Interesting thing about last season GHead, the Pats also surrendered the most sacks in the NFL last year...Cassel was sacked 47 times, and they ran the Spread with Cassel back in the shotgun. That's like starting every play with a 7 step drop.
Very true, however I think you have to factor in something that those statistics dont show; how many of those sacks occurred because of Cassel hanging on to the ball too long? I watched Cassel last year, specifically the first seven weeks, and he held the ball for a long time and took sacks.Just looking at it, twenty five of the forty seven sacks occurred in those first seven weeks. I'm not saying that the Patriots isn't as bad as advertised because they did allow 22 sacks over the next nine weeks but it wasn't all of there fault. To compare, Brady was sacked 21 times last year.
I guess you and I agree. I'm surely not "conceding the division to them". I don't care what pats fans do. My only point is that I've doubted the Pats before, and got burned. They've earned my respect.
Wel, let's agree, it was not all the oline's fault, but keep in mind, Tom Brady is coming back with a bum wheel and the Pats did nothing to upgrade their oline. Does that mean "Dolphins win back to back AFC East titles"? No way, but it does mean they have weaknesses like any other team, denying them JT and placing him on our team will help to exploit that weakness.
Just how much was it there fault and how much of it was Cassel's fault though? Like I compared in my post, Cassel was sacked 47 times last year because he held the ball too long while Brady, who has great pocket presence and gets rid of the ball on time, was sacked 21 times two seasons ago. Also, in reference to Brady's injury, its not that big of a deal IMO. He won't be planting and cutting on the leg, he's not a QB who relies on his feet to make plays down field ala Michael Vick. All he will be doing is moving up, left, right and back in the pocket and that's not a great amount of movement. Where he will be affected, IMO, is on the roll out plays. Now the question is, just how much do they use a roll out / play-action fake & roll out to the flats? I don't recall much of it. Right but how big of a weakness is it? Do we honestly know?
True, however the oline did not exactly have new talent injected into it since then. So is that a net positive in your view? I'd say yes, don't forget the Giants dline manhandled the patriots oline, that season could have been the highwater mark for the unit and they've been decling as whole since. A info bit vis a vis Jason Taylor's time in DC: So the injury lingered all last season, however JT did finish strongly, he had two sacks in the end of the year Philadelphia game.
Agreed on that. One thing that I wonder about that offensive line is Matt Light. I saw him struggle some last season so it'll be interesting to watch him going up against Joey Porter and/or Jason Taylor this season. A positive view? I think its neutral, haha. I don't recall much roll outs as I stated and really, I don't think there will be much of a change in Brady's game. Who haven't the Giants manhandled though? At the time, they had Justin Tuck, arguably the best defensive end last year, Michael Strahan - a HOF - and Osi Umenyiora at full strength. Those three at one point all on the defensive line. Then factor in Kiwanuka, whose a good pass rusher too and had 8 sacks in replacement of Umenyiora last year. They have declined some though, I'll agree with you on that. I just wonder how much. I agree with Wiley's thoughts; I remember reading that the calf injury was nearly career threatening.
I'm thinking that we have assembled a mini fleet of the same sort of players Alen, guys who can run, and can play up or down, JT,Wake, Walden, last season we just did not have the types of athletic pass rushers we have now. This may sound odd, but in looking back at the stats from Tuna's old teams, and somewhat (not that deeply) from Tuna's teams in Dallas, they tended to have 3 or 4 guys who had 5-7 sacks, and one guy with 10+. To me, Brady was not really fast to begin with, in his first year I'd expect even less so, with a leaky oline, that isn't helpful for them. The Giants merely unmasked them. We'll just have to wait and see. I can recall that injury being considered life threatening, but with JT there can be a cloud of self serving statements so I shrugged that off, but it did hamper him. I'd like to know which Philly Olineman he beat late last season.
Interesting. I think that is one of the reasons I'm not buying into the injury talk. He was never fast but he never relied on his legs really so I misunderstand the big fuss over the injury. They unmask everyone. Just ask Winston Justice and the rest of the Philly OL. John Runyan I'd assume.
This is good news for me. This offseason, we have ruined the patsies plans on 2 players...Pat White (I read somewhere that Parcells knew that Belecheat wanted him) and now Jason Taylor. I doubt I'd have been ever been able to like JT anymore if he went to an AFC East rival. He would have been like Wes Welker, Junior Seau, Sammy Morris, Larry Izzo, and all the other turncoats. (I understand the business side of these, and it was the stupidity of our coaches that put them there, but it still pissed me off.)
Alen, every QB relies on his legs to a degree. Not necessarily for running. Even ignoring the need to sidestep, move in the pocket etc, every QB needs to plant his feet as well as push off with his legs as he throws. If his knee is hurting, swollen etc his throwing can be affected. It's pretty much what affected Culpepper as well as Palmer.
True but we're not talking about him relying on his feet to a degree of escaping the pocket and running down field ala Vick and that's what I was aiming for with my post. Culpepper tore up his whole knee and lost mobility, which he needed on roll outs - something that I saw the VIkes offense use quite a bit of.
I'd make the argument that Marino, long known for his lack of mobility, may have been the best in the NFL in the pocket in avoiding the rush and not taking the sack. What killed Culpepper was that he relied on his ability to scramble - once he lost that he really regressed to beyond mediocre.
