another piece by James Walker and Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/60415/double-coverage-dolphins-versus-patriots thoughts ?
James Walkers our boy..He's dived into the team, has hung around him, sees how Philbin is molding the team,and it shows in his analysis.
Of some relevance: Arrest warrant issued for Aaron Hernandez http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/60471/arrest-warrant-issued-for-aaron-hernandez.
Pats are still the better team IMO (when healthy) but Miami is one of the few teams that will be able to matchup w/ them on both sides of the ball.
No Welker, no Gronk, no Hernandez, I don't think they have the more talented roster, what they do have is an exceptional Qb who can make smurfs into championship receivers.. Just smother the sh&$ out of their average receivers and tight ends, and bring the heat, attack the wounded bunny, kill the bunny,
I agree. IMO the Dolphins have had the better overall roster the last two seasons, but the Pats have been more talented at key positions. It seems that this off-season may have closed the gap even more with the Pats only having the clear talent advantage at one key position (QB). (Much depends on the health and legal status of their TEs). Now that is still "the" key position so you can't call them dead while Brady is there. But Brady is 36 and RT seems to be developing. The inevitable, eventual decline of Brady and how quickly and how much RT develops will determine if and when we pass them.
"When healthy" was the disclaimer, shoulda said when healthy and not incarcerated... I don't think they have the more talented roster even with Gronk and Hernandez. What they have is better execution than any team in the league. They use a million different personnel groups and formations, they do it effectively, and they do it at warp speed.
Let's also be honest here, Belicheck is the better coach atm, Phibin's team is well coached but not like BB's, they just find gaps to exploit and until you can force them to defend your strengths instead of allowing them to attack your gaps, they have a clear edge. This is why I've been stressing "playmakers" this offseason and a Rb who can block in pass pro.
IMO BB is a great D coach, but only became a great O coach with Brady. In a world w/o Brady I'm not sure BB is thought of any more highly than Rex Ryan.
W/O Gronk and Hernandez they are soup sandwich. Done. Their whole game strategy is blown up. They basically attack w/ a ball control pass game, tons of formations and personnel groups. Once they find a matchup they like they hammer at it, once the defense is gassed they pound the rock. Gronk and Hernandez are a nightmare for base defenses in the pass game, and a nightmare for nickel defenses in the run game. There might be a handul of teams in the entire league who can go nickel and hold up vs their run game and/or cover their TEs out of a base 3-4 or 4-3. Most teams have no answer for it. But w/o the two TEs (and Welker) there are no matchup problems on the inside and NE's WR have been underwhelming for years. Brady is still Brady but he will no longer have the luxury of getting rid of the ball in under 3 seconds, they have no receivers who can consistently get open that quickly. Amendola may be that guy but one guy will never be enough. If Brady has to hold the ball his lack of mobility and average OL will get exposed. W/o the ability to get easy first downs via the quick pass, the no huddle and run game becomes less effective. W/o Gronk the red zone offense is compromised (see AFCCG vs Baltimore). The house of cards collapses fairly quickly. I honestly prefer Gronk and Hernandez be healthy and available for them. Beating their asses at full strength will be much more satisfying.
This line made me laugh: Apparently everyone who said anything positive about Buffalo's defense forgot they promoted Wanny to defensive coordinator. That, or they were just throwing poo at the wall.
In some ways, he reminds me of Shula Rafi, his teams just find a way. Like the MNF game were they scored 2 Td's on kickoff returns. I compare playing the patriots to submerging a submarine, where ever there is a weak spot on your team they will pressure it until it breaks.
Yup, coach and Qb are the best combo in the league at this point, but that personnel dept is suspect..
Agree, how you beat them is by turning the tables on their approach and pressure THEM with playmakers, not with "tough, disciplined, smart football players" but guys if a tackle is missed it's a long play, if a block is missed it's a sack, errant pass is intercepted, a return for a Td etc. Sort of like that Patton speech "..we are going to grab by the nose and kick them ***, we are going to kick the hell out of them all of the time and go through them like **** through a goose" THAT is what the Ravens and Giants have shown people on how to beat them, not "play for last second FG and hope the defense holds"
Jesse agler might be considered a homer by a lot of folks, but I think that's BS, I think the guy is just excellent at his job as being a dolphin beat reporter..he needs to be advanced in the system cause that dude is too talented to stay status quo.
Cool guy as well, used to razz this fat intern they had there (the fintern) and it was a lot of fun. Alas, times change, he used to have a crew cut, now he has broadcaster hair etc. Should hear him tweaking Kim Bokamper, for sometimes showing up, sometimes not.
I'm trying to figure out why he's not our play by play guy, he will be someone's play by play guy soon.
I hate BB as much as the next guy. But why do we always forget that he went 11-5 and was one of the only 11 win teams in history to miss out on the playoffs with what was essentially a High School QB. I mean, think about that. They won 11 games with a guy who hadn't taken a snap since High School. Coaching at its finest.
And to add to my post above, that's the way I like to measure coaching in today's NFL What can you do with a average or below QB. The coaches that have succeeded: Jim Harbaugh, Bill Bellichick come to mind. And those are the two best coaches in the NFL IMO.
He's definitely a good coach, but I thought he had a more talented roster then than now even without Brady. And that year in particular he had a great D. As a great D coach that I believe he is, that gets you most of the way to 11-5. He just needed the O to help out on a few wins and not lose it the rest of the time.
But that Offense didn't just get by. Matt Cassel put up pro bowl caliber numbers. The game in Miami, I'm not sure they punted the ball, and if they did it was no more than 1 or 2 times. That offense dropped 48 on us in a game where our offense was almost their equal putting up 17 in the first half and 28? total. I just think calling him merely a good coach or comparing him to Rex Ryan without Brady is an extreme insult. He's a Hall of Fame coach worthy of top 10 all time who took what was given to him, adapted better than almost anybody in a sport that has had many cycles and rule changes over the past 2 decades. That 2008 season cemented it for me.
Say what one wants about how hated BB is. He is an all-time great coach. HOF for certain. When the Pats were winning SBs, they were talented - but then again, look at multiple SB winners and they are all talented (the Dolphins in the 70's; Steelers; etc.). However, more than anything his players were smart and bought into what he was doing. His schemes were very impressive. There have been more dominating defenses. But, BBs zone blitzes in the early 2000's were so effective, they did not react to the offense, the offense had to figure out what the Pats D was going to do. That said on BB, I like Philbin and I like this team a lot. I don't know how much they will compete this year. There are some question-marks. But, those Q-marks are not nearly as many as in the past. The main ones are, imo: LT, RG, QB, 1CB, and Right Side DE/OLB pass rush. Far fewer than in the past. If LT and QB pan out and one or both of the D Q-marks do, then we are in great shape. Not a 12-4 calibre team but a team that can go 10-6. It will be a brutal schedule early on and I think we'll need to pull out some wins, upsets early - and we have a great shot at competing in the division down to the final week and making the playoffs. If we are playing well toward the end of the year, then there is no telling what can happen in the playoffs (not so much as it used to be where wild-card teams didn't always fair so well; these days, if you get hot and confidence, you just never know).
He's a HOF lock. I just don't believe he ever would have been w/o Brady. And I don't see it as a stretch that a guy like Ryan would have similarly been a HOF lock if Brady had been his QB. I actually like BB. I'm not one of those that hates all of Miami's opponents. I just believe he has strengths and weaknesses and that he was fortunate enough to be paired with a player that masked some of his weaknesses.
We drafted good, our Free Agency was very good imo. We will beat New England AT LEAST once this season. I just think they are there for the taking. Bills and Jets are not going to make any inroads or make any statements. Sooner or later the Patriots will be there to be beaten by a better team and not a fluke/lucky result. Its all about making a statement. Weve got if not THE youngest team then pretty close to it. I know that having youth brings mistakes but i also know youth brings a positive, never lie down attitude.
Absolutely. He's was a HUGE part of their ball control passing game. Can Amendola fill that role, and take the beating that will come with it? If they're w/o Gronk and/or Hernandez for any extended period the Pats are going to have to completely alter the way they attack defenses. I'm sure they will come up w/ something but it wont be near as good as what they had.
We have a lot of youth but ironically we don't have a lot of inexperience. No rookies starters, and only one starter (Lamar Miller) who doesn't have any starting experience. It's the best of both worlds.
Thing is, we have pieces, they have pieces, BB is in his what 13th yr as a HC, Philbin in his 2nd. It takes more then pieces to win the match
As long as you have the coach, all you need is one piece....the QB. Its no surprise that no one knocked the Pats from their seat while Brady has been the QB in the god awful QBing of the AFC East. It took Brady to be hurt and Penny to have a career year to take the division from them.
This this and more this please. There have been a few teams who win championships by killing QBs. We want to beat Brady, it's gotta be a double digit knockdown game with sacks on key downs. DJ needs to live up to his draft position and we have to kill QBs, get then off their game, and impose our will on O lines to make noise in this league. It's the only way to do it defensively. We've shut down the run for years and not gone anywhere. We've had a good pass rush, but were on the verge if excellence I think.
