an NFC opponent who could be an opponent later on. As mentioned earlier, not to be showing a full deck of cards if we are lucky enough to meet again in the superbowl. I'd obviously much more prefer to never lose a game again this season, but this is one I wont be moaning about on here Monday morning if it doesnt go our way.

JaMarcusHustle · 26-11-2014 9:18pm

Chandler Jones back at practice

:D:D

Hazys · 26-11-2014 11:00pm

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

Chandler Jones back at practice :D:D

Just a walk through tho, probably won't be back for a couple of weeks yet, but it's promising considering rumors he wouldn't be back till the playoffs if at all

Hazys · 26-11-2014 11:06pm

Cameron Fleming shed his walking boot which is good news.

Pity he can't play against GB as I could have seen a similar game plan to what we did against the Colts which was power run our way through them.

Do we have any body fill in for Fleming in that role? Cannon maybe put they obviously favor Fleming over him in that role

Hazys · 27-11-2014 11:21pm

Hazys wrote: »

Just a walk through tho, probably won't be back for a couple of weeks yet, but it's promising considering rumors he wouldn't be back till the playoffs if at all

He was limited at normal practice today.

Hopefully we don't rush him back too soon tho

JaMarcusHustle · 27-11-2014 11:26pm

Giants are officially eliminated from the playoffs. Now I can finally dare to dream about this season.

eagle eye · 28-11-2014 12:55am

Don Jones released, was a decent ST's player, bit of a strange one.

Hazys · 28-11-2014 11:08pm

An emotional Gronk talking about his injury last year. It's a side we don't get to see of him, the happy go lucky meathead is all we usually get to see. Can't wait for the full interview.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=11950037

HigginsJ · 28-11-2014 11:13pm

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

Giants are officially eliminated from the playoffs. Now I can finally dare to dream about this season.

What are these playoffs you speak of? I thought you win the Super Bowl or your season ends in January

HigginsJ · 28-11-2014 11:18pm

Hazys wrote: »

An emotional Gronk talking about his injury last year. It's a side we don't get to see of him, the happy go lucky meathead is all we usually get to see. Can't wait for the full interview.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/video?vid=11950037

Such an immensely likeable young man. Even in the "happy go lucky meathead" mode you speak of he always comes across as genuine.

kryogen · 29-11-2014 12:03am

A word on Tim Wright, plenty of people were critical of the move when he was brought in as part of the Mankins trade but he is growing into the team really well and proving himself to be a good target for Brady, this gives the offence so much, there are two genuine, mobile TE's for Brady along with LaFell who has improved as the season is going along too, he is proving to be an important player and is Bradys go to guy a lot of the time now

Anyway, Tim Wright, 24 years old, still scope to improve and his first season integrating into the team so far reads 11 games, 23 receptions from 26 targets for 220 yards, has gained 16 first downs for the team and a very healthy 6 touchdowns.

Can't ask for any more right now and I feel he deserves some recognition

Hazys · 29-11-2014 2:28am

HigginsJ wrote: »

Such an immensely likeable young man. Even in the "happy go lucky meathead" mode you speak of he always comes across as genuine.

Oh yeah I think he's a very likable character. Everybody speaks so highly of the positive youthful energy he brings with him everywhere he goes. Meathead/bro is exactly what he is; loves sports, lifts weights, loves women with that type of humor aka if somebody farted in the huddle he be laughing his ass off.

Billy86 · 29-11-2014 2:06pm

munstermagic11 wrote: »

It should be a shootout with possibly the two best offences on display.
Gronk can beat anyone one-on-one, it may need more than Matthews to stop him.
Green Bay are 30th against the run, so we might see a lot of Blount and Gray with Vereen mixed in.
Nelson and Cobb are excellent, and with Rodgers at QB it'll be a really tough examination. I agree with your likely matchups and suspect Browner will need the safety help.
If the Pats 4 man DL can stop the run like they did against the Lions, then they can add further help in the secondary; it'll be needed against the GB passing offence.

I think the Patriots running game has got way, WAY too little credit or attention in terms of the media coverage leading into this match - the Saints game, especially the second half, is a great blueprint for what I expect Belichick to be looking to do in large parts come Sunday. The absolute keys for GB are to limit the run and to limit Gronk. Not stop them, just limit them.

A major worry though is Dom Capers - he is great for bullying average QBs, but against elite types or an in form, unpredictable player (e.g. Kaepernick) he crumbles in tremendous fashion more often than not. Belichick is known for his ability to take away the opposing offences' best weapon... Capers more often than not caters to/ignores it and tries to stop the other stuff instead. It is one of the major reasons why GB fans wind up so p*ssed off with him at the end of each and every season (and often throughout). Expect a rotation of Hawk/Lattimore/Barrington on Gronk, with safety help coming from Morgan Burnett who has the aggression and willingness to get physical, but not necessarily the smarts. Matthews will the odd time but should mostly be covering the run and getting some blitzes in I suspect... and if we do go this way, Lattimore is possibly the best coverage option but will likely see little play to Hawk can cover his 3 yard box behind the LOS. If it works Capers looks great, but more likely than not when it fails Gronk has maybe his biggest day of the season, causing us to drop a bit deeper and deeper in the LBs, and allowing Grey/Blount to smash forward for 4 yards before contact each and every time as a result.

As for GBs offence, the WRs and running game have been mentioned a lot, but don't overlook screens to Lacy also where he really has found a role this season (since running the ball 25-30 times a game with Rodgers there makes no sense). He only had 13 yards last week receiving, but in the three before that he had 236 receiving yards on top of 178 rushing (and got pulled out with 10 odd minutes left in all three games)... if Cobb and Nelson can stretch you deep, he becomes a massive, massive threat underneath and not someone you want DBs making isolated tackles on. A bonus for you guys is that Davante Adasm does seem to have hit the rookie wall, but on the other end our offensive line has been improving week on week and is now arguably the best Rodgers has had in his whole career (just with razor thin depth at tackle). They'll probably fall flat on their faces now that I've said it but Bakhtiari (2nd yeard, 4th round LT) and Corey Linsley (5th round rookie C) have come on absolute leaps and bounds from the first few weeks of the year.

Hazys wrote: »

I think it will be mostly Revis on Cobb and Browner on Nelson with Safety help just because Cobb is faster and Nelson is a little slower but bigger.

Nelson is the faster of the two, he doesn't always look it because he kind of 'glides' like say Rio Ferdinand or Thierry Henry used to in the Premiership as opposed to running frenetically, but Nelson is really, really fast. You have a decent point about safety help though because of how dangerous he is deep (he leads the league in 50+ yard receptions, I believe) but also how much damage he can do on shorter passes not only for YAC (4th among all WRs) but also just his understanding with Rodgers that tends to keep them well ahead of the DBs.

Tristram · 29-11-2014 2:26pm

I think Hawk would have serious problems covering Gronkowski. Then again, who doesn't?

Here's a piece on the same topic: http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/patriots-packers-week-13-2014/2014/11/25/7281645/packers-patriots-defend-rob-gronkowski-week-13-2014-preview

Billy86 · 29-11-2014 2:50pm

Tristram wrote: »

I think Hawk would have serious problems covering Gronkowski. Then again, who doesn't?

Here's a piece on the same topic: http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/patriots-packers-week-13-2014/2014/11/25/7281645/packers-patriots-defend-rob-gronkowski-week-13-2014-preview

Oh he would, he would be a terribly suited player for it, which is in large part exactly why I expect to see Capers try it.

Son Of A Vidic · 29-11-2014 7:35pm

kryogen wrote: »

A word on Tim Wright, plenty of people were critical of the move when he was brought in as part of the Mankins trade but he is growing into the team really well and proving himself to be a good target for Brady, this gives the offence so much, there are two genuine, mobile TE's for Brady along with LaFell who has improved as the season is going along too, he is proving to be an important player and is Bradys go to guy a lot of the time now

The Mankins move surprised everyone for the suddenness of it all. But going on previous contract negotiations with him, him not being flexible for the team surprised nobody. I liked the Wright move because we sorely lacked a talented pass catching TE after scumbag. Not only has Wright shown us his talent, but unlike his predecessor, he has the physicality for YAC that scumbag never had. His role is expanding and it's exciting to see it.

Tristram wrote: »

I think Hawk would have serious problems covering Gronkowski. Then again, who doesn't?

Here's a piece on the same topic: http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/patriots-packers-week-13-2014/2014/11/25/7281645/packers-patriots-defend-rob-gronkowski-week-13-2014-preview

Double team/triple team you can't cover Gronk without seriously weakening your defense. Or unless god forbid, some scumbag wants to take out his knee. His TD against the Colts last week is the perfect example of the unique beast he is. He brushed off, ran through and jumped over 5 Colts defenders. He just couldn't be stopped. If he is healthy and on the field, he is just the ultimate match up nightmare. And if he stays healthy for the entire season, then all us Pats fans will be very excited, for obvious reasons.

Billy86 · 29-11-2014 7:41pm

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Double team/triple team you can't cover Gronk without seriously weakening your defense. Or unless god forbid, some scumbag wants to take out his knee. His TD against the Colts last week is the perfect example of the unique beast he is. He brushed off, ran through and jumped over 5 Colts defenders. He just couldn't be stopped. If he is healthy and on the field, he is just the ultimate match up nightmare. And if he stays healthy for the entire season, then all us Pats fans will be very excited, for obvious reasons.

I'm struggling to think of any players who have a chance to take him one-on-one (or at least with only a small bit of help)... maybe Kam Chancellor (with some help deep from Earl Thomas)? If Chancellor played in the AFC East or NFC South (Graham) he would be worth mega, megabucks in his position in my opinion for that very reason. Outside of an up-and-down Vernon Davis though, there's not much of a real TE threat in the NFC West.

Son Of A Vidic · 29-11-2014 7:59pm

Billy86 wrote: »

I think the Patriots running game has got way, WAY too little credit or attention in terms of the media coverage leading into this match - the Saints game, especially the second half, is a great blueprint for what I expect Belichick to be looking to do in large parts come Sunday. .

It really wasn't until our O line got it's **** together after week 5, that our run game picked up this year. In light of how weak your run defense is, it would make sense to run the ball down your throats on Sunday. Especially with the power of Grey & Blount on the benches.

Billy86 wrote: »

I'm struggling to think of any players who have a chance to take him one-on-one (or at least with only a small bit of help)... maybe Kam Chancellor (with some help deep from Earl Thomas)? If Chancellor played in the AFC East or NFC South (Graham) he would be worth mega, megabucks in his position in my opinion for that very reason. Outside of an up-and-down Vernon Davis though, there's not much of a real TE threat in the NFC West.

I think it's safe to say no single player can stop a healthy Gronk. As the great Cris Collinsworth said recently, watching Gronk in full flow is like watching a man against boys. I remember Graham getting bullied out of the game against the Hawks last year. He thrashed talked them on the field during warm ups and then wilted when they brought physicality. Even Talib bullied him off the field when he was with us last year. Lost a lot of respect for him last year after some of his performances. Gronk is the opposite, hit him hard and he just loves it and plays even better.

Billy86 · 29-11-2014 8:04pm

That's my major worry with Blount/Grey - we are actually semi decent at limiting (not stopping) the run against shifty backs like we did with the Eagles and also Forte in the second game - it's power running that really kills us due to a lack of size and aggression outside of Matthews, Daniels and Peppers. Burnett can also help out, but only if there is no passing game to threaten him since he is nowhere near good enough to cover both duties, and that is clearly not the case here. Four months later and I am still shocked we didn't sign Pickett back to a cheap, one year deal the day after Raji went down.

Son Of A Vidic · 29-11-2014 8:19pm

Billy86 wrote: »

That's my major worry with Blount/Grey - we are actually semi decent at limiting (not stopping) the run against shifty backs like we did with the Eagles and also Forte in the second game - it's power running that really kills us due to a lack of size and aggression outside of Matthews, Daniels and Peppers. Burnett can also help out, but only if there is no passing game to threaten him since he is nowhere near good enough to cover both duties, and that is clearly not the case here. Four months later and I am still shocked we didn't sign Pickett back to a cheap, one year deal the day after Raji went down.

I'm more excited to see Grey and Blount shares run duties for the first time, than I am to see Tom go pass happy. Not sure how you feel yourself when it comes to AR handing the ball off to Lacy, but I actually prefer if TB can defer to a good run game rather that pass the ball. There's risk in every aspect of Football, but handing the ball of to a strong RB is always something I love to see. Because it reduces the risk my QB and his pass targets face down the field. It also sets up some nice play action and keeps defenses honest.

New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

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